We will all miss you.

Here is an example: I know a corporate leader of an oil and gas company who thinks of the environment as a sacred and religious entity, who has done more for the environment than most. One small example is that he has spent a lifetime protecting a particular local bird species from extinction, helping, monitoring, and researching the species as part of a local and national program. It involves about one day trip per month, on average, to monitor and maintain a route of bird boxes set up in particular locations. On a more professional scale, he has been responsible for deciding how to allocate generous funds to local and national organizations protecting and preserving our environments and ecosystems. For many who have never met a corporate leader of an oil and gas company, it becomes easy to create a false and passionate image of the corporate leader, turning him into a selfish, greedy, wealthy villain who could care less about the environment. I have had many friends who have never met any oil and gas workers, let alone corporate leaders, and think they know who these people are, when the truth is, they really don’t. One more point for this example: the corporate leader I mention believes that prosperous economic development linked with social and environmental values builds the wealth to pay for services we value, such as protecting green spaces and quality medical care and education programs. That is his belief. My point here is that once I got to know him well, I could see a man of integrity and similar values doing the best he knew to make a positive difference, which is a very different picture from the easy picture to hold onto when we’ve never truly got to know someone from the oil and gas industry or a corporate leader.

I believe choosing to be open to diversity means not just being open to ethnic/cultural diversity but being open to groups of people we have had little connection with. I believe facilitating experiences of connection, looking for the common ground, will sometimes surprise us. The falsified and dividing images may begin to be replaced by a more caring, compassionate realization that we all have struggles and grievances and triumphs and hurts. What is that saying, there is no “I” in team? I can hear that you express feeling disconnected from other regions/values of Canada, and I also hear that you only seem to be interested in your own agendas/understandings. To feel connected, we need to connect with others, too, reaching out to truly understand their experiences in Canadian Federation.

I feel like how a child of divorcing parents in a high conflict divorce might feel, for BC and Alberta and Canada are all my homes and part of my identity. I feel like I am being asked to split in 2 because people are focused on disconnection and falsified images of the “other”.

At the time I write, I see Horgan has just signed the Cascadia Innovation Agreement, the purpose of which is to promote economic development of the region. I can see what some may be aiming for … that the loyalties of coastal BC would be first and foremost to coastal US (Seattle, etc.). The path has been staged, and this saddens me for I can understand many would see this as a beginning to BC separating from Canada. I wish we could find a way forward by actively taking steps to build connections with those we have turned into some sort of monster to us within our Canadian home, to find out that maybe we have a strength and bond in being Canadian, after all, once we get to know each other with a sense of goodwill in our efforts.