So long to the RIH heritage trees, it’s been good to know you

It’s fitting, in a way, that the trees in front of Royal Inland Hospital should go out in at least a little controversy. The word “little” is key, since there’s been little fuss compared to the first time their removal was proposed.

Time makes a big difference. At the turn of the century, chain-sawing the grand old heritage trees to put up a parking lot became the subject of an intense political debate and heavy community protest. Those who opposed taking down the trees won the day; the trees stayed.

Last week, the trees started coming down with only a murmur of public objection. The IHA announced they would come down Friday, then started the work on Thursday. Just a matter of available crews, it said.

The timing is interesting in another way — in the middle of an election campaign. In the past, attacking the trees during a campaign would have been regarded as risky. Now, it’s seen as a plus, a sign that long-wanted upgrades to RIH are a promise that will be kept.

No objections from City Hall, either, contrary to the earlier plan to build a parkade. Last July, when the new RIH master plan was unveiled, I wrote a column comparing the then and now. Here’s some of it.

“Say so long to the RIH trees.

“A dozen years ago, 12-year-old Emily Ferguson led a rebellion against a bureaucracy that wanted to cut down the grand old elm and ash trees in front of the hospital.

“She won. Today, she wouldn’t.

“The RIH master plan this week not only reveals the fate of the trees, but is revealing for its total lack of consideration for them. Nowhere in the plan can I find any acknowledgement that removal of the trees was or is an issue.

“… There are lots of reasons this plan will go ahead, and the trees lost.

“One is that there is no political will to save them. In 1999, the prospect of losing the trees became an election issue as Emily Ferguson’s battle gained national attention. Though municipal politicians had no authority in the matter – just as they have no technical authority now – their vocal opposition to the hospital’s plans had a big influence on the outcome.

“You won’t find that opposition this time around. They were well primed at closed-door meetings with IHA brass to extol the virtues of the plan.

“Secondly, the IHA didn’t exist in 1999…

“Thirdly, this is a very different concept than the traditional ugly parkade contemplated back at the turn of the century. It comes complete with very nice looking artist’s renderings that show glass and plants and pleasant surroundings.

“People are so desperate for improvements to health care, so anxious for RIH to be updated, that they feel there’s no option…

“As Mayor Peter Milobar, clearly not a tree guy, remarked, ‘There is always trade-offs in life. Are we trying to improve health care or what?’

“Oh, and one more. The trees are 12 years older. They were old in 1999; today it won’t be difficult to find an arborist to say they’re past their prime and will soon pose a danger to public safety.

“Really, when it comes down to it, it’s hard to argue that a couple of dozen trees are more important than much-needed upgrades to a hospital that was built in the wrong place.

“In other words, that was then, this is now. Every tree has its day; their time has, unfortunately, come.”