‘Don’t confuse me with the facts’

If Thursday wasn’t a good day for opponents of ACC, Thursday night certainly wasn’t a good one for ACC. It was definitely a “Don’t confuse me with the facts” kind of evening at the chamber of commerce-sponsored Rail Ties, Real Issues forum.

At least 500 people packed the TRU Grand Hall for two hours of questions and answers about the ACC project that would process treated railway ties in two gasifiers on Mission Flats.

I don’t want to over-generalize, for there were a lot of very good, thoughtful questions posed to Sigurdson, consulting engineer Robert Pietrzak, and Ralph Adams of the Ministry of Environment. But there were a lot of snide ones, too, like the guy who asked Sigurdson if he’d pay the City a million dollars if his gasifiers didn’t work.

Adams seemed frustrated at times when he would be asked a question, clearly answer it, only to be heckled or asked the same question later. However, he kept his patience. Sigurdson, for his part, also did well under fire, and Pietrzak provided balanced and thorough answers to questions about the technology.

But many in the crowd weren’t interested — they had already made up their minds. In an Armchair Mayor column recently, I pondered the question of whether Sigurdson would receive respectful treatment. The answer was clearly a no as far as a number of those at the back of the room were concerned.

Brian Alexander, one-time mayoral candidate, didn’t sit at the back. He sat close to the front, unfortunately, delivering a constant barrage of nasty peanut-gallery comments. Someone nearby finally told him, “Be quiet, Brian.”

When I say that some people didn’t want to listen, I mean that they refused to accept answers they didn’t like. Adams delivered the best zinger of the night when Dr. Alan Vukusic delivered a message from local doctors about their concern for our “compromised airshed.”

Adams took Vukusic and the audience through a convincing review of why the “compromised airshed” theory is a myth, citing statistics and comparisons to back it up. It didn’t matter. The sensitive airshed story has taken hold and facts aren’t going to change perception.

Despite all this, the forum was a success in that it provided a lot of information about the project, and answered a lot of questions for those in the crowd who were there to listen rather than to simply be loud.

Dr. Murray Young, a chamber director and TRU dean of business, did a good job handling the Q&A.

From the opponents’ point of view, it was definitely a success because Sigurdson says he’ll be thinking seriously about whether to forge ahead with his project. I don’t think it was a night some people should be proud of, though.

One note about the protest held outside the building prior to the forum: organizer John McNamer is be commended for his repeated insistence that speakers be treated with respect. As he put it in his email blasts, “Disrespect for any one of us will be considered disrespect for all of us.”

Too bad it didn’t extend to the crowd’s treatment of MLA Terry Lake, who had the guts to stand up in front of them and tell his side, and his government’s side, of the story. But then, it was nothing he isn’t used to in the Legislature.

As for Michael Crawford, the three-time federal NDP candidate, he should be ashamed of himself for using the event as a platform to play politics and try to score some points against Lake and MP Cathy McLeod.