an open letter to Anders

[Tenn]

Anders,
Thank you. Despite very public and fairly relentless criticism, you stood up for restraint and took the long term view. While the gondola project through the Parks has been approved, I applaud your efforts. More importantly, I applaud your willingness to come out of retirement (from land use advocacy work - I assume you still have a day job) and bring focus to land use decisions that concerned you. We should all take a page from that book. While your position may not have been popular, the cause was noble and I for one will continue to advocate for maintaining the integrity of the protected areas in BC. It's an important cause.

Great work Anders.

thanks again,
Tennessee

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c ... eport.html

[Anders Ourom]

Thanks, Tennessee – very kind of you. Someone sent a note mentioning that you’d posted this. And yes, I very much still have a day job, and other responsibilities. I thought I’d mostly given up climbing-related advocacy, apart from my graffiti-removal fetish.

It was a bit of a slog, and rather disappointing. Someday I hope that we find out why it is that TLC failed to do its job. We defeated the gondola proposal in 2004, and the gravel pit land was purchased by TLC, specifically to protect it from any such development – whatever some later may have decided to the contrary. What happened? The proposal seems to have significant political support, and maybe could never have been defeated. Still, I wish I’d heard about it earlier, and there’d been more time to organize. Yes, there’d been incessant yapping about gondolas in Squamish, for years. I didn’t pay much attention, knowing that the Chief and Shannon Falls were protected. I was appalled to get a call from the Georgia Straight about a year ago, to tell me otherwise, and ask for my views about the proposal.

Well, we tried. Hard. “We” being the FOSC committee. I’m the token Vancouverite, or as I like to put it, I come from the southern end of the traditional territory of the Squamish People. The other seven all live in Squamish, and some have for 40+ years. All hikers and climbers. As some supporters treated gondola opponents who live in Squamish with hostility, it was decided I’d be the figurehead.

I was quite disappointed with such behaviour, as well as that of those who spoke publicly in favour of the proposal – without disclosing that they were contractors, would-be employees, friends of the promoters, or otherwise expecting to benefit from it. (Sadly, some were climbers.) There was a public meeting at Britannia Beach last April, just after FOSC got started, to consider rezoning of the land for the upper terminal. About 100 people attended, 15 spoke against the proposal, 40 in favour. Except that according to a later informant, many of those who spoke in favour had ties to the promoters. Most met with the promoters beforehand, and were told not to disclose their conflict of interest. The kind of tactics which taint any discussion, or decision. Which is why it’s so important that an independent party like B.C. Parks have the resources to properly scrutinize these proposals, and objectively and openly seek public input.

I was also rather disappointed when a few climbers told me that I didn’t know what I was talking about, or that it was a matter only for those who now live in Squamish to decide. Such behaviour is ignorant, and gets tiresome. I’ve more than earned the right to speak out on issues of concern to the climbing community, particularly inSquamish.

Now for some climbing!