Mr. "Free parking"

OK, my fellow shit-disturber friend and lovely neighbor has boldly made her rant public and invited me to share it with those like-minded shit disturbers!!!! Folks, I have rarely waxed political on this newsfeed, but excuse me. I am not terribly reassured by Mr developer JP Poulin's reassurances that a new condo development in the heart of the village will, don't worry little village people, be tastefully done. Are we supposed to believe that he who brought us Giant Tigre (the first tree to fall--which now seems slated to fill in surrounding wetland and be expanded into a full on stripmallplex for our so called convenience) and bought us off with globe style parking lot lighting and cheap socks can suddenly morph into friendly protector of quickly disappearing quaint, quirky, and humble villagy-ness? I doubt it. Giant Tigre was protested as a symbol of what we didn't want to come. Many saw that as a gateway battle, and they turned out to be right. They slipped Styro Rail in the side door just in time for the giant highway expansion made of oh! coincidence! giant blocks of Styrofoam. Mayor Bussiere and Mr Poulin I'm sure are shooting darts in the man lounge together, clinking glasses and chuckling as the steamroll their development agenda through the rows of protest lines, huge rises of Canadian shield, ignored environmental concerns and really sincere engagement and input by a very thoughtful, sincere, and educated contituency. Meanwhile someone's vision (not the PPU's!) of a village turned suburban town with a sterile, 'cutesy' Merrickville-like core accessible only to the solidly middle class or richer, flanked by a Gatineau type strip and industrial sector and fed by a giant vein of pavement so we can all barrell back and forth to the city a few minutes faster, chained to the race race and high on cheap drivethru cups of coffee with a gut rotting Subway sandwich to feed our delusions that life is better this way, quickly manifests. I am not one to hug trees or oversimplify complex civic matters, but still I am sincerely heartbroken as tree after tree falls, citizen engagement and protest become a moot point, and this very unique and precious place becomes just another battle lost to big money and shortsighted development agendas. Meanwhile gentrification takes its toll on the funkier and poorer part of our population as well as long-time locals, seniors, etc etc etc. What could be a seriously cutting edge example of a different kind of bike path into the future is quickly becoming just another painted and paved paradise. But don't worry little village people, this won't hurt a bit. Papa developer has your concerns in mind, and will make this next part so much 'nicer'!! Never mind that nobody who already lives here and needs housing will be able to afford to live in those buildings. So pop that antidepressant, bend over, and drop your drawers, this won't hurt a bit. The next municipal election is coming up soon, thank god. I hope that the troops rally and someone steps forward to attempt to re-democratize this process. Its probably too late but nevertheless. I would like to believe that yes, we can. But can we? Finally I am deeply grateful to all those fine people who have given their time and energy to try to ward off the bullydozing, have indeed brought so much creativity, heart, open-mindedness, patience and intelligence to the table of public engagement, and persisted in knocking politely on the door of the back room where these development deals are being made. Maybe its time to start kicking it down. GT sells some cheap plastic army boots that could probably do the job. I'm just sayin'. Heather Horak