The news of the Jumbo Glacier Resort getting a go-ahead from the provincial government on Tuesday was big. But even though it has taken a couple of decades to get this far, the controversy will by no means calm down any time soon.
The question of whether to create a recreational paradise on property many would prefer left as just a natural paradise is a divisive one. People who feel as passionately about an issue as the folks involved in this one do, don’t change their minds easily, if ever.
The development approval announced this week has not likely done anything to lessen the determination of those committed to opposing it. That’s just not how it plays out in disputes as elemental as “nature vs development.” And the fact it’s already gone on as long as it has only signifies an investment of time that makes surrender all the more unpalatable.
Sure, it would be tidier if these deals could be resolved between a couple of interested parties over lunch. But a growing number of people in a growing number of situations are not ready to take no for an answer. In the big picture, so long as weapons and true hostilities are kept out of the picture, a protest against certain kinds of development is probably a sign of a healthy society.
What seems a certainty, is that we’ll hear plenty more about the Jumbo Glacier Resort.
