There is an old proverb that says, “An angry man closes his eyes and opens his mouth.” With that in mind, I write to offer a few comments on the letter Mr. Adelaar published in the Undercurrent last week. Mr. Adelaar says that the OCP is “anything but a constitution” for our island. He goes on to quote an extract (which he may or may not know is) from subsection 875(1) of the Local Government Act. That extract describes an OCP as being “a statement of objectives and policies to guide decisions”. But has Mr. Adelaar jumped to the wrong conclusion? Please do read it again slowly – a statement of objectives and policies to guide decisions – that is in fact one of the most basic functions of a constitution. There are also other provisions in the Local Government Act that support the view that OCPs perform other constitutional functions.
So, is the OCP a constitution for our island? Well, yeah, at the very least it’s fair to say that it is an important and integral part of our constituting documents, along with our Letters Patent, the Local Government Act, and the Community Charter. And in some ways it’s particularly important because it’s the only one of those documents that was written specifically by and for Islanders. But that’s not really my point. My point is that, unfortunately, this is yet another instance where Mr. Adelaar seems to have skipped along on the surface, misunderstood the issues, and then lashed out before thinking, in a way that is unhelpful, unhealthy, and unbecoming.
As for economic development, Mr. Adelaar seems to have missed a nuance within an OCP objective about ferry services and population growth. I agree that the purpose of that objective could have been expressed more clearly, but far from being “extreme” or “anti-growth”, it is actually part of a reasonable and sensible approach to growth and the question of who should pay for the costs of growth. That approach simply says that existing residents should not be forced to pay upfront for the increased infrastructure and increased services that growth requires, before that increased infrastructure and those increased services are actually needed.
You see, some communities make the mistake of borrowing millions of dollars and paying through the nose for white elephants, like transit links to nowhere, or expanded waste and water systems, or other new works and facilities, all in the naïve hope that it will attract growth and development. But then, reality bites, and the hoped for growth and development never actually happens, because the real estate market simply doesn’t support that level of growth, or growth in that particular location. If this doesn’t already sound familiar to you, it should, and you might like to take a look at the new borrowing projections in the draft municipal budget and five year plan.
In addition to missing the nuances behind OCP objectives, Mr. Adelaar also missed the obvious. For example, he didn’t mention that the OCP begins with “fundamental principles” and that those fundamental principles include: “to foster the creation and maintenance of local employment in island-based sustainable activities” and “to recognize Snug Cove as the commercial and community heart of Bowen Island, and to provide for the expansion of commercial, residential, and community and cultural uses”. Nor did he mention the forty plus objectives and policies in the OCP that are specifically aimed at creating and sustaining a local economy that supports the unique character of Bowen Island.
The point is, Mr. Adelaar doesn’t need to be quite so angry, because the OCP is not the evil, green-at-all-costs manifesto that he makes it out to be. It says we can do both, a sustainable environment and a sustainable economy. We need to talk about it more, and more widely, and then we should take our time to act thoughtfully and get it right. Because simply skipping along on the surface, with our eyes closed and our mouth open, is bound to produce results that are unhelpful, unhealthy, and unbecoming for Bowen.
James Hickling
