The most recent hearing and update regarding the court order directing Dawson to build secondary sewage treatment was held today via teleconference. The courtroom in Dawson was connected to Judge Lilles in Vancouver and the courtroom in Whitehorse along with counsel on both sides. Looking at the gallery I was dismayed to see hardly any representation from those who initiated the hoopla and referendum that ultimately stopped work on the lagoon project.
Dawson is named in the court order, yet there appear to be many chefs stirring the same broth. This makes it difficult to arrive at a sustainable solution to the challenge before us. But it will be done, as I said in court today Dawson is committed to finding a way to remedy the problem.
Judge lilles expressed concern that another referendum could scuttle a new project in the future prompting direction from his honour to develop more fully the mechanical plant (SBR) option. Of course, citizens may raise objection to that as well. Which makes one wonder whether it’s such a good idea to allow referendums to influence matters before the court.
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Very annoying indeed. True exercise of your democratic rights means you are out there regularly, not just when it’s exciting and novel, that you stick around for the long haul, that you face up to the consequences of your actions and help to find solutions. I did not see those people in court today. In the words of the judge, “I am disappointed.”
John,
From the above and from the media reports I have read it seems ambiguous whether the judge ordered Dawson to build the SBR or not and whether other options are still possible and what sanctions may be used to force us to deal with this issue.
What exactly does he expect us to have done by the next date in September?
You were able to obtain and post the court transcript from the last hearing, could you do that again? Full and clear information is always useful so I think it would be valuable for Dawsonites to be able to read the full words straight from the judge. There are many reasons why a lot of people would not be there, I am across river for instance and most others would be working.
If you’ll allow an outsider’s comment. Democracy is not a default form of government. Its workings have to be learned and practiced (just like fishing). In your case it means the hard way.
I would begin with the Court’s directive and get the planning for the SBR option on the road now to avoid further criticism of “having done nothing.” I would also use the referendum experience as an opportunity to develop the citizens’ understanding of democratic responsibility in the community. This could be done by setting up a committee with strong citizen representation, strict terms of reference and procedures, and a concise objective to develop a community consensus on an acceptable alternative to the SBR option. The committee would need resource support (administration, legal, and engineering). The objective should not be to design an alternative to SBR. It could be to identify and alternate location for the lagoon option that is acceptable to the community. This process will cost the municipality a few bucks in staff time and the occasional engineering consultant, but that expense would be a fraction of what has been spent on dead-end initiatives so far.
You may want to look at B.C.’s Citizens Assembly for Electoral Reform as a model for process. Different scale, different purpose, but I think that the principles are applicable. That assembly, made up of random Joes and Jills from across the province, aided by admin and tech support provided by the province, earned itself a lot of respect om B.C. In fact it still enjoys a higher approval rating than the Legislature!
Take this as food for thought (compostable it not to taste).
Mark, as soon as I can I will post the transcripts.
And thanks to both you and André for your comments.
When I read “Looking at the gallery I was dismayed to see hardly any representation from those who initiated the hoopla and referendum that ultimately stopped work on the lagoon project” I believe you still do not quite understand what happened.
We who initiated the referendum did nothing more or less to allow the people of Dawson to be heard. That was a big effort and took a lot of time, but it needed to be done, because the elected representatives did not do much of a job of representing the citizens concerns. I believe the resounding success of the referendum makes that quite clear.
The fact that we initiated the referendum and provided a process for the voice of the people to be heard should not give us any special status over the people who came out and vote in it. We had made clear through the press and otherwise that our main concern was to give dawsonites a say.
I have offered my assistence a number of times in any capacity and way that would help to actually move us forward on the issue, and that incudes submissions to the court. I have not heard back. As far as I can judge it there doesn’t seem to be any interest from elected representatives or government beaurocracy to actually solve the issue.
I was away in Germany, dealing with family issues for the court date anyway, but would I have been there it would have just upset me. To date it does not seem as if Mayor and Government are actively seeking a solution to the problem.
We filed the petition for a referendum almost a year ago. It was clear from the beginning that there was a good chance it might be successful, so one would think there was ample time to work on plan b. It didn’t happen. It didn’t happen after the referendum result made absolutely clear that a plan b had to be worked out. I would have expected you to show up in court and present at least an idea of an alternative. Nothing! The memorandum of understanding with Yukon runs out in November – which in itself opens a whole new can of worms – and nothing is done.
I for myself have a pretty good idea who to blame if Dawson ends up being court ordered to build a sewage solution we cannot affort.
And one more thing: Has anybody seen our MLA???
I think it’s fair to say that the issue is being worked on locally. The stumbling block at this point appears to be YTG, which did not want to offer alternatives, though I understand there are notes on about five of them locally. Nothing much Dawson could do about that, due to that “unfettered control” of the project in the existing MOU. Council has now decided to do some planning with the TH and without YTG if that’s the way it goes.
In court, the feds were as merciless as John had thought they might be and the judge was stern, though not as stern as the feds wanted him to be. If they had had their way we WOULD now be building an SBR plant. They asked for just that – immediately. It was scary. They had a gleeful “gotcha” attitude. I also had expressed a fear that this might happen, but I was shocked by the mindless ferocity of the prosecution.
Jorn….Please….”the elected representatives did not do much of a job representing the citizens concerns”. Wake up….the citizens didn’t come out to half the meetings and information sessions put on by government and the “elected representatives”. The CITIZENS only believed what they wanted to and half or more didn’t get the Big Picture! How can you make a decision when you don’t understand the science? Maybe a little more public participation would help the People understand how it all works! Those who complained the most did most of their complaining from “The Pit”! Our..(Your) elected representatives worked very hard to find the right solution, and they did it from city hall, not from a bar stool. We will see how they react if a batch reactor plant is ordered on them……..good luck paying for that!
However 3 months after the referendum NOTHING has moved. We seem to be exactly where we were 3 months ago. Somebody is not working here. Tell me who. Tell me also how the City will be able to afford this inaction.
Well…if you create a referendum, you need to expect delays. The delays are not coming from your city representatives….oh wait a minute….you don’t live in the city. The delays are coming from Whitehorse and Ottawa, and I think you know that.
Jorn – it’s very clear that YTG isn’t moving and the town has done what it can so far to partner with TH and come up with a plan. I think this story is already in print.
Jorn,
I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that concern about your neighbors across the river is genuine and not just a display of political posturing.
Unfortunately, your comments reveal how little you understand regarding Dawson’s predicament.
In case you are not aware, Premier Fentie has shown excellent leadership in working with Minister Baird to allow for more time to solve this problem for Dawson. He has reiterated time and again YTG’s commitment to addressing Dawson’s waste water treatment solution, in partnership with the citizens of Dawson.