The count is full and the “closers” are coming in to throw some heat at the LNG debate. The game is winding down, and there is no shortage of pitches being made to help Squamish council come to a decision on its position on Woodfibre LNG. Each week for the past six months, the Chief has been filled with letters both extolling and condemning the project.
The difference is that these days, the sides are calling up imports to bolster their case. The letters page in the March 12 edition of The Squamish Chief had three letters from non-residents writing to persuade council and the people of Squamish. In addition, council had a “visit to the mound” from Stewart Muir of Resource Works who offered his organization’s analysis of LNG, which might not be objective. Then FortisBC put on the squeeze play by announcing that it was going to court to challenge council’s move to stop the drilling of the test boreholes.
At this point with this issue, it’s impossible for council to be able to make the right decision. It is a classic dilemma: whichever way it chooses to go, it will be the wrong one, that is, one so divisive that councillors can be sure that they will be hearing about it for a long time to come.
So should council swing away or take a pitch? The answer is in the community consultation process the municipality is undergoing. If the consultation gives council a clear sense of what the population is thinking, then councillors ought simply to wash their hands of the whole affair and give input to the Environmental Assessment Office unanimously the way the majority of people of Squamish feel about the issue. It may be the wrong decision, but that’s OK.
Democracy is a bit of a game, and one of the rules of play is that we accept the will of the majority – even when the majority is wrong. Of course, when we disagree, we should try to persuade people to favour our opinion before the next decision is to be made. We’ve got a responsibility to voice our disagreement to the prevailing attitude and argue our positions. There comes a point, though, where we just have to get on with it and that point has been reached on Woodfibre LNG.
We’ve heard all the arguments – both the rational and the emotional – and seen all the pitches, even the occasional spitball. We’ve been standing at the plate, looking to third base for signs, and fouling off pitches for what seems an eternity; now, it’s time to play ball and see what happens.
After hearing so much vitriol from both sides, it’s going to be difficult for many just to let game play out, but it needs to happen. This inning needs to finish and the players need to take the field for the next. Although someone will be leading, the beautiful thing about baseball, and politics, is that just around the corner there is always a fresh count and no one out; for that brief moment absolutely anything is possible.
