Letter To the Editor

Re. Meet the Southies 06/23/07 Page 1 & Phil Andrews, Page 2.

I’m writing to express my disappointment with Mr. Gelinas’ article regarding the south end. I have to ask myself, was Mr. Gelinas attempting to write an informative piece on the south end, or was he trying to generate a controversy where none exists? Neither I, nor my friends and neighbours, have heard the so-called slur “southies”. Is this an actual term used by our neighbours to the north, or is Mr. Gelinas trying to incite a battle between city neighbourhoods based on prejudice and lack of knowledge? I guess controversy sells more newspapers than facts.

It was very apparent that Mr. Gelinas chose to target the myopic stereotypes of the south end, rather than actually performing any journalistic investigation.  Mr. Gelinas contacted the Clairfields Neighbourhood Group several weeks ago in an attempt to find families willing to be interviewed for this article. We eagerly responded and distributed the request to our mailing list. Finally, it seemed the Mercury was noticing that there are people south of Stone Road!! In spite of several families offering interviews, he cancelled interviews, and ignored other willing offers.  I understand that this was not his only story, and his time may have been limited but it seems irresponsible to go to print with an article that was only half researched, instead of simply postponing it until he could get the information to write the story accurately. I have nothing against the Frosts; I just wish Mr. Gelinas had taken the time to get more than one viewpoint, so he could more accurately reflect the diversity of our neighbourhood.

The truth is, many of the Frosts concerns do resonate with most residents of the south end.  Their seven year old has to be bused because there isn’t adequate schooling available in the Clairfields area. There is no local recreation center for our kids to be involved in after school programs.  Our trees are still small, and many of the homes do have that similar “just built” look that can only be faded by time.  Fortunately, schools, recreation centers and diversity of housing is not what builds a community- the people are.

Let me get this straight up front, my wife and I chose South Guelph as a place to live.  It was certainly not the last place I would ever decide to purchase.  I put in countless hours supporting my neighbourhood and the city. I love my home, and have made every effort to make my neighbourhood an integral part of the city. I urge Mr. Gelinas, log onto our website at www.clairfields.org, and see what we are trying to do as a group. Find out what our concerns are. Find out who we are, as opposed to just perpetuating the faceless commuter identity that your paper normally promotes.

What upsets me about this article is the fact that the Mercury had an opportunity to educate its readers  about the good people and great communities we have  in the south end.  The Clairfields Neighbourhood Group has only been in existence since early 2005, but we hold five family events per year.  Additionally, every year we plant trees to make our area a little greener,  and I challenge any neighbourhood in the city to top our total of 120 plus volunteers for this year’s Earth Day clean up. We publish a very professional, well received, newsmagazine-style newsletter on a quarterly basis, which is delivered free to every household in the neighbourhood letting our residents know what is happening around them and how they can get involved.   All of our initiatives are driven  and supported by volunteers. In other words, people who enjoy and love their neighbourhood, and their city.

If this article is a factual representation of the feelings of downtown and north end residents, then I offer my pity to those citizens. If the Mercury and its columnists are attempting to form dissent, where none exists, in order to create controversy and sell newspapers, then I am a little more saddened and disheartened about the journalistic profession than ever before. If you wanted a hot topic, why not bring to light the fact that the south end is the most overly taxed, under serviced area in the city?  We still are awaiting the promised fire and ambulance service which was supposed to be built this year, and our long promised recreation center is still years away.  Unfortunately, covering these stories would probably require your journalists to get off their behinds, do some research and head toward the harsh, bleak, and lonesome landscape of the distant south. The blatant hypocrisy of a city newspaper providing this type of shallow coverage is, frankly, embarrassing.

We are trying to make ourselves a vibrant, integral part of the city. Clairfields isn’t historical Waterloo Avenue and never will be.  It takes dedicated people to build a neighbourhood, not trees and old houses. We will continue to work to make our neighbourhood better. In short, we’re part of Guelph, and we’ll show you what it takes to build a community.

Todd Dennis
Chairperson
Clairfields Neighbourhood Group