Hear this!...we failed.

In continuation from my blog, “The Ecological Price?” it appears the public hearing for the Skirt Mountain project was a failure. Activates are threatening to take Langford to court claiming the public hearing was flawed and counterproductive. The Victoria Island Community Forest Action says the hearing wasn’t properly conducted, and that some speakers were “interrupted and berated by the mayor”. Zoe Blunt a representative for VIC FAN is threatened to seek a B.C. Supreme Court judicial hearing to stop the bylaw enabling the development to occur. There is some mixed documentation of what actually occurred, as some members felt they were bullied by the mayor challenged their remarks and some council members said the mayor merely spoke to correct “inappropriate or incorrect” information.

The breakdown of this method is seems the people weren’t truly heard or felt they had a chance to fully vocalize their concerns with the project. On the other hand, people could merely be reacting this way as they did not receive what they wanted. A proper morderator should have been used, to ensure proper conversation was established. A moderator could have been used to make sure people arn't interupted and give them a chance to not feel intimiated when they spoke. So since this incident, people are demanding for a new public hearing to be ordered, but there has been no set date of if there will be another hearing.
The Skirt Mountasin project will cost approximately $1.7 billion, and promised a public amenity package worth $26 million.

Exert from: Goldstream Gazette: Wed March.4/09, article “Activists demand new Skirt Mtn. public hearing”