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My Dog Teaches … About Parking
 For Hunny, anything connected to the word “park” is cause for
excitement, as it generally means a place to play her favorite
game of fetching the tennis ball. So I am taking some liberty
with her in writing about “parking” (as in the mundane action of
parking the car) instead of about going to the park.
On the Victoria Day holiday, Hunny and I made a trip to the
leash-free area at Cherry Beach in Toronto to enjoy the first
truly summer weekend of the year. The weather was absolutely
fabulous and many others had the similar idea of taking
advantage of the blue skies and warm temperatures with their
families, with their friends, and with their dogs.
The fact that we have such a natural playground so close to the
downtown of a major metropolitan area gives us pause to
appreciate how lucky we are to live in Canada. Although it was
busy, it was not crowded simply because of the ample space along
the waterfront. The only time some patience was needed was in
getting something to eat or drink from the concession stand and
in finding a place to park the car.
And here is where Hunny and I have a bone to pick with our city
officials. Despite the fact that the road is easily four lanes
wide, and has no through traffic because it dead-ends at the
beach, no parking was allowed on either side, creating an
extreme artificial shortage of parking spaces. And
No Parking signs seem
to attract police and traffic enforcement personnel like
unwanted wasps at a picnic, complete with a $30.00 sting.
The police were out in force, and as far as I could tell, they
were not there to keep the peace but to write as many parking
tickets as they could. And they were easily doing a brisker
business than the concession stand.
Which brings me to one of the common threads that seem to weave
through these columns. Our public officials, in theory, are
supposed to serve the people; that is why they are called
“public servants”. Yet, more and more it seems that somehow we,
the public, are being forced to be subservient to those who are
supposed to serve us.
The fact that no parking was permitted and then rigorously
enforced in an area that clearly could have accommodated much
more without any difficulty, is but another example of how our
freedoms are slowly being eroded away under a plethora of petty
rules and regulations that have little to do with common sense
or good governance. Is it that novel an idea to think that it
would have better served the public interest if our officials
had actually helped the park-goers enjoy their outings by
loosening the parking restrictions after it became obvious that
there were too few parking spaces? This could have created good
will and appreciation of our public officials instead of
resentment and anger.
Certainly, in a busy city like Toronto, no one is suggesting
that traffic and parking control are not needed to ensure that
we can get around in the city. But to go to a popular,
out-of-the-way spot on a holiday to enforce parking by-laws has
a decidedly cynical and unfriendly tone about it. In fact, one
U.S. tourist I spoke to was quite outraged at the spectacle and
expressed her view that it was an embarrassment for the city.
(And no, she was not one of those who had been ticketed – I
checked.)
Our parks are meeting places and are important to give us a
sense of community. But they, and our cities, become less
friendly as we are subjected to more and more arbitrary rules.
Why should it matter if people out to enjoy a day at the beach
park their cars on the grass verge of an isolated road?
For me, the sight of our public officials doing their best to
harass the public with unnecessary enforcement diminished some
of the enjoyment of going to the lakefront. Not because I got a
ticket myself (I didn’t – I managed to find a “legitimate”
parking spot), but because it seemed petty and unfair that so
many others who had come to take pleasure in one of Toronto’s
offerings found themselves with one.
But maybe that is just me. For her part, Hunny was oblivious to
everything except fetching the ball and enjoying the water on a
hot summer’s day. Personally, I think she has the right idea –
although it is necessary at times to be leashed, our happiest
and most productive times are when we are unfettered.
Previous "Petitorial"
articles by David McKague:
Editor’s note:
I would like to encourage dog lovers everywhere
to start a PETITION to have this law thrown out or revised to such
a form where justice prevails. SFR.
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