UNCOMMON SENSE
Council will miss Bryan Anderson, Staples says
At Tuesday’s council meeting, Bryan Anderson was once again the most sensible man in the room, just as he’s been for 19 years.
Other councillors in Anderson’s era have been more visionary, more brilliant and certainly more left-wing, but not one has displayed more wisdom on issue after issue. I have always been grateful to hear Anderson’s take. His words have helped shape my viewpoint on many issues.
On Tuesday, Anderson weighed in on the notion of council meetings needing metal detectors and bag searches. A few councillors quite rightly made the point there simply is no tangible existing security threat that justifies such an intrusion. Anderson focused on just how unfriendly such measures are and how unwelcome citizens will feel if they’re implemented. Many will avoid visiting council, he said.
“If I’m forced to walk through metal detectors or a bag search, I will, but if I can avoid it, I will avoid it.”
Anderson, a high school physed teacher for 34 years, who was head coach of 63 teams in football, basketball and baseball, will soon be missing from such debates. He announced Monday he’s not going to run again in
October, which led me to ask for an exit interview.
Here are some highlights:
On his essential nature: “I was driven by a young age by the joy of effort .... Happiness has always been the result of effort.” On his major role model — high school coach and teacher Clarence Garvey at Nutana
high school in Saskatoon: “I just liked the way his voice sounded in my math class. I liked the way he related to young people on the field. Nutana Collegiate’s field was a mixture of thistles and cinders and that’s where football practices occurred. And you know what? Nobody complained. Nobody. He conducted himself in a way that the people who played for him didn’t want to disappoint him .... It was, ‘Look, listen, do and do it as well as you could,’ and he expected it and expected it in his math class as well. He just kept driving home that, ‘If you have something, give it to us. Don’t go home with energy. Give it to us here.’ ”
On his urge to help lead as a teacher, coach and city councillor: “I wanted to be part of that discussion. I wanted to understand why it was being done and I wanted to have input ... I need to get up every morning and have some place to go that’s wise and something that is intelligent to do ... I can only walk my dog so many times. I need something to do. I just don’t feel good sitting ... I’ve got to get up and talk to somebody and deal with somebody that is changing the day.” On why he pushed for the city to borrow to build recreation centres and artificial turf fields, as opposed to the city only building things when it could pay in full, as it did in the 1990s: “If you use ‘pay-as-you-go,’ you and I at our age, we save up money for 20 years, then we use it to build something and we die. And the next generation gets to use it without any financial input. With us borrowing the money, we get to start using things now for the life of the item, and everybody who uses it pays for it.”
On why he supported the massive push to build up downtown, by investing in such things as a new arena and art gallery: “There hadn’t been significant money spent in upgrading the downtown for several decades ... I just supported good stuff everywhere.” On the biggest issues we face, which Anderson says is the need for better commuter roads to the incredibly fast-growing southwest and southeast, such as twinning or tripling Ellerslie Drive and building the Terwillegar Freeway, which was planned ages ago, as seen by the vast open field stretching south from the Whitemud along the Terwillegar Drive off-ramps: “All of the roads are on- and off-ramps for a freeway that is not built.”
On his future plans with his wife: “We’ll do a bit of travelling, but I want to get back involved in high school football, high school basketball, even if it’s as an adviser.” On his legacy: “Einstein said, ‘Wisdom is common sense in action,’ and I hope I’ve been wise. When I’m gone and people talk about Bryan Anderson, I hope they say, ‘He was helpful.’ ”