What is a meadow? Let’s begin with what a meadow is not. A meadow is not vacant land. Neither is it empty. Nor barren. Nor cleared. Nor an empty lot. Nor surplus. Nor waiting to be developed.
A meadow is alive. A meadow is a habitat for all creatures great and small. A meadow is shelter, a source of food, a place to nestle. A meadow is wildflowers and grasses. A meadow is dragonflies, bees, and butterflies. A meadow is where deer wander, foxes and coyotes hunt, and little critters disappear beneath the grasses. A meadow is a little birdsong on a frosty morning and in the summer evening. A meadow is where folks meander, catch their breath, blow off steam, and find a little peace. A meadow changes with the seasons and grows and blooms and falls. A meadow rests and then wakes up. And in every state, our meadow gives life what it needs.
In a recent social media post, Councillor Brian Hamilton, despite the City’s own studies that proved a surplus of housing capacity by over 11,000 units and an additional 1,200 units located at the Central Lands site, doubled-down on his support to build housing on the 791 Arundel parkland- our meadow. And to further support his narrative that somehow the answer to housing in Thunder Bay is found in our meadow, he described the meadow as almost entirely cleared, and alongside that characterization, posted a bleak November photograph capturing the meadow at its brownest, barest and most dormant.
Well, we know the significance and beauty of our meadow. So, we’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking.
