It was dismaying to watch Nanaimo City Council’s last regular meeting on Monday, April 4, 2022, Particularly the presentation to Council on the “State of the Nanaimo Economy” by Amrit Manhas, Economic Development Officer. And equally disturbing to read the accompanying documents.

All the talk in the past two years about why it was time to rid ourselves of our outdated economic systems that keep us on the destructive path leading to where we are today; how the pandemic offered us a chance to restart better; all the promises of change we’ve heard seems to have led – at least on Wallace Street – to almost nothing.

The economic report, and Nanaimo Council’s apparent rubber-stamping of it, stands in contrast with the other viewpoint linked below. In the view of Dr. William Rees view (which I have cited before in another context), “economics” might now be more accurately defined as “management of increasing scarce resources in an increasingly unstable environment.” That definition, alone, amounts to a clarion call for widespread economic change.

But in the “State of the Nanaimo Economy” it’s business as usual. The report consists of lauding, measuring, and predicting growth prospects of our city. It details building starts, our recovery from the initial downturn due to the pandemic, the once again climbing number of business licences, housing starts, population, and dollar values of building permits.

It contains nothing about – not even the briefest nod to – the looming crises we face from climate change, overpopulation, and food insecurity, to name just three. It says nothing about taking necessary mitigating steps and incurring probable future costs of implementation and/or doing nothing. Last summer’s heat dome, fires, and floods might have never happened.

Since Nanaimo Council sets the vision and direction for the city’s staff, we might safely assume it reflects the majority viewpoint. That assumption seems supported by Council’s less than penetrating probing of the presentation. Geselbracht asked what forms of seniors’ housing were being tracked; Bonner inquired if supportive housing was itemized separately and if Nanaimo was becoming a tourist destination; Maartman questioned the average length of visitor stays.

If this was meant to be a forward looking document, it could be described as an abject failure from the William Rees perspective. In the view of the business as usual crowd, it might be fine. However, given that we are now just six months from a municipal election, the most important viewpoint will likely turn out to be the one held by Nanaimo voters. And the latter might well ask: Other than a few bike lanes, what has been accomplished in the past 3 1/2 years?

A parallel question concerns the platform those Council members who run in next October’s Municipal election will claim to represent? Current members of Council might consider it risky to campaign as standing for change with this record of opting for the status quo. But we’ll see. They do have about 6 months left to create a different legacy.

It is probably also worth noting, that while I’ve focussed on Nanaimo, this is not a matter applicable only to Nanaimo voters. All communities in the province might usefully ask the same questions of their own councils in the upcoming elections. Do they stand with Rees or with the ancient Roman emperor, Nero, who is said to have fiddled while Rome burned? An apt analogy for climate change, perhaps.

With the widespread nature of our problems, we might consider it prudent to reach out to others we know elsewhere. Send them link to this column. Give them your own thoughts. If everyone starts thinking now about the upcoming election, it’s to the benefit of all. That is certainly true right here in Nanaimo. Our Council may chose one or the other viewpoint, but in the coming run of history, only one perspective is likely to be the winner. If they and we choose wrongly, it may not be the legacy any of us want.

State of the Nanaimo Economy. Meeting Video of the presentation and links to the documents given to Nanaimo City Council during the Regular Council Meeting, April 4, 2022.

To Save Ourselves, We’ll Need This Very Different Economy. The Tyee, August 10, 2021. “What would ‘getting serious’ about the survival of civilization look like? ‘Ecological overshoot’ is causing climate change, the pandemic and more. Is our political system capable of doing what’s needed?”