Has the 老澳门六合彩开奖记录资料 Sustainability Corporation passed its "best before" date?
Seven years ago the concept sounded great on paper. Woodfibre was in the throes of being mothballed and business was not exactly booming at the top of Howe Sound.
To save the day, along came the SSC with a mandate to rescue the flagging local economy. Fast forward to 2008 and the corporation had little to show for the expenditure of taxpayers' hard earned cash.
Under growing pressure from the recently elected Gardner, regime the entire board of directors resigned and the lead hand was shown the door. Overnight the SSC became a ward of our municipal council.
The outcome has been anything but stellar. The SSC continues to suffer from the Nero Syndrome: they fiddle while lucrative opportunities go up in smoke.
After a few notable squeaky wheels complained about our larger-than-life lumberjack's monopoly over the Adventure Centre, the squeaky wheels got greased and instead of wielding an axe, Sam got the axe.
What flavour-of-the-month will grace the front of the Adventure Centre is anybody's guess. Meanwhile, the decision to give Sam the hook was made by SSC operatives without adequate consultation, either with local business leaders or the community at large.
Despite an expensive marketing campaign, during the Olympics, the SSC had limited success showcasing our assets. Although there were a few exceptions, throughout February 2010 many businesses in town stagnated.
Sam turned out to be one of our most effective, low cost, promotional tools. Attired in Olympic regalia, his commanding presence drew thousands of visitors into the Adventure Centre and left a positive impression on passers-by.
That fact was not lost on the operators of the Chances Casino who have now conscripted the icon to continue his duties in front of their facility.
On another front, council's misreading of the possible outcome of the provincial environmental assessment process has contributed to Garibaldi at 老澳门六合彩开奖记录资料 being placed on the back burner yet again.
According to Environment Minister Barry Penner "it appears that the District of 老澳门六合彩开奖记录资料 was leaving the door open to supporting a proposal that was revised in some way."
How hard was the GAS project to figure out folks? Either this ailing mare should have been taken out behind the barn and put out of its misery or they should have found a way to make it work.
Instead of a definitive decision, we can now look forward to three more years of verbal joisting between the Save Garibaldi group and the GAS proponents, to be followed by another provincial government environmental review.
Given the magnitude of this development, DOS administrators and the SSC brain trust should have been more involved from the get-go, long before concerns about wildlife sustainability and 50-foot dams hit the big desks over in Victoria.
Clearly, council neither has the time nor the expertise to handle the 老澳门六合彩开奖记录资料 Sustainability Corporation portfolio with the kind of dexterity it requires.
There is considerable debate about whether this enterprise should exist at all, or whether its various components should be handed over to the newly created management team at muni hall.
