Editor:
Let's say you want to extend an invitation to participate in consultation. Or, let's pretend that you do. First you run an ad on Nov. 25 in the Delta Optimist. Near the very bottom of the ad, in one inch of space, you list two meetings, dates, venues, times.
Then on Dec. 2 you don't run any ads in either of the two papers in South Delta.
Dec. 7 -- the first meeting. Success! The public does not show up, save for a very few stragglers.
The taxpayers get to pay for the rental of Ballroom A at the Coast Tsawwassen Inn as well as tea, cookies, overtime salaries, all the design and manufacturing of numerous big posters encircling the room, including an original piece of art, and a large stack of brochures.
As one of the stragglers, I was on a mission to see what I could learn. Alas, most everyone
questioned spoke corporate-speak (aka PR spin). One chap ventured off topic, then corrected himself, saying, "I must get on with my spiel."
The projection charts for business soar into the stratosphere. That's a contradiction since the well-known writer Anne Murray has written elsewhere that this container port is currently operating at only 56 per cent capacity.
No one could explain why the turn-around time at the port in Prince Rupert is faster, making shipping costs cheaper, or why the cranes at Prince Rupert are taller than at Deltaport. Makes no sense to me why Prince Rupert and Port Metro Vancouver are in competition with one another.
There were grand pictures of the South Fraser Perimeter Road. Still incomplete, there were no pictures of the huge piles of dirt blowing daily through the air. The overpass on 28th Avenue was completed a few months ago but the gates are not in use as there is no electrical connection. Now there are reported cracks in the construction near the top of this overpass. How was this construction company chosen?
Where is the compensation for the long-suffering residents on 28th Avenue? Santa failed to show up to relieve their stress from the recent middle of the night work crews at the overpass on 64th Street?
Fraser Health has already predicted rising asthma and lung infections for this area. The premier's announcement of $50 million for another rail corridor (amazing she would mention a railway) cancels out any concern about families.
Next meeting: Dec. 10 A quickly placed ad (that same one) appeared on Dec. 9 in the Optimist.Public attendance is abysmally low. Cost to taxpayers repeated again. For shame. Someone should be fired for this incompetence - unless avoidance of any real consultation was the goal all along.
The handlers of the CEO should contact MLA Vicki Huntington so this person can learn why Delta farmland is important. Huntington is noted for her integrity.
Claire Hurley
