Re: “Province has role in sewage debate,” editorial, May 17.
The editorial invited the province to “step in and resolve the impasse over the proposal to build the [sewage] facility at McLoughlin Point.”
If this were a simple matter of compliance with the 2006 provincial edict for land-based sewage treatment, resolution might be simple, but it is not.
The best alternative to this impasse is not tougher decisions by senior elected officials. The “laws” of public policy-making tend to parallel laws of physics: For every action imposed, the reaction is equal and opposite. The sewage issue could then spiral into a protracted and more costly dispute.
Nor is compromise the answer, where each party makes concessions that meet everyone’s minimum standards. Nor is going to court, where the purpose is to interpret law, not reconcile conflicting interests.
Fortunately, new ways to resolve “impossible” public disputes have an attractive track record. In our competitive society, many are so conditioned to win-lose thinking, we cannot imagine other possibilities — like consensual approaches to dispute resolution.
The province now has the opportunity to bring new knowledge and skills for a second look. Interest-based negotiations that aim for agreements that work for all sides set a higher standard for better outcomes.
Wisdom requires the ability to go beyond given information and imagine innovative ways of reformulating the existing problem. It also requires use of intelligence, knowledge and creativity to serve the common good.
Our children will be grateful.
Ray Travers
Victoria
