Editorial: Dubious eggs or real possibilities?

Residents being evicted are part of the cycle of two-way poverty

“The world is full of hopeful analogies and handsome dubious eggs called possibilities.”

George Eliot

 

Progress and development often go hand in hand and there are always those who decry both. But, in these days of profit and loss margins and shareholder accountability, it seems many are trying to squeeze as much out of those paying as they can while they can. You see it all over and  it’s a dubious egg.

Take the case of people being asked to move from the Beecher Bay Marina and campground site, so development can happen. This is not the first time that eviction notices were imminent. When another developer was interested in the site a few years ago, the residents were put on notice. Most didn’t move and they must have known at that point that development was going to happen sooner rather than later.

The problem with the whole situation is poverty. Poverty for the Scia’new and poverty for many of the residents of the campground.

The band wants to ensure a better future and the residents want to remain where they are because their mobile homes, in many cases, are unmoveable. But, the band should have, over the years, not allowed outbuildings, decks and patios to be built. It was supposed to be a campground.

So the fault lies with all. It is a sad situation definitely but when you are renting a pad, you are not a permanent resident. When you are the “landlord” you have the right to develop your land. Let’s hope there can be a clear resolution to this sad story and the band finds the compassion to extend the notice. After all, they still have a lot to go through, including due diligence, before the bulldozer transforms the campground to a condo development.

Sooke News Mirror