Grief, Generosity, and a Galvanizing of Community Spirit

What began as a brief comment ended up as a unique citizen exercise. Ed Jackman (look for him in the video below) was in the car with us on the day Caterpillar announced it was shutting down the ElectroMotive plant in London. His concern for our community was obvious, and with a tone of anger and empathy he said quietly, "People need to talk. We should have some kind of meeting or something."In my community, that's sometimes all it takes. Within an hour, some of us on the Citizen's Panel had selected a time and an agenda for the kind of gathering Ed was talking about and last night it all came together.When you see Ed in the video, you'll experience a bit of trouble hearing him. Mild-mannered and quiet, without knowing it he had become a community champion and those of us who know him quietly flushed with pride at what he had done. We had expected 50 citizens and got 90. Worried that things might go off the rails and careen into personal agendas, what we got instead was a group of people who, of their own accord, stayed on the subjects of how do we help these ElectroMotive workers and at the same time help our community find a less-vulnerable future.I spent almost five years in Parliament and often felt frustrated that I couldn't get much accomplished. But last night I felt more was done in just two hours than what had occurred during my feeble attempts in Ottawa. One 140 character message on Twitter! That was all that was sent out and this wonderful meeting was what came of it. Remarkable. But then again, this is our town and this is how we're learning to respond to pain.People offered to give rides for kids of the workers to hockey or other events. Offers were made of daycare, groceries, finance counselling. One lawyer stood up and offered to assist in any legal difficulties around EI or severance, and then launched it a sixty-second appeal to seek alteration of the investment review act that permitted Caterpillar to stride through our community as though it was invulnerable. Another investment analyst rose up and talked about how to divest from such companies. Some of the workers expressed their collective fear for their children.Yup, this is citizenship at its finest and some of us were lucky enough to witness it in action. As one older woman said upon leaving, "Glen, this is Norman Rockwell stuff; I never thought I'd see it again." Well she did and her own hope for her country was renewed - not by some leader or vaulted figure, but by others just like her.On a day when the Prime Minister refused to permit Elizabeth May to rise and give tribute to recently deceased president Vaclav Havel (an honoured member of the Order of Canada), anyone who wished spoke at the one parliament that really matters - the Parliament of Citizens. Humbled by their commitment and their willingness to listen, I thank all of them.http://youtu.be/Fx6N2IEYoCg