January 6, 2009 - Submitted to the Rural Observer
Another year has passed and a new one has dawned with both significant challenges and opportunities. Two issues of primary importance to us all are the state of the economy and how we govern ourselves.
The Christmas season was complicated by the vagaries of the weather and the messy road conditions. The shopping season is one that I enjoy more for the people I meet than the consumption. It was a brief chat with a staffer at one of my shopping stops that brought into focus the early effects of the current global economic meltdown. She was in her late fifties, working in the retail sector waiting for her husband to retire before starting the next chapter in their lives. Her perspective on the end of 2008 and the beginning of an uncertain new year is shared by many people in our area.
The savings she had expected to be there to serve as the financial foundation for the rest of her life are in doubt. Her children, now adults with young families and new obligations, are less sure that the near future would look anything at all like the recent past. Big unknowns make predictions worthless and comfort difficult to find. What will the money markets do? Will President Obama come even close to our high expectations? Those are the big questions that we here on Southern Vancouver Island have very little control over.
We all assume extraordinary times require extraordinary measures, but all we get from our leaders is the same old rhetoric. A tune that seems increasingly off-key. If we are on the cusp of a climate catastrophe as many contend, then isn't an unprecedented economic downturn the perfect time to completely change the way the economy works and how we act locally? People sense that change is coming, but is this generation the one to make the shift to a sustainable economy and put the brakes on the growth monster?
The debate on how we govern ourselves here at home will be crucial to the future livability of the Capital Regional District. Amalgamation studies are well advanced in Metchosin and East Sooke. The second phase of the analysis will help residents understand if amalgamation is the right course for them. The future of the WFP lands and how proposed development will proceed has again been altered. At the end of December, the Supreme Court struck down bylaws that were intended to ensure growth in the unincorporated areas of the CRD was driven by community planning and public input. The CRD has made a decision to appeal this ruling and also intends to ask for a stay of proceedings while the appeal is heard.
The resulting uncertainty respecting land use compounds the economic turmoil for our region. What is now required is a concerted effort by the CRD and the Province to restore certainty and facilitate proper planning for future growth and development. It is more important now than ever that the Provincial government engage with the CRD, our area director, First Nations and our rural communities to prepare a plan that supports the vision of the majority of residents and large landowners alike.
The WFP issue has been before us for almost two years and in that time the Provincial government has adopted a hands-off approach claiming that local government is responsible for development planning. That is as it should be, but the local government needs significant financial and human resources to do the job in the public interest. The Province must first acknowledge the mistakes of the past 24 months and then commit to resolving the problems, not with rhetoric, but with resources. Rural British Columbians deserve the same support as those in urban centres. The Province failed the rural residents of the CRD and now is the time to correct that error.
No matter where you stand, the next number of months will be crucial to re-establishing the land use maps for the rural parts of the CRD. I encourage residents to participate to the greatest extent possible to ensure you have a say in the future of our region. The challenge is also an opportunity. Working together, in good faith, we can get where we all want to be.
John Horgan, MLA
Malahat-Juan de Fuca
