The following letter is from Jennifer Mansour’s class at Learning Connections.
Squamish needs more industrial development. The primary economic drivers are tourism and real estate. These two things shouldn’t comprise the majority of the Squamish economy. In comparison to other small towns, many of them have nearly collapsed, many of the residents leaving the area. The reason our town is still afloat is due to our proximity to Vancouver, attracting more tourists than other more remote towns. Bringing more industry, such as logging, manufacturing, or wind turbines would increase economic stability in Squamish.
We need to build a new industrial sector. The old one is inefficient and not contributing to the economy. Currently, our industrial park consists of a few car dealerships, three large department stores, and not much else. It would be wise for the District to invest in developing this area and encouraging companies to situate themselves there, but in a safe and efficient manner.
Some may say that we don’t need additional industry and it’s bad for the environment.
They might argue that tourism alone is enough to foster a stable Squamish economy that continues to grow and create jobs. This isn’t accurate in the slightest. If Squamish is to continue grow at the same or even a mildly reduced rate, we cannot rely on a single industry. Though some might say that bringing more industry to Squamish would degrade the environmental quality of the area, they forget that as we progress, we have discovered and popularised ways of clean industry that are relatively cheap and efficient. It would be amiss to bring more development into our town without these precautions, but if we include them, Squamish could become an economic powerhouse of the lower mainland in B.C. Even though tourism is important to Squamish, it’s inconceivable that it be the industry to sustain Squamish’s growth throughout the coming years.
In conclusion, Squamish is somewhat bad right now and I believe that we should bring more industry into our beautiful town, even in the face of adversity. We need to encourage investors and companies to bring more industry to Squamish.
