Column: Very future of Niagara Parks Commission could hinge on Wallenda decision

by Peter Conradi/Bullet News

The Niagara Parks Commission sure has its hands full on this Nik Wallenda wirewalk deal for the Niagara Gorge, and they probably never saw it coming.

At first it must have seemed so easy. The Parks had always denied stunters in the past, so it would be a no-brainer to kick Wallenda and this nutty notion of walking on a cable strung in front of Niagara Falls between Canada and the United States to the curb as well: The Parks Act bans this kind of thing (actually it doesn't), too many safety worries, it doesn't fit in with the master plan. No one seemed to care that Jay Cochrane never got the OK. Wallenda would be another open and shut case.

Well, not so fast.

Somewhere between the NPC roadblocks and the growing media questions about the possibility of this spectacle actually taking place, Wallenda shows up in person with his nice smile, spiky hair, polite demeanour, stellar reputation and a stubborn personality to match his bulging Rolodex. The Parks Commission keeps telling him no, and he keeps hearing maybe. The Parks Commission slams the door, and he sticks his foot in the way so a beam or two of sunlight can sneak through. The Parks Commission tells him he should return home to Florida and he calls the general manager sweet, and finds another reason why he deserves a chance to make this thing happen. He just won't go away.

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