Letters – July 2021

The Editor:

We are not a ghost town.

What happens in Point Roberts, stays in Point Roberts ... and that’s sometimes a problem.

We are not a ghost town, as some have suggested, but we are a town with spirit. We are a community with energy, vitality, and a strong will to survive and prosper. We are not a ghost town, but there are still things that haunt us. There are self-defeating attitudes, ghosts of past conflicts, family and personal feuds, and grudges held for reasons whose origins have long since passed into history. It’s time to bury the past and move on. There’s work to be done here and now.

In the past two years, with the influx of new residents, people with fresh ideas and perspectives, the demographic has changed, and will continue to do so. Obviously, the larger culture is moving in ways that affect us, but we do have a buffer, a physical barrier that protects us from the full force of those changes. Yes, our numbers are small, but that’s an advantage, especially when it comes to flexibility and adaptability. We can do big things by taking small steps.

On the scale of this five-square-miles, minor infrastructure upgrades can have enormous positive effects. Technologies that can transform our relationships with each other, and advance our general economic wellbeing, are proven and available. In this country, and around the globe, high-speed communication systems, scaled alternative power production, local food production and security, high-tech septic systems, and other components of an advanced culture, are already being used, with working examples to follow, or to examine and improve upon. This is becoming the New Normal.

From my perspective, the trick to real progress is to acknowledge the present, see where the weak places exist, and began the repairs, replacements, and the clean-up. We do have time, but not much of it. The clock is ticking, so let’s get on with it.

George Wright

Point Roberts

The Editor:

Many thanks for your editorial pages and letters and interview with Mr. Brian Calder. As for the borders re-opening soon? Maybe!

Many thanks, again and again.

Ronald Shindler

Delta, B.C.