As the March 14th public forums loom in the latest round of the Saunders Lake development saga, we are left wondering why our democratically elected governments have chosen the path of continuing to formulate their strategies in closed door, in-camera meetings, instead of acting in good faith and openness. In an issue that has captured the imagination of our rural and urban communities, and polarized so many people, it would seem only logical that a council of concerned stakeholders and interest groups would have been invited to sit with local officials in round table discussions to make the decisions that will protect our local lakes for future generations to come.
Instead, formal and inflexible traditional methods have been the mainstay. It is hard to imagine that in 2013, only a few (hundred) yards away from County Centre and the hotel where the hearings have been taking place, the new Alberta Wetland Policy was hammered out in multiple meetings with over 80 representatives and stakeholders from around the province. A document and process that was designed to "up the game" in wetlands protection and stewardship has been largely ignored, given "lip-service" only by developers and local officials who are determined that unwanted and un-needed new industrial park plans go ahead. Another document, the 'Workbook for Developing Lake Watershed Management Plans in Alberta', developed by the Alberta Lake Management Society, sets out just such a process for stakeholder engagement.
Will local governments finally sit down and meet with groups that can help achieve a sustainable and world class watershed management plan for Saunders Lake? We shall soon see.
Leduc Wildlife Conservation Society
All the best,
Andrew J C Tait
Always appeal to generosity rather than grievance, and hope rather than fear
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