Playing Poker at the Port!

Any good movie or television show about the waterfront has its scene where the dockworkers are sitting around a table at the union hall playing a game of poker, waiting for that next ship to come in. In Podunk it seems, were playing poker before the dock even gets built and any dockworkers hired.

A story in today’s Daily News has sent some serious shock waves around the city as the city’s cherished dream and expected economic engine of re-birth, gets caught up in what may become a rather nasty First Nation’s land title squabble.

A situation that has apparently been percolating for over 16 months, exploded onto the headlines on Wednesday, as the possible days dwindle to beginning the project in a timely manner and hitting all of the necessary construction timetable posts.

A serious delay in the start of the much anticipated project could lead to its cancellation, rendering it to the Charles Hays memorial library vaults. Like the LNG plant of three decades ago (and the more recent version that went to Kitimat), the China Steel plant of the same era and the sulphur operation of a few years ago at Ridley Island, it could end up another dream of a city that never quite made it to fruition.

It was Garry Reece, the chief councilor of the Lax Kw’alaams Band, located northwest of Prince Rupert who issued the quote that has set Podunk abuzz with potential doom and gloom. “We will go to court if we must, to get an injunction to stop this project and we hope that we will not have to go that step.”

It’s a statement that will certainly send commentary around Prince Rupert into an overheated state. A thread on the bulletin board of hackingthemainframe disappeared off of its home page rotation, after things became rather emotional. Imagine what the tone of conversation in the coffee shops, restaurants and mall corridors will be like as this situation continues to develop.

The reply to the situation from the Port Corporation and from Western Diversification, has pretty well laid out the situation in rather stark terms. Already behind schedule, the project is dependent on a timeline that must be followed closely, further delays will not only make a mess out of any budgetary plans, but indeed may very well end up bringing to an end the most positive news the area has seen in decades.

Lawyers for the Band brought up the past scenarios of the UBC golf course and a Squamish ski resort, both of which are projects that we’re delayed due to legal action initiated by local First Nations communities. Neither of those projects is of the same scope as the container port, nor would either of those have the same economic impact that this project promises.

The latest devlopments are certainly not the scenario many Prince Rupert residents had in mind when the container port plan first came to light, with jobs for a desperate community and a sign of growth for a region that has long been held back, it was as if the black cloud of misfortune was finally about to be removed from the North Coast.

Instead, now there is genuine fear in the community that the entire project may collapse. It’s interesting to note that it’s at the very last possible minute that things have unraveled, one wonders why we were not informed earlier that the project might be at risk over unresolved issues. Why these i’s weren’t dotted and the t’s crossed long ago, is something that needs to be addressed. The only question is who do we hold responsible for the situation?

This development certainly has been seen to have come out of left field for many Podunkians. Where were our elected officials during the last sixteen months of consultations? How come the issue never became cause for public discussion before now? Instead it is presented to us at the last minute with the stakes and emotions indeed at their highest. Fear does not make for sensible solutions for anyone and right now it is fear that is being used as the biggest chip in the bargaining process.

The situation should never have been allowed to reach this point, to leave a community twisting in the wind as this plays out is not going to do much for the temperament of what has been a particularly patient community.

Call, hold, bluff, fold or play on. The future of Podunk will depend on how this game of high stakes poker plays out. It seems rather hard to believe that a massive project such as this would end up cancelled, as the scope of it seems to be reach far beyond the podunk city border.

One hopes that goodwill prevails and that a project in which the entire region (and beyond) has much to look forward to proceeds. Otherwise, one can’t begin to fathom the effect a cancellation would have on the psyche of a struggling community and all of its citizens.