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Viewpoint: Access is the missing link

by Tom Wheeler Powell River’s new website to market the city is not likely to meet the objectives of increasing the city’s population and reduce its agedness by attracting younger people. It is putting the cart ahead of the horse.

by Tom Wheeler Powell River’s new website to market the city is not likely to meet the objectives of increasing the city’s population and reduce its agedness by attracting younger people. It is putting the cart ahead of the horse.

Advertising the product without the consumer being able to effectively access the goods is a marketing error. No matter how beautiful the Pearl on the Sunshine Coast is, if travel is too costly or too inconvenient, those young entrepreneurial telecommuter types will not venture to the Pearl. They may have the virtual experience through the website but will not likely travel to experience it in reality, and less likely to consider residency in a land-locked city. It will take an overland road from the Interior to access the goods of Powell River and the Upper Sunshine Coast. Three cases may illustrate this:

1. Some 55 years ago the people of Bella Coola wanted a road to connect their coastal community to the interior of the province. At that time there were no environmental assessments or environmental groups to hold the matters up. Those with the equipment bulldozed their road through to the Interior. They call it the Freedom Highway. The government then improved the road to acceptable standards. The result of that overland access to the interior was to have Bella Coola become a sustainable coastal community.

2. After years of campaigning, in 1959 the people of Vancouver Island’s West Coast got their road through to Port Alberni, Ucluelet and Tofino. The result was a massive influx of tourists of every description. They came to camp on the beaches, hike, fish, storm watch and surf in that world class surf. A national park was established. The Pacific Rim is a world-renowned destination site.

3. Ocean Falls once boasted a community of 2,500. With no road to link it to the Interior and the closure of its paper mill, it became another of BC’s ghost towns, now boasting a population of about 75.

With the rise in ferry rates, and the reductions in ferry service from the mainland and the island, there is little hope in increasing the population of Powell River, and less hope in attracting a younger population to what may be Canada’s most isolated city. An overland road between the Interior and Powell River will give access to Canada’s secluded city. That overland road may well be the salvation of Powell River. It’s all about access.

Tom Wheeler is a member of the Third Crossing Society and is a former resident of Powell River currently residing in Comox.