Friday, 24 Aug 2001

ABBOTSFORD, B.C.

I always feel so optimistic at the beginning of each week that I will accomplish all my goals by week’s end, but on Fridays I always feel overwhelmed, because it never works out that way. SE2 consumes so much of each day that I’ve had to become a master juggler. Calls throughout the week from people insisting on meetings, interviews, research, and such fill up the hours quickly.

I discover that somehow, I missed 15 emails that were sent a week ago. One from a friend in crisis needing help. Taking a week to answer, I feel awful and write to apologize. Friends — not to mention family — are a casualty in a war that goes on as long as this. Fortunately, they are all supportive of what I am doing. Even constituents that need help on other issues, I reluctantly have to pass on to one of the other councilmembers. I feel blessed with good people around me that understand, but I feel bad all the same.

Today is our SE2 focus group meeting. A local television station wants to come and film us for the 6:00 news, so I arrange the details. Representatives from every possible stakeholder group — health, education, environment, citizen groups, Sto:lo Nation, politicians, and business — attend the focus group meeting. I laugh to myself that the SE2 boys must feel like bowling pins, watching in horror as we, the ball, are headed toward them for a strike! I’m sure they never expected such overwhelming
opposition. As the chair, I find it hard to conduct these meetings with any kind of control, as the members are so enthusiastic and passionate that they find it hard to hold back and not all talk at once.

The television cameraman manages to be discrete, so there is little disruption and I see that the members soon forget he is there. Until, of course, he asks me to leave with him for a moment for a private interview. As I try to get back to the meeting, the mayor and city manager snag me for an emergency meeting; we need to make a decision immediately on legal strategy. Back to the focus group … I apologize (again!) for the interruption.

Thanks to the generosity of West Coast Labels and the David Susuki Foundation, we have had some very effective stickers made up, which we distribute. The pro-SE2 lobby has been telling Americans not to pay attention to the opposition because it is just a few radical Canadians. The stickers contradict that — representatives from both countries contributed to the design.

The group comes up with another great lobbying idea. Since a picture says a thousand words, we will have postcards printed with two pictures on the front. One of Mt. Baker, which you can hardly see through the haze of pollution, and the other showing the unique nature of the airshed with the topography of the mountainous region, which traps pollutants, creating a “chemical soup”. Obviously, adding another point source of pollutants to the magnitude of almost three tons per day would be disastrous. We will add a paragraph of explanation on the back, with room for people to add a note to express their opinion to Gov. Gary Locke (D-Wash.) and EFSEC. These will be put in as many storefronts as will take them, both in Canada and the U.S. Globe Printers offered to do them for free. This not only saves us money but, since we won’t have to fund-raise for them, it also saves precious time.

As the public information meeting put on by EFSEC was so unproductive and many folks were unable to attend, we agree to hold another in early October. This time, though, we will have a panel discussion, so if one party says something inaccurate, the other can refute it. A representative of a local television station also agrees to do a one-hour talk show on SE2′s new proposal.

This dynamic meeting is so productive that I feel better about my chaotic week. I know we are going to win this fight because of the persistence of such incredible people. As Margaret Mead once said, “Never doubt that a small group of dedicated citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.”