It would be safe to say that most community members have had to adjust their attitudes in the last few years with respect to the effects of growth and development.
Recently, I gained a different perspective on the tension between growth and its threat to our rural coast lifestyle. Some towns may fight over how best to deal with crack dealers or horse carriages on the highway but around here it seems to be water. I know what you’re thinking but you can relax because this story has nothing to do with the South Pender Harbour Waterworks. I attended a meeting the other evening where options were discussed regarding Sakinaw Lake and its potential as a drinking water source. It’s all explained later but basically, a bunch of residents from Sakinaw Lake had to take time out of their urban lives to drive up here in the middle of winter to find out what business the SCRD has with the cottage lakes.
As landowners and ratepayers, they have every right to question policy that involve their properties and I agree with many of their concerns. What struck me most about the exchange at this meeting was the attitudes of some lake cottagers. More than one of the people who spoke at the meeting displayed an insulting ignorance of local issues.
I go to a lot of public meetings and usually see the same crowd but this meeting was full of people I’d never seen before or just briefly in the lineup at the liquor store on the Friday of a long weekend. They displayed the same "fresh meat" instinct that always comes out anytime a politican sits in front of an unruly crowd of ratepayers but there seemed to be a distinct clash of cultures taking place too.
Venting about a number of issues limited to the land around Sakinaw Lake, they invariably complained about the lack of respect afforded them by holding the meeting in the winter, not posting notices in enough publications, or frustrations over ballooning taxes. What seemed to be missing was a connection to how issues affecting their cottage lifestyle were related to the common issues concerning all of Area A. Like it wasn’t their problem.
Development has encroached into the backyards of the lake community where previously just tree forts stood and they feel threatened. I understand how it breaks their hearts to find the paradise their families discovered many years ago is changing. Suddenly they’re confronted with the unpleasant reality that Sakinaw and Ruby Lakes are community resources and the policies and challenges that affect the rest of community, concern them.
I’d like to invite the "lake people" to take a more active role in the community and learn about the issues that are going to increasingly involve them. That might start with purchasing a subscription to the Harbour Spiel.
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