by Heiz D. Becker

We have three groups of people in Powell River. Group ‘A’ believes there is no limit to economic growth and promotes it at any cost. Never mind the next generation, debt, inflation, environment, or the future. Their mottos is “Let’s live it up “.

Group ‘B’ contains persons who are aware of the limits on how much abuse mother nature tolerates before punishing us. She has chastised us in the past for being ignorant, greedy, overpopulated, etc. She lost some skirmishes but never a war.

Group ‘C’ consists of many little subgroups, the blissfully unaware, the ones who lost confidence in the three levels of government & democracy, the fatalists who hope we muddle through somehow through the wonder drug called technology.

The coming municipal elections will be a battle between group ‘A’ and group ‘B’. Group ‘A’ enjoys the backing of the provincial government, developers (I fear developers more than terrorists), big & small business, recipients of municipal grants and the bunch of assorted sycophants.

Group ‘B’ faces an uphill battle and have to persuade members of group ‘C’ to come out and vote for long-term survival quality of life, self-sufficiency, affordable taxes, maintaining of what we have and more genuine belly laughs.

Our biggest challenge is finding self-actualized persons for the job of guiding our city into the future.