It’s becoming harder by the day to understand what B.C. Environment Minister Mary Polak is thinking. On one hand, Polak has made the Capital Regional District solely responsible for developing our region’s new sewage project — a scheme her government imposed over local objections.
But on the other hand, after the CRD spent years developing the plan demanded by the province, Polak refused to force it on an unwilling municipality. Her reasoning went as follows.
Residents near the location chosen for the facility — McLoughlin Point in Esquimalt — voiced strong opposition. The town council gave the project a thumbs-down.
On that basis, Polak refused to endorse the scheme, and left the CRD holding the bag. That might sound like a victory for local autonomy, and the minister indeed made that claim.
Yet what she has really done is create a near-insoluble impasse. She insists on a region-wide solution, but won’t take the heat that comes with one.
It was apparent from the outset — perhaps almost inevitable — that wherever the new facility is located, somebody is going to object. Who wants the entire waste of the region piped into their back yard?
Politically speaking, no municipal council could approve such a deal and expect to be re-elected. The whole point of making the CRD responsible was to avoid this scenario.
McLoughlin Point might well be the wrong site, but by giving each municipality a veto, which the minister has effectively done, the mechanism for producing a regional plan has been wrecked.
The CRD’s authority is undermined. Years of work and $48 million have been wasted. The chosen site, already purchased by the CRD, is now a useless burden on the taxpayer. And no one has a clue how to proceed.
It gets worse. The likely consequence of blowing up the CRD’s proposal is that one or more of the region’s municipalities will go its own way. Instead of a single cost-effective plant, we could end up with a host of small, inefficient facilities.
But Polak seems cool to that idea. In a letter to the CRD, the minister said: “Obviously, there will be public concern should a revised proposal include significant changes to the project agreement [such as an increase in the number of treatment plants] that increase its already formidable costs.”
Well yes. And who is to blame for that?
In practical terms, it appears the minister has only two feasible options. Preferably, let the CRD do its job and give it the authority to do what it was ordered to do.
Alternatively, bypass local decision-making and appoint an independent panel with authority to drive things forward. That’s a difficult choice, but at least the project might be completed before the budget goes through the roof.
This is similar to what was done with the Canada Line, Vancouver’s rapid-transit link between downtown and the airport.
No one liked such a heavy-handed approach. But the nettle was grasped and the line, required for the 2010 Winter Olympics, was finished on time.
Regrettably, the minister shows every sign of persisting with her passive/aggressive behaviour. Even as she lets long-worked-on proposals wither, she threatens financial penalties if her deadlines aren’t met.
And confronted with the shambles she and her government have caused, Polak implies the fault rests with local politicians for coming up short.
We would apportion the blame differently. As the saying goes, if you broke it, you own it.
