Harbour Spiel Online

November 2015 editorial: Before Harper

By Brian Lee

 

Stephen Harper was sworn in as Canada’s 22nd Prime Minister on Feb. 6, 2006. It doesn’t seem that long ago, unless you consider the last time Stephen Harper wasn’t our Prime Minister:

• Paul Martin was;

• Facebook wasn’t public;

• The Canadian economy was growing at three per cent per year with a surplus of more than $13 billion while our debt was $492-billion and falling. (Canada has run a deficit since 2008 and the federal debt is now $615 billion and rising.);

• Clint Eastwood’s "Million Dollar Baby" won the Oscar for best picture, beating Brokeback Mountain;

• Canadian prime ministers took questions from journalists;

• Kanye West was nominated for best new artist at the Grammys (he lost to Maroon 5);

• Canada’s exports were 0.3% less than now — the start of our slowest period of growth since WWII;

• Joe Sakic was named captain of our 2006 Olympic hockey team;

• Canada ranked 55 (out of 108) as a UN peacekeeping nation based on commitment of military and police personnel (it now ranks 67);

• The Iris Griffith Centre was still under construction;

• The following would have been considered scandalous:

Suzanne Legault, Canada’s information commissioner, recommended charges be laid against high-ranking RCMP members for destroying gun registry information that was the focus of an access to information request. It is a criminal offence to destroy records if an access request is being processed — so the federal government passed an omnibus bill that rewrote the laws to retroactively erase the RCMP’s mishandling of gun registry records to protect these officers from facing criminal charges;

• Justin Bieber was 11;

• Canada had never lost a vote for membership in the UN Security Council (Portugal beat Canada in 2010, despite being on the verge of bankruptcy);

• The video-sharing website YouTube was founded;

• Government scientists could inform media about research related to topics like climate change;

• The Painted Boat was still Lowes Resort and the Sarah Wray Hall was a crumbling old school;

• Canadian’s consumer debt was below $1 trillion (now it’s $1.82 trillion);

• The Copper Sky Cafe was called Jill’s Place;

• No Canadian government had ever been found in contempt of Parliament. (That changed in 2011, after Mr. Harper refused to release costs on certain programs to opposition MPs.);

• Irvines Landing Pub was open, and,

• I thought it was more likely I’d be elected Chief of the Pender Harbour Indian Band than take over this paper.

This issue makes nine years for me but next month’s issue will be the Harbour Spiel’s 300th. It’s a nice round number on its own but if you divide it by the number of months in a year, which I just happened to do recently, it makes the Harbour Spiel 25 years old.

How’d that happen?

Harbour Spiel November 2015 issue

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October 2015 editorial: Membership has community privileges

By Brian Lee

At the recent Pender Harbour Advisory Council town hall meeting, a few people remarked on the excellent turnout. I counted about 50 people — I’d call that fair, not excellent.

Maybe it’s just me. I’ve become used to the feel-good solidarity of looking around the hall at recent meetings packed with 200-300 (mostly) unfamiliar faces. The dock plan crisis coaxed people out of the bush like never before.  Even at this town hall, in which the DMP was a minor agenda item, it seemed clear that many came to talk docks. But they also learned about a proposed $10 million marine research station proposed for Madeira Park and of a much-needed mobilization underway to tackle invasive Japanese knotweed.

The dock issue is the biggest issue to hit our community in many years — but it’s not the only one. It made me think that when the dock dispute is settled, will we ever see these people again? It’s a sad truth that, despite a community proud of its independence and self-reliance, many issues are ignored if they don’t threaten the sanctity of people’s property lines.

After the meeting, I asked about the current membership of PHAC. PHAC, along with the P. H. Chamber of Commerce, advocated and informed on the dock plan and many other issues. PHAC was created to represent local interests when needed and to act as a central liaison between community organizations. They’ve been very effective at both and I believe that the advisory council has been one of the more positive developments in Pender Harbour in many years. So, I was a little shocked to learn that PHAC has only 109 members.

Membership doesn’t necessarily reflect the vibrance or ability of a group but it does legitimize its efforts as a representative body when it comes to advocating on our behalf. For many local non-profits, membership numbers also have a direct effect on their ability to acquire grant funding for projects. Strong membership empowers an organization to advance its goals and in most cases, those goals are to improve the condition of where we live.

It made me curious about the membership of other local non-profits.

After asking around, I learned the P. H. Health Centre Society currently has 95 members while the P. H. Music Society has 114. The P. H. Chamber of Commerce — whose members are mainly businesses — has about 90. The P. H. Community Club has 131 members and the P. H. Living Heritage Society 120. The Ruby Lake Lagoon Society count is "283 and rising." Some, like Garbage Recycling in Pender Society, don’t sell memberships and others I contacted don’t know how many they have.

If you value the work of a local organization, consider becoming a member or attending their AGM. Check their websites for information or p. 34 for a list of contacts.

A membership in a non-profit society often costs less than a pint of beer but it tastes just as good, and it lasts all year.

Harbour Spiel October 2015 issue

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