This meeting was scheduled by two local women who have children attending Notre Dame School. The premise of the meeting was to discuss solutions and or concerns regarding the occupation of the DCE and its impact on the children returning to school with this occupation still not resolved. The parents,  after a brief introduction and review of the history of the occupation were given the opportunity to voice ideas and or solutions and concerns that would be presented to the OPP and the Catholic School Board for a future meeting to be held August 22/06 at the school itself.

The meeting was attended by a representative of the Catholic School Board, several teachers, Marie Trainer, and Lorraine Bergstrand, and a  reporter from the  Hamilton Spectator. Several members associated with the Alliance were also in attendance as their children attend the school. The OPP commissioner from Cayuga was to attend but did not.

The first person to speak introduced a simple solution " remove the protesters from the site, end of issue", this was met with applause. Several other options were suggested such as " planting trees, building a wall or fence, busing the kids away ( this when suggested resulted in the majority of the  room   all stating " no way"). Other ideas presented was to ask the protesters to remove or move back the last blockade back 300 feet  so that the children would not have to see it or walk by it any longer. This is the blockade  abutting the corner of the school. Other concerns surrounded the OPP on site, how many, in uniform etc,  crossing guards, configuration of the portable classrooms on site. Also discussed was a system to call or notify parents in the event of issues at the school. Several parents were  very concerned over potential issues surrounding just how and when we would be notified of any issue such as evacuation etc. Another area of concern was lack of news about the approaching school year and in general lack of information from anyone .

The meeting at times was very emotional with several ladies breaking down when voicing their concerns, the strain of the issue and impact of it all appears to be taking a toll on many.

The future meeting will be very important for those who have children attending the school. To date the CSB has not formally decided what will be done, this meeting on August 22/06 will not give much notice or a chance for parents to make other arrangements if and when they do not open the school. The consensus of many at the meeting is that the only option is to remove the protesters.

One of our viewers sent us this:

I was at the meeting on Wednesday Night.  I went as a concerned parent.  The meeting was well organized and reasonably well publicized at least, with the parents of Notre Dame students.  This stood in sharp contrast to the secretive meeting that took place in town the night before with the OPP commissioner that could only be attended by exclusive invitation and a non disclosure requirement.

The room was crowded and very hot.  Many people had to stand.  The heat was not enough to keep away those who are starting to campaign for the upcoming municipal election (odd how politicians are now starting to show their faces around Caledonia). Odder still that the local Town Councillor Craig Ashbaugh remains hidden from public view.  In attendance was Theresa Harris the Director of Education for the Catholic Board and Bonnie McKinnon the Board Trustee.  There were also two High Ranking civil servants.  I thought it very odd that with these influential people present how is it that a more suitable meeting place could not be found. Places that came to mind were The Notre Dame School, the Library, the new Arena or even the Municipal offices in town.  Strange how tax-payer owned buildings are never made available to the citizens to hold a meeting.  By no means am I faulting the two mothers who took the time to organize this gathering.

The meeting started with prayer.  This set a tone for civility and respect that permeated the meeting. There were no speeches.  The parent-organizers turned the floor immediately over to the floor to raise their concerns.  The most popular concerns related to the protestors vacating the land behind the school, the lack of confidence in the OPP’s ability or willingness to protect the children and parents frustration that school was starting in five weeks and there was no direction yet from the Board as to the status of the school.  The Board member present advised parents that they would have to wait until August 22 for an official information meeting between parents and the Board.

Other concerns related to the children being protected by the police as they went to and from the school.  Some parents asked if there would be social workers available to counsel the students.

The least popular suggestion was to have the students of Notre Dame attend the old school north of town presently housing the OPP reclamation officers and moving the OPP into the school beside Douglas Creek Estates.  I don’t think there was a person in the room who didn’t think that if the protestors were gone form the site there would be no need to deal with this ongoing threat to the children’s safety and well being.

We were told that Brian Haggith the local detachment commander wanted to come to the meeting but was on vacation.  Had he been there I’m certain he would have been asked if he the OPP had considered simply complying with the various court orders and removing the protestors from the land.

Of course if this had occurred there would be no need to discuss whether a casino would be going on the site.  No need for John Nolan to explain at some length why a Casino would not be legally allowed on the property.    No need for the high-ranking and experienced negotiator to speak about the new side table that was being established to deal with the issue of “beautification” of the DCE site. I was taken with the passion shown by Mr. Nolan when speaking of the planned berm behind the playground.  He assured everyone that a “senior project planner/architect” from within the bureaucracy would be appointed and that the mayor had assured him there would be no trouble from the county regarding drainage. When Mr. Nolan said ma physical wall would just become a canvass for graffiti artists and that they were contemplating a “tree fence” someone in the crowd muttered who about an OPP fence.

The heat in the room soon forced the meeting to a close. There was no screaming.  No inappropriate comments made and the officials assured everyone that there concerns would be made known to government.   

Still I had a concern that the potential danger to the children was being downplayed.  I spoke to Bonnie McKinnon after the meeting and was assured that the Board was aware of the danger to children. I told her that I thought there was every likelihood that someone could still get killed because of the ongoing illegal occupation.  I advised her that if one of the people killed was a child at Notre Dame that those in authority would be held to account.  Even the Toronto Press would turn on them and ask why they hadn’t taken the appropriate action.  I hope it is a warning that will not play out in reality.  I further hope that the safety and security of these children is more than just an agenda item at the next Board Meeting wedged between inform OPP of parents concerns and build berm at rear of play-yard.