Political Pariah - It's Not Easy Being Delta
It’s not easy being Delta. Not when it comes to dealing with senior
levels of government.
To wit:
When Delta tries to impose limits on stacks of containers, the
provincial government says no. The explanation given is it’s not “in the
provincial interest.”
When council lobbies for some input into the treaty negotiations with
the Tsawwassen First Nation (TFN) Delta gets a seat on an advisory
committee – with no power to affect the talks. Granted, the process
offered no authority to municipalities, but that was Delta’s point.
When Delta proposes increasing the minimum distance between liquor
stores to restrict their proliferation, it’s again told no.
When Delta tries to restrict air pollution from wood-burning
greenhouses, it is advised by Victoria officials that it cannot
interfere with agriculture.
Meanwhile, the same provincial government has removed a large portion of
land from the Agricultural Land Reserve as part of a TFN deal that will
see the former farmland used for – wait for it – container storage.
In the name of port expansion, the provincial government is preparing to
push a four-lane commercial highway from the Deltaport container
terminal through farmland in South Delta and long-established
neighbourhoods in North Delta. Delta asks for mitigation measures like a
“snow shed” type of cover to limit noise. It is turned down.
Little doubt there are all manner of bureaucratic and regulatory reasons
the provincial government can quote to deny Delta’s calls for changes on
these various issues. However, bureaucracy can be overruled. Regulations
and rules can be changed, if there is a willingness to do so.
Yet, Delta council and the taxpayers it serves seem to continually
receive a political slapdown from Victoria.
That may be understandable if the matters raised were of a vexatious or
frivolous nature. They are most certainly not.
Delta has identified and attempted to respond to legitimate, valid
issues that should – and do – concern members of the public.
Air pollution, open consultation on native treaties, visual blights upon
the landscape, and the impact of port expansion and major highway
construction are all topics that deserve far more from provincial
authorities than a brusque brush-off.
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