Editor:
Unless they were intended to goad local politicians and their staff to action, I just can’t understand the rationale behind Messrs. Carson, Craig and McGillivray’s recent letters recommending the desecration of one of our few provincial parks on the lower Sunshine Coast. Draining the few lakes of a Class A provincial park is a short-sighted and hopelessly inadequate solution to the long-term water shortage crisis facing the community. The simplistic idea that by “just adding more water” we could resolve our critical growth issues as “the big fix,” is fundamentally flawed.
What is urgently required – and has been shunned by SCRD directors for years – is a formal Regional Growth Strategy. An RGS is a provincially directed vision, primarily financed by the province, developed and overseen by local government representatives working with professionals, which sets a course for the future of a region. It guides decisions on such vital issues as water, transportation, liquid and solid waste, population forecasts and settlement patterns. It would enhance the long-term livability of our region by creating smart – and regionally applied – policies that would improve social, economic and environmental outcomes for all. And will take vision, political courage and commitment from all the SCRD.
Without undertaking and implementing a Regional Growth Strategy we are going to continue to deceive ourselves that by merely adding more water we can solve the complex dilemmas that accompany rapid growth and development. Just one quick example: anyone tried taking a ferry lately without a precious reservation? Continuing down “Highway Status Quo” is the road to perdition and I encourage the SCRD to maintain their resolve and get the process underway.
There are carrying capacities for all things. These need to be understood, agreed to and acted upon. Failure to do so surely serves no one’s future best interests.
Barry J. Janyk, Gibsons
(Mayor, 1999-2011)
