Prefeasability meeting: all the wrong questions

Pelican Watch participated in a meeting hosted by Saskatoon Light and Power as part of the “Prefeasibility and Baseline Environmental Study Phase of the Hydro Power and White Water Park” this past June.

A presentation was made to give us background on the proposed development, and then we were asked a series of questions. The first one, under the agenda item “Overall aesthetic values of the site and Meewasin Valley Trail," was “What amenities would you like to see at site?” (We’re paraphrasing here, so these may not be the exact words.)

Okay, Saskatoon Light and Power has gathered together individuals who represent groups opposed to this idea, as well as groups in favour, and they ask us what “amenities” we want built at the site of the dam and white water playground?

They don’t ask us “what concerns do you have about the redesign of the weir?” They don’t ask “what problems or opportunities do you see arising from these two projects?”

No, they ask us about “amenities”; they ask us what role we see our organization playing in the operation of the site.

Neither of the two Pelican Watch members in attendance volunteered—not surprisingly—to help pick up garbage at the site of Whitewater Park. The information Saskatoon Light and Power seemed to be seeking was not how palatable either project is, but whether we’d like washrooms at the site, or maybe a hot dog stand or vendors renting big rubber tubes.

Clearly, they were not addressing Pelican Watch or the Saskatoon Heritage Society or the Saskatoon Nature Society. They were talking only to those groups who want a white water park and/or tiny hydro dam, complete with rubber dam to raise the water level.

If this were truly an “information seeking” session, then they would ask questions that would give them feedback on whether or not there is a real need or desire to change the weir into a white water “facility” and the site of commercial power generation.

Isn’t Saskatoon Light and Power getting just a little ahead of themselves? What happened to the principle of public consultation?

They do not yet have any governing body's permission to further “denaturalize” this site. They haven’t held any open public consultations so ordinary Saskatonians can say whether they want to redesign what is a contemplative place into a site for high energy sporting activities.

We at Pelican Watch predict that this project may suffer hugely from hubris over the next year. When the forces against this project really come into play.

And we hope that that may be sooner rather than later.