Opening doors as "the last refuge for the scoundrel" alive in the heart of our city

By Michael J Morris

Some years ago now I was walking along Burrard Street in Vancouver in the early morning hours when I saw across the street from me on one of the churches a huge banner proclaiming, "God is alive in the heart of the city."

I had no problem with the words on the banner, but I immediately thought of the homeless who would be unable to seek refuge there because the doors were locked. Some were sleeping on the steps in front of the church.

Churches have generally kept their doors locked for years now except when open for Sunday services and other stipulated times ostensibly to keep the "bad" people out, whoever they may be.

Perhaps I watched The Hunchback of Notre Dame too many times and looked at the church -- no matter the denomination -- as the last refuge for the scoundrel. At times in my less than perfect life, I have been so grateful when I have found the church door open and I could enter, rest and pray other than on a Sunday.

Shortly after I was elected as the faculty representative to the Board of Governors at College of the Rockies, I convinced Dr Wm Berry Calder, the president, to let me go to Vancouver and look at outreach education programs in the Downtown Lower East Side.

I visited the Carnegie Centre and First United Church right in the heart of the area. I walked from my hotel despite warnings that I should take a cab. It was an overwhelming experience but in the midst of the misery, I met many dedicated people working to make each day a little better for those who had fallen through society's cracks. And yes, the doors of the church were open and some homeless people were resting on the pews. And students were learning too.

I also visited the Gathering Place, a living room for those who need it in downtown Vancouver. There people can get a shower, wash their clothes, have a meal, read, shoot pool, work out it in the fitness centre and get advice and counselling, and of course, just visit and be among people. I have also seen some of the poetry written and art work created by folks at the Gathering Place. Amazing!

The college did not introduce any new programs but to his credit Dr Calder did have a report prepared.

So, you ask, what's my point?

Well, I am really delighted that Street Angel was launched here in Cranbrook. Ktunaxa Nation deserves credit and support.

I wouldn't likely have known about a weekly breakfast served at the Cranbrook United Church, shared by three churches, but I have friends who help with it. Great stuff!

There are other grass roots and "church roots" projects too even if the main doors are not open as much as I would like to see.

Now, lately I have seen more "words chasing words" about the project for the homeless here, but nothing much concrete seems to happen. How about it folks? Other communities, like Medicine Hat claim to be ending homelessness. 


Whatever our circumstances today -- whether we relate best to the citizens of the Downtown Lower East Side in an otherwise beautiful city or are facing the prospect of job loss and foreclosure on a mortgage or are still sitting in a comfortable pew, I am sure there are times when we felt homeless even when we had a place to live.

In these challenging times I believe it is time to throw the doors of the community open so that such banner rings true, "God is alive in the heart of our city" or if you prefer a non religious reference, "We are alive in the heart of our city" -- no matter where we live!

My email is mj.morris@live.ca

"Culture of collaboration" needed in Cranbrook to move community forward

By Michael J Morris

 Buddy Dyer, the visionary mayor of Orlando, Florida, is "literally changing the face " of the city best known as a major tourist destination.

  Mayor Dyer, first elected in 2003,  in an interview with Orlando magazine  said “It’s about being able to create a vision and bring a lot of people into it, then move forward."

 The mayor has been real big on creating a "culture of collaboration" bringing together all levels of government, business people, educational institutions, the medical profession, and philanthropists, and of course the citizens of Orlando who have re-elected him.

The Dr Phillips Centre for the Performing Arts was opened on November 6, 2014, as one example, but he has also championed a sports and entertainment complex, the Medical City and Creative Village -- and other major projects.

On my recent visit to Orlando, I had the opportunity to visit the Medical City project. It is simply amazing.

 The Creative Village possibilities have intrigued me for some time, and at this point, in the interests of full disclosure, I visit Orlando regularly, and write for three blogs, owned by an Orlando based business.

 The article notes that "Thinking outside the box with proposals like ... Creative Village, the high-tech business-residential mecca that would be a metropolis in itself, goes along with Dyer’s vision of having the kind of city that will draw a creative class—'talented young entrepreneurs who are going to come up with the next innovation in emerging media or medical science or things of that nature.''

 Cranbrook voters went  to the polls to elect a mayor and council, and it seems to me they elected some candidates who would turn back the block to the old ways of running the city. That's not an option folks,  given the overall decline in relatively rural communities across Canada.

During a recent trip that took me through rural areas of three provinces, I was quite frankly shocked at the decline of rural communities. 

 Another option is to simply muddle along basically with same old, same old attitudes that are similar in nature to turning back the clock.

 There is a third option. Continue to define and implement a new vision for Cranbrook.

 Yes, there will be roadblocks but if Mayor Dyer can do it with all the challenges an American city faces, surely Cranbrook is up to the task before it.

 Just imagine, if we were able to attract those "talented young entrepreneurs" who will take Cranbrook to the next level as a better place to live, work and play. Mayor Dyer is moving Orlando from the city which Disney made famous, and adding to the mix for the 21st Century.

Let us move us forward positively in all aspects of community life, and not be divided with rhetoric and an approach to municipal government from a bygone age that some still like.

 Let's heed Mayor Dyer's advice that we continue with the vision, bring the entire community into it and move forward. My email is mj.morris@live.ca

Rediscovering downtown Cranbrook may bring community together

by Michael J Morris

When I first arrived in Cranbrook during the Spring Break of 1988 to look around, it was with mixed feelings that I decided to travel through five provinces to spend it here, a place I had never visited despite having made previous  trips to British Columbia.

After one of the harshest Northern Ontario winters in many years, the sunny skies of Florida had more appeal. However, as I had often contemplated relocating to somewhere in B.C., the decision was made to travel 3,040 kilometres by car from Chapleau to Cranbrook, and of course return.

Checking in to a motel on 'The Strip' at three a.m. I was still up early and out for a walk, and my first view was of the white-capped mountains before me, a totally awesome sight on any given day: since I moved here just over a year later, they are likely among the main reasons I have stayed in Cranbrook. 

For a short time I thought The Strip must be Cranbrook's main street which being a downtown kind of person, it was one of the places I wanted to explore. I soon discovered the real downtown area which has been the subject of revitalization for at least a quarter century.

Although, today as one who walks everywhere more than 25  years later, I know how  to get downtown by various routes but  my anecdotal research reveals that it is one of the major questions asked me by motorists, "Excuse me, how do I get downtown?"

Depending where I happen to be, that is not the easiest question to answer, given the rather strange configuration of Cranbrook's street network. I do give credit though to those who worked to improve the entrance to downtown and raised the funds for the arches.

At the risk of using a bad metaphor, the Cranbrook street pattern and not just to the downtown, in some ways reflects the community itself -- confused about what it wants to be, which has led to much division among the citizens.  For example, for the longest time, it was referred to as the "Key City" and by many it still is. Then as a result of a rebranding exercise, it became the "heart and soul of the Canadian Rockies" which didn't last long.

Most recently, "Mountains of Opportunity" was coined, but generally has been reduced to the soaring eagle.

Despite it all, and most sadly, Cranbrook remains a divided place, when there is really no need for it. 

The greatest asset any community has is its people, with talents and abilities that can be used doing those things which bring a community together rather than divide it. But as one person reminded me recently, on most major issues, there appears to be about a 50-50 split among the populace on major issues: to wit -- the referendum on the recreation complex and on the East Hill boundary expansion.

Let's go back downtown. Historically, downtown has been the central place for all great cities. When I taught urban and cultural geography and sociology courses, we always began downtown. It was so when I taught geography when I first came here, but if I was teaching it today I don't think so. The Strip, the place I thought was downtown when I first arrived has replaced it with the arrival of the big box stores and other nearby businesses adding to the mix that was already there.

It's too late to reverse those decisions but it's not too late to revitalize the real downtown. Indeed, the process is underway with the arrival of the farmers' market and making it the main venue for Sam Steele Days. The major parades have followed a downtown route forever.

Why bother? Why not just let downtown stay as it is? Quite simply, because we can't be a vibrant community without it. Brendan Behan, the great Irish writer (all Irish writers are great by the way), in his book Brendan Behan's New York wrote that New York City "is my Lourdes, where I go for spiritual nourishment..." I know what he meant. My favourite places in NYC are Rockefeller Center and Central Park.

I also have my favourite downtown places in Vancouver, Calgary, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Toronto, Orlando et al

My favourite place in Cranbrook is Rotary Park, which I discovered over 25 years ago and still visit regularly. Perhaps, we need a "downtown conversation" informal at first, just to chat and listen to ideas .. to "blue sky" if you will the possibilities. Now that the warmer weather is hopefully arriving I plan to wander about the downtown more and rest in Rotary Park. Please feel free to stop me and chat.

I would also love to spend some time at the old Fire Hall, when it becomes the central place for arts and culture rejuvenating the entire downtown area. This new mayor and council, who seem to be divided on the future of the old Fire Hall, has an awesome opportunity to bring this city together by working with the Cranbrook District Arts Council. 

Maybe, we will rediscover the key that makes Cranbrook the heart and soul of the Canadian Rockies and will open mountains of possibilities. I just could not resist mangling metaphors.

 My email is mj.morris@live.ca

Duffy trial reveals ugly truths about Canadian democracy

Perceptions by Gerry Warner

A “Great Senator” and “one of my best, hardest-working appointments ever.”
None other than Prime Minister Stephen Harper scrawled this effusive piece of puffery in silver marker on a picture of Mike Duffy just five months after the PM appointed the now-disgraced senator to his job.
An enlarged copy of the photo was introduced as an exhibit in court Thursday on the third day of Duffy’s trial on 31 criminal counts of fraud, breach of trust and bribery.
And there are 39 trial dates to go in what is shaping up to be an unvarnished look inside the seamy underbelly of federal politics in Canada and when it’s over there will be bodies stacked outside the courthouse door. Three in particular. Let’s begin at the top.
From day one of this tawdry affair, Stephen Harper insisted he knew nothing of the potentially criminal machinations going on in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) much like Manuel in the great British comedy “Fawlty Towers” whimpering “I know nothing.”
Dear reader, in your heart-of-hearts, do you believe that? Does this sound like the iron-fisted, micro-managing Prime Minister that for the past 11 years has been running Canada off the corner of his desk? The peerless leader renowned for his anal-retentive control of the PMO and the entire Conservative Party. If you believe that, I have a Mike Duffy Bobble Head doll I’ll send to you.
Of course, we may never find out, because unlike our American neighbors to the south, who on occasion impeach their presidents and bring them to trial where they’re submitted to cross-examination and other nasty things to protect their
democracy, we don’t do things that way in Canada. We just take our leaders at their word and wouldn’t embarrass them by calling on them to testify.
At least that’s how it appears so far, but that may change before this trial is over.
Then there’s poor Nigel Wright, Harper’s former, ever-obliging, chief-of-staff who would take a bullet for his boss, and did in fact, a $90,000 silver bullet that he used to shut up a recalcitrant, now suspended senator, who believes in his heart-of-hearts that he never did anything wrong – and his trial may prove him right – but was damn determined not to be the scape goat for what he believed most of his fellow Senate colleagues were doing.
And who says Canada can’t produce juicy political scandals with the best of them?
Then there’s our much, maligned, in-glorious Senate, our supposed “Sober Chamber of Second Thought,” which every Prime Minister in Canadian history has appointed members to, who promptly engaged in partisan political activity on behalf of their benefactors. But none did it better than Mike Duffy, who raised thousands, if not millions, for Conservative coffers much to the delight of the Conservative Party and its latest glorious leader, Generalissimo Harper, our great war time leader. (You know this stuff just kinda writes itself, but I digress.)
And which of you dear readers out there think our glorious, unelected Red Chamber will still have the support of Canadian voters when this tawdry trial is over?
Remember there’s more trials to come with pillars of rectitude like suspended Senator Pamela Wallin, who faces numerous charges of having her nose in the trough right beside Duffy and suspended Senator Patrick Brazeau, who was suspended from the Senate after being charged with domestic assault and sexual assault and now runs an Ottawa strip club called the BareFax. Honestly, I’m not making this up.
Dear Canadians, we’ve been had by this crew and thank God we still have a legal system that’s hopefully capable of getting to the bottom of this sleazy affair that is an insult to our intelligence and the credibility of our soiled democracy. And when it’s over I hope we can rebuild a strong and credible democracy but it won’t be with the likes of the politicians and apparatchiks mentioned in this article.
Especially the prime minister.


Gerry Warner is a retired journalist, who once tried politics himself.

Hockey as the Invisible Hand of Canadian Compromise

By Michael J Morris

I took a course in twentieth century European history from Dr Jacques Goutor more than 40 years ago now, and the first thing I learned from him was that hockey kept Canada together. Well, he didn't actually come out and say that exactly, but on the first day of class he told us about his arrival in Canada from France.

Dr Goutor told us that upon arriving in Toronto, he went out and bought the newspapers and the headlines were LEAFS WIN STANLEY CUP! It was 1967, our Centennial year as a nation, and the Toronto Maple Leafs had defeated their arch rivals the Montreal Canadiens in six games. It was to be the last time the Leafs would win Lord Stanley's mug. 

As an aside Dr Goutor was one of the best professors I ever had and went from Wilfrid Laurier University to the University of Western Ontario. He died recently.

All so typically Canadian for our Centennial year in 1967-- a team from the heart of English Canada wins the Stanley Cup but the focus for the celebrations of the centennial is on Montreal, the major French Canadian city which hosted Expo '67, and the cup is named after an Englishman who was Governor General at one time. 

Trust me on this one! It is such as this that has contributed  to keeping the country together and safe-- the invisible hand of Canadian compromise!

Dr Goutor, who at the time had little knowledge of hockey and its importance to Canadians, said he decided to stay here because it had to be a safe place if the headlines were about a sporting event. He was raised in France and lived through the horrors of World War II and its aftermath.

To this day, I watch the headlines of Canadian daily newspapers, and headline writers are ecstatic on those days they can proclaim victory for their local hockey team when it wins a title, and are beside themselves with joy when Canada wins internationally. 

But they know their audience. Hockey has kept it all together in this vast and magnificent land where fans travel great distances for a hockey game, and complain about that other great Canadian unifier, the weather.

Our passion for hockey begins at the local level. I was raised in the northern Ontario town of Chapleau, where the Chapleau Huskies, in various incarnations were the pride and joy for much longer than I have been around. 

When I first visited Cranbrook in 1988 to see if I would move here, while chatting with Karin Penner, the now retired Cranbrook Chamber of Commerce manager, she told me the city had two major teams and both were in the playoffs. While here, I went to the Memorial Arena to watch the Colts and the Royals, the Junior and senior teams respectively play. Little good I did them -- both lost.

And so, from local unheated hockey rinks, many of them called barns, much like the memorial arena in Cranbrook (before renovations) where rivalries among communities brought people together to cheer on their own team, to national and international championship series, Dr Goutor was right. It was a safe country in which to live.

But it seems to me, the times they are a changing, and although hockey certainly remains very popular, somehow it just doesn't seem the same.  I wasn't a very good hockey player but became a referee (and many would say I wasn't very good at that role either), and later I coached and managed Midget and Intermediate "A" teams.

The arrival of the Kootenay Ice of the Western Hockey League In Cranbrook and the construction of what is now Western Financial Place was to herald a new era for hockey here. In the beginning I think it did, but it seems attendance has been shrinking the past few years.

However, because I go to the aquatic centre daily for my swim, I am there when minor hockey tournaments are being held and quite often I will watch a game.

Notwithstanding the tremendous work that minor hockey volunteers do each year, their tournaments  are assuredly one of Cranbrook's best kept secrets. Other than family and friends the 4000 plus seat arena is empty. Minor hockey gets very little publicity in the community, despite the fact that it must be a major economic generator in the Winter months. Maybe somebody should do an economic impact study.

In those days to which Dr Goutor was referring, the "barns" were full for minor hockey tournaments too, and I think we were much closer as citizens of a community.

When I wrote a similar piece a while back for another publication,referring to Dr Goutor's observations, Lorne Riley, the head of corporate communications at Dubai Airports, who studied Journalism and Law at Carleton University, and was a student of mine at Chapleau High School responded. Lorne's father, Lorne Sr. was one of the best hockey coaches in Northern Ontario years ago.

Although Lorne agreed that hockey is one of the ties that binds this great nation, recalling games huddled under the heaters, or jammed against the glass of the press of the crowd, and an "electric" atmosphere existed especially in the playoffs, he fears the tie is fraying.

He mentioned the decline in local enrolments for minor hockey, especially in Ontario, but across the country and interestingly, at least to me -- "new age diversions like the internet, video games, satellite TV .. things that we never had to contend with" are contributing.

And Lorne added: "Another contributor to minor hockey's gradual downfall is the staggering cost. Equipment, rink rental, club fees and travelling costs have gone through the roof. Even the most passionate hockey Moms and Dads think twice about footing the bill. A changing demographic, with cultural roots more closely tied to cheaper sports like soccer, is also eroding interest and participation in Canada's national pastime.Is Canadian hockey in danger of extinction? Not at all. Is it at risk?"

He concluded that that we need to recall those days when we jammed into the local barn -- "not only to enshrine them in our memory but to use them to encourage parents and children, in small towns and big cities across Canada not to lose touch with our roots and by extension our national identity."

Once again in our history we need the invisible hand of Canadian compromise that hockey provided, and seems to have been lost somewhere along the way. Despite intense rivalries, players shook hands at the end of each game, a sign of mutual respect for a game well played, no matter who won.  A safer place too! My email is mj.morris@live.ca

Tremendous Power Shift Underway In Connecting With Each Other On The New 'Main Street'

MJ at Cocoa Beach. Photo by Michael Pelzer

By Michael J Morris

Howard Rheingold, one of the pioneers of virtual communities, said, more thn 20 years ago, that " a tremendous power shift is underway ... this power shift is about people and our ability to connect with each other in new ways... " 

Speaking at the first Writers' Retreat on Interactive Technology and Equipment conference sponsored by the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University and Emily Carr College of Art and Design, Rheingold noted in 1994 that he was struck by the "citizen-to citizen movement now known as virtual community" popping up everywhere he travelled.

I was at the conference preparing to teach my first Writing for New Media course at College of the Rockies where I was also working on a grad program in New Media Communications launched a year later. 

Very few people at the time agreed with Rheingold and other internet pioneers who believed as I did that we were embarking on the biggest societal change in communications since the days of Gutenberg and his printing press. 

Fast forward to now! You don't hear much about virtual communities now, as all the talk is about social networking, the fastest growing and popular use of the internet. The power shift has occurred despite the naysayers then and now, because of our need to connect, one with the other, especially because we now live in the world of many-to-many medium or one-to-one as Rheingold also predicted.

Simply put, a virtual community is any online community, a social network of people who interact through one of the social media. 

Our Main Street has been redefined. It is anywhere globally. I have Facebook friends in Canada, the United States, Israel, Germany, etc, and I stay in touch with all friends 24/7 whereever we are.
Take the popularity of Facebook for example. I joined  at the suggestion of some of my former students about six years ago, and I extend great thanks to them. I have been able to reconnect with so many people with whom I had lost touch for many years, and catch up on their lives. Facebook is also an example of the success of new media with its convergence of all media to digital forms.

At any given time on Facebook, "friends" are using text, still photos, videos and all kind of cool things to communicate with one another and a broader audience if they wish. One-to-one and many-to-many!!!

However, the communications potential of Facebook and Twitter is not being maximized as far too often it is simply a one-way street. For example, journalists use Twitter primarily in my view to retweet among themselves as part of some mutual admiration society.  However, it is improving now.

While teaching new media at COTR I made many fearless predictions about where we were headed. At times I really didn't have a clue but knew something big was happening.

By 1998 at least five of my students were involved in online romances, and if memory serves me right, three had gone off to meet their new loved one. They met in chat rooms.

One day in the lab, one student who was deeply involved in chat rooms was pounding away on her computer, when suddenly in a burst of anger rushed from the room, went outside and lit a cigarette. I went out to see what had happened. It turns out that the virtual friend turned out to be a he instead of a she, or vice versa, I just forget, but the emotions were every bit as real as in any budding romance in real time.

In the COTR library where students had access to computers, they were banned by the powers-that-be from accessing chat rooms, which in those days was the main reason the students wanted to use the computers. To me it was a sure sign that big changes could not be far off. The kids were way ahead in social networking, while the established order wanted to ban them from the practice. Now kids are "tweeting" and "facebooking" -- at least for the moment. Plus Instagram and a host of others.

And yes, there are extremes. Recently, a friend told me he was in a restaurant with his son and one of his friends and for about 15 minutes they were busy texting on their phones. Finally, he asked who they were texting. It turned out they were texting each other.

When I think of it though, my generation liked to pass notes around the classroom to our friends, which of course was forbidden. Now they stay in touch by texting each other, and using Facebook, Twitter, etc. 

I would love to hear your comments on social networking and its place in your life, and how you enjoy staying connected with others. You can leave comments here or my email is mj.morris@live.ca