Advice to those Who Oppose BORC at Vimy Arena Site

I fully support the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre being built on the land currently occupied by the closed Vimy Arena.  I simply can't think of a better spot for a holistic healing centre.  It will help people, and the people helped will integrate back into their families and make their families stronger.  Stronger families will make stronger communities.  It is just a no-brainer to me.

But, I am also a woman and women have this nasty habit of being people pleasers.  I want harmony.  So, I confess I am also feeling sorry for the people who are opposed to BORC.  They need some help.  They need advice.  I want to give them some free advice:

1.  Change your colour.  Choosing to wear white as the symbol of your protest is quite frankly, stupid.  Have you ever looked at colour charts and what they mean?  Century 21 chose their signature gold jackets, for example, because gold meant power and confidence.  Different colours mean different thinks.  White actually is the traditional colour for surrender, you know, waving the white flag.  Not the colour you want to choose when you want to build a movement.  Also, someone might refer to you as the "white people" and the connotations of that are not positive.  Think of the Confederates and how their flag had some pretty bad connotations.

2. Pick a spokesperson that people will listen to.  There may be a time when Stephen Fletcher had some credibility but that time has passed.  Also, he must be pretty busy these days.  I am sure he and some other angry people are the only ones who will join Maxime Bernier's new political party.  They have to be doing polling and other research and finding out how unpopular they are.  I mean he has that, and he has to get up to speed with this century.  In this century, if we have a schoolboy crush on a teacher, we tell her in private.  And, if we have inappropriate thoughts about a teacher, we recognize this is different than an innocent crush, and we seek help.  Not only that, he is always threatening or actually suing someone.  I think he is in the process of suing the National Conservative Party for not letting him run in the next election under their banner, yet he is also bragging that he tore up his Conservative membership card.  Also, your spokesperson should have a consistent message.  On one hand, he went to the Calgary treatment centre that has been one of the models for BORC and thought that it would never help anyone, larging because it didn't have a good business plan.  On the other hand, he has visited the Calgary treatment centre and said it would work fine as long as it was on some land on Wellington Crescent.  Have you ever been to Jolibee?  I know I'm a little off track (but let's face it the people who oppose BORC are easily distracted) but the food is great and worth waiting in line.  I recommend the spaghetti, the steak and rice, and the mango pies.  Anyway, if you have been to Jolibee, you may have seen the Jolibee Bee.  That would be a more credible spokesperson for your opposition.

3.  Do some research.  You say you are worried about green space but your neighbourhood has enough green space to be the envy of any neighbourhood in Canada.  You are also worried about recreation for the people in your community.  Find out what are the demographics of your ward.  Have a credible argument and have some information to back it up.  Look at property values before and after such facilities were built.  You might be surprised that this facility might actually benefit your property values.

4.  Engage in dialogue.  Be willing to discuss your concerns with people other than the media.  The way you gravitate to anyone who seems to be part of the media and want to be interviewed is in poor taste and makes you look like all you want is your 15 minutes of fame.  There is an old phrase that we have two ears and one mouth in order for us to listen twice as much as we are speaking.  This is a real issue.  Families have been broken up due to addiction.  People have lost their lives to addiction.  Addiction doesn't care who you are and in an equal opportunity disease that can happen to anyone.  Actually, dialogue with people and not be pathetic enough to only speak to the media.  It is too serious of an issue.  Also, if you were to engage in a dialogue, you might realize that you have much more to fear from a 7/11 than a Recovery Centre.

5.  Go back to Kindergarten.  There was a very popular book released a few decades ago called, "All I ever needed to know in life, I learned in Kindergarten."  In kindergarten you learn that you don't interrupt people.  When someone is sharing their story about the devastating loss of a son, don't heckle.  I know that should be obvious, but, then again, I went to kindergarten.  In kindergarten you learn that everyone takes turns when they have something to say so that everyone gets the same opportunity.  Kindergarten also teaches that if we have nothing to say, we can pass.  In kindergarten, we also learn to tell the truth.  At a rally, a person asked a member of the opposition, who coached football for 25 years, if he ever knew anyone suffering from addiction.  He claimed he didn't.  Everyone knows people who have lived with addiction.  Also, in kindergarten, my children learned a very cute song.  I don't know what it was called, but I remember a few lines: "five hugs a day, that's the minimum, five hugs a day, not the maximum,"  I loved that song.  Why don't you try to hug five different people a day and see what this does for you.  It might mean going outside your neighbourhood.

6.  Be in favour of something.  If you read the paper, watch tv, look at the internet, or interact with anyone, you are aware that Winnipeg is dealing with a methamphetamine crisis.  The Winnipeg Police Service is telling us this often and admit they need help in handling this crisis.  If you truly don't belief that BORC is not part of the solution, propose something.  Anything.  Otherwise, you just come across as rigid and ill-informed and all the other stereotypes that people are assuming about you.  If you really want to do something, volunteer with an organization to help.  Instead of wasting money on a lawyer, donate the money to an organization that will actually help people.

7.  Attend the first annual Babey Gabey Bowl on September 29.  Have some fun, meet the amazing people who loved Gabriel, and participate in something positive.  It is a fund-raiser but you might find that you are the one who is changed and for the better.