KGHM could clear up video issue simply by changing how TRU trades dean is identified
Lindsay Langill in Ajax video. Use of title cause of concern by some.
FRIDAY MORNING EDITORIAL — Perception isn’t everything but it’s important when it comes to public issues.
Thompson Rivers University Dean of Trades and Technology Lindsay Langill appears in a promotional video produced for KGHM International on the virtues of the proposed Ajax mine.
Amid some clips of trades people or perhaps trades students at work, Langill comments about the positive impact Ajax could have for young people with respect to jobs. He is identified by his title of Dean, TRU School of Trades and Technology.
Langill says his appearance in the video is in no way intended to suggest TRU, as an institution, is taking a position on the project. He has told The Armchair Mayor News that only one person speaks for the university, and that’s the president, Alan Shaver.
“Probably KGHM shouldn’t have put the title on there,” Langill says of the video, though he also makes the point that titles naturally travel with the holder.
TRU encourages free expression among those in its employ but is also naturally sensitive about who speaks on its behalf on matters of public concern.
Professors are an opinionated bunch and are very active in community issues, and that’s what’s expected. In the case of administrators, there might be a tendency for some people to assume incorrectly that they’re speaking on behalf of the university.
So this is about perception rather than reality. It comes down to a simple but important matter of labeling and context.
Any misunderstanding could have been avoided if Langill’s title hadn’t been used on the video. He could have been identified only as a resident, in the same way Caroline King was, or he could have been identified as an educator.
Focus on the video is now centred on Langill instead of on the message it was trying to portray. A good crisis manager might tell KGHM International that the best thing to do with this issue — both out of respect for Langill and to make sure there’s no further confusion — is to resolve it by making a slight alteration to the video on how Langill is identified.
Such a suggestion would be worth listening to.
ArmchairMayor.ca 
Hi Armchair,
Can anyone verify that Caroline King is a resident of Kamloops. It would be interesting to see what part of town she lives in, only from the perspective that a majority of supporters appear to be Westsyders. Case in point was the significant traffic jam after the event, that was backed up Summit and heading across the Overlander bridge. We couldn’t figure out what was happening until later that day when we heard about the love in.
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I would go further and say that KGHM should just pull the entire video. As far as I’m concerned, it sends contradictory signals and doesn’t enhance the image of the company. I mean, on the one hand, they want the public to believe that they are taking the high road and basing all their judgements on facts (e.g. the “Facts based on science” booklet). On the other hand, they are dabbling in propaganda (e.g. the “let’s keep talking” video). I see this as rather pointless. It would be better for them to lock horns with the real issues and problems inherent with this mine proposal. People would like to hear answers to questions, even hypothetical ones. For example, what will KGHM do if it turns out that the mine is driving property values down in Aberdeen? Will people be compensated? What will KGHM do in the event of a “catastrophe”, for example, if ground water is contaminated? At this point, 3 years into an environment assessment, it is not enough to say “we’re studying it”. This mine project is highly unusual in its proximity to a large population and KGHM needs to acknowledge this fact by getting some real answers.
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