John Arlette is closing his downtown office for the G-8 summit next week. Pat Allen will do the same.
No big deal, you might think -- except that these people run a vital medical clinic and a seniors centre.
Dr. Arlette is a dermatologist who treats 2,000 skin cancer patients a year. Pat Allen is CEO of the Kerby Centre, which provides programs and recreation for 1,000 seniors every day.
The seniors will be told not to come in on June 26 and 27. Arlette will board up his 7th Avenue S.W. office and reschedule cancer procedures, some to the end of August.
Arlette and Allen are level-headed people who don't let their feelings run free, so I'll say the obvious for them: it's infuriating that people who need help will be displaced because protesters promise to flood the downtown.
In the rhetoric of protest, of course, any trouble that does happen will be caused by the police. If there's no uproar in the streets, we'll have been foolish to "overreact" by making preparations.
But Arlette and Allen are real-world grown-ups who help people every day. And they can't take chances with the sick and the elderly.
"I've had to rebook a group of patients who were scheduled to have work done on the 26th," says Arlette.
"We've been able to move two of the more serious cases to the day before, but the rest we've booked to the end of August.
"And if there's any damage to the clinic, it will be that much longer before we can start again."
Arlette has some reason for concern.
His office is on 7th Avenue between Shaw Millennium Park and an LRT stop. That's right on the line of march for activists who now promise to "blockade" downtown Calgary.
"The police have been very good and they seemed disappointed when I said I plan to close," Arlette says.
"But when the manhole covers on the street were welded shut on Tuesday, I thought, 'Well, that's it.' "
Skin cancer patients come to Arlette from all over the Prairies. He's one of only five specialists in Canada who use micrographic surgery -- removal of skin cancers, mainly from the face, with examination of tissue under a microscope during the procedure.
Like others who work downtown, Arlette finds it's impossible to get extra insurance during the G-8.
"I have a letter from my insurance company saying they cannot provide insurance for acts of terrorism, protestation or insurrection," he says.
A bit further west, the Kerby Centre for seniors is even more exposed to any trouble around Shaw Millennium Park.
"We have the adult day program, and most of those people are in walkers or chairs," says Allen. "These are vigorous people, but they're slower and they can't get out of the way if there's a big crowd.
"We do feel very badly about it. But one has to accept the fact that there might be violence. If somebody might be hurt, we can't risk it."
Seniors and sick people are being displaced so protesters can "educate" us in how to treat humanity. The lesson seems a bit muddy already.
Call 235-7236 or e-mail dbraid@nucleus.com
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