Two hours well spent at ‘democracy’ forum

I spent two hours of my Sunday at one of TRU political science prof Derek Cook’s Democracy and Incineration meetings and I’m glad I did. There were about 120 people in the Clocktower Theatre; object of the exercise was to keep the momentum going against the Aboriginal Cogeneration gasification plant.

I’d say there was a wide range of knowledge among the participants about the proposal, and emotions ranged from fear to outrage. I understand these emotions, and I don’t use the “emotion” word disparagingly. People care deeply about their community, and they want to defend it against something they believe is bad. Emotion can be based on rational thought and good information, so there’s no need to apologize for it.

One of the main points of discussion was on the use of financial clout via the provincial ICE fund (and, to a lesser extent the federal SDTC money) to make the project unviable for ACC. This is the tactic of our two MLAs, at least in regard to the ICE grant approved last April, but it hasn’t scored them many points with opponents. However, with the environmental permit already approved, convincing the provincial government to renege on its grant is seen as a way of putting pressure on ACC.

This discussion led to the matter of the Kamloops Chamber of Commerce forum this Thursday at the TRU Grand Hall, which will be attended by ACC president Kim Sigurdson. Since the ICE grant is conditional upon community consultation, the question was raised as to whether or not the chamber forum qualified.

I was asked for an opinion on that, and I don’t really know the answer, since the ICE fund guidelines on that issue aren’t clear to me. Terry Lake and Kevin Krueger have their own views on it. I will say that since the application for the environmental permit was announced last June 10, through to when the permit was granted in early January, there have been plenty of opportunities to engage the public via public meetings, open houses, press releases, press conferences, meetings with stakeholders, and so on, that weren’t taken.

Nevertheless, the chamber forum is, at the least, a beginning. One person at today’s meeting announced his intention to boycott the chamber forum, and I’ll say this about that: if you tell somebody you don’t like what he’s doing, it seems odd that you would then refuse to meet with him and tell him why, when offered the opportunity. It’s like saying, “I’m against you, but I won’t talk to you about it.”

As we filed out into the parking lot, I jokingly told a couple of people I work with, “I should have known you shit-disturbers would be here.” And one of them joked back, “You seem to be doing a little shit-disturbing of your own.” 

Point is, community activism, by any name, is healthy. And while it’s serious business, it’s not personal — we all want what’s best for Kamloops, whether or not we agree on how to do it . It’s never too late to become better informed, nor to talk to each other. I don’t know how this thing will turn out, but I can’t help but hope there’s a way to find a win for everyone.