Editor:
A group of concerned citizens attended a committee of the whole meeting on May 31.
We understood there would be an update on water and that the Sechelt Fire Protection District (SFPD) would be in attendance to discuss their letter that had been circulated. Their cautionary letter, which we viewed as being substantive and helpful, was referred to by certain council members as being “alarmist.”
Unfortunately, instead of confidently standing by their letter, I observed a carefully orchestrated dance where the SFPD were having to choose their words very carefully under the scrutiny of the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) delegates and CAO.
If there was a bicycle in the room, it would have been back-peddling!
SCRD CAO Dean McKinley told us that on Nov. 7, the Coast had been tested as never before, with Sechelt’s biggest structural fire of 2022, even though we were three months into Stage 4 restrictions. We heard that his staff had worked extremely hard throughout. “There was [a fire] and there was enough water.”
Of course there was enough water! We, the residents of the Coast, had spent months going without reasonable consumption. Limiting shower and toilet use, catching every spare drop in the kitchen and carefully nurturing our shrubs and plants as if we lived in Saharan Africa. We all went without. That’s why he, the proud CAO, had enough water. Living that way, in a rain forest, is ludicrous!
We have asked the SCRD staff water-related questions that require clear, concise answers, not generalities. Factual answers will empower us and will enable us to make good decisions about the use of our water. When they don’t appear to take our concerns seriously, it makes me wonder why we should.
Carolyn Minchin
Sechelt
