Dear Editor,
In regard to the Pollinator Initiative letters in last week’s issue, I was appalled by Neil Boyd’s dismissal of views other than his own as “claims from self-described local experts,” a reference to Will Husby. Boyd’s attempt at character assassination is unworthy of our community.
Will Husby is the unofficial spokesperson for those objecting to the current proposed location for the Pollinator Initiative. He would rather see it located elsewhere and closer to the village. And here’s the rub. This “self-described local expert”, as mocked by Boyd, has an MSc in entomology from Guelph University and for the last quarter century has made his living as the senior partner of EcoLeaders Interpretation, which is a planning consultancy specializing in interpretive and education planning for park systems, parks, museums, and nature centres across Canada and in the US. The BAA wants an interpretive and education site and that is exactly what Will does professionally. His clients include, but are not limited to, the National Capital Commission where he developed the interpretive Master Plan for Canada’s Capital Greenbelt (Ottawa). Other clients include Parks Canada (Prince Albert National Park), Rouge Park Alliance (Greater Toronto Area ), Rouge Park (now Rouge Park National Park Reserve), Alberta Parks: Fish Creek Provincial Park (Canada’s largest urban park, Calgary), Beaver Hills District (greater Edmonton area). All of these interpretive plans, which Will designed, included the selection of interpretive sites based on location and the sensitivity of sites and features. Will is recognized throughout North America as a go to person when it comes to designing interpretative and educational sites in parks. As well, he and his partner Sue Ellen Fast (a Bowen Island Municipal councillor), produced Nature Walks, a critically acclaimed 52 part, four year long TV series focused on public education of the natural environment. Consequently, Will Husby is eminently qualified to hold an opinion on the proposed location for the Pollinator Initiative
Further, It is particularly disheartening that Boyd chose to emphasize his role as a member of the Board of Directors of the Bowen Island Foundation when he set about on his character assassination. The Bowen Island Foundation is full of fine people who do important work for our community. And I owe them a personal debt of gratitude. In the recent past they gave generous environmental bursaries to my son Geoffrey. But that notwithstanding, I think the Board should issue a written apology to Will because of the actions of one of its Board Members. You might even consider letting Will speak at one of your meetings on the subject. Will is, after all, one of Canada’s leading experts in this field.
I wrote to Dr. Winston this afternoon to express my concerns about misconceptions regarding this project. His reply is, “Thanks for your message. I can see there are strong opinions on many sides about what to do with that area, and I think I’ll leave it to all of you on Bowen to sort out. There are many good possibilities, including a pollinator focus, and what you choose in the end will depend on the values you want to promote. Mark”
And there it is. What are the values we want to promote? Can we not debate issues and different points of view with dignity? Must we descend to diatribes worthy of Fox news? Can we not come together as a community? Or do we rip the community because of a lack of civility?
Oh, and as for the soccer field component of the debate, written about by Heather Prittie last week in this paper, I am and always have been a BICS soccer field supporter. So has Will Husby.
Sincerely,
Joe Lewicki
