No Rest For Terry Fox

Did you know that Port Coquitlam City Council may likely set a national precedent by letting Rogers build a 50 metre cell tower, starting at the very cemetery where Terry Fox rests?

For City Council, the past seems a foreign country, and for all Canadians this would be an offence to the memory of one of our greatest heroes, whose name recognition exceeds almost all others. He is known around the world.

To add insult to injury, Rogers began the process in March, coinciding with the Paralympic Games, not long after the Opening Ceremonies in February when Mother Betty Fox was a flag bearer. Does no one in City Council remember that Betty Fox was also considered a leading candidate throughout British Columbia (and across Canada) for the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron?

In Canada there are 32 roads and streets named after Terry, 14 schools, 7 statues, 9 fitness trails, even a mountain in the Canadian Rockies, aside from the annual Terry Fox Run in virtually every school and community across the nation – and even internationally. But he rests in only one cemetery. And it could be the first cemetery in Canada to host a cell tower.

What kind of precedent does Port Coquitlam want to set for other cemeteries and forgotten heroes across our nation? Does cash from Rogers come before heritage? Would this not represent a terrible stain on our national prestige? Just because others have “passed” does not mean you can throw away the past – or treat it with disrespect. Ask those in the “know” why we have cemeteries.

If you want to help keep Terry’s memory, and that of many, many others, from being sullied (now and in the future), please state your opposition to the mayor, Greg Moore, and council at: mayorcouncillors@portcoquitlam.ca – and to Rogers PR person: sara.holland@rci.rogers.com

Thank you.