Progress it seems is being hindered in Prince Rupert by a level of suspicion locally, which seems to work against common goals in the community. Those findings are part of a study conducted by The Centre for Innovative and Entrepreneurial Leadership, who coordinated the study for Community Futures of the Pacific Northwest in March. The study involved 18 people answering 61 questions in order to assess where Prince Rupert is in terms of community development.
And while 18 participants out of a total population of some 14,000 may seem like a small number to build any kind of consensus about life on the North Coast on, there is certainly a sense of suspicion that runs as an undercurrent in the city. Whether it’s from the workings of City Hall, to provincial and Federal offices, or the local business community, there is always a vocal group in the city that suggests that few have the best interests of the people of the city in mind when they make their decisions.
Whether it’s the ever popular topic of closed door sessions at city hall, the out of town decisions from DFO in Ottawa and the provincial government in Victoria, or the frequently mentioned Third Avenue Businesses cabal that supposedly once controlled the city, suspicion has always seemed to be the currency of life in Prince Rupert.
It’s bound to be the elephant in the room for any level of government hoping to get its message across. It reflects some of the work that needs to be done locally to make the community feel as though they have not only a stake in the workings of the city, but an actual participatory phase to work with as well.
It will be interesting to see if the report changes those perceptions or just gathers dust on a shelf like many other studies of the past. The full details of the report and what it hopes to achieve were found in Friday’s Daily News.
Maybe since we opened with the wisdom of Elvis, maybe we can take heed of his thoughts to close, perhaps what we need is a little less conversation and a little more action.
Suspicion and mistrust in the way of progress
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Friday, February 23, 2007
Prince Rupert has some serious trust issues, says a new study.
According to an assessment of Prince Rupert’s strengths and weaknesses, organizations within the community have problems trusting each other and building relationships.
This is despite the fact that individuals within the community work well together and have a strong sense of pride.
Stacy Barter, director of education and program development at the Centre for Innovative and Entrepreneurial Leadership, went through the results of the Community Matrix Assessment at a meeting hosted by Community Futures and North Coast Community Assets on Wednesday.
“Prince Rupert came out in the emergence phase (of community development),” said Barter.
“What that means in a very general sense is there is a strong sense of community, shared history, generally you have good intentions ... but it generally can be challenging to work together towards common goals...”
There are four stages of community development ranging from the ‘chaos’ phase, to ‘emergence’ to ‘developing’ to ‘highly developed’. Being in the ‘emergence’ phase means organizations here may have stopped throwing chairs at each other, but some still aren’t working together effectively for the benefit of the community or may be territorial.
“On the one hand. people are saying there is a willingness to work together. On the other hand, they are saying there are issues between divisions in the community that sometimes limit people working together,” said Barter.
The Centre for Innovative and Entrepreneurial Leadership conducted the study for Community Futures of the Pacific Northwest in March. It involved 18 people answering 61 questions to assess where Prince Rupert is in terms of community development.
“These trust issues can be a limiting factor,” she said. “There were a number of comments about people working in silos, a perception of turfism or being territorial between groups and some of the comments have to do with divisions along racial lines and the need to address issues of racism.”
Another issue that came up was communication.
“I think this connects with the issue around trust ... you scored quite low on divisive community issues and civilized debate, a good flow of information and inclusive respectful conversion,” she said.
Yet on the positive, people rated the community as being vital, having a strong sense of pride and celebrating itself.
The report recommends that in order to build trust, finding a qualified consultant be engaged to provide conflict resolution training.
This should be linked with any strategic planning the community is undergoing, such as the Official Community Plan.
“In this way, any conflicts that are getting in the way of community planning can be addressed as the plan is developed. Otherwise, lack of trust may make a planning process ineffective,” recommends the report.
The results of the report were reflective of some complaints council has been hearing about the Official Community Plan Review currently underway.
The plan will lay out the vision the community has for its future.
Some people have expressed concern that because the city has not held community-wide meetings in the early stages of developing the plan, that not everyone will have their say.
Instead, the city has had its consultant conduct 20 focus sessions with about a dozen people in each as well as a phone survey.
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