万锦市踩高跷的奶牛塑像该不该拆？

 

 

 

 

你可能已经听说过给牛注射类固醇（这使他们牛变得肌肉发达，威风凌凌），但你可能没有听说过踩“高跷的牛”。但万锦市的一头高踩高跷的奶牛却在市议会引起风波，并让许多感到好奇的人前往瞻仰，与这头牛塑像自拍。

You may have heard of cows on steroids  (to make them muscular) but probably not “a cow on stilts”. Around Markham, we have now a cow on stilts that stirred up controversy in the City Council and captured the curiosity of many from surrounding areas to come and see the item for themselves and take selfies with it.

 

这头踩高跷奶牛塑像来自于一个名叫“慈善”的奶牛。她是九届全加拿大或全美最出色的奶牛。在产奶方面，她从来没有败过任何一个对手，并被认为是八十年代世界上产奶量最高的奶牛。 这个花费120万元，11米高（比三层楼高）的塑像放在万锦大教堂社区的公园。“慈善”头上戴着一个青铜色的花圈，高高在上。

The statue on stilts is “Charity”, a nine-time all-Canadian or All-American show cow. Never defeated in her class, she was said to be the most productive milking cow in the world in the 1980s. The $1.2 million statue is installed at eleven metres (over three storeys) above the centre of a residential crescent’s park in Cathedral Town Community. The cow wears a bronze-leafed wreath and towering over the trees.

 

 

捐赠这头塑像的罗曼家族是大教堂社区的地产开发商。尽管有人投诉，罗曼家族坚持要把塑像放在那。罗曼先生是来自斯洛伐克的移民，当年经营采矿业而积累了家族财富。他还拥有Romandale农场，并把它开发为大教堂住宅社区。罗曼家族1985年从安省Port Perry时的农场花$145万买下了这个头名叫Brookview Tony Charity的着名牛，创当时奶牛价格的新高。

The Roman family who donated the cow statue to the site after developing the Cathedral town neighbourhood and insisting it remain there despite local complaints. Stephen Boleslav Roman came to Canada from Slovakia and built the family fortune from the Mining business. He also owned Romandale Farm, the land on top of which Cathedral town now rests and bought the famed cow named Brookview Tony Charity from a farm in Port Perry in 1985 for a then-record $1.45 million.

 

今年6月，落成后的奶牛塑像却引起了居民的反感。有些房主认为这个“有碍观瞻”的塑像会影响自己房屋的价值。 “有碍观瞻”的东西，从电信转播塔，水塔到垃圾转运站，经常会影响房屋的价值。"慈善"每天吸引了200多人前来餐馆，同时给周围交通带来不便。 由于有些“游客”在与塑像合影前抚摸高跷，万锦市府在"慈善"的周围立起了栏杆，把“慈善”与游人隔离。同时还做了一个牌子，叙述这头名牛的故事，同时告诫大家相应的园艺项目会在今年9月份完成。

Once the statue was installed in June, the residents reacted negatively to it. Homeowners are concerned the “eyesore” will diminish the value of their homes. “Eyesores” often affect the value of a house, from cell phone and water towers to retail dumpsters. The statue also attracted up to 200 people a day to the site, creating necessary traffic in the area. The “tourists” walked up to the posts and touching them while taking pictures of themselves with the statue in the background. The city of Markham has since put up a fence barricade to protect “Charity” from the crowds. A sign has also been installed, telling the famous cow’s story and advising that the landscaping around it will be completed in September.

 

那些对“慈善”感冒的市民前去找该选区的市议员何胡景。他去年就”慈善“是否镀铬投了赞成票，但现在居民要求拆除“慈善”。何议员于二零一六年在市议会上支持了另一个市议员卡纳帕蒂的动议。该动议为接受塑像的捐赠和安放。现在，何议员出尔反尔，要求那些愤怒的、要求拆除塑像的居民去市府请愿，在9月份的第一次市议会的会议上告诉那些当选的议员们居民们的想法。何议员还坚信“慈善”的捐赠没有花万锦市和纳税人一分钱，但要求搬走”慈善“的居民却不以为然。

The unhappy residents approached their local councillor Alan Ho, who voted last year to approve the chrome-plated statue and asked for the statue to be removed. Councillor Ho was on record in Council meeting as the one who seconded Councillor Logan Kanapathi's motion to accept the statue donation and installation in 2016. Ho was in a huge backtrack mode and urged the angry residents to gather a petition opposing the artwork and to head to council at its first meeting in September to tell elected officials exactly what they think. He also insisted the donation cost the City of Markham and taxpayers nothing but the opposing residents were not impressed.

 

多家报纸报道说，安放塑像的动议于2016年6月在市议会上一致通过，但这根本不是事实！这不是一个正式的议会投票，有市议员反对此动议。在安放塑像成为新闻后，有人指出市议员们从未被告知市府的公共艺术委员会不想要“慈善”塑像，指控市府有意向市议会隐瞒艺术委员会的立场。正常情况下，市议会听从艺术委员会的建议。然而，艺术委员会向市府呈交的会议记要只显示了那些支持安放塑像的内容，却把两次会议中委员会成员反对该项目的内容扔在一边。

Many newspapers reported that the motion to accept the statue was passed  unanimously in June 2016. This is simply not true! It was not a recorded vote and there was opposition to the motion. After this statue made the news, it was revealed that councilors were never told the public art committee didn’t want the cow and allegedly the staff at City Hall had withheld information from the Council members. The staff told councilors that Council normally approves recommendations from advisory committees. However, the attached minutes from the art committee only showed the staff endorsement, and did not include two other meetings where committee members expressed opposition to the project and rejected it.

 

目前介绍塑像的说明是这样的：“万锦市隆重宣布安放”慈善”这一塑像，以纪念那个在Romandale农场长大的，赢得国际声誉的荷斯坦奶牛。”这也就是说，这头奶牛是在目前已成为大教堂社区的农场长大的，因此，在此设立“慈善”塑像没有什么不妥之处。不幸的是，这个说法立即招来争议，等于在反对设立塑像的居民头上火上浇油。

A plaque installed at the site reads: “The city of Markham is pleased to announce the installation of a statue, Brookview Tony Charity, to commemorate an internationally award-winning Holstein cow that was raised on Romandale Farms.” This infers that the cow was raised locally at the farm which now forms the Cathedral town Community and lend credence and justifications for its erection at the current site. Unfortunately, this claim was immediately disputed by a credible source and further adds fuel to the discontenting fire started by the residents.

 

下一次，我们将继续介绍此事的新动向。

Next time, we will elaborate on this new story and update you with the latest related developments.