Some Essays by Douglas Tennant

  Words almost fail me. Yes, you read that right. Words do not come easy to me on the topic of Canada and Afghanistan. Amidst the still fresh news about next month’s election, the fledgling 4 th wave of the pandemic, the anxiety associated with the safety of students starting school soon, the incessant news about destructive wildfires throughout Canada, the resounding continuation of despair and loss associated with colonialism and racism, and the opiod crisis amongst other topics of despondency, I hang my head and try to comprehend our involvement in Afghanistan. According to The Canadian Encyclopedia (TCE), Canada sent over 40,000 Canadian Armed Forces members to Afghanistan during our 12-year war with the Taliban. TCE records that the war killed 165 Canadians — 158 soldiers and 7 civilians and over 2000 received physical wounds. Scores and scores of Canadian veterans, TCE recounts, came back home from the horror of war in Afghanistan suffering from post-traumatic stress ...

Happy New Year everyone! I’ve noticed how this past Christmas and New Year has made some folks more sensitive to what is going on around them. They are experiencing, in different ways, the underlying essence of North Renfrew. They are more in tune with people, birds, animals and their surroundings. As they immerse themselves in walks and cross-country skiing, as they reconnect through writing letters and actually conversing on the phone with friends and family, they are reaping a rejuvenating awareness of nature, community and creation all around them. It is as if they are having an awakening, or an epiphany of the natural and metaphysical worlds here in North Renfrew. Now don’t get me wrong on this point. Folks still understand and are living the reality of the main news story of 2020, the pandemic. But after almost a year of masks and hand sanitiser, we have evolved into parsing out the positive side or unique opportunities during these strange times to carry on enjoying life. After...

  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...

Recently, I was at a solemn public function that involved the playing of our national anthem, a formal ‘moment of silence’ and some meditative/prayerful time. The venue was packed shoulder to shoulder and many folks knew most of those in attendance, but there were obviously some from out of town. The lack of community civility during the ceremony was disrespectful and in my opinion rude. While the displays were not malicious in nature they certainly showed a lack of situational awareness and communal civic minded manners. Where ever has our community civility gone to? At the function I mentioned above, many adults ignored the playing of the national anthem and kept right on saying hello to those they had not seen in a while and continued to put cream and sugar into their tea and coffee. Few were singing our national song and most were not turned to face the prominently displayed Canadian flag. Sheesh – would it hurt you to at least turn and face one of our most visible national symbo...

Jesus’ Vision for us and the ‘Other’ By Douglas Tennant – November 4, 2018 A message for Greenwood United Church, Pembroke Ontario The biblical story of Ruth which I read for us earlier is a not a story about separation or differentness. It is not a story about the ‘Other’ or someone who looks and acts so different from us as to make us feel uncomfortable or even scared of them. It is a story about inclusivity. According to the United Church Gathering , that story was written thousands of years ago to correct a sense of entitlement and self-righteousness that was growing within ancient Israel. You see it was forbidden back then to marry outsiders especially those foreigners and second-class people of the surrounding tribes who may have been arriving in Israel in caravan upon caravan. I love this story from a personal viewpoint. Indeed, when Jeannie and I got married we included this story as a scripture reading at our wedding. So this is a family story and it starts off...

Originally published in the North Renfrew Times November 21, 2018 Community Hubs - by Doug Tennant A healthy local community is not built just upon an efficient and well-equipped hospital. Hospitals are important to a community as are fire halls, and police and paramedic stations. We also need a well-oiled and functioning municipal government and a vibrant commercial and industrial base upon which our residents can depend for jobs. However, the most important cornerstone for a healthy and stable community is the local public library. Andrew Carnegie knew the value of a free public library for a healthy community and he showed it by funding the building of over 2500 local libraries in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The closest Carnegie library to North Renfrew is in Pembroke, which was built in 1907 with a grant from Mr. Carnegie. We have four public libraries in North Renfrew offering an amazing spectrum of services for free to our residents. If you live in North Renf...

It’s time to take action against PTSD December 08, 2014 Written by Douglas Tennant Originally published in Firefighting in Canada Clara Hughes, Canadian Olympic cyclist and speed skater, came to my town during the summer and huge crowds came out to welcome her and listen to her speak. Hughes’ visit was a planned stop on Clara’s Big Ride, an annual bike ride across the country to encourage healthy conversations about mental illness – including post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).  PTSD? Isn’t that a severe mental illness for which only soldiers, police officers and paramedics are at risk? Me – suffer from traumatic events? I don’t think so. After all, I’m a firefighter. Yes, I still ride in the officer seat and wear a SCBA at calls, but I am tough. Firefighters don’t suffer from mental illness and we certainly aren’t affected by what we see, smell, hear, feel and otherwise sense at emergency scenes.  PTSD is defined by the Ontario government as an anxiety disord...

You lead as you are – advice from a master April 24, 2014 Written by Douglas Tennant Originally published in Firefighting in Canada You lead as you are. I learned this adage from a dear friend and mentor of mine – retired Cambridge, Ont., fire chief Terry Allen. It took me a while to really appreciate what Terry was getting at with this short but very profound observation, especially as it pertained to the fire service. As I have come to understand it, Terry was advising those who made the effort to listen and appreciate his statement, that we are all leaders in some way or another around the fire hall. It is thus up to each of us to take stock and determine how we will take on the responsibility to lead as and, ultimately, how we are.  No matter the composition of your fire service (full time, part time, volunteer) there are leaders in every rank and stage of their respective careers in the fire station. From the newest recruit to the oldest-serving member, you will...

Editors' pick 2015: Think before you tweet Think before you tweet – a lesson on social media March 01, 2015 Written by Doug Tennant Originally published in Firefighting in Canada I did it twice the other day and I liked it. It was easy, somewhat fun and I did it in private, but I did not follow through; I hit the delete button and went back to work. I couldn’t follow through because one of my father’s adages – he served in the fire service for 40 years – screamed in my head while I composed the tweet: if you can’t say anything positive about someone then don’t say anything at all. So I hit the delete button. There’s a similar saying when it comes to snail mail; write the nasty letter, then put it in your desk drawer for a day and see if you still want to send it the next morning. Social media is a powerful, instant and non-retrievable tool in our work and personal spheres. It is relatively easy and usually gratifying to tweet and post our thoughts, pictures and com...

Leadership from within – a strategic plan May 13, 2015 Written by Doug Tennant Originally published in Firefighting in Canada Social media is rampant with adages and short, insightful sayings about leadership and management. Put the magazine down or minimize the  Fire Fighting in Canada  website and go to LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter to browse through them for a few minutes. I like most of the adages; they have the tendency to stick in my mind as I reflect upon what the day brings to me – especially as I interact with colleagues and the public. A recent one that stuck with me is: Managers light a fire under people – leaders light a fire within them. I am not sure who coined this phrase, but for me it summarises what managers and leaders should be doing. Many of these popular and meaningful social media sayings deal with refreshing or building effective relationships with others in your workplace. These insights are powerful, rich in imagery and enable you to...