I was really happy to see that legal service outreach program getting underway here in the Boundary. I promised Barry Pratt and Cathy Riddle an article about it next month. They are actually helping me out by needing the article done because January is generally a slow month.
I am also happy to see the service up and running for a personal reason too. I sure hope I can get this straightened out right away because it seems that through some bureaucratic bungling my name has been put on Santa’s naughty list. If ever there was a time I needed legal advice, this is it!
***
Monday night’s council meeting in Midway spent some time dealing with a request from the District of Hudson’s Hope that the village would support their call for a one-year moratorium on a decision by Victoria whether to green light the Site C dam or not. They also want the matter referred to the BC Utilities Commission.
Hudson’s Hope had sent a 13-page information package to council on Dec. 2. The next available meeting wasn’t until the evening of the 15th. That was the day that media started spreading word that the province was going to make an announcement on Tuesday, the 16th. Village administrator Penny Feist told council that Hudson’s Hope was anxious to have the support of council—so anxious, in fact, that they’d phoned two or three times.
So whatever council decided it wasn’t going to matter anyhow. It’s not like Premier Christy Clark was going to stop the train she’d set in motion just because a village of 600 people in the Boundary didn’t approve.
Councillor Darrin Metcalf spoke well of the frustration the rest of council must have felt when they were asked to consider the question.
After all, every argument has two sides and if Hudson’s Hope could come up with 13 pages of reasons why the decision should be delayed then you can bet your sweet bippy someone else could give you 20 pages on why construction of the dam should have started last year.
Issues like this that cross their desk are among the most frustrating things local government officials have to put up with. Because you know it is important and, if you do your job, you read it all and try to make sense of it. But at the end of the day the decision wasn’t yours to begin with so your vote isn’t going to matter anyhow.
The whole sad affair reminds me of what the fish said when they ran into the cement wall. Dam!
***
A big shout out to those responsible for the wonderful Christmas plays, tree lightups and community Christmas parties. The kids—young and old—all enjoyed them. The Midway and Beyond Little Theatre put on two plays at the Midway party. A Charlie Brown Christmas was absolutely great with kids playing the parts of the kids. The other play was called Cinder Clause which definitely had added some twists to the traditional stories of both Cinderella and Santa Clause.
I tried to video record the Midway plays and should have practiced how to do that before the big day came around. I didn’t have the equipment set up right so got nothing of any use.
Time to fall back on some tradition, I guess – going to fire up the VCR and watch It’s a Wonderful Life. That’ll put things in perspective.