Letter to Rick Mercer re: Genie Awards at the Aviation Museum
In case you missed it, Ottawa will be hosting the 2009 Genie Awards at the Canada Aviation Museum. From the NCC press release issued on January 14:
The NCC has worked since 1899 to make the Capital an expression of the Canadian identity. Thanks to the steady, persistent and focused efforts of generation after generation of planners and landscape architects, Canada’s Capital is today a model of unspoiled shorelines, scenic parkways and boulevards, preserved heritage, monuments and expansive parks. Just as importantly, the Capital has become a place for national encounters, commemorations, learning and celebrations such as the Genie Awards.
The following was submitted by a concerned citizen to Rick Mercer at info@rickmercer.com to let him know what might be in store for the 2009 Genie Awards venue down the road. As you are probably aware, Rick never misses an opportunity to question some of the bizarre decisions made by politicians and decision makers in this great country of ours.
Who knows…he might just take an interest in a proposal to transform the unspoiled shorelines and a scenic parkway in our nation’s capital into a trucking route that would just happen to run within a few hundred meters of the “Canada Aviation Museum, one of the country’s most visually stunning landmarks.”
Feel free to send Rick an email yourself if you think this is something he should know about.
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Hi Rick,
Are you coming to Ottawa for the Genie Awards on Sunday, April 4, 2009?
If so, maybe you could do yet another Ottawa rant—only this time take a dig at the NCC.
The Genies are being held at the Canada Aviation Museum, which the NCC calls “one of the country’s most visually stunning landmarks.”
In fact the NCC, in a great gesture of support, has recently given the museum a grant of $7 million to improve its visibility and accessibility and enhance its “wow” factor.
The only problem is that, at the same time, the NCC is also spending 9 million taxpayer dollars to study the idea of building a truck route on the scenic parkway right by this museum. The guardian of our beautiful capital city doesn’t see the problem or the contradiction in any of this.
Trucks aren’t beautiful. They don’t do anything for tourism. They also don’t improve visibility or accessibility. Tourists from all over the world could be sharing a roundabout with as many as 4,000 trucks a day trying to find their way to the museum.
Of course, the neighbours aren’t thrilled about this plan either because the truck route would skirt past front driveways and back yards and come within 25 metres of a hospital and 15 metres of an elementary school. We call it Ottawa’s Spadina Expressway. It goes by the name of the Kettle Island Bridge and we have been fighting the proposal for decades.
If you want to find out more, check out www.stopthebridge.org.
Oh, and by the way, the NCC is doing this to be a model for the rest of Canada. I kid you not. So this could come to a city near you.
Love your show,
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