Sunshine Coasters (and others) have a little over two weeks – until Jan. 31 – to answer questions and share their ideas about the unfolding land use planning process that the shíshálh Nation and B.C. government are jointly undertaking.
The common complaint about government decrees is that the public wasn’t asked beforehand what they thought, and as a result the whole thing spirals in the wrong direction. The Trellis care home project in Sechelt is a perfect example of this top-down approach and the antipathy it can stir up. The draft Pender Harbour Dock Management Plan was, unfortunately, another.
In this case the province and shíshálh seem to have learned a lesson and are asking the public what it wants to see before embarking on a journey that will take years to complete. A questionnaire that can be accessed at landuseplanning.gov.bc.ca asks some refreshingly intelligent questions.
It asks respondents to prioritize their relevant interests, offering a list of recreational, ecological and economic examples and leaving space for others.
It asks them to order the values that should guide the planning process and what opportunities they believe it presents.
It asks what goals or outcomes respondents want to see advanced, what concerns they might have about such broad-scale land use planning, and what suggestions they can offer to address those concerns.
Finally, it asks what kind of information respondents would like to have so they can fully participate for the duration. The examples given relate to the most fundamental questions.
This appears to be an opportunity for respectful, meaningful engagement. If some of the explanations contained in the documents seem wordy and vague, that is not necessarily a failing; it suggests the scope of the project is being kept open enough to incorporate the widest range of possibilities.
Our one small quibble is with a reference in the backgrounder to the foundation agreement goal of “creating economic prosperity for shíshálh people and those choosing to live, work and play within the swiya.” This language can perhaps be excused as providing historical context but in present terms it is dismissive and factually wrong, since many Coasters did not “choose” to live here. They were born here, and some go back generations, with parents, grandparents and great-grandparents buried in the soil.
Setting aside that political lapse, we hold out great hope that this process will further reconciliation in the beautiful shíshálh swiya.
