Windsor-Essex mega-hospital debate turns to vandalism

Trenhaile said he came to his private home on Monday night to find his pro-CAMPP sign ripped out of his lawn and tire-track damage on his property.

According to a neighbour, a pickup truck drove from the Riverside Drive East roadway directly onto Trenhaile’s lawn. The driver quickly got out, grabbed the sign, and flung it away — then just as quickly peeled off.

The sign was supplied by CAMPP and reads “We all deserve better: Don’t close Met & Ouellette” — a reference to the Metropolitan and Ouellette Avenue campuses of Windsor Regional Hospital.

Trenhaile said he’s had the sign on his lawn for about a year.

“My immediate reaction is actually sadness,” Trenhaile said. “It’s sad that you can’t express your opinion in civil society without physical backlash like this.”

The problem, according to Trenhaile, is that some members of the public have bought “a very false narrative” that CAMPP supporters oppose any mega-hospital.

“Everybody wants a shiny new hospital,” Trenhaile emphasized. “I want a new hospital. Of course we do.”

The issue for Trenhaile is location. “I’ve studied enough urban planning to understand why there are no major cities that have put their hospitals away from their greatest population density.”

Trenhaile also cited urban sprawl, environmental concerns, and difficulty of travel for the elderly and the poor as reasons to re-think the proposed mega-hospital location.