'Environment First'

It would be funny to see this image printed into handbills and posted
around Seguin Township. Tossing them from a plane would
almost be poetic. Not by me, though. I swear it.

When people talk about radicalism, they normally speak in threatening terms of a socialism or communism which will turn us all into bad haircut sporting 'comrades' clutching some sacred text. Mao's little Red Book is a classic example.

Seguin's 'Environment First' programme is radicalism in the opposite direction. Seguin has undergone a radical conservationist policy change. I'm surprised people aren't running around, hands in the air, screaming, "The Environmentalists have landed!" I kid, but it's no joke that this is a radical departure from the past and - according to some of the people I've spoken to - a shock to many in Seguin Township.

For example, there's a house building lot cleared and ready for construction on the north end of Windfall Lake. I spoke with the owner a while back - he was all ready to build when the 20 metre from shoreline rule came into effect. That lot - with the snowmobile trail and a sturdy barrier of trees between it and the lake - has been vacant for three years now. To my knowledge, Seguin Township has never properly estimated the dollar value of wealth vaporized by implimenting the 'Environment First' policy.

Personally, I'm in favour of Seguin's sustainability plan. I believe this may be the majority position. That said, if we don't at least consider the views, the valid arguments of the minority side on any given issue, representative government is skating on thin ice.

I'll wait to read the results of my upcoming survey of Ward 1 residents before I take a political position on 'Environment First'. Don't know people's preferences yet. This is just me turning the issue over in my mind. If we're going to be radical in policy, it's better to go conservative (time stand still), than suddenly declare we have to get rid of all the trees and build solar-powered toothpick factories.

I prefer incremental, small-changes-to-see-if-they-work projects. Learn low-impact lessons, fix mistakes, try something else for a better fit. Radical change, in my experience, changes everything at once and it is difficult to measure effects in a controlled way. Culture shock to the new way disturbs people and often destabilizes government.

My immediate reply to the order of 'Environment First' is 'People Second'? My own back-to-the-land lifestyle doesn't mean I agree with all ideas and schedules of the environmental movement. Big change, to my mind, is the plaything of the young, the inexperienced, the brave, or the narrow-minded. More than brave, I think implementing Seguin's sustainability plan was audacious.

I look to the future and know that what is considered good public policy today will likely be different tomorrow based on the ever-changing wants and needs of the people. No government has the right to fix public discussion for all time. The enacted by-laws offer room for amendment and individual appeal. An essential activity in democratic government is reconsidering past policies to consider if they're still valid. Just as general stores are no longer required to provide water troughs and feed for customer horses.

Better to go slow with public projects - like moving through school zones. At least 'Environment First' gives Seguin time to pause and think about next moves.

I like 'Safe and Predictable' as a motto for good government.