LETTER – Things have changed on the Rivers Trail near Westmount Park

Re: ROTHENBURGER – We don’t have a moral obligation to give drug users free rein

Thanks for your editorial, Mel.

Rivers Trail near Westmount Park used to be an absolute gem.  Things have changed.  Since I found a zip lock bag containing 3 smaller zip lock bags early one August morning in 2022 between Westmount Park and Moira House, a sense of reality sank into the remaining grey matter between my ears.

Not knowing what residue of what chemicals were in the bags, the thought of our dog being poisoned or some child being poisoned was within the realm of possibility.  I took some photos of the zip lock bags and sent them to Mayor and Council.  One of the councillors, who voted to approve Moira House, replied to my email and attempted to draw me into the chain of blame by saying something I had done actually made the problem worse.

How much worse and in what way?  I asked, in reply, how stupid the councillor thought I was.  No reply.

That “find” along Rivers Trail and a subsequent find of a used needle prompted some discussion between my wife and me about getting a naloxone kit to carry when we walk our dog.

Today, I sent an email to our vet, attached a photo of the zip lock bags, and asked if carrying a naloxone kit would be a good idea.  In the reply, I was told that the life of our dog could only be saved if the drug ingested was fentanyl.  The advice was to get our dog into the clinic as quickly as possible for treatment.  The other piece of advice was to avoid areas where our dog could contact discarded drug paraphernalia.

Yes, the thought is nice but in practical terms, a 69-year-old senior citizen trying to carry a 75 -pound dog to a vehicle at home and then driving the dog to a nearby vet clinic just isn’t going to happen.  Avoiding the Rivers Trail along Westmount Park and Moira House area is going to be difficult; it only leaves a stretch between the north end of Westmount Park up to Westmount elementary school.

So, how stupid does the councillor think I am?  I really don’t know.  The three incumbents voted to approve Moira House.  None of them live nearby and their daily lives have not been affected by that decision.  I voted for none of them.

They now are part of a gang of 8 who seem to be hell bent to discredit a fellow whom I met close to Moira House long before he decided to run for mayor.

Has local politics gone to the dogs?  I hardly think so.  Our dog is a lot more going for him and he’s never once suggested that finding the zip lock bags and discarding them safely was making the problem worse.  It seems that only an incumbent councillor could dream up something that illogical and baseless.

Cheers, Mel.

JOHN NOAKES,
Westmount