Letter to the Editor
I am writing this letter to put an idea into the public sphere. For the last two years I have been quietly harassing public officials about an idea I have for the creation of a task force to determine the viability of a technology or intelligence park in the Comox Valley. As a Realtor I am acutely aware of how the local economy is performing. It is no surprise to me that businesses in the downtown core have been having problems attracting business. Most of the shops are specialty shops and our local and national recession has greatly reduced the discretionary income of everyone in the private sector that I know. I have watched a number of young people and families pick up and go to where there is work. It is handy to blame the big box stores and the idea of sprawl as the enemy, but I believe the enemy is ourselves, and our lack of strong private sector employment. Costco or Wal Mart are not competing with a specialty golf shop. They do not have the selection or expertise that a true enthusiast would need. When private sector spending money dries up, so do the businesses that they support.
Our local economy was previously wealthy in natural resource extraction and processing. Long gone are the mills, the fish, mining and the large scale logging that created this valley with reasonable too well paid jobs. The local economy hinges on government work- military, health, education and support services. When there are large influxes of humans from Alberta and the lower mainland the building industry booms and when the economy retracts, as it is now, it busts. Without finding new industry we will continue to go through a boom and bust cycle and be primarily dependent upon the largess of government/ tax monies.
While there has been an effort to promote tourism and agriculture they are generally low wage paying jobs and often are seasonal in nature. Tourism is also very prone to the effect of the overall economy. I propose that we take a more visionary approach, that we as a community recognise that we want well paid technology oriented industries brought to the valley. I propose we pursue developing the Comox valley as a leading centre for technology companies looking to expand or relocate.
A technology park is a large building or series of interconnected buildings that have common facilities that small to medium sized firms can share such boardrooms, small conference areas and video suites for tele conferences. A technology park encourages the interaction between the different aspects of the technology industries. By sharing common facilities small companies can reduce overhead and spend time developing their product. By being physically close to other professionals engaged in IT work, there will inevitably be idea sharing and the formation of new companies and products. This is not a new concept and is very successful in Victoria where the tech industry is producing 1.6 billion dollars a year in revenue.
Technology parks have blossomed across North America and due to our relatively very low real estate prices and phenomenal quality of living, I believe that we are well positioned to take advantage of the strong technology sector in BC and AB and establish a tech park in the valley. We need to create a strong and stable private sector economy if we are to have a vibrant community that supports independent stores, artisans, restaurants and retains young people in the community. As a soccer and skiing coach of kids in their teens I find it deeply concerning that every young person I speak with envisions that they have no working future in this community. We have a College and good high school institutions that could easily be preparing knowledge based workers who could find work in this community, if it was here.
I work with knowledge workers all the time. They are one of the backbones of my business and all of them wish that there was some kind of centralised location where they could rent/ own office space that suits there business needs. There is an innate desire to congregate and have informal casual encounters with people who are engaged in similar endeavors. The current state of affairs in downtown Courtenay has led me to believe that if such a place was established in the core that it would solve many of the merchants problems and help reinvigorate the commercial heart of the valley.
Letters to the editor do not offer enough space to lay out the entire argument and proposal so here is a link to the idea www.jamessmith.ca/category/intelligence-park/ at the bottom of the blog is a pdf document that can be downloaded. I should note that I have made numerous attempts to get politicians of all political stripes to take a look at this idea and so far I can’t even get a phone call returned. So I am making a public plea. If you want to save your downtown, create a community that is economically balanced and successful we need to find a way to attract knowledge based companies and their workers . There are a two different parcels owned by the city of Courtenay that would both be excellent locations for an tech park that had a residential mixed use component in the downtown core. The single biggest problem facing the core is that in order to thrive it needs more people living and working downtown. Of course attracting this industry will take a concerted effort and will almost certainly require tax breaks and reduced development cost charges. Do we as a community have the vision and bravery to embark on this discussion or are we satisfied with a low wage service economy for retirees? I personally want a vibrant community that is healthy , wealthy and wise. Which can only come about if we have a successful sustainable economy, a place where our best and brightest see a future. The creation of a task force to study the viability of a tech park for the valley is the best place for us to start this process. I have had the privilege to meet a number of very well qualified individuals who are keen to see this come to fruition. They are all professional IT workers, whether they be designers, programs or project managers. They know this industry and should be the core of the task force. We will try and make a formal appeal to the council of Courtenay. If you believe that a knowledge based economy is what this valley needs, let them know. If anyone is interested in contributing to this discussion or concept please visit www.jamessmith.ca/category/intelligence-park/, leave a comment and some contact info.
James Smith
Craigdarroch Beach
Powder in Paradise
One of the main reasons we moved to the Comox Valley was the fact that it had a medium sized ski hill with some challenging terrain and a lot of snow. When skiing at Mt Washington before we moved here, I noticed that there was a ski racing program and that the kids were all good skiers. I guess I assumed that a smaller hill on an island that gets tons of snow would not have enough people interested in ski racing, but they did and it turns out that it is an awesome program. I should note that I and my siblings all ski raced as children, through college and University. I loved it and was happy to see that apparently there was great coaching at the mountain, because these kids ripped. When we moved here almost eight years ago, the first thing we did was get ready to put the kids in the Nancy Greene program at the Mt. Washington Ski club. The kids have been in the club since and every year I am more impressed with the coaching and dedication of the club executive.
This year my 11 year old was making the big jump from Nancy Greene to K1. He has been working with the same coach for years ( Burke) who has moved up with the kids as they age. It is a fantastic system that has allowed for a great relationship between himself and his kids. Not only is he a great skier and fun, he keeps them behaved, respectful and in control. A parent could not ask for a better situation. The club held the first series of races for the year and Mt Washington, was as always, generous with allocating a great hill for the GS and Slalom courses. While I have always volunteered for the races in the past and have foreran a few times ( s7 ‘s on a slalom course?) this time I had a child competing. It brought back so many memories of my own childhood and all the great times I had skiing with family and friends, I found myself overwhelmed by emotion on a few occasions. Ski racing is hard business. It takes a huge amount of volunteer effort and parent commitment. It is a challenging sport mentally and physically. It is also a very rewarding game that I feel very fortunate to have played. Because of the dedication of parents and club executives such Paul Francisty, Steve Frame, Terry Anderson and Troy/Kerri Perras and all of the Marmots, the Comox Valley is home to an incredible resource for ski training.
Creating a world cup ski racer does not have to be the objective. The coaches of the MtWashington ski club have been successfully creating a life long love of skiing for over twenty years and is a tradition that is becoming a multi generational experience as the the children of the program have grown and are introducing the sport to their kids.
When it is pouring in the valley, cold miserable winds are whipping and everyone cries over the weather, the skier smiles. Being able to get exercise, socialise and rip deep powder is certainly, in my opinion , one of the best things about this valley. My youngest is the third child through the Nancy Greene program and I am of the opinion that there is no better way to develop skiers then through that program . The coaches are some of the best skiers on the mountain and many of them competed at a very high ( FIS) level. They bring a youthful energy that keeps the kids going. To compliment the younger coaches there are also some senior coaches who have more experience and do an outstanding job of building great ski technique. I would argue that the long time coaches are the cornerstone of these young skiers skill development. Of course the proof is in the pudding and all the kids that come out of the ski club programs whether it is Nancy Greene or Kinder have great stance, technique and a love of the sport.
I wanted to write this particular blog as a shout out to new families in the valley or to people whose kids are just starting to ski to let them know that there is a great program available to them. It may have a slightly larger dollar and time commitment then mountain programs but, in my estimation, has much better value. Don’t let the idea of ski racing intimidate, its really about building strong ski skills and a life long love of the sport. There is also a great component of team building and camaraderie that these kids share as they grow up skiing steeps/powder and racing together. I would encourage anyone to contact me via phone or email or go to the clubs site http://www.mtwashingtonskiclub.com/ to get more information. There will be an opportunity to try out the club for a day this spring and I encourage anyone who wants there kids to become great skiers to give it a shot. While skiing and quality ski instruction may not be the least expensive recreation it’ still cheaper then say ….a boat. I was fortunate enough to have parents who felt that if sacrifices needed to be made so that there kids could have the lifelong gift of skiing then they would be made and dammit I’m going to do the same. If you view skiing as a gift then you can pretty much eliminate buying any toys or nasty video games for the kids. Give them skiing and nothing else, toys and nasty video games are fleeting, skiing is forever.
I did say no politics …..but
I swore I was going to keep my radical politics of balance out of this blog, but I find myself so dissatisfied with the lack of real debate or community vision that I feel a need to step into the ring. Which may or may not find support amongst my international readers and may hurt my chances of selling you a house. So be it, every now and then you actually have to stand up for something you believe in. The things that I believe in are far the most part ignored or not supported, so therefore I must be right.
A little background; my Area (A) has no election this year. The local Director (as well as all other rural Directors) has been acclaimed. In Area A there is much to be done and it saddens me that there is so much cynicism that no one could be bothered to run against a candidate who may have done an adequate job of overseeing staff reports, but has actually accomplished very little of substance for our Area. Hornby and Denman have received some help with beach access and some parks have been established in other rural areas, but not ours. We have no recycling, new parks, trail protection or infrastructure advancement of any kind whatsoever. Yet my taxes have doubled in three years. I should be marching in the street, burning effigies.
Hornby and Denman only pay taxes for recycling / rubbish removal, recreation, parks and would also be taxed for Island Library services. Planning and Engineering are dealt with by the Islands Trust. Yet they get to vote for a Director who is responsible for voting on all aspects of the Regional District. They essentially have representation without full taxation. The inverse of the classic “taxation without representation”. Hornby and Denman Island have one of the highest per capita voter turnouts in Canada at all levels of elections and it is almost completely homogeneous in its voting pattern. So in Area A it has become apparent that if you are not the preferred candidate of Denman or Hornby (Denby), then you cannot win, despite the fact that they do pay for any of the planning or engineering expenses and will never be part of a regional water or sewer system.
I love Hornby and think that Denman is also lovely, but they should not hold the power on who is going to represent me on issues of planning and future infrastructure needs. And that is how it goes in the Comox Valley. Everywhere I look, I see issues that baffle me, planning decisions, spending decisions and engineering decisions that appear to make no sense. We have 19 different councillors and 4 different mayors ( if you count the regional district chair which you sure as heck should) for a population of under 70,000 people). This is madness. If we want to be a community that cares about the homeless, the under housed and the under employed, we need to be able to produce jobs that create a tax base inside an efficient local governance structure.
We have got a do this for the kids. The traditional economic formula for rural BC and good Small Town Livin’ has been broken and we have evolved into a economy of service to retirees and tourists or of tax paid government support (military, education , health care) and that is not sufficient. The private sector is the key to developing well paid jobs, so that housing is affordable. A community that is economically active is able to support the arts, amateur sport and the disenfranchised. If municipal governance was efficient in it’s delivery of services and accrued more taxation through it’s commercial taxation it would have more in the kitty.
I have a client that has a full duplex on a cul de sac near the college that have “non conforming” ( illegal ) suites in them. They are cute, tidy and fairly priced. He is a model landlord, his handyman changes the light bulbs. There have been no noise/parking complaints and the area is full of illegal suites. The city is monitoring those households that pay for extra garbage tickets. The city of Courtenay has turned my clients life into a nightmare because of his suites. It appears the building inspectors don’t have enough new construction work so they have turned their eyes on the taxpayer. Without suites like these. there would be no affordable housing for students attending North Island College, there are no dorms and Downtown Courtenay is 5 km away. The situation is even more insane when you consider that this is the same government body that is prepared to pay 2.5 million dollars for an emergency shelter. Two different users and situations, except one costs the taxpayer and the other does not.
The pure hypocrisy of so many decisions has created a jaded and cynical electorate on both sides of the divide. I will not get into left and right politics, because local politics should always be of the middle, of what makes the most common sense and is the most cost effective. When municipal politics and governance is an industry, we as tax payers can no longer afford it. It is high time we looked at the overall governance structure of this Valley.
We live in a paradise that has the potential to be a model small town community, but lip service is worthless and getting tired. If we truly believe in addressing the issues of marginal housing and emergency shelters, lets make sure we do it in the appropriate place and with the right budget. Lets make sure we have an understanding of the objectives, which should be to eliminate homelessness and to foster an environment where every citizen can find a place to call home.
If we really care about tourism and agribusiness lets actually protect the mountain bike trails and have a conversation about land usage and ALR zoning that is reflective of the modern realities of farming. We are surrounded by massive tracts of logged land that has amazing potential. Instead we poo poo any change to anything.
If we really want to be rich in Arts and Culture we need to help foster an environment where a living can be made. How is possible that not one candidate, from any part of the spectrum , has realised that local governments can do much to attract industry and position themselves as desirable areas for technology industries.
If we believe in knowledge based economies as being superior to the traditional destroy and pillage economies, what can we do to get Sage Hills University moving forward, How can we make the North Island College a University. What is the holdback on moving forward? I think I know the answer but am afraid to acknowledge it. History shows us that change is inevitable, how we manage that change will determine the kind of place we will live in.
Please go out and vote, for who I do not know. But lets hope that as change occurs, there are those who will put the interest of the community ahead of themselves. Perhaps the election will produce some candidates of vision, as of yet only Erik Ericsson in Courtenay seems to get any of these concepts. Dan Jackson from Comox is the only candidate who seems to get that we should be doing what we do for the kids and that without economic growth they will disappear.
I hope that the debates will produce ideas and vision. Please push this blog around, forward, like, re-twitter or post on power poles. But lets get talking, left and right. Division will give us nothing but strip malls and anger. Anyone ready to compromise for Vinyards in clear cuts with mountain bike trails between them. That is a beautiful vision that requires much compromise. Anyone out there?
