Councillor Marianne Meed Ward asked if those concrete barriers that are used to deaden sound could be used along the edge of the edge of the rail line. A close look at some of the pictures in this piece suggest that would be very possible – who is going to pay for it?
Done properly the city should be able to exert enough pressure on the railway companies, the federal government and anyone else involved with rail transportation – and bring them all to the table to find a solution to this problem
Davy suggested the city bring Oakville into the picture as well.
Denise Davy – Journalist and winner of the 2008 Michener-Deacon Fellowship presented to her by Her Excellency Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada. The Michener-Deacon Fellowship allowed Ms Davy to investigate and report on the crisis in children’s mental health, which Ms Davy maintains has more and more children being diagnosed with mental health disorders but the majority are not receiving the treatment they so desperately need. The Michener-Deacon fellowship is awarded annually to a deserving recipient and helps to advance education in the field of journalism and serves the public interest through the promotion of values that benefit the community.
What did she get for her efforts? Quite a bit actually. The city handed the issue off to the Director of Transportation, Bruce Zvaniga, who will put together a report that lays out the facts and where the responsibility rests – and if he is smart, he will take up Denise Davy on her offer to help. This woman is motivated.
Her son did not commit suicide. He was just where he shouldn’t have been at the wrong time.
In her delegation Davy made reference to Dr. Gustavo Turecki of McGill University, seen as one of the leading researchers on suicide and conducts studies to better understand the characteristics of these individuals, focusing on issues such as early development, personality traits and neurobiological factors, with particular attention to how the environment interacts with the genome to increase risk.
Typically, his studies address questions such as: “Why do some people who become depressed commit suicide while others with the same illness do not?” At a molecular level, he investigates the role of epigenetic risk factors, namely how life experience affects gene function and increases risk for suicidal behavior.
The research is nice – Denise Davy wants to see better barriers around those place where people can easily cross railway tracks.
Rail regulations are a federal matter – and it would be nice to believe that Mike Wallace, our MP and Jane McKenna our MPP will be on the phone to Denise Davy the moment they read this and ask her to ensure she passes along whatever she gets from the city. Wallace will surely advise Davy that rail is federal and that’s his domain –and he will look into the problem. Right!
Penny, thank you for this article.
Denise, first and foremost, my sincerest condolences for the loss of your son.
I write, simply to thank you for working so hard on such an important issue. An article you wrote “A mother’s passionate plea for action on railway safety” was what brought your fight for improvement to my attention. You mention another young man killed behind the Lick’s on Fairview in your article – that young man was a friend of mine.
I wholeheartedly applaud and support your efforts, and if there’s any way to help, please, let me know!
Thanks to Our Burlington for the thorough coverage on this important issue. I agree with them that my MP and MPP should definitely have contacted me by now and yet I am still waiting to hear from them. I am also glad that they included the comment from Jack Dennison who publicly admitted in city council that he breaks the law by trespassing over the tracks regularly. Dennison is not only endorsing dangerous and illegal behaviour, he is setting a bad example for others, especially teens. I hope voters will keep this in mind during the next election.