Questions, questions, questions ...

by SHERALYN ROMAN

I have questions. It's been said to be careful what questions you ask because you might not like the answers but I don't like not knowing either. Speculation is a heavy burden and leads to all kinds of assumptions and we all know what forms the core of the word “assume.” So, in my humble opinion it is better to ask the questions than not. Better to ask and hope for a response, or at least some clarity around the questions. Finally, it's better to ask and then allow time to deal with the answer, no matter whether it is to our liking or not.

What are some of my questions? Good question! I'm not really able to ask the first one because brighter minds than mine will be asking. Minds that actually have a degree in journalism and will investigate, not just complain in a column. Here's a hint though, it involves three initials that everyone in Caledon is quite familiar with. The first is “M” and the last, an “O.” I'll leave the rest up to you to figure out. My next question wonders who, and why, people “forgot” to tell Caledon residents about an application for a blasting quarry by one of the largest gravel consortiums on the planet? Sure, I am late to the party myself on this question, and it's good to know that some residents have been fighting the good fight for quite some time now. I appreciate you've been trying to protect our environment and our community from the potential havoc that will be wreaked by yet another gravel pit decimating the Caledon countryside but I'm also pondering why this information - available six months ago - was not shared at that time?

Other questions inquiring minds want to know more about? There are so many it's hard to know where to begin. Why does traffic study after traffic study – alleged to be occurring throughout Caledon including (although unseen) in the community I reside in – always result in the “findings” that speed bumps actually encourage speeding and speed cameras don't always serve as a deterrent. If that's truly the case, why is either tool ever used anywhere? The City of Brampton seems to have no problem installing speed bumps on roadways. Perhaps the snowplows and emergency vehicles in that community are made differently and are somehow able to navigate over speed bumps in a manner that's just not possible in Caledon? 

Speaking of traffic, can absolutely anyone, anyone at all, tell me why Upkaran Sandhu has been allowed to make an absolute mockery of our justice system. He is the gentleman alleged to have been operating an 18-wheeler with “major defects” that plowed through an intersection killing Patricia Lopez in 2020. He is also the same man who failed to attend court, then came to court without a lawyer and was then told to obtain legal aid but still had not done so by the time of his most recent court appearance. Despite what might be thought of as delay tactics, and which are, at the very least, an abhorrent and flagrant abuse of our judicial system, a decision will finally be rendered in June of this year. I'm sure it won't bring any peace to the family but with another horrific accident having taken place just north of where this one occurred on Monday of this week and our ongoing highway #10 traffic woes, perhaps the decision will serve as a warning or deterrent for other heavy truck owners and operators. Somehow I doubt it.

The whole issue of roads, traffic and speed in Caledon is lately resulting in nothing but eye-rolls from some area Councillors, while others are trying their darndest to rectify matters. While we can't legislate good driving habits (despite our best efforts) the real question that needs to be addressed is why on earth, when Caledon was marked for significant growth by the province, were these two critical decisions made: the approval to build thousands of homes BEFORE adequate transportation infrastructure was in place and the decision to also build not one, not two but a number of multi-million square foot warehouses, also without the necessary infrastructure in place. Why, in some cases, was the building of said warehouses compounded by allowing construction on environmentally sensitive lands, and even a waterway intentionally redirected? Finally, and in tandem with the queries about warehousing, while by-law enforcement tries to “fight the good fight” against illegal trucking operations, I'd also like to know why the Town cannot do more to combat the gagillion truck depots that have turned the once “Greenest Town in Ontario,” into nothing but a giant parking lot?

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