As the debate over the LNG facility rages on, it’s useful to take a walk down memory lane, Squamish style. The lessons of the past provide us with guideposts and a glimpse into the future, since history tends to repeat itself.
Like many other Canadian towns and cities, Squamish was founded and grew up based on industry. Logging, mining, sawmilling, pulp, rail and chemical processing were all mainstays in this place we call home. Many of the current residents worked in these industries, as did their parents and grandparents. Whether or not you believe industry is good or should just go away, the fact is that the jobs put food on the table, built local houses and paid the municipal bills. Without these industries, there would be no Squamish.
In the mid part of the 20th century, the municipal councils of the day focused on developing recreation and support for the community. When you take your kids to the pool at Brennan Park, stop by the local RCMP detachment, or enjoy the festivities at the Loggers Sports grounds, realize that all of these were built with tax dollars generated from the same industries.
In a previous career I worked for an electric utility as the person responsible to site new substations and transmission lines. I learned a great deal. First of all, there are various categories of people, and at certain times we all fall into one of them, depending on the issue. A “locally unwanted land use” is a LULU, such as the large BC Hydro substation that is in the middle of Squamish or the power transmission lines that are scattered throughout our valley. A NIMBY, or “not in my back yard,” is a person who is fine with the infrastructure as long as it is nowhere near them. I ran across many of them in my career, and while they seem hypocritical, we can all sympathize at times when change is introduced into our own neighbourhoods.
The most irrational are the BANANAs, an acronym for “build absolutely nothing anywhere near anyone.” For them, any development is terrible, be it a new condo building, our gondola or a small factory halfway around the world. I always found it curious that most of them live in houses, have jobs and drive cars but will fight vigorously to prevent anyone else from doing the same.
It’s also interesting to see what happens after the facilities are built. It takes roughly six months for the protest to fade, after which very few people care about the original fight. Take the powerlines that cut directly through the valley for example. I can tell you from experience that to install them today, there would be a huge fight complete with public protests, regulatory hearings, anti-power petitions and the like. Yet when I go into any of the stores in Garibaldi Village, no one seems to care or even notice that they exist. As usual, industry and recreation peacefully coexist and people go on enjoying their lives.
The proposed Woodfibre LNG facility is planned to be built on an existing industrial site, several kilometres out of town and will include ship transport, just like we have today. If it proceeds, it will be very good for Squamish with respect to jobs, tax revenue, and even the environment since the site will be cleaner than it is now.
So before we get too riled up about something that most people know very little about, think about our municipal history. It’s very likely that the house you are living in was built with wages earned at a mill, by a logger or a chemical plant worker. Our recreation facilities were constructed using taxes from those same companies. And the next time you drive through town and see infrastructure that has been there for years, the facilities you forgot were even there, ask yourself, what is so wrong with something that benefits all of us and fades into the visual background within a few months?
Keith Sones
Squamish
