Scanned, recopied or Internet copy, if there are errors, please e-mail me with corrections:
Opening comments: More at the end.
The line that means the most to natural watchers - "no commitment has been made to maintain the site specifically as a bird sanctuary".
The Roy Ivor - the Birdman of Mississauga & Bernice Inman-Emery - the Birdwoman of Mississauga Web-page.
Mississauga News - Dec. 16, 2008 - Editorial - By unknown Council makes good call
- City Council has gone to the birds — and that’s a good thing.
Mississauga councillors have agreed to negotiate the purchase of the Winding Lane Bird Sanctuary, the serene .92-acre property near the University of Toronto at Mississauga that has been home to thousands of sick, injured and endangered birds for more than 75 years.
The sanctuary, built and maintained by Mississauga’s Roy Ivor for more than half a century before his death at age 99, has established a North American-wide reputation for fostering and nursing birds in need of care, a legacy carried on by Ivor’s successor, Bernice Inman-Emery, who has since celebrated her own 90th birthday.
But, when a ‘For sale’ sign appeared on the property, nature enthusiasts in the community took up the torch, aggressively lobbying city council to purchase the property and prevent it from being re-developed as a site for luxury homes.
City councillors heeded the call and have turned their attention to saving the property from residential developing.
While no commitment has been made to maintain the site specifically as a bird sanctuary, council’s proposed purchase will save the site as a natural habitat for wildlife and their human friends.
None of those who fought to save the property from building cranes and concrete pads was more ardent and persuasive than Applewood Acres resident Laurie Arbeau, who is no stranger to fighting the good fight on behalf of her neighbours — two-legged, four-legged or winged.
Kudos to city councillors, Arbeau and others who refused to let Ivor’s sanctuary become fodder for developers.
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