Editor:
Re: “Sechelt shows a touch of bias” by John Gleeson, Editorial, Feb. 12.
I have been struggling to fully understand Mr. Gleeson’s editorial contending a “touch of bias” at Sechelt council. I understand that decisions are never neutral – some people benefit, others do not, as a result of every decision we make in life. Bias, on the other hand, implies something else. Bias implies a prejudice – usually negative – or a predetermined outcome based on some preexisting perspective. Mr. Gleeson concludes that Sechelt council’s bias is based on being “anti-business.”
Bias is at odds with the governance model we follow in Sechelt and this accusation demeans the careful consideration and open discussion of seven elected councillors. The Visitor Information contract was discussed at length at committee meetings and at regular council. The issue of an RFP was raised and debated in an open and transparent way. Yet because we did not find those arguments compelling, we all share a bias?
Council decisions are based on weighing particular interests (those of the Chamber, in this example) with the collective values we know as community interests. Council expects that self-interest will seek benefits and will present their case in many ways. We also recognize bias in the way self-interested groups present their case to the public or media. The whole point of our approach is to put the bias of self-interest into the cauldron of community values and collective interest. What is truly best for the community will emerge.
I agree that bias may exist and we need to identify it in our decision-making. However, in my view, if there was any bias in the decision of council, it was a bias towards a respect for contracts, a bias for stability in service delivery and employment, a bias in favour of proven success and a bias for an existing made-in-Sechelt model that adds value to the run of the mill Visitor Information Centres seen elsewhere in North America.
The second charge – that Sechelt Council is in some way “anti-business” – is even more preposterous. It reeks of the cheap and shallow labelling of election campaigns and not the reasoned rhetoric we expect from editors. Sechelt is trying to increase awareness of the new economy. In terms of content, that means creative, knowledge-based business activities. In terms of form and structure, the new economy leaves the old separation between business, community, environment and private life in the dustbins of history. The new economy integrates business and community endeavours; it blends our private and public affairs; it emerges as easily as social enterprise as private.
We need to embrace this new model if we want to broaden the scope of wealth creation. In the old economic order, visitor information may have been narrowly defined as tourism-related and special interest groups often claimed a privileged mandate over economic activity. In the new world, we are all in this together. Information builds community, and economic development is a responsibility of us all. The Sechelt model of blending the Visitor Information Centre and Community Volunteer Centre in support of business and community development portrays this inclusive, integrated approach beautifully.
Bruce Milne, Mayor of Sechelt
