Fear, uncertainty and confusion.
Those were the unfortunate prevailing sentiments at a council meeting Tuesday night where about 150 people crammed into the council chambers and an overflow area. Almost everyone was there for one reason: to oppose a FortisBC application to drill test boreholes in the estuary for the proposed natural gas pipeline. On the same day, a pod of dolphins was seen splashing in Howe Sound at Squamish.
Usually a mayor strictly sticks with the order in the agenda, but Mayor Patricia Heintzman made it clear from the outset that a limited number of the opponents could speak briefly and first. This was an admirable democratic decision.
And it helped keep emotions under control in a room of people clearly upset by what the district staff and councillors had to say. There were a few outbursts – including one man who swore and stormed out of the room after Councillor Ted Prior, who seemed to be against the proposal, changed his tune by saying, “I don’t want to see any legal fees... we can say no and it will cost us a whole bunch of money, and it might get done anyway.”
Councillor Doug Race, who said the boreholes would have a “minimal impact” on the estuary, had a grave warning: “If we turn this down, there will be consequences for taxpayers,” he said, adding that Squamish would “feel the impact” if it rejected Fortis’s request.
Fear is never admirable in leaders, especially when used to justify their decision. And uncertainty and confusion were clear in the councillors’ subsequent comments and deferral of the decision. New councillors Karen Elliott and Peter Kent both said they hadn’t received enough information about the proposal. Council voted to defer for two weeks until after an information session with Fortis.
Fortis clearly needed to manage the fear and confusion ahead of the council meeting by ensuring that councillors had the information they needed to reach a decision on whether to allow the drilling in the estuary. The meeting clearly indicated a public relations problem for Fortis, which should have organized an information session with the new council well before decision night.
And the fact that fear and confusion seem to prevail creates a negative atmosphere for a company trying to bring a change to Squamish.
– Christine Endicott
