Image Credit: CFJC Today

By Daniela Ginta

The Way I See It

GINTA: The things the Christmas train brings about

Dec 16, 2019 | 11:23 AM

SO THIS IS HOW I STARTED writing my column for this week, because of this upsetting and about to get uglier issue…

Here we are again, on the cusp of having new vaping products released for public consumption —cannabis vaping products to be precise. We have just barely started to unravel the mysterious lung illnesses that have befallen young people especially. The Center for Disease Control in the U.S. has reported almost 2,500 hundred cases of lung illness and 52 deaths, all related to vaping.

Luckily, Canada has seen only 14 cases so far, but that is not reason to shrug our shoulders. Given the severity of the adverse health effects seen so far, one would think that Health Canada would put a stop to it and request that more tests are done before new products are released.

Well, no. With no testing on the health effects related to inhaling cannabis products, Health Canada is willing to let it all be a major experiment. Many health practitioners and researchers are questioning the decision and even more so, the decision to include flavours in the cannabis vaping products. Yes, we already know that flavours make vaping more attractive to young people — but so what?

Ideally, this is where the leading health organization comes in with strict regulations. Ideally.

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This is where I interrupted my writing because it was time to go see the CP Holiday Train. We loaded a backpack with donations for the food bank and headed downtown, all four of us, like we did many times since we chose Kamloops to be our home. We got there shortly after 4:30 p.m. and were promptly engulfed by the sea of people. For the record, I do not like crowds but this event has a special place in my heart so I just go with it.

First, we emptied our backpack at the donations table, then we squeezed our way to where we could get a glimpse of the train. When the train rolled in, my eyes filled with tears. I did not expect that, I really did not, but this is likely why: I was happy and overwhelmed to be there once again with my family, my sons now taller than me and, as my husband remarked, “This the first year when no one needs a lift to see the train coming.” Everybody in the crowd had jolly faces and red-cheeked kids all bundled up were getting restless with the expectation of the Holiday train coming.

Years ago, when we started coming to see the Holiday train the boys were little and I’d make sure to have a warm and big enough jacket to have them both come snuggle around me when they got cold while waiting. When the train came our youngest would be perched on my husband’s shoulders. The following year, they grew a bit older and taller. We still huddled together, but we did so for a shorter while. This time the boys were standing behind me because they could see anyway. Kids growing up: beautiful to witness, bittersweet and inevitable.

Hence my eyes tearing up. Then there is this other big thing: there is so much embedded in a beautiful community tradition of 21 years (we’ve been present for at least nine of them) which encourages people to not let anyone be hungry during the holidays, or ever.

Yes, Kamloops is a heartful community. I said it many times, and we saw it confirmed by the GoFundMe numbers recently. We like to give and we give lots because we care. Let’s never stop. To see our children grow up learning that kindness, compassion and giving are an integral part of life, and to gather in such large numbers to remind each other how important being generous is, that is, I believe, one of the greatest treasures we hold as a community.

Now you know why I got interrupted and I had to write about this before going back to other topics. They are all important, but this one happens so beautifully it cannot be overlooked.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.