It seems when online battles are waged, every keystroke counts. In early December, Garibaldi at Squamish (GAS) launched a website promoting its vision for a ski resort north of Squamish. Its launch coincided with the release of the Save Garibaldi website, which was created by a group of local residents opposed to the project.
But those seeking to evaluate the opponent's argument may have found themselves in a one-sided conundrum when what they believed to be the Save Garibaldi site rerouted them to the proponent's site. That's because GAS consultant Gord Addison bought the domain names savegaribaldi.ca and savegaribaldi.com and linked both addresses to the GAS website. Anyone unfamiliar with Save Garibaldi's actual site, savegaribaldi.org, would surf directly to the proponent's website.
"It begs the question, why wouldn't they want people to look at our website? What are they trying to hide?" said Save Garibaldi member Jessica Reid.
Reid said she had no idea how the link would appear to a web browser, who wouldn't realize their search for an opposition site has actually taken them to a promotional one. However the proponents were shooting themselves in the foot by employing such a strategy, she said.
"Being sneaky and unethical doesn't serve the proponents stance, it just makes them look suspicious," she said.
Save Garibaldi's website designer, Johnpaul Burbank, said the group opted for the less common ".org" ending because it denotes the group's non-profit status.
"We did know that it would leave the '.com' and '.ca,' but to be honest we really didn't think they'd do that," he said.
Burbank said it is common for an advertisement-based site to create a website name similar to a more popular one in order to grab the windfall of address typos. Burbank noted in the case of GAS, the link could be considered more deceptive since it directs people to the opposite site they seek.
"It's a little bit more nefarious."
GAS president Mike Esler said the domains were purchased without his authorization. Both site domains were registered under Addison's name.
"It was something I did on my own," said Addison.
By Tuesday (Jan 15), domains savegaribaldi.ca and savegaribladi.com were deregistered, putting an end to the potential confusion. He said the online strategy is far from unusual.
"Anyone can buy any domain name," said Addison. "It happens all the time with local campaigns."
Esler said he was told about the idea but had not made a decision on it yet.
"It was the case, I guess, of an overzealous consultant stepping over the bounds of his authority," said Esler, adding, "I regret it happened and I put an end to it."
Addison fired back at the opposition group criticizing the move, saying they should consider the information they disseminate.
"If they're going to start accusing people of being deceptive they should be honest with people and not say it's 22,000 residents," he said, referring to a statement on the Save Garibaldi website stating the project would bring "a projected population increase of 22,000"
Proponents have made a point of saying this figure includes resort guest numbers, not just permanent residents. Meanwhile, the group Save Garibaldi continues to battle against the project.
On Tuesday (Jan. 15), Reid distributed a press release to Lower Mainland media that suggests the project could become a tax burden for community members, stating, "Without data on long-term viability verses infrastructure costs, some residents are wondering if GAS has the potential to bankrupt Squamish."
