Democracy usually works well here in Canada, but there are times when it鈥檚 messy, and not everyone is happy with the results. The adage that 鈥測ou can鈥檛 please everyone鈥� proves true in these instances, particularly where compromise is brought into the picture to try and make both sides of an issue happy 鈥� sometimes, both sides are dissatisfied, but that is the price of democracy.
Weyburn鈥檚 city council had a prime example of this on Monday evening, as an application for a neighbourhood outdoor rink using a city park-playground area came before council, and the chambers were packed with young children and their parents as the neighbourhood basically turned out to support the arena builder-owner, Ryan Birnie.
He spoke to council about why he should be allowed to put the outdoor skating rink up again this winter, after it went over well last winter. The problem was, one of the residents of the area, Dr. Dmitri Louvish, found it disruptive and an annoyance, with both the lights and the noise of hockey players banging pucks on the board disturbing him.
Thus, at council, both Birnie and Dr. Louvish expressed their views of this rink, and then members of council had their views on the matter, with some councillors wanting to make sure that the resident who was not happy with this arrangement had his concerns addressed.
There were suggestions of compromises, such as moving the location of the rink to the southern part of the park, which would cause the rink configuration to be altered as the space is not the same, and having an earlier curfew time than the city鈥檚 current noise bylaw allows.
Some residents pointed out that moving the rink to that part of the park would make the lights even more of an issue to Dr. Louvish, due to the angle the rink would have to be set up at.
In the end, the solution which had support of four of the six members of council was to move the rink by five or six feet further away from Dr. Louvish鈥檚 fence, and Birnie agreed to having a 9:30 p.m. curfew. In addition, Birnie mentioned that snow could be built up in certain parts of the rink to help muffle the sound of pucks somewhat.
There was some compromise, but perhaps not to the extent that the doctor wanted, plus the suggestion for a meeting between the neighbours to hash out everything didn鈥檛 happen, because the motion for the rink was passed. Perhaps there is an opportunity for the neighbours to get together and talk anyway, so that the children will have their rink for the winter, and the residents won鈥檛 all be unhappy with the situation. This too is democracy. 鈥� Greg Nikkel
