Anyone who read Thursday’s Tribune will know the Council of Canadians, (C of C) made a presentation to city council’s Committee of the Whole last Tuesday. A few members of the C of C met earlier this summer with Mayor Kerry Cook and she suggested the meeting.

There were no members of the media at Tuesday’s meeting, which is a pity. I am a member of the C of C and ordinarily wouldn’t comment but I was at the meeting, not as a presenter, and so had time to watch and listen. Here is my two bits worth. 

Sometimes we hear what we think the other person is going to say. Often our impressions of the same event are different.

For instance, I’m disappointed some councillors have the impression that the C of C spokespeople were “almost fear-mongering” and presenting “negative points of view” instead of being more “balanced.” I had the impression the new council wasn’t used to having their decisions questioned and didn’t like it. Maybe both impressions were wrong.

I’m always interested in the use of words. Contrary to the old saying “sticks and stones may break your bones but words can never hurt you,” words can not only can hurt, they can mislead.

According to Wikipedia, fear-mongering is “the use of fear to influence the opinions and actions of others toward some specific end.” I did not hear anyone using fear to influence anyone, almost or otherwise.

Councillors may not have appreciated everything the delegation had to say but I do know how much research some members of the C of C have done both on the city’s water issue and on the Fish Lake proposal. They didn’t go to council to fear-monger, and anyway, what would be the point? Does council scare easily?

It certainly can be said that the C of C is a special interest group. Guilty as charged. The Canada-wide council has a “special interest” in anything to do with fresh water and on keeping Canada Canadian.

On the other hand it can be said that everyone who has a business that could benefit from the Fish Lake mine has a special interest, as do people hoping for jobs. It isn’t up to the C of C or any other group to find a “balance.” That will only happen if everyone gets together and shares information.

Back to words. What is the opposite of fear-mongering anyway. Cheerleading? Wearing rose coloured glasses? Burying your head in the sand?

The other debatable word quoted in the newspaper account was “debate.” There was no debate, political or otherwise, at least as I understand the word. There were a couple of exchanges, but Mayor Cook, who chaired the meeting, can’t have felt anything was amiss because she didn’t call anyone out of order.  

I’ve been watching Williams Lake city councils since 1970 and it isn’t unusual for citizens to express their concerns to their elected representatives.

In fact, over the years there have been some colourful public/council confrontations.

Some of the more memorable rows include the Great sewer pipeline debate (Mayor Herb Gardner) when citizens objected to council’s plan to pipe raw sewage to the Fraser River. Almost everything Mayor Tom Mason did made somebody mad, including his councillors.

The location of the “new” library was hotly debated under Mayor Ray Woods. With the new developments on the south side of the city it will be interesting to see how much of a plus the library will be in keeping the downtown lively and busy.

A plan to sell Eighth Avenue triggered a fuss for Mayor Walt Cobb and the development of the RC Cotton site was an issue for Mayor Ivan Bonnell. Mayor Rick Gibson faced protests over the location of the Retirement Concepts facility and the issue of public vs. private residential care facilities. The proposal to have Wal-Mart near the golf course subdivision took four days of hot hearings. A lot of people protested the building of the Discovery Centre.

Mayor Scott Nelson’s council drew cries of rage for planning to privatize the city’s water system. I’ll never forget Scott, standing alone, facing over a hundred angry citizens who crowded into council chambers to express their displeasure in no uncertain terms.

The C of C presentation may have been the first time this council has met with a group who weren’t necessarily cheerleaders (they aren’t cheerless leaders either) but it’s early days. I don’t think many city councils completed a term without acquiring a few scars.

Sometimes council has bowed to public protest, sometimes not. Only the future will tell which decisions were oopsies.

If my memory serves me correctly, many protests came about because citizens and taxpayers felt they had been blindsided or bamboozled.

That same feeling probably has a lot to do with the resentment over the province’s proposed Harmonized Sales Tax. Regardless of the merits or demerits of the tax (or any city proposal) people feel used and abused if a plan is sprung on them without any warning. 

Speaking of the provincial government, I wonder why it “took back” BC Tourism. This seemed to be one of the well- run Crown Corporations. It was serving the province well. No reviews called for its financial management (like BC Ferries or Translink).

No scandals with sudden departures of top brass (BC Lotteries and ICBC) The trend has been to privatize things. I wonder why Tourism, Culture, and Arts Minister Kevin Krueger did the opposite with Tourism.