Western Canada Wilderness Committee

Ballot Boxing

So I get invited to do a kind of debate thing on CBC. Its called “ballot boxing” – a reference to the up coming provincial election. On the day of the debate I hop in Paul Morgan’s car (WCWC director) and he and I drive over to the Fraser Arms Hotel – the site of CBC’s ballot boxing match. At the desk we are directed to the basement.

All I know is that I am going to be debating about the government’s environmental record with Lytton Mayor Chris O’Connor.

Chris and I go way back In the mid 1980s, Chris was the manager of Lytton Lumber. He still is, only these days he is also Lytton’s mayor.

Back then, Chris was one of the proponents of logging the Stein Valley. I, on the other hand was a vocal opponent of logging the Stein Valley. After ten more years of hard work and a whole lot of protesting, the Stein was saved by the NDP government of the day in 1995 as a provincial park, co-managed by BC Parks and the Lytton Indian Band.

About five years ago WCWC chartered several buses to attend an open house in Lillooet regarding the fate of the South Chilcotin Mountains. When a local logging proponent threatened to punch my lights out, Chris suddenly appeared and stuck a sticker on both of us that said “Hug a Tree Hugger”, then proceeded to hug me. He kind of cooled down the situation and saved my nose from getting flattened.

The next year a bus pulls in front of WCWC’s Gastown offices and out gets Chris O’Connor, followed by a mob of placard waving protesters. He and his crew are there to protest WCWC and our work to protect the South Chilcotin Mountains as a park.

So when I stepped into the gloom of the Fraser Arms Hotel, there was Chris O’Conner, my longtime friend and foe. We had a great time reminiscing about old battles. Then it was time to debate.

In the middle of the basement was an actual boxing ring. The CBC folks directed Chris and I to climb in the ring and soon we began to debate the government’s environment record. Chris thought their record was just great and I thought it stunk.

From salmon farms to endangered species legislation, from the South Chilcotin Mountains Park to offshore oil drilling we yelled, and gestured and jumped up and down. The only thing we agreed on is that local communities should have control of their drinking water catchment areas. Anyone watching would think we were the worst of enemies, which isn’t true.

We just can’t agree on much when it comes to environmental protection issues. And we both have faith in free speech and democracy as the best way to resolve our differences.

After the ballot boxing match Chris and I retired to the bar where we couldn’t even agree what to drink. He had a beer and I had a coffee. Chris paid.