Nanaimo Vision
Gord Fuller: October 7, 2011
I attended the Nanaimo Community Vision Rally on the 5th and was quite impressed with the turnout, 250 plus. While primarily a business oriented group there were also representatives of a diverse number of interests as well as curious citizens. The speakers were quite good and the message that comes across, to me, in looking at a vision for Nanaimo is INCLUSIVENESS and how we can get past the barriers of Left and Right, Corporate and Social, have and have not.
I was not overly surprised in that I knew many of the folks, from all walks, that were at there. I am also quite sure that many of those that I didn’t know recognized me. I have after all been quite active in the community for more than a decade. While there are some that may not like me because of my beliefs that has never stopped me from getting involved; in fact there are times when it has spurred me on. I would hope a good challenge would spur others on as well.
I have been involved with the old Downtown Nanaimo Partnership, now the Downtown Nanaimo Business Improvement Association since around 2002. Part of getting involved was to bring forward and educate about the social agenda in a non confrontational manner which I believe has to some degree been a success. Let’s just say that it is a work in progress, one I am more than willing to continue.
Ivo Beitsma says it well in a post on the Vision Rally page “It’s challenging to move a community forward in the face of doubt, skepticism and a spectrum of entrenched ideas.” In his Daily News article Paul Walton: Ideology of the right has failed my favourite quote would be “Democratic socialism is about creating wealth for all; but that depends on a shared ethic of being willing to forsake greed for a greater good.”
I am the eternal optimist in that I believe these barriers can be crossed. I look forward to the next steps in working towards the Vision that could be Nanaimo but that vison, I repeat, must be INCLUSIVE.
PS; peruse the comments on stories from local media reporting the event.
D/N
Big community vision rally could spark larger strategy
Editorial: Vision rally is starting point for the future
Residents urged to take charge of their future during rally
Bulletin
Posts and Comments on Nanaimo Governance 
Gord: The following report, which appeared in the NDN on Sept. 27th, advises that a “band of nine residents” organized the Vision Rally.
“Citizens want a new vision for Nanaimo after Nov. 19”, Nanaimo Daily News, Sept. 27, 2011.
http://www.canada.com/Citizens+want+vision+Nanaimo+after/…/story.html –
In the interests of old-fashioned “transparency”, which the electorate everywhere seem to be craving these days … In addition to Kim Smythe, Angie Barnard, Andrea Rosato Taylor and Donna Hais, do you know if the public has been informed of the names of the other five organizers? If so, who are they?
I attended the Rally, as well, and will comment further, as time permits. Thx!
The public hasn’t and I am not aware of whom they might be.
Who organized the rally??? I don’t see what difference that makes. What does matter is whether it can actually produce anything positive in the community by way of greater public involvement.
I have still to hear from ANYONE a sound, practical set of goals and objectives that set out a vision for the future of Nanaimo. Which, was the only focus of this rally, the defining of a vision for the community. The thrust of the rally was to encourage ALL citizens to become involved in the process.
There are lots of academic studies and reports in existence, however the agreement on the HOW and the implementation of a plan is quite another matter. I think Nanaimo is afflicted with the NATO factor and has been for quite sometime. No Action Talk Only.
We, assembled on this blog, have added little to the conversation that could do anything different than those elected we criticize all the time. Myself included.
“. . . do you know if the public has been informed of the names of the other five organizers?”
You are right @ Janet. We know who pays Smythe’s cargo . . . As for the rest . . . ummmm?
“Who organized the rally??? I don’t see what difference that makes.” It matters @ Jim. He who pays the piper calls the tune.
I have still to hear from ANYONE a sound, practical set of goals and objectives that set out a vision for the future of Nanaimo.”
Anyone? Here’s one . . .
http://members.shaw.ca/rogerkemblesnr/curitiba/curitiba.html
. . . and on return, studiously ignored even by our resident pretenders Appell y Bolen! In fact the latter took time out to sneer! And the former, even now, will go postal if you challenge his misconceptions of AGW!
“If you need a leader to lead you out of the wilderness this year, he will lead you right back into the wilderness next year.” John dos Passos: American Trilogy: The 42nd Parallel (1930).
Western hegemony has come to the end: it may take a hundred years to redefine ourselves. In the meantime brown noses will be pushing from behind.
Yup, Jim you are right . . .“We have met the enemy and he is us” Pogo 1971.
. . . and this too was studiously ignored by our local stemwinders . . .
http://www.theyorkshirelad.ca/2renewnan/front.html
. . . those who can do, do. Those who cannot do gossip!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!
Jim Taylor – 9 October 2011 at 7am – said:
“Who organized the rally??? I don’t see what difference that makes. What does matter is whether it can actually produce anything positive in the community by way of greater public involvement.”
I thought that I was asking an innocuous question,Jim Taylor!!!
The Mayor of Whistler, when speaking about the use of the internet for communication, told the crowd that his preference is to dialogue face to face and I wholeheartedly agree with him.
I commend anyone, who attempts to rally citizens together in order to work on a collective basis. I don’t want to get off topic here, but as someone, who does have first-hand experience at taking the lead – when I organized the local rally to create a forum for education and awareness on the proposed HST, (consumption tax), two years ago – I certainly do have an appreciation of the time and effort that it takes to get more citizens actively engaged and, at the very least, feel more empowered. (As a volunteer, my intent was to focus on the subject matter of the Citizens’ Initiative, which was tax policy – and not the political gamesmanship.)
It’s great to have a goal of attaining a common vision for the City and plan for its future 20 or more years down the road. However, in the course of arriving at same, I believe that it is very important to deal with the issues that are at hand right now in the community.
For instance, I think that students, seniors and the population as a whole, would benefit from an expanded public transportation system.
Nanaimo is a regional centre and I’ve noticed that vehicular traffic has increased quite substantially in the last couple of years. And anyone, who has been around the intersection of Bowen Rd. and Dufferin Cres., near the Westhill Centre, recently, will have seen the MASSIVE development that is underway, including commercial on Bowen and residential on Dufferin. I have always found it to be a real challenge just manoeuvring around the very congested parking lot at the Westhill Centre (where my physician’s office is), without being involved in an accident! The traffic flow is such, that vehicles actually back out of parking spaces into the path of vehicles that are exiting the Tim Horton’s drive-through, as well as the adjacent traffic that enters the Centre off Bowen Rd.
I visit that Centre only out of necessity, and each time, I wonder, who was involved in the decision-making process for the planning of same, as it is the municipal politician, who makes zoning decisions, which includes the number of parking spaces allotted, and of course, members of City Staff are also involved.
The organizers of the Vision rally have advertised that their vision is to “make Nanaimo a place where the world wants to be”. (I am just making an observation here, but this brings to mind that during the Federal election campaigning in the Spring, I noted that at the same time that our media was reporting local unemployment at approximately 16%, the Immigrant Welcome Centre moved to larger premises on Selby Street. This indicates to me, that “the world” has been aware of Nanaimo for some time!!)
I agree with members of the community, who are now questioning the use of the word, “sustainable”, which seems to be greatly overused, in that many political candidates use it to describe almost everything that they stand for. Another common expression that has been in use in this community for some time, is “affordable housing” (for all). In my view, a candidate, who hopes to be elected in November, should be prepared to provide specifics as to how they plan to “walk the talk”.
When Mike Harcourt spoke about Vancouver and Victoria, I didn’t hear him mention anything about the cost of housing in those Cities. (If anyone else did, I’d be interested in knowing what he had to say about it.)
P.S. – I was a candidate in the municipal election of 2002, (as a newcomer to Nanaimo, when I lived on Highview Terrace in the south end), and at the top of my agenda was Economic Diversification – i.e., knowledge-based businesses. And at that time, I also acknowledged the importance of collaboration!
Roger Kemble – 9 October 2011 at 8am – said:
“You are right @ Janet. We know who pays Smythe’s cargo . . . ”
Actually, Roger, I am NOT in the loop regarding what you have said!
Janet:
“I thought that I was asking an innocuous question,Jim Taylor!!!”
Are you yelling at me???? I did not read the question as being innocuous but thought there was a hint of raising the issue which Roger notes:
“It matters @ Jim. He who pays the piper calls the tune. ”
I personally, found the rally far from inspiring, and can’t really imagine what ‘tune’ the piper was being paid to play.
Pity our blog-istas are too engaged in their own personal views than a Nanaimo future.
Daniel you are firmly entrenched . . .
http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/globalwarming.html
. . . read the science!
Janet you claim to be “ . . . someone, who does have first-hand experience at taking the lead . . . and . . . Actually, Roger, I am NOT in the loop regarding what you have said!”
Oh really, you and I are on that same HST loop
You “. . . think that students, seniors and the population as a whole, would benefit from an expanded public transportation system.: ummmmm, again, we are on the same loop. I am a senior who uses public transit exclusively: I am that rarity who practices what I preach. I live downtown and have not owned a car for decades. Indeed, I have no patience with gossips who sprawl.
Yes Nanaimo is sadly lacking in good public TX: there is a reason. But, I would prefer you look at my research regarding local TX instead of taking a high and might dismissal of my views . . . ditto Bolin y Appell . . .
http://www.theyorkshirelad.ca/New.Nanaimo.Center/policy.html
. . . here is why:
Present gross density Nanaimo City: 3.9/ppa. Nanaimo debilitating sprawl should be built out at six DU’s/acre of 13.5/ppa
Present gross density of Nanaimo downtown crescent: 8.09/ppa, A viable urban downtown crescent should build out at 40.0/ppa.
Unless current numbers change (as described) a viable TX system cannot operate.
Now, Janet, don’t you find that more informative than petty gossip?
Councilor Ted Greves (running again) won my vote in March on his platform to revitalize downtown. So far I see only 36 homeless units a-building that were approved before his ascension. Unless he steps up to the plate I will not vote Greve again.
Whistler Janet is a famous international resort community: comparing it to Nanaimo is apples and oranges. That is why I question its mayor addressing that rally (neither, IMO, Harcourt)!
Perhaps Janet if you could set aside your leadership ambitions, perhaps engage a little humility, and read my stuff (I am a professional of vast experience) before sounding off, you would learn something to make you an even better leader.
“If you need a leader to lead you out of the wilderness this year, he will lead you right back into the wilderness next year.”. That’s John dos Passos back in 1930.
I was asked if this was simply another effort on the part of the Chamber of Commerce to push certain candidates in the upcoming election and I have to say that I did not see it thus.
I was informed that the funds from the evet would be going to the chamber but I was also informed by a chamber member that while they would be urging members to get their staff out to vote they would not be endorsing specific candidates. Truth? We will see.
It will be interesting to see where this does go and if those elected to council will endorse moving forward. As I said above it must be INCLUSIVE.
Hoping thios link works to Whistler’s 2020 plan, Whistler 2020
http://www.whistler2020.ca/whistler/site/ourVision.acds?context=1930515&instanceid=1930516
Pity our blog-istas are too engaged in their own personal views than a Nanaimo future.
Daniel you are firmly entrenched . . .
http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/globalwarming.html
. . . read the science!
Perhaps we will soon be discussing the effects of string theory on urban sprawl or if the spin offs from the Haldron Collider will help rejuvinate down town!
@ Gord “ I was asked if this was simply another effort on the part of the Chamber of Commerce to push certain candidates in the upcoming election and I have to say that I did not see it thus.”
Good heaven’s man how would you know? And if there were shenanigans would they tell? Obviously the sponsors of the event have no clue about Nanaimo otherwise they wouldn’t invite such inappropriate speakers.
Do you know Whistler? Comparing Whistler and Nanaimo, as I said, is apples and oranges.
Before I left Vancouver I used to ski it regularly: I used to kip up with friends who have had a condo there since its beginnings: I’m talking fifty years ago. I watched it grow from a garbage dump (the town center was, literally, built on the garbage dump).
Billions, yes billions, have been pumped into the place. It could attract that kind of money because it has caché!
What caché does Nanaimo have? Test it! And good luck!
What exactly do the sponsors of your rally know about Whistler? What do you know, sir, other than that glossy on-line puff piece? Are you that naïve to be suckered in by one night extravaganza, talked at by the usual out-of-town experts?
Nanaimo is in trouble. It deserves more that a pack of empty suits passively listening to a couple of equally empty suits sounding off on nothing.
It needs real input, especially from experienced people who will speak their minds, who will not be hood winked by a trained pack of slick-Johnny-slow-hands.
I had you in mind come November 19, Gord.
I don’t want a slippery councillor that will bend to anything just to get in. I’ve had enough of that!
Ummmm, here we go again: same old same old!
This is not about comparing Whistler and Nanaimo, they are apples and oranges. For me it is about getting more people involved in the decision making process on Nanaimo’s future, not just those in the shiney, and yes more often than not empty,suits.
PS; When have you ever known me not to speak my mind.
Gentlemen:
Whenever I have posted to this blog, the intent has always been to do so in a respectful manner and I respect anyone, who takes the time to put him/herself “out there”, including providing their actual name.
I am cognizant of the fact that, communicating online isn’t without its challenges, when attempting to have a meaningful discussion, and that is precisely why, in my post of 9 October 2011 at 3pm, I wrote:
“The Mayor of Whistler, when speaking about the use of the internet for communication, told the crowd that his preference is to dialogue face to face and I wholeheartedly agree with him.” (It is said that the majority of our communication is conducted on a non-verbal level.)
(I understand that the “Nanaimo City Hall Blog” has been in operation for approximately 1 & ½ years and that it was started by Frank Murphy, Ron Bolin and Wayne Schulstad. And although it is probably read by many, it’s a bit curious to me, that in a community that appears to have no lack of opionated citizens, it seems that only a handful or so, of them, have actually participated or contributed to the Blog.)
-In response to Jim:
I was not shouting at you Jim. :) My “Happy Thanksgiving” greeting was written in upper case letters, simply to make it stand out. (You may have noticed in Gord Fuller’s column above, which was submitted on Friday, that the words, “Inclusiveness” and “Inclusive” are in upper case letters. For emphasis, I would imagine.) My question had been posed to Gord on Saturday, when I posted the first response to his column … And it was done in the interest of “transparency”. Just saying …
-In response to Roger:
I commend you for using “public transit exclusively”. I used the public system, when I lived in Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary but unfortunately, using it here “exclusively” would not work for me.
You said: “Whistler Janet is a famous international resort community: comparing it to Nanaimo is apples and oranges. That is why I question its mayor addressing that rally (neither, IMO, Harcourt)!”
In response: Yes … Whistler has actually had the official designation of “Resort Municipality” for some time. FYI – The following is from the Envision Rally organizer’s advertisement of the event:
“Find out how Whistler, BC took a hard look at their post-Olympics future and decided – between businesses, city hall and the community at large – what Whistler would become ‘after’ achieving status as one of the top luxury ski resorts in North America.”
Note that it says ‘after’ achieving status as …
(I skiied at Whistler, for the first time, in the early ‘70’s, when I lived in Toronto. Accommodation was the Ski Boot Motel!!) I appreciate that you have professional expertise … As to the rest, I have no further comment.
“When have you ever known me not to speak my mind.
Yes, Gordon in the half dozen years i have known you, you have always been true to the cause.
You have my tick come November . . . Good luck.
@ Janet
The humorous poet Ogden Nash wrote, “. . . buses headed for Scranton travel in pairs. The lead bus is the bolder”. I always recite that to myself while waiting.
I seldom head south. My regulars, nos 2, 2A, 3 and 9, seem to travel in three’s: for much of their way they follow the same routes and schedule, miss one, miss them all. The next bus comes in 30 to 45 +/- minutes on good days.
I attribute this to lack of critical mass ridership due to the perennials who “will not practice what they preach” perpetuating sprawl: add transit management still hooked on their gas-guzzlers.
Nanaimo should be called Wheaton city so he can afford his “After Eight” of sheer wasteful, floating luxury.
If you are planning to join Gord Nov. 19 you have my tick if you promise to begin the long struggle to contain sprawl for the purpose of improving public TX: it isn’t the only issue but it’s somewhere at the top of all civic priorities.
PS My kids just got me registered with Handydart. I haven’t used it yet but it sounds good for us oldies.
Maybe my Geriatric Theme Park isn’t all that goofy after all, I see our Mayor shares my view that the best real hope for Nanaimo’s future is to attract old folk with their bags of money to move here and support our burgeoning service sector. Of course those jobs won’t support families, but will allow people to work and go to VIU until they are qualified to move away and work someplace else.
Daily News article saying Mayor wants to attract seniors
http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=bf3c97f8-a082-4e8d-9619-f105a21ddd1e
Sorry, you will have to cut and paste as I don’t know how to link directly on this site
The idea of creating the type of liveable city that Roger puts forward, should put Nanaimo in the running for future generations of retirees looking to escape Canada’s less friendly climates elsewhere.
However I am not too hopeful that the brain trust on council and city hall are up to the task, in order for it to ever happen will probably require an active group of citizens who will find a more effective way of changing Nanaimo, than sending letters to the editor and posting in blogs.
“. . . liveable city that Roger puts forward . . . Thanqxz JIM for noticing, you are the only one in ten years.
If we set up downtown as oldie friendly it will guarantee hundreds of happy campers: I’ve grown old here the last thirteen years.
But the mayor misses Nanaimo’s greatest asset: sailing! Every summer the boat basin is full of yachts.
It’s a great center for cruising: convenient to the gulf Islands, north and south.
Here’s a couple of my great cruises starting from the boat basin . . .
http://www.theyorkshirelad.ca/3sailing/desolation.sound.2008/sailing.desolation.sound.2008.html
and
http://www.theyorkshirelad.ca/3sailing/gulf.islands.2006/sailing.british.columbia.gulf.islands.2006.html
There’s money in sailing . . . .
Becoming a retirement community is all well and good but that will in no way, by itself, make Nanaimo ‘sustainable’. We need a broader focus than just creating minimum wage service jobs to support an influx of seniors. Roger is right in that one of Nanaimo’s greatest assets is its harbour and waterfront, we also have some amazing parks and trails as well as premier mountain biking. These are assets that can attract people of all ages and would certainly appeal to young professionals looking to relocate to Nanaimo if we had the jobs for them to relocate to.
What if Nanaimo decided it was just going to be a retirement community?? Yes, we have a lifestyle that many will find attractive, but for up and coming, high powered professionals, the allure of the ‘big smoke’ is hard to compete with.
The allure of the big smoke might be but cost of living isn’t:)
Mr Ruttan promotes the influx of seniors.
No doubt a good idea ,within reason.
One has to consider that whilst their initial impact on the economy( purchasing homes) appeals to Mr Ruttan & his developer supporters we have to think down the road when they are less mobile & become a millstone sucking the life blood from the health care system & causing havoc with their 15 kmh driving!!
We do need a balanced approach to ‘survival’ which will, to be successful, will require good paying long term jobs.
On land aquaculture whilst controvertial is an obvious choice & the land which Island Timberlands wishes to develop as ‘resort” would be a better use.
Better use of “city’ land would also help with,perhaps, rezoning the old Madill land for high density housing rather than yet another car sales lot.
Nanaimo cannot make the big decisions for survival but it can move away from the land grabbing urban sprawl that has weakened our ability to progress!
Good ideas. While on land aquaculture may be contoversial it is far less so than fish pens in the sea. I watched a documentary years ago about on land fish farming in Isreal. They desalinate the filtered water for agricultural use in the desert and use the fish poop for fertilizer.
We had an on land fish farm in Cedar some years ago.(Hagensborg)
Alas it became banckrupt more because of “fishy” developers & incompetent staff than a uncompetitive business.
The operation now produces nothing more than shellfish.
On Land aquaculture “could” drive a huge building boom & leave us with a sustainable food
resource .
@ Trailblazer
“On Land aquaculture “could” drive a huge building boom & leave us with a sustainable food resource.”
Ditto if all waste sprawl were zoned agriculture . . . there’s lots of it!
I am amused. I’d like to know, since everybody else (or, at least, Roger) seems to have the inside line, who pay’s Smythe’s cargo? I invested many, many, many hours to organize this event with the hope of bringing the topic of ‘vision’ onto the radar of the community as we plod towards another election. The speakers were chosen for their experience and expertise in the process of sustainable community planning, not because they had all the answers for Nanaimo. First we have to find out if anybody wants to ask the questions. The turnout and conversation at the event provided a positive answer, and told us all that it’s about time to take the conversation to the next level. I am out of pocket having volunteered my time, advanced personal funds by having my company produce the event and guarantee payment of the bills. VIREB and the Chamber came forward with sponsorship money AFTER we planned the event, a nominal ticket fee thankfully covered the rest. (And if you want a challenge sometime, trying pitching a former NDP Premier and his speaking fees to those 2 organizations.) No money went back to the sponsors. A few hundred dollars left over will be used to keep the movement towards creating a vision alive — website, seed money for another meeting or rally, etc. If you want to know who else was behind the event, read the ad to see the list of partners and supporters. It was their encouragement and commitment that kept this thing moving forward.
But, if you think you know who might be ‘paying Smythe’s cargo’, drop me a line so I can send them a bill and make sure I break even or can take away more than the warm feeling from the energy in the room and the excitement for the possibilities in Nanaimo’s future that 310+ people in that room were cheering for.
I was unable to attend the Vision Rally due to the Public Hearing on the Regional District’s Regional Growth Strategy that same evening. [We are a big part of the Region, and seven of our Council are paid about $11,000 per year to sit on RDN Board. None of them were present at the Public Hearing.] Nevertheless, the things that I have heard about the Rally relate much more to process than to the peculiarities of Nanaimo vs those of Whistler and have generally been positive. We all know that we are currently rudderless and badly need some direction which takes the entire community into account. Looking at the roster of candidates for the upcoming election one can perceive the same eternally at odds silent slates that have constipated our system for so long. I contend that it is as necessary to bring greater transparency to our political process as it is to bring it to our administrative processes at City Hall. I look forward to the next step of the Vision process. Some candidates have already cited the Rally as instigating their participation, but have yet to identify the positive steps which they have taken from it.
Further to what Kim has said, this experience has demonstrated to me, that when one engages in a public online discussion and provides their actual name, (as I do), they have to be prepared to deal with the unexpected. Let me be very clear. I have never met Roger and was extremely surprised, when he intimated that he and I somehow had a meeting of the minds with his reference to “Smythe’s cargo”.
On 8 October 2011 at 3pm, I simply asked a question that related to Derek Spalding’s story of Sept. 27th, in which he reported that a “band of nine residents” organized the Vision Rally.
I attended the rally and as mentioned on the 8th, I was aware of the names of four of the organizers, and I simply wondered who the other five “residents” were. End of story. I was very disappointed with the turn that the discussion took after my question was asked.
Kim, your efforts are appreciated and I, too, look forward to the next step of the Vision process. :)
(P.S. – With respect to Derek Spalding, I understand that the Times-Colonist in Victoria is his new employer.)
Sorry you didn’t make out like gang busters, Kim, and even sorrier you are, to paraphrase Marshall McLuhan, still looking at Nanaimo’s future thru the rear view mirror.
Take heed the new hopefuls: good God even Gary is prying his way to get back in . . . and ask yourself were is visioning going?
Pay twelve and a half petro-dollars to hear Mike Harcourt! Is that the limit of your imagination?
Janet sounds like a nice lady, doesn’t she Kim, but I wouldn’t want to sit next to her on the bus.
Nanaimo is a nice, quiet little backwater of opinionated old age pensioners . . . keep it that way.
On 10 October 2011 at 12pm, Gord Fuller said:
“I was asked if this was simply another effort on the part of the Chamber of Commerce to push certain candidates in the upcoming election and I have to say that I did not see it thus.”
——————————————————————–
I wish to make it clear to readers that I am not the unnamed person that Gord refers to in the above comment. My question was posed to him on 8 October 2011 at 3pm.