We don鈥檛 live in the most kid-friendly part of the country.
With just 13 per cent of the population under age 15, Greater Victoria has the fewest children, relatively speaking, of any city in Canada. 麻豆传媒映画Island is dotted with communities 鈥� Youbou, Union Bay, Woss, Honeymoon Bay 鈥� that no longer have schools at all. Gated 50-plus developments use grey hair as a selling feature.
Which brings us to Chemainus, where there鈥檚 an uproar over a decision to ban children from playing on a private street.
It involves the small Artisan Gardens neighbourhood, where homeowners at their strata鈥檚 annual general meeting last week voted to ban using the road for play 鈥渋ncluding hockey, baseball, basketball, skateboarding, chalk artistry, bicycling or other sports and recreational activities.鈥�
The move blindsided the four families whose 11 young children are affected. Three of the families rent, so didn鈥檛 get a vote.
鈥淚 went: 鈥榃hat, are you kidding me?鈥� 鈥� says Crystal Clarke, a mother of three who has lived in the neighbourhood for three years. 鈥淚鈥檓 OK with no hockey and no baseball, but to not let my three-year-old ride her bike in front of my house, that鈥檚 silly.鈥�
Christa Howard, whose daughter turns four in two weeks, was similarly gobsmacked. 鈥淲e had no idea that we were upsetting anyone.鈥� The strata鈥檚 decision was done in the name of safety, but Howard suspects it has more to do with shifting demographics in what was once advertised as a family area but is now marketed as great for retirees. Some people don鈥檛 want to have to look out for children when they back out of the driveway.
The street in question 鈥� a quiet cul-de-sac with a narrow neck just wide enough for one car to pass 鈥� is the only place where all the kids can get together to play, Howard says. A parent is always present, she says. 鈥淲e鈥檒l sit on the side of the road and watch them.鈥�
Predictably, once word of the ban filtered out, a backlash ensued in the community.
The strata council鈥檚 Vandy Noble 鈥� who voted against the ban 鈥� says those who favoured the idea did have children鈥檚 safety in mind, but many now regret the sweeping nature of the motion. 鈥淚 think most are looking to compromise and to get back to being a family community.鈥�
In any case, the strata is far from the first to go down this (childless) road. Many Canadian cities have bylaws that make it illegal to play in the street, and B.C.鈥檚 Motor Vehicle Act can be interpreted that way, too. In reality, though, such laws are enforced so rarely, usually when a neighbour registers a complaint, that it becomes a cause celebre when they are.
In Hamilton, Ont., where a woman was vilified after raising a ruckus over road hockey a few years ago, the city recently ended its 60-year-old ban on the sport. A $75 noise-bylaw fine levied against a street hockey player in Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Que., was overturned in 2011. Earlier, Bobby Orr and Sidney Crosby went to bat (stick?) for those battling street hockey bans in the Maritimes. In 2000, when Port Coquitlam condo owners went to court to stop children from playing road hockey, former 麻豆传媒映画Canuck Tiger Williams offered to pay their parents鈥� legal bills.
In case you鈥檙e wondering, the City of Victoria has no appetite for chasing children off the street. Likewise, Saanich is reluctant to stop youngsters from being active. Saanich says people could, in theory, make a nuisance or noise complaint, but on the only occasion that anyone can remember that happening, the complainant was persuaded to 鈥� and here I paraphrase 鈥� get a life.
All this happens at a time when we鈥檙e constantly bombarded with warnings that it鈥檚 vital to get kids playing outside. Even if we force sedentary, screen-addicted Junior to stumble into the sunlight, we鈥檙e told, he probably couldn鈥檛 wobble more than a block without getting winded and taking a knee. Adults should be pushing their children out the door, not locking them in the basement. (Echoes of my own mother鈥檚 voice: 鈥淲hat are you kids doing inside on a day like this? Get your guns and go to the dump.鈥�)
That鈥檚 the background for the Chemainus ban. 鈥淲e鈥檙e being told to get our children outside and be active, and now we鈥檙e being told we can鈥檛 do that outside our own homes,鈥� Howard said.
That is, if you can afford both a home and children. In Victoria, where RBC says owning a home can suck up 63 per cent of household income, that鈥檚 far from a certainty. It isn鈥檛 easy to raise a family here.
Noble remains hopeful for change: 鈥淚 believe there is nothing more joyful than happy children at play.鈥�
