{"id":492,"date":"2006-10-04T03:32:32","date_gmt":"2006-10-04T07:32:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/s265039441.onlinehome.us\/philpaine\/?p=492"},"modified":"2018-08-20T14:49:44","modified_gmt":"2018-08-20T18:49:44","slug":"tuesday-october-3-2006-a-matter-of-pride","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=492","title":{"rendered":"Tuesday, October 4, 2006 \u2014 A Matter of Pride"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"83<\/a>On the Nation\u00adal News, a tour through the com\u00adplet\u00aded ren\u00ado\u00adva\u00adtions of the Library of Par\u00adlia\u00adment, in Ottawa. This is no ordi\u00adnary library. Com\u00adplet\u00aded only nine years after Con\u00adfed\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion (the for\u00adma\u00adtion of Cana\u00adda as a nation-state), it is a mag\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcent High Vic\u00adto\u00adri\u00adan Goth\u00adic fan\u00adta\u00adsy, a cir\u00adcu\u00adlar cone of fly\u00ading but\u00adtress\u00ades and mul\u00adti-coloured stone that ris\u00ades atop the cliffs along the Ottawa riv\u00ader. The inte\u00adri\u00ador is very beau\u00adti\u00adful, employ\u00ading a cir\u00adcu\u00adlar, radi\u00adant plan. Light streams into it from the sky, in the man\u00adner of a cathe\u00addral. In the nine\u00adteenth cen\u00adtu\u00adry, Cana\u00adda still retained its tra\u00addi\u00adtion of fine crafts\u00adman\u00adship in wood, and the work that was done in this library is the equal of any\u00adthing in the world. On the news item, one Mem\u00adber of Par\u00adlia\u00adment, who was a jour\u00adney\u00adman car\u00adpen\u00adter in his youth, said \u201cthis stuff is porn for any carpenter\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

When the orig\u00adi\u00adnal Par\u00adlia\u00adment Build\u00adings burned to the ground, in 1916, the library was pro\u00adtect\u00aded by mas\u00adsive steel doors, and sur\u00advived unscathed. The col\u00adlec\u00adtion, though it includes rar\u00adi\u00adties like an Audubon folio worth $14,000,000, is pri\u00admar\u00adi\u00adly a work\u00ading library. The bulk of the col\u00adlec\u00adtion is works of his\u00adto\u00adry, law, or eco\u00adnom\u00adics. Mem\u00adbers of the gov\u00adern\u00adment and oppo\u00adsi\u00adtion are meant to research leg\u00adis\u00adla\u00adtion there, and, in fact, when\u00adev\u00ader I\u2019ve been there, I\u2019ve seen MPs at work. It is only steps away from the floor of Par\u00adlia\u00adment itself, and its beau\u00adty and calm make it a nat\u00adur\u00adal place to flee when the ran\u00adcour of the par\u00adlia\u00admen\u00adtary scrum gets unnerving.<\/span><\/p>\n

The chief con\u00adtrac\u00adtor who won the bid to con\u00adduct the ren\u00ado\u00adva\u00adtions is the great-grand\u00adson of the orig\u00adi\u00adnal archi\u00adtect. He spoke with great pride about the work, as did, in fact all the sub\u00adcon\u00adtrac\u00adtors and arti\u00adsans work\u00ading on the recon\u00adstruc\u00adtion. I like to see pride like that.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mean\u00adwhile, here in Toron\u00adto, this week\u00adend saw the thir\u00adti\u00adeth aniver\u00adsary of the com\u00adple\u00adtion of the CN<\/span> Tow\u00ader. It com\u00admem\u00ado\u00adrates the tow\u00ader\u2019s open\u00ading date to the pub\u00adlic, rather than the ear\u00adli\u00ader day that almost every Toron\u00adton\u00adian then alive remem\u00adbers \u2014 the day the mast was attached by Olga, the giant Siko\u00adrsky heli\u00adcopter, pilot\u00aded by Lar\u00adry Prave\u00adcek. On that day, the city was trans\u00adfixed. The ele\u00advat\u00aded free\u00adway that runs past the tow\u00ader spon\u00adta\u00adneous\u00adly became a park\u00ading lot, as every trav\u00adeller stopped to get out of their car and watch the spec\u00adta\u00adcle. One of the tough breed of high con\u00adstruc\u00adtion work\u00aders climbed to the very tip and set off a smoke bomb.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"06-10-04<\/a>

Con\u00adstruc\u00adtion work\u00ader Yvon Rainville: \u201cI was drink\u00ading my cof\u00adfee as usu\u00adal \u2013 black, with two sug\u00adars \u2013 since it was just an ordi\u00adnary work\u00ading day for me. But Boris Spre\u00admo, the leg\u00adendary pho\u00adtog\u00adra\u00adph\u00ader for the Toron\u00adto Star, had come to the tow\u00ader\u2026\u2013 just over six months after con\u00adstruc\u00adtion start\u00aded. It wouldn\u2019t be fin\u00adished for anoth\u00ader three years. He asked if I mind\u00aded hav\u00ading my pho\u00adto\u00adgraph tak\u00aden. I didn\u2019t, so he did.. I was there for nine months, as a rod\u00adman \u2013 installing the met\u00adal rods that run through the build\u00ading like a skele\u00adton. Lat\u00ader, we got dan\u00adger pay if we worked above 1,000 feet\u2026. There was a real spir\u00adit of cama\u00adraderie on the CN<\/span> Tow\u00ader. We were a big extend\u00aded fam\u00adi\u00adly, all 1,537 of us: the iron men looked out for the car\u00adpen\u00adters, the car\u00adpen\u00adters looked out for the stone\u00adma\u00adsons. A con\u00adstruc\u00adtion site couldn\u2019t oper\u00adate if there wasn\u2019t that feel\u00ading among the workers.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

The CN<\/span> tow\u00ader was not built as a mon\u00adu\u00adment, but as a pri\u00advate project for the CN<\/span> Rail\u00adways telecom\u00admu\u00adni\u00adca\u00adtions divi\u00adsion, and paid for itself in fif\u00adteen years. At 181 sto\u00adries, or 553.3 m (1,815 ft), it still remains, sur\u00adpris\u00ading\u00adly, the world\u2019s tallest. The builders had worked on the assump\u00adtion that it would only hold the title for a decade, at most. Nobody seri\u00adous\u00adly sug\u00adgest\u00aded it would remain tallest for three decades. But the advent of reli\u00adable satel\u00adlite ser\u00advice even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly made the need for clear-line-of-sight com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adca\u00adtions unnec\u00ades\u00adsary. Tow\u00aders of this type are no longer like\u00adly to be built. How\u00adev\u00ader, sev\u00ader\u00adal taller struc\u00adtures for oth\u00ader pur\u00adpos\u00ades are cur\u00adrent\u00adly under con\u00adstruc\u00adtion. It will not hold the title much longer.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is not sim\u00adply a pil\u00adlar of con\u00adcrete. It\u2019s actu\u00adal\u00adly hol\u00adlow. Some\u00adone could drop a rub\u00adber ball from quite near the top, and watch it bounce ten thou\u00adsand times, or what\u00adev\u00ader. The revolv\u00ading restau\u00adrant and obser\u00adva\u00adtion decks are reached by high-speed ele\u00adva\u00adtors that take only a minute to ascend. They are on the out\u00adside of the struc\u00adture, and glass-walled, so the expe\u00adri\u00adence is exhil\u00ada\u00adrat\u00ading. The glass floor of the obser\u00adva\u00adtion deck con\u00adsists of lam\u00adi\u00adnat\u00aded ther\u00admal glass panes that are 64 mm thick, and which are sup\u00adposed, accord\u00ading to the builders, to be able hold the weight of four\u00adteen adult male hip\u00adpopo\u00adto\u00admi (who thinks of these things as con\u00adtin\u00adgen\u00adcies?). Some peo\u00adple expe\u00adri\u00adence ver\u00adti\u00adgo by walk\u00ading out on the glass floor and look\u00ading down at the ground below. It\u2019s a must-not-see for ago\u00adra\u00adphobes and acro\u00adphobes. The stair\u00adcase is not nor\u00admal\u00adly open to the pub\u00adlic, since it would require a per\u00adma\u00adnent res\u00adcue team to retrieve strand\u00aded climbers. But it is climbed by thou\u00adsands of peo\u00adple every year for char\u00adi\u00adty events. It has also been climbed by pogo stick, and once by some\u00adone drag\u00adging a piano. I have nev\u00ader been tempt\u00aded to climb it, with a piano or without.<\/span><\/p>\n

Build\u00ading such a struc\u00adture in mid-1970s required major inno\u00adva\u00adtions in both design and con\u00adstruc\u00adtion tech\u00adniques, as it pre\u00adsent\u00aded entire\u00adly new engi\u00adneer\u00ading prob\u00adlems. It is more of a machine than a struc\u00adture. It con\u00adtains, for exam\u00adple, gigan\u00adtic pen\u00addu\u00adlums (pen\u00addu\u00adlae?) which damp\u00aden the res\u00ado\u00adnance of high winds, and its elec\u00adtron\u00adics must be pro\u00adtect\u00aded from the thou\u00adsands of light\u00adning strikes it has received. The pre-stressed con\u00adcrete had to be built up in a con\u00adtin\u00adu\u00adous pour, using a slip\u00adform that changed in shape grad\u00adu\u00adal\u00adly, as it moved upward at the rate of six metres per day. Many of the con\u00adstruc\u00adtion tech\u00adniques had nev\u00ader been attempt\u00aded, or, in some cas\u00ades, not even been conceived.<\/span><\/p>\n

All that, of course, took place at a time when pride rode high in the city, the over\u00adcom\u00ading of obsta\u00adcles was con\u00adsid\u00adered a sign of nat\u00adur\u00adal men\u00adtal health, and the Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive men\u00adtal\u00adi\u00adty of help\u00adless\u00adness, greed, mean spir\u00adi\u00adtu\u00adal squalor, and defeat had not yet sub\u00advert\u00aded our society.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"06-10-04<\/a>Inter\u00adviews with the men who built that tow\u00ader \u2015 they were all pret\u00adty young then, and most are still around \u2015 reveal a pride in good work, a self-respect, and a pub\u00adlic spir\u00adit that is today alto\u00adgeth\u00ader unfash\u00adion\u00adable. Not just the engi\u00adneers and archi\u00adtects and oth\u00ader big shots. The men who poured the con\u00adcrete and stretched the steel, and the man who danced on the tip on that tri\u00adumphant day. Pride. And even those who worked in more mun\u00addane jobs. Faizal Haq arrived from Pak\u00adistan, as a teenag\u00ader, and got a job as a cashier. He is still there, now Chief Finan\u00adcial Offi\u00adcer. Pride.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, look at the slimy lit\u00adtle mag\u00adgots who run things in our times. Look at all the Bush Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtives in the U.S.A. and the tamer, pip\u00adsqueak Harp\u00ader Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtives in Cana\u00adda. Look at the pinch-nosed bean-coun\u00adters and neo-con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive zealots. Look at the gay-haters and the bible-thumpers and the Patri\u00adot Act Com\u00admis\u00adars. Look at all those who pan\u00adic us with fear-mon\u00adger\u00ading and assault the dig\u00adni\u00adty of the free, indi\u00advid\u00adual human being. They can cre\u00adate noth\u00ading. They will not build any libraries or solve any tech\u00adni\u00adcal prob\u00adlems. They can only bul\u00adly and destroy. What is it that they hate most of all? What all bul\u00adlies hate and fear: Pride.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On the Nation\u00adal News, a tour through the com\u00adplet\u00aded ren\u00ado\u00adva\u00adtions of the Library of Par\u00adlia\u00adment, in Ottawa. This is no ordi\u00adnary library. Com\u00adplet\u00aded only nine years after Con\u00adfed\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion (the for\u00adma\u00adtion of Cana\u00adda as a nation-state), it is a mag\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcent High Victorian \u2026<\/p>\n

Read more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-blog","category-au-blog-2006"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=492"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9356,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492\/revisions\/9356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}