What did you think of this discussion?

I really enjoyed the discussion, and as I said in my summary remarks, I was surprised at the consensus we had on such issues as (and here I deal with the specific topics): water resources, air quality, transportation, housing density, preservation of farmland and parks, maintenance of watersheds in the public domain, and reasons for preservation of crown lands. I look forward to your summary of the discussion and its distribution to local and provincial governments, planners, and government officials.

Congratulations for choosing a strong, well-informed, and highly motivated panel.

I hadn't examined the topic of expansion into the hillsides before, apart from recognizing the potential problems of fire control and emergency access on steep hillsides. I agree that hillside developments also create problems of maintaining community, of potential watershed and land stability, and of high transport costs.

Speaking of transport costs, I hadn't particularly examined the question of how to achieve efficient mass transit throughout the valley and its relationship to population density, especially along the hwy 97 corridor.

I agree that we have very little time to affect the choices being made by our municipal governments, in order to avert overextension of our resources. The Okanagan is one of the most vulnerable sites in Canada with regard to resources and ecosystems.

I often feel that municipal governments are naive in their dealings with developers and their decisions are based on insufficient due diligence. The growing impact of absentee property owners is a serious and growing concern. I have already said that it is a conflicting situation that a politician's goal is to be elected in the next election but the public good may be better served by planning which goes far beyond the duration of the next term in office.

For future discussions it would be interesting to examine Premier Campbell's new "Green Initiatives" programme that was announced two days ago and to examine the future relationship of First Nations to Okanagan development.

One more point that has been going through my mind for some time now, is the lack of applicants to fill jobs. Everywhere you look, the retail industry and service industry have job postings. The big chains seem to be especially hard hit because they have traditionally been at the bottom end of the pay scale.

I foresee that the consequence of this will be consolidation in the retail sector and increased opportunity for small businesses operated by local entrepreneurs. Just a hunch.

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