Some Essays by Douglas Tennant

  Cedar Lake - By Doug Tennant Originally published in the North Renfrew Times - October 14, 2020  OK, get in, sit down, put your seatbelt on and let’s go. This may cause some to get their knickers in a knot, but if there ever was a time to consider the following, it is now, thanks to the pandemic. Many things are being reviewed and re-jigged these days. Indeed, things are being done that some folks would never have considered doing before the pandemic. The pandemic is offering countless opportunities to seek out new ways of doing almost everything in our society. In many respects we have put our individual and community-based lives on hold since the debut of Covid-19. And now is the time, while so much is changing and being considered, to ask that our local elected officials come together for a deep and wide exploration of how to break down any arbitrary geo-political barriers to help build up our community of North Renfrew. Isle of Skye  By Jeannie Tilson Can this b...

Men must take action in North Renfrew! Photo by Doug Tennant An essay regarding the prevention of violence against women and girls.   It is with sadness and discomfort that my wife attended the virtual funeral today for a friend of hers from secondary school. It is alleged that her friend was killed by her husband of many years. I am concerned that her death and what was occurring during the days, weeks, months and years leading up to it, might have been prevented through intentional acts of dialogue, support and yes, intervention with respect to the topic of violence against women and girls.   Kathryn Marshall, a Toronto lawyer writes   (Marshall 2020) that “[s]ince the COVID-19 pandemic started, violence against women has spiked dramatically. Women’s shelters have reported significant increases in calls and police have reported higher than average domestic violence related occurrences. Isolation and the severing of work and family support networks have no doub...

For the birds A Sunday morning sermon about the Great Mystery By Doug Tennant  June 21, 2020 Do you have a favourite Gospel? I think my favourite one is Matthew. For the most part I think it reads more easily than the other 3 and perhaps it is its mixture of sayings from Jesus and the connotations to the Jewish law. Plus, it has the full sermon on the mount in chapters 5-7. The reading from Matthew’s gospel has a lot packed into it. - The message that we are in it together - A message about not being fearful or full of fear. “Do not fear those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell”. - There is a story about birds. - There is a story about the hair on your head. More applicable to some rather than everyone if you know what I mean. - Another message sort of about being in this journey of life together. - There is the clarification that Jesus came to upset the norm, to cause division between the old and t...

Community Mental Health Emergency Response By Doug Tennant Photo by Doug Tennant Originally published in the North Renfrew Times on Wednesday July 1, 2020 Imagine if you called 911 and they asked “police-ambulance-fire-mental health”? Imagine if the local Mental Heath Crisis team was deemed emergency services. These are the imaginings of Jackie Lee Agnew and others and they are gaining traction in these changing times. According to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), www.camh.ca , 20% of us would normally experience a mental health problem or illness in a given year. During the current pandemic, approximately 22% of Canadians between the ages of 18-59 are experiencing moderate to severe anxiety. Our friends, neighbours and family members, maybe even you, are having a rough go in life. When rough times become a crisis/emergency due to mental wellness it is becoming clear that the emergency response needs to be from a mental health team a...