Confessions of a Father
In truth, it completely blindsided me. My wife comes to me and says “Ian’s class is making Father’s Day cards. Ian was having a hard time coming up with something and when his teacher asked why, he said “well, my Dad and I don’t do that much together”. I could tell that my wife was upset by this and she had every right to be. Despite my own thoughts that I did plenty of things with my boys, it obviously wasn’t near enough. Much like my own father, I focused on everything else in my life and, more often than not, neglected my family in the process.
Summer plans had my wife and children out of town for a couple of weeks, before I had a chance to take some vacation time. It was during that time that I determined I had to make a change in how I participated in the lives of my wife and children. On our trip to visit family in the Okanagan, I decided to focus on them, rather than “being on vacation”. It was the most enlightening vacation I have had in years.
I made no plans. Whatever my wife and children wanted to do, I wanted to do it, too. We spent time going places and doing things that the boys enjoyed and I discovered the fun that can be had, simply by watching them have fun. I found myself in places and doing things that I hadn’t done since I was a kid, and having the time of my life. Suddenly, I was discovering things about my boys that I had missed, even though we were all in the same house, everyday. The biggest thing I discovered was that they were growing up, fast, and I had been missing it.
The best thing about the vacation was that my oldest son and I had reconnected. I had discovered the joy of having him give me a hug, just because he was happy to see me and I discovered that my little boy wasn’t quite so little anymore. While my youngest is still pretty much focused filling his brain with everything around him and using his imagination, my oldest is now able to do things that have me sitting there in awe and glowing with pride. Best of all, we can do them together.
This summer we have discovered the fun we have going for a ride on our mountain bikes. Previously, bike rides consisted of rather mundane rides back and forth, up and down, our street. Now he is out there on the Beaver Lodge Land trails, with me, a fearless bundle of speed. At first I was cautious and not wanting him to take on too challenging a ride, but I soon realized that I had to let him go, learn the way I did, take his spills and have his fun. The fact that I was along for his ride, was enough for him. And me.
After our first big trail ride, sitting back and having a soft ice cream in Willow Point, it was more than apparent that this was what the Father and Son moment was suppose to be. I am sad that it was our first, but you can be sure it won’t be our last.
Now what do they have to say?
OK, will someone, on either side of the aquaculture issue, please explain this to me? How is it that fish farm sea lice are responsible for the wholesale slaughter of our salmon population, yet we are currently experiencing the largest sockeye run in close to 100 years?
How is it possible that we are able to witness the catching of the largest Tyee to be pulled from the pool in almost 2 decades? How come we have anglers crawling over each other in the Campbell River, to land a pink in one of the largest runs seen in years? How can this be possible? Are the farms doing something right? Are the scientists doing something wrong? Or is it a case that the anti-fish farm activists spent so much time hunting down sea-lice ridden smolts, they forgot to count the ones that made it out to the open ocean and survived.
In watching the news about the epic sockeye run of 2010, I cannot help but make the comparison with the free-for-all land grabs of the Wild West. Thousands of settlers lined up, awaiting the gun so that they can make the mad dash and grab as much as they can in the allotted time. It seems to me that, given the opportunity, the commercial fishermen would grab every single one of the returning salmon, if they could. With so many years of sitting on the sidelines, they must be chomping at the bit, yet I don’t see the “Save our Wild Salmon” advocates out there, making the suggestion that only a quarter of the run be taken, in order to ensure that a larger than normal spawning occurs, thereby protecting future big runs. No, they are hanging out at the Cohen Commission, still pointing fingers at the evil aquaculture folks and their supposed disregard for the future of salmon in B.C.
Where is the science that was telling us of the impending demise of the wild salmon stocks? If we were to believe all that has been told to us, we should be looking at our salmon on the endangered species list and not being hauled into seiners by the ton. Could it be that the Save our Salmon activists underestimated the resilience of Mother Nature to overcome the odds? Or could it be that their science is a little too one sided?
Now, I am not saying that the fish farms are innocent and may now begin their gloating and I told you so’s. They still have a ways to go before their operations are truly safe and environmentally sustainable, but they realize that and are at least making an effort to make some changes (such as moving to closed containment operations). At some point the anti-farm folks will have to realize that the industry isn’t going anywhere and that it might make more sense to work with them to make the industry better, rather than standing on the sidelines, watching a massive salmon run and saying “Oops, Didn’t see that coming”.
The Future of Forestry?
Campbell River City Council recently got an update on the activities of the Rivercorp led Future of Forestry Task Force. The task force has been busy, gathering information through various sub-committees and looking at every aspect of the forest industry on Vancouver Island and, specifically, Campbell River. They really have done a great job. I learned a lot. There is one small problem though; what on earth do they plan to do with it?
A majority of the information from the sub-committees is restating what many of us, certainly those associated with the industry, already know. If the exercise was to educate the forestry neophytes, such as myself, then it was a success. If it was to attract existing forestry business to Campbell River, then it is far less so. No amount of information will help a floundering industry, if the demand for the product isn’t there. Logging operations continue, but to expect any company to setup shop here and make something of those raw logs, is a pipe dream at best. The cost of operation is, and continues to be, too high and these companies are in the business of making money, not spending it.
Looking further into the Rivercorp site, I see links to Aerospace and Aviation, Aquaculture, Energy and Power Production and New Media. All of these industries have vast potential within our community, yet there does not appear to be any task forces put together to address those opportunities. Instead, we are focusing on reviving or redeveloping an industry even the industry experts themselves say is dwindling.
We could be a haven for Energy and Power Production. BC Hydro gets it. The company that recently purchased Island Cogeneration gets it. So why isn’t there a task force seeking out every alternative energy company out there, to see what they need and what we need to get them here. Give the Mayor or City staff the chance to talk about their new airport runway extension and they will do so like rutting roosters, so where is the task force that will help generate and guide business growth in that industry? What about a task force to work with the Campbell River Creative Industry Council, to assist them in building up our profile for the New Media companies that we hope to attract. Even within the world of forestry, where is the effort to attract biomass (yes, here I go again, waving the biomass banner) energy and manufacturing companies here. I would think that this would be a focus, especially when the skilled labour needed to support them, is still here and looking for work.
I had hoped that with the departure of the last Rivercorp CEO and the appointment of a new board of directors, we would begin to see a change in the focus of our Economic Development office. Perhaps they are still planning things. Perhaps they are maintaining status quo. Like everyone else on the outside looking in, I have no idea, but when it comes time for new funding, I hope they have some answers
Is it just their fault?
I thought I would wait a while before posting this. I thought I would wait to see if it really was the fault of the city, or if it was another way for some business owners to justify their declining business income. I had hoped to see that some of these businesses would be actively promoting themselves and that they would be doing everything that they could to keep their businesses open and alive.
I was disappointed.
The City’s handling of the highway project could have been done better, for sure. The City could give some tax breaks and found other ways to help local businesses that would be affected due to a capital project that was out of their control. Businesses, however, also have to be willing to do things differently and make some changes to deal with the change in traffic flow.
Freddie’s Pub and the Big Rock Husky station are the latest to point the accusing finger at the City, blaming the highway project for their reduced revenue and getting angry about the possible extension of the highway re-opening date. Granted that there has been a decrease in traffic, but there are a number of things that contribute to the number of customers coming into these businesses. In the case of Freddie’s Pub, it is the clientele. Usually there are a lot of fishermen, blue collar workers and tourists. Well the fishing hasn’t always been great, tourists are coming, but not in large numbers and, in case you missed it, there has been a serious turn for the blue collar crowd in our community. As for the Big Rock Husky, I will give you some solid odds that their business has been on the decline since the opening of the larger Husky station, less than 100 feet away (I am still trying to figure out Husky’s franchise methods).
None of the businesses that have been complaining the loudest, on either the north or the south side of the project, have done anything extra to try and attract business their way. I may be missing it, but I haven’t seen any specials, sales, promotions or anything else in the media about promoting the business. Businesses near the “disgruntled”, however, seem to be doing OK. The hotels are regularly showing “no vacancy” and the Ripple Rock Pub seems to be doing good business.
One of the things I find considerably surprising are the complaints from those in the area of the previous highway project. That project was far worse than this one and had a much larger impact, yet all the businesses in that area were able to survive. Is there no way that these business can survive another few months?
I do have sympathy for the businesses on the highway and I am sure that business is down because of the construction, but I cannot believe that the construction is the ONLY reason for the downturn. If it is, then these businesses had better consider closing up shop or moving to a different location, as this is not the last of the high 19a upgrades. There are at least 4 more planned over the next 10 to 20 years. If businesses cannot survive construction down the road, how will they survive when it is right outside their door?
We Lost To Dauphin?
Perhaps we were late to the party or we simply missed hearing about the contest altogether. Whatever the reason, when a friend sent me an email about a contest on WFN (the World Fishing Network) for the Ultimate Fishing Town, I was floored by what I saw. Campbell River, a city with a rich fishing heritage and history, was over 9000 votes behind Dauphin, Manitoba.
What?! This City by the sea, offering lake, river and deep sea fishing, was behind a town in southern Manitoba, with a population of less than 8,000 people? How could this be? How could the home of the great Tyee fall so far behind a community that is small enough to be considered a blip on the map? Simple. We assume that people know where we are and what we have. We assume that our past history will generate our future business and opportunity. We assume too much.
A quick look on the web left me impressed. Not only did this tiny little burg, on the outer edge of Western Canada, have a clean and impressive little Website, it also took the time to brag about its current and past success. It was up to date enough that it flaunted its lead in the contest, even pointing out that it had previously won a contest on TSN. Just looking at the pages of the site was enough to prove that this community was proud of itself.
The latest news on our City site talked about trenchless sewer main grouting. Wow. That makes me want to check out Campbell River.
Looking through the information on Dauphin made one thing very clear about Campbell River. While our community is full of people who love to live here and will talk the ear off anyone who will listen to them talk about it, we do not have the cheer being led by the one group that has the most visibility; City Hall. Sure, our Mayor will fall all over himself to get in front of a camera, but that’s self promotion, not community promotion. We have all of these amazing aspects to our community, yet none of our City Hall media features any of it. A small picture here and a comment there, but nothing that stands out and says “Look what we have!” Even the news worthy moment of a 54lbs Tyee being pulled from our local waters, got a miss on the City site.
In our continuing efforts to change the directions and fortunes of our community, we have missed one of the most important things. We don’t need a consultant to tell us how to do it, we don’t need to study it and we don’t need a steering committee to direct it. We need our leaders to get excited about our community and lead that excitement. We need to be enthusiastic about our community, publicly and not just privately. Building the resources encourage people to come here is one thing. Getting them to want to come here is something else entirely.
The Next Great Deal: Campbellton
I have been saying it since the Mussels and More pottery shop moved into its current location; if you want to buy property, buy in Campbellton.
Since that time, we have seen a slow but steady change in Campbellton. Some changes as grand as the openings of Home Depot and Wal-Mart, others as small as a new paint on an old building, but change none-the-less. With the recent announcement that Canaccord Capital will be building its new office space in Campbellton, that trend of change continues.
Campbellton has long been the “Vancouver East Side” of Campbell River. Crime, prostitution, run down homes, low rent buildings and generally just looking worn out. It’s dirty, industrial and hardly the most attractive option for anyone looking to setup a business. A number of businesses have long been a part of the area, while others have come and gone, unable to survive in an area that most just pass through on their way to someplace else. Yet the past 5 years or so have seen business begin to develop on the outer edges and now, it would appear, some are willing to venture into the heart of the area.
As much as the City and the locals have tried to bring crime into the light and public eye, in and around Campbellton, it was still neglected enough to warrant little or no long term attention. There was nothing, in the eyes of many, of any real value to the community that was really worth the effort. A truly pathetic view, I know, but a fact, regardless. Much like the revitalization of Vancouver’s East Side, those attitudes may be changing.
Imagine what the future of Campbellton could be. Store fronts on the highway, cleaned up and brought back to their old splendor. Perhaps an old West Coast theme of development, with lots of wood posts and facades. Neon lights to illuminated the night and capture the eye. The Quinsam Hotel renovated and brought back to its old glory. New offices and condos on the backstreets, replacing neglected homes and crack houses. The area becoming as popular as Willow Point and growing just as fast. The new popularity would attract the attention needed to deal with issues the area faces today.
Many will say that it will never happen and, to be honest, a decade ago I would have agreed with them. Today, however, I see the Campbellton area as our Eliza Doolittle, awaiting her Pygmalion transformation into something more appealing and refined. All it takes is some drive, determination and more than a little elbow grease. More than anything else, it takes our community, as a whole, to change our views from what Campbellton is, to what Campbellton could be.
