[lit-ideas] It sounds like something out of Philip K Dick but...
- From: dsavory@xxxxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 5 Aug 2004 09:29:33 -0700
Wal-Mart, Jesuits square off
Ontario board to rule on Guelph megastore
Church calls plans incompatible with rural sanctuary
KATE HARRIES
ONTARIO REPORTER
GUELPH, Ont.?The world's largest retailer is taking on one of the Catholic
church's most respected religious orders.
In a hearing that started this week, a two-member Ontario Municipal Board
panel will decide whether a 135,000 square-foot Wal-Mart store is compatible
with the adjacent Ignatius Jesuit Centre, a 242-hectare rural property that
includes a retreat house to which people from all over the world come for
prayer and reflection.
The Jesuits say the Wal-Mart proposal, at the junction of Highways 6 and 7,
will spell the end of the spiritual nature of the centre.
"This is sacred ground ? a sanctuary for people, a sanctuary for wildlife,"
said Rev. James Profit, the centre's director, as he looked out over wetlands,
an organic farm and quiet forested spaces that the Jesuits have occupied for
almost a century.
Profit believes that God is on the Jesuits' side.
"We're not walking this path alone," he said. "There is a greater power on our
side."
There are three cemeteries nearby, but the modern world can be seen and heard.
There's a plaza anchored by a Canadian Tire store and from the west, there's a
persistent hum from the ventilators of an Imperial Tobacco plant.
But Profit said the megastore, on land currently designated industrial, will
spawn a new level of commercial activity and traffic and give impetus to
greater development in the city's north end than is presently envisaged.
Wal-Mart Canada spokesperson Kevin Groh sidesteps questions on whether the
retail giant is taking on God.
"We have been very cautious about how we have proceeded," he said in a
telephone interview from the company's Mississauga headquarters.
"We have consulted for almost a decade, and that includes the Jesuit group.
The changes that we've made to the original design proposal are significant."
They include a reduction in the size of the store, protection for the wetlands
and more trees in a buffer zone.
Does the spiritual dimension raised by the Jesuits enter into the equation?
"It absolutely does," Groh said. "For every development we undertake coast-to-
coast in every community, we give a great amount of thought to compatibility.
We need to know that ultimately a new store is going to be a good fit for
everyone involved."
Profit acknowledges that Wal-Mart has made changes to alleviate some concerns,
but he points out the Jesuits ? who have been in Guelph for 152 years and
built a noviciate here in 1913 ? won't be able to make similar demands of
other businesses attracted to the area if the rules change.
Wal-Mart should locate in space designated under the official plan, in areas
where the city's major growth is taking place ? to the east, west and south,
he said.
OMB panellists Bob Boxma, a Toronto lawyer, and John Aker, a former Oshawa and
Durham Region councillor, are hearing arguments this week and next from
lawyers representing Wal-Mart and the city on one side, and the Jesuit Centre
and a citizens' group on the other.
One major critic of the mega-store that isn't present at the hearings is the
Downtown Board of Management. Chair Jack Allan said in an interview the
decision to withdraw as a participant was made for financial reasons, but the
board would express its continuing opposition at the OMB's public session
tonight. For eight years, Guelph council ? headed by smart-growth proponent
Karen Farbridge ? refused to approve the Wal-Mart store. Farbridge was
defeated in last November's municipal election by pro-development Mayor Kate
Quarrie. In May, after hearing from 36 deputations against the project and six
in favour, council reversed its position and voted 10-3 to allow it to proceed.
"What was amazing was that there was no debate despite all the people coming
forward," Profit commented.
Groh pointed out that council's about-face reflects the will of the people as
expressed in the municipal election and in a petition signed two years ago by
10,000 people.
Profit agreed there's passion on both sides of the issue.
"It's our spiritual connectedness to the land itself which gives us the
passion to persevere," he said.
"It's made me reflect on the consumer culture and the perception that people
have that there is nothing wrong with our consumption in the world today and
the amount of it," Profit said. "What we have here also has value ? in our
busy lifestyle, people more and more need sanctuary places to touch into the
spiritual, the divine."
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