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Gloves Are On (11.24.00)
(Reverb on) Ladies and Gentlemen, (reverb off)
Tonight we bring you the battle royale that is dividing the community
and placing back breaking pressure on our elected officials.
In this corner, weighing in at 7 jobs and 4 thousand woodchips, GBA. And in this corner, sporting light industrial trunks, the downtown south merchants. Hi, I'm Bryan and I'll be your ringside announcer for the next 750 words. Ding ding, and they're off!
The first round was fought without anyone looking. Before the last election was even over the deal was well on its way. But then the people found out about it and lo and behold, they fought back. Which brings us to round two - the court battle. With the bizzaro world gang of four singing the praises of an industrial downtown the people said no way and round two was over with a court judge landing the final blow. Which brings us to round 3. the public information meeting or, Propaganda wars!
The chilly Thursday evening began with the downtown south merchants showing us what could be if Squamish took the road of change. The main vision is of course the waterfront walkway and artisans village. Then later in the evening was the moment I was waiting for. GBA opened its doors. That evening, I wasn't' feeling too well, so (for a change) I was doing more listening than talking. Which was good because I really did want to hear someone talk about the benefits of the proposed woodchip facility.
Oh sure there have been letters in the chief, but lets be honest, those did more harm than good. Most of the letters were poorly written and came from the few people who will see monetary gain from the plant. Where as the opponents letters were (for the most part) written by concerned citizens. As well, the first ad GBA took out in the Chief was pretty good, but after that I pretty much gave up reading any of the advertising, it just seemed like a lot of money being spent to tell me what I already know.
So it was with baited breath that I waited for the knowledgeable GBA army to tell me why an industrial downtown is the best future for Squamish First, the handouts. oooh, I love handouts. Oh! What's this? A questionnaire? Tee-hee, being a sucker for questionnaires, I dove right in. It was then I did something that I've never done. I couldn't fill it out! The questions were the most slanted rubbish I've ever read. Well OK that's not entirely true, I once read a US army questionnaire about nazi Germany that was worse. But falling short of asking if you like cookies and sunshine, the questionnaire only strengthened my suspicion that this is a done deal.
But enough about that, I came to hear benefits, so I allowed myself to be swept away by anyone who would tell me about the project. First I listened as Greg talked over the very impressive model showing the proposed facility. It was a great model but I had concerns about the scale. Then I moved to the pictures showing the rail cars and landscaping. It was then I was approached by a fellow who couldn't tell me enough about how wonderful it will look when it was all done. Looking at his nametag I noticed he was not from GBA. Then I noticed there were several people saying how wonderful the project was and only a few actually worked for GBA. This was what I wanted! Someone who's doesn't' work for GBA who thinks this is a good direction for Squamish to go.
So I went up to 5 of the gentlemen and after hearing their rehearsed spiel I asked them 2 questions. 1. Do you live in Squamish? - All 5 said "NO" - 2. If you did, would you still want this project to go through? Oh, the dancing I saw! The most popular dance step was one I like to call "all the cool kids are doing it" it goes something like this."Granville island does it so can you". but after the comeback, "Granville island didn't have a choice, we do" the dancing stopped.
Another playful jig they all had in common, was "just look at what else can go in there, it could be worse!" I thought I should tell them that I used that slogan in my campaign and it didn't' work. On the other hand, maybe I shouldn't. Ding ding. Well that was quite an exciting round, I notice most of you are getting very tired. I hear ya, it's getting to the point where they might just run us down. we can't let that happen. Continue to fight the good fight and who knows maybe one of the four will see that sure, it could be worse. but it could also be better!
Bryan continues to preach to the converted from
his headquarters in Squamish BC.
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