Precious father-daughter memories help fuel the fight against high speed train
Rail proposal threatens 'piece of heaven on earth'
WHEN I WAS a little girl my father and I would go for evening walks down the Cataraqui Trail from Boyce Island, where our little blue and white cottage lives. On those hot summer nights, listening to the cicadas buzz, we would slowly make our way to the “Big Bridge” looking at the snapping turtle shells littered along the embankment and the monarch butterflies resting on the milkweed plants. My father would joke that the Blue Heron we saw nightly crossing the lake was heading home to his family for dinner. At the time, the old rail ties on the bridge weren’t covered and I was afraid that my little feet would slip between the cracks. My dad would hold my hand and show me with his own foot how impossible it was for that to happen.
My dad passed away in July of 2019, and when he passed I promised him that I would protect and keep safe the place he loved the most, his piece of heaven on earth. Now, seemingly out of nowhere, everything that he loved, that I still love, is threatened. Never could I have imagined that I would now be fighting to protect and keep safe the memories of my late father while also joining fellow members of the South Frontenac Community from the very real and disturbing threat of a High Speed Rail line.
My precious personal memories of South Frontenac aside, I am deeply concerned abouts the serious impact the HSR would have on Kingston’s neighbours, its wildlife and the people themselves.
MP Mark Gerretsen has recently voiced his support of the HSR, and been particularly vocal in advocating for the train to gain a stop in Kingston, despite Alto’s assertion that there is no mandate for an extra stop.
This project may present as a shiny new prospect for Kingston. But the damage and destruction it would cause to South Frontenac is immeasurable.
MP Gerretsen says that the HSR would improve mobility for residents, increase access to Kingston’s amenities and bring more tourists to the area. He seems to be unaware or to overlook the associated social and environmental effects. Quite certainly, any proposed route would bisect roads, farms and access to Kingston from South Frontenac and vice versa. This would cause chaos for emergency services, school bus routes and general access to and from the Kingston area. Imagine the normal 20-minute drive from Sydenham to Kingston being bisected so that 20 minutes becomes an hour. Then consider that it is an ambulance drive now taking an hour. Does this sound like an improvement to access for rural communities?
MP Gerretsen also claims that this will increase tourism to the area and this too is misleading. How is tourism for Kingston or the South Frontenac area likely to increase when there is no proposed or mandated stop? This is more likely to minimize if not destroy tourism to the Frontenac area. The train will bisect roads leading to popular outdoor destinations including Frontenac Provincial Park, the K&P Trail and the Cataraqui Trail. These are places that so many area residents and beyond frequent, cherish, and know to support many wild animals. Are we prepared to sacrifice the magnificence of rural communities and peaceful environmental havens for the sake of a train blowing through?
The prospect of the HSR has already taken a toll on the mental wellbeing of the residents in South Frontenac. These are real people whose livelihoods may be at stake under the swath of the southern corridor: farmers whose fields would be sliced in half and made inaccessible by the HSR and multi-generational families who would lose property and homes. So much would be lost, along with the beautiful nature and precious wildlife that thrives along the lakes, trails and forests of South Frontenac.
To those of you who are feeling scared, sad and powerless in this moment, you are not alone. I, and many others, feel those same fears and dread the thought of seeing the spaces that we love destroyed by this project. We must work together to combat this threat to our livelihoods and our communities and I implore the people of Kingston to think of your friends in South Frontenac and join us in protecting the beauty and the wonder of rural life.
Sarah McMullen is a member of Save South Frontenac and a registered psychotherapist. She continues her family’s tradition of spending the summer on Sydenham Lake.
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