no heritage tree certificates for bear mountain residents

by janine bandcroft
relativenewz.ca
i'm approaching the end of two weeks living in an old, almost heritage house in an old, tree-lined neighbourhood.  on the wall of this house is a plaque, reminding its inhabitants of their responsibility to protect the heritage designated trees that grace their lawn.  the plaque reads:

"heritage tree certificate -- heritage trees are special.  their designation is based on accurate botanical identification, detailed research and consideration by members of the heritage tree project, committee, and the concurrence of the owner.  their status is reviewed regularly, and they are officially recorded with the appropriate local government.  thank you for caring about and protecting heritage trees."

 

and there's a quote from william blake:  'a tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way.'

outside the window i see squirrels, i hear bird song, and a block away is a community beach where neighbours gather with their dogs and their children.  eagles nest there, shore-birds and various ducks and seagulls and crows share the space.  kids throw frisbees, they build sand houses, they skateboard along the esplanade, and during the full-moon lunar eclipse the night was filled with the voices of small groups of people scattered along the public beach, some with telescopes or tripods.  we didn't see each other, but we shared a majestic celestial experience in a publically designated, shared space.


this is what an old victoria neighbourhood offers.  there is a distinct feeling of serenity amidst the busy lives of wild and domestic critters and various human types - construction workers, city workers, home-keepers, dog walkers, business types, nature lovers.


it's been a wonderful two weeks.  i've spent a lot of time walking the beach, enjoying the sunshine, appreciating the calm of the ocean's rhythm sounds, laughing at the antics of the various doggies and children.  at the same time it's been frustrating - these two weeks have been historic, as my forest defending friends and their allies attempt, still, to slow down and stop the destruction that langford's mayor and council are imposing on that community.


thanks to langford's mayor and council, bear mountain will never be oak bay.  there will be no heritage tree plaques of distinction gracing their walls.  birds will not sing, squirrels will not frolic ... it's just not something that happens in a clearcut.


according to the wikipedia entry for langford, (which could use some radical updating!), their motto is "golden in setting, determined in spirit."  golden, indeed.  stew young, langford's mayor, is definitely more about gold than green, and he's decidedly determined.  owner, and possibly founder, of the alpine groups of companies, stew appears to have a fascination with fossil fuel based transportation.  from the alpine group website:


"The Alpine Group is a locally owned and operated company based in Langford, BC. We offer a wide range of services including Sidney Spit Ferry service, Marine Adventure Centre activities and rentals, Whale Watching Tours, Pier Bistro, Morrison Auto Marine, Limousine service, Wholesale Auto, Marine & RV sales, Car & Boat Detailing, Lawncrafters, Grinder and Slinger services, Soil Mart, Roll Off Container service, Truck & Equipment Repair, Welding & Fabrication services, Transport, Recycling & Bottle Return Depot, and Residential and Commercial Disposal service. Established in 1984, we have grown from a one-man enterprise providing solid waste and recycling services to include operations in Victoria and the Western Communities, Nanaimo, Kelowna, Trail, Castlegar, Creston, Fort St. John and Grand Forks."


how convenient it must be to assume the role of mayor of a growing municipality, and be the guy who offers so many auto services, not to mention disposal and recycling services.  no need for any of those pesky socialist ideas of public ownership of garbage or recycling pickup, or greenspace and parkland and hiking or cycling trails -- to heck with alternative energy and transport ideas.  tough luck for nature lovers, cyclists, skate-boarders, roller-bladers, and ... wasn't there a man killed last year in langford when his mobile wheelchair was struck by a semi-truck?  i suppose, from stew's point of view, that man would still be alive if he'd had the good sense to rent a limo.


it must be nice to be a car.  if i were an extra-terrestrial visitor from another planet, i'd be amazed to the extent that cars, and other fossil-fuel vehicles, have trained humans to do their bidding.  the industrial revolution, though it only occupies about 200 years of human history, has turned this entire planet on its head.  cars get everything they want -- oil and its extraction being only a small part of it.  in addition to the loss of democratic process so that environmentally devastating projects like the alberta tar sands and the bear mountain interchange can proceed unhindered, metals and glass and leather and plastics are mined and harvested and slaughtered and manipulated for the construction of the beast.  invasions, under the guise of 'war', are waged behind massive propaganda campaigns that have usurped global media to manipulate public opinion in their favour.  women are raped, children rendered homeless, entire nation states destroyed so that oil, and its transport, can be accomodated.  forests are bulldozed, roads constructed, lines painted, insurance companies created, licensing procedures implemented, municipal bylaws and police forces contrived.  when their lives are over cars occupy valuable land in garbage dumps, and the earth is expected to re-absorb all the processed chemicals and metals that have served the beast.


to accomodate the car, all other transportation options are required to comply with structures and regulations that are not designed with the lesser siblings in mind.  bicycles, skate boards, roller blades, motorized wheel chairs, scooters, electric bikes, walkers ... all these are considered inferior to the precious car.  they and their keepers are expected to compete alongside massive metal death machines for road space, to inhale noxious carcinogenic fumes, and when knocked to the ground as punishment for attempting to transport themselves in an earth-sustaining way, forced to hire lawyers to challenge the car-worshipping insurance companies.  they're constantly begging for designated roads, pathways or, at the very least, small lanes that offer some degree of validation that they exist at all.


my two weeks walking doggies at this beach are nearing their end, and i'll move to another tree-lined oak bay neighbourhood with different doggies and a different beach where a different urban stream pours its contents into the ocean.  i'll be forced to hike a trail where spring blooms are budding, to climb a hill and gaze upon a green, distinguished community where every house is a unique creation, different from the one next door.  there are roads and cars running through this oak bay place, sure, there's the absurdity of central avenue which used to be a creek ... it's not perfect.  but the ancestral humans, to their credit, at least had the good sense to construct their communities with some degree of respect for other living creatures.


in stew young's langford, the car is the ultimate life form to which all else must bow down.


i won't be accepting any doggie gigs on bare mountain - it's just not the sort of place i'd choose to live, even temporarily.
 

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