Frankly Speaking

Too often, older people decry the irresponsibility of youth. They too often forget that, not so long ago, they were young themselves and made their own share of mistakes. About 25 students from Elgin Park Secondary proved recently that such generalizations are incorrect. They and about 45 other students had attended an unauthorized and unsupervised end of year party near Harrison Lake, one which provoked a lot of outrage on social media when photos of the mess left behind were posted. The pile of garbage was particularly upsetting, as the area they were camping in is a pristine wilderness area. Principal Bruce Filsinger was naturally upset when he found out about the incident and the unwelcome publicity. It was blackening the name of the graduating class, which has 297 members. Most of them did not attend the party and had nothing to do with the incident. He called it “entitled and asocial behaviour.” After being contacted by the Four Wheel Drive Association of B.C., Filsi...

Mission Mayor Randy Hawes - photo courtesy of the Mission Record An editorial I wrote for this week's Mission Record, suggesting the importance of taking the long view on water supply: Mission Mayor Randy Hawes makes an excellent point about water, as residents of Mission and most parts of B.C. live through some of the driest conditions in memory. Hawes asks this question. If communities such as Mission are bumping up against Stage 4 water restrictions this year,  how will any of them ever be able to supply enough water to their residents when the population is much larger in the future? Virtually every planner, public agency and citizen is predicting such a population gain. Hawes says it’s time for some serious long-term planning for a sufficient water supply, not just for Mission and Abbotsford, who currently share water resources, but for the entire Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley region. He told Mission council Tuesday that Harrison Lake is one of the be...