Welcome to January – the time of year when folks like me offer vague recaps of the year before and predictions and analysis for the year ahead.
Far be it from me to part ways with that time-honoured tradition.
First up to bat: pipelines.
Folks on both sides of that argument have much to say about pipelines; too bad they're not saying much that's of value.
The proponents argue in favour of jobs, revenue generation and development; opponents say they haven't been properly consulted and that such development could harm the environment.
Of course, in the court of public opinion, all of these arguments are basically held to be true.
The challenge here is that an argument can never reach a conclusion if the parties involved argue about different things.
And as long as they continue to argue about different things, it's up to a third party – in this case the government and an MP from Ontario – to say yea or nay to these projects.
Meantime, the argument continues unabated in B.C., polarizing the population and damaging relationships among people who will call this province home long after these decisions are made.
We have reached a point in this province where environmental reviews of major projects are in the press as often as, if not more often than, major criminal trials.
Talking heads and pundits have placed these reviews on trial in a kangaroo court of public opinion.
The problem is that an environmental review is not a trial.
And even if it were, would it not be wiser to let all the facts be known and have a qualified party reach a verdict before talking heads weigh in and wave placards?
Let the process run its course.
After all, appeals can be filed. And if many appeals are filed and found successful, then we will know that the process must be changed.
Raining fire and brimstone upon any project, or setting a halo above it, is manipulative and serves only to damage relationships and divide our province at a time when we need to work together.
Now that we've sent that knuckleball back to the pitcher, let me turn toward a region that finally received some attention in the news recently.
BC Ferries service cuts announced in November will deal a "devastating blow" to the tourism industry in Bella Coola and the Central Coast, according to the Coast Mountain News.
The move means Bella Coola will lose its direct summer Discovery Coast Passage ferry service.
Never been to the Central Coast?
Picture this: 24,000 square kilometres of rainforest, coastal islands, a lush green valley, spectacular sport fishing and wildlife viewing and glacier-capped mountains that jut from the Pacific like the battlements of castle British Columbia.
The region's unmatched heli-skiing terrain was recently featured in the movie Into the Mind, as well as in Air Canada's enRoute in-flight magazine in an article titled "Hella Coola."
The only way in or out of the Central Coast is by boat, planes that aren't always able to land and a single-lane gravel road that switchbacks 4,000 feet up a cliff toward Anahim Lake.
Add to that the fact that there are only 3,200 people spread among six unincorporated communities, virtually zero industry and high unemployment rates in First Nations communities, and it's not difficult to determine that reduced ferry service will have a major impact on British Columbians in the Central Coast.
Apart from tourism setbacks, local leaders have already voiced concerns about higher food costs and health care impacts.
Perhaps instead of focusing our attention on B.C.'s boomtowns, we'd be better served to give a hand up to those places that need it most.
At least, let's not leave them worse off.
Much ado was made about Chinese workers hired for a coal-mining project in the province's northeast last year, jobs that, unions argued, could have gone to British Columbians.
I'm all for British Columbians having a fair shot at jobs in this province, but let's not paint over history.
Unless you're First Nations, every British Columbian either is or had a family member who was a foreign worker in this province at one time.
My family first arrived in B.C.'s Robson Valley at the outbreak of the First World War, and I'm thankful they were welcome here.
We shouldn't forget the explorers, the fur traders, the gold-rush miners, the loggers, the ranchers, the farmers and the entrepreneurs who have built a life in this province since First Nations first guided Sir Alexander Mackenzie across it to Bella Coola in 1793 (that's a full 10 years before Lewis and Clark got their act together).
The demand for labour will be a front-page issue in the year ahead amid major industrial developments here in the north.
It would be a shame if our discussions regarding foreign workers began to reflect shades of the anti-immigration sentiment so prevalent in the labour movement of the early 20th century, which saw white activists seek to halt immigration from India, Japan and China and led to the Asian Exclusion Act of 1923 that effectively shut the door to Chinese immigration for a quarter century.
I'd bet that's a piece of history we don't want to repeat, and I'm hopeful that our public discussions about these issues in 2014 will favour reason instead of vitriol. •
