Response By
Chris Mackie
Nohl Reiser “Stay Safe” Sign, 2020
acrylic on chipboard Gift of Jason Dickson and Vanessa Brown, 2020
This hoarding, with its positive message, was installed over the windows at London businesses Brown & Dickson and Grow & Bloom following the March 2020 provincial lockdown measures.
Response
Businesses dodge a pandemic. Instead of hiding, owners send an anonymous message of caring and beauty.
We have seen this before here. When the opioid crisis killed so many young people, citizens and businesses alike stood up and said: “I care. This is not acceptable. My community must do better!”
And we did.
We have seen so many gestures of kindness since our world fell apart in March. Larger communities have struggled. Anonymity inoculates against empathy.
London, you do you.
Dr. Christopher Mackie is the Medical Officer of Health and CEO for the Middlesex London Health Unit, and is an Assistant Professor at McMaster University. Before coming to London, Chris was Associate Medical Officer Health for the City of Hamilton for four years. He also worked as a Public Health Physician with Public Health Ontario.