It was a great day - sunny but not too hot; the kind of day that lends itself nicely to pursuits of leisure and afternoon walks by the river. The evening sun was thinking about climbing the Chief and the bright clouds set a dramatic scene.
Hang on, that's a dark cloud. Well would you look at that, someone's backyard is on fire.
After moments the sirens could be heard and neighbours could breathe a little easier (give it up for the red truck!). Once the immediate danger was over, there's nothing quite like a disaster to bring everyone together. People came from all over the 'hood to see what all the smoke was about. Backyards were full, there was leisurely talk over fences, "hey, howsitgoin," that sort of thing. It was my first impromptu neighborhood party and it was nice to see everyone out talking and socializing around the fire.
Well, if a fire is all it takes to bring a group together what say we fire up that podium in the council chambers? After all the brouhaha it looks like they could use a good campfire.
The worst part is how "old married couple" the fighting is - both sides mad at the same thing but both hell-bent on ruffling each other's feathers.
For those just tuning in, meet Bill 30. Bill's nothing short of a bastard that once again allows the BC Liberals to completely screw over B.C. communities. This time they're creating a law stripping local government's power to have any input regarding local power projects.
Of course this affects all municipalities but appears to be created due to the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District saying we're not doing anything without a plan. They actually had to say that twice. Sounds reasonable enough, doesn't it? When we're dealing with our province's ownership of the most precious resource in the world, it's probably best to have a plan.
Well, it appears the only plan is for the province to just hand everything over to private companies.
But to avoid the unpopular optics of using evil Bill 17, in true Gordo style, they shove it in the back door. This thing is so underhanded that if they didn't make the laws it would be illegal.
Encouragingly, with our authority being stripped, our Council immediately penned a letter rightly telling them to piss off. Corinne also wanted to send one re-stating our displeasure with the idea of an IPP on the Ashlu. This caused a heated debate.
Hello?! The BC Liberals are stealing our power and we're infighting? The two statements are indeed apples and oranges but really we should be getting some bananas and kiwis and huck the whole lot at the crooks.
Sticking with the fruit thing, our water is a ripe cherry that is being plucked by some very dirty hands. Unless we take a deep breath and act with a unifying voice we're not going to be in a position to do anything but take it.
