by Andru McCracken, Editor
I think McBride, BC is quickly becoming the most livable community on the planet. Not for the reasons residents think it is. And in
spite of the efforts of McBride residents.
McBride is going to grow because it is affordable and beautiful. Families will find it because it is awesome and despite a lack of signage and infrastructure, the opportunities in the surrounding area are limitless.
All the clamouring for economic development – to get the mill going again, all the efforts to use public pressure to revive industry, this is wasted effort. It actually makes the town a worse place to live.
It’s a place of can’t. A place of won’t. A place of blame.
If you own a mill, run it. If you don’t, shut up.
Work on something positive.
Buy a small mill if you like and try working at that, but don’t try and get somebody else to do what you think needs to happen. The age of protest has just gone too far. Goodness isn’t protested into existence. It’s built with your hard work.
If you have a great idea that starts with ‘they should,’ it’s not a great idea, it’s just an excuse for not pulling your weight.
Find your niche and focus your energy on that. Maybe it’s your art. Maybe it’s helping people. Don’t be a martyr. Find that thing you love to do and forget the rest and watch your community blossom.
That’s the first caveat, end the endless protests.
There is a second caveat. McBride must end the love affair with other people’s dirty laundry.
Gossip is an ancient tradition in the community. It’s always tough to stop doing something you love, especially when you are the best at it. But it has to stop.
It will drive away new recruits to the community. Folks who have moved from the city might not remember the corrosive power of gossip, but when their personal lives become the plaything of the coffee shop they will flee.
Now you can’t go cold turkey, you have to replace gossip with something else. Maybe share the good things you see each other doing.
It’s not about a mill. It’s not ‘them’ or ‘they should,’ it’s about the positive things you stand for as a community. Focus on those things and success is certain.
