Two years of protest against the dedicated streetcar right-of-way by Save Our St. Clair were being documented through the camera of area resident Krystyna Henke, who was hoping to open a show of her photojournalism this month. But, while preparing to hang her work for the start of a three-week show at the J.J. Piccininni Community Centre, which happened to be hosting an all-candidates meeting for Davenport the following night — where anti-ROW councilor Cesar Palacio is having his stance challenged by both Alejandra Bravo and Fred Dominelli — she was informed that her exhibit violated municipal policy against displays with a political slant. “She indicated these were photos that highlighted the history of St. Clair,” explains Ward 17’s supervisor of community recreation, Terrance Duffy. “We were put in a difficult situation after we found out what the pictures were about. We’re here to serve the entire community, and that means being governed by policies saying we’re not allowed to make it look like we’re taking one position over the other.” Henke then found an alternate venue along St. Clair Ave. W., in the basement gallery of Ellington’s Music & Café, until owner Winston Ho-Sang also found out the pictures depicted a divisive issue. “There was a misunderstanding,” he says. “I never spoke to her directly, and the details of the exhibit weren’t explained fully to me. I don’t want to get involved in the issue personally — although, for me, I think the right-of-way is a great thing. I watch the traffic flow going past here all day, and if they think this is the way to fix it, I support the idea of people being able to get to work as fast as they can.”
A crawl along the avenue, in one of the cramped buses being used until the ROW construction is complete, leads to Henke’s home in the St. Clair and Oakwood area. For now, the contents of the exhibit are piled on her dining room table, evidence of a community trying to make their voices heard at city hall. “I felt a real kinship with my neighbours over this,” she recalls. “We were wondering how we were going to get home with all the traffic created by this. How were our kids going to safely play outside without being hit by a car?” A former columnist and editor for a Dutch community newspaper, Henke had her views on the subject published in the National Post two years ago. Save Our St. Clair ringleader Margaret Smith is managing the council campaign by John Sewell to unseat Joe Mihevc, one ward over. Ward 17 incumbent Palacio is disappointed the rally pictures won’t likely be seen by voters who may not remember the breadth of the protests: “This was proof that the residents would not take this lying down.” For her part, Henke can’t comprehend why the exhibit is being regarded as threatening, when the protesters represented a diverse cross-section of locals. “Why is it so dangerous?” she wonders. “You’d think I was trying to put on a show about abortion or something.”
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