It is amazing the impact that a game of hockey can have.
I could go on at length about the morons who decided to trash downtown Vancouver after the Canucks were shutout in game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals, about how it wasn’t just a small group of hooligans that caused the carnage but how anyone who stayed downtown after the game was responsible by cheering on the aforementioned morons and about how any repercussions that come their way are well deserved. But I think enough has been said about that in the mainstream media, the social networks, the coffee shops and more.
No, what I’m talking about is the impact game seven of the Stanley Cup championships had on two meetings that should have been of significant importance to people on the North Coast but instead turned into people in business-attire killing some time until the advertised meeting time came to an end.
The mere mention of the Enbridge Northern Gateway gets the blood of many in the region boiling and that night a representative from the Joint Review Panel were at the North Coast Convention Centre to answer questions and provide information about how people can have their voices heard in the formal process. But there was nobody there...
Across the parking lot at the Crest Hotel the Prince Rupert Port Authority was soliciting feedback on a development plan that includes things such as cutting off access to Ridley Island, expanding Fairview Terminal closer to town and building enough facilities to make Prince Rupert the second largest port in the country behind only Vancouver. It’s a great presentation looking at the future of the community, but aside from a handful of people, the room was basically empty.
That these meetings, which were planned for months before the playoffs began, were held on the same night as the Canucks tried to bring home the Stanley Cup is unfortunate. I just hope it’s not a sign that sports championships trump the future of the region.