The federal government recently announced it is proposing to invest nearly $958 million in Canadian harbours, including Wheatley and Erieau.
Sounds great, right? After all, the two Lake Erie ports are home to dozens of commercial fishing vessels, and having improvements, which could include dredging and making repairs and upgrades, is never a bad thing.
But just how much work will be done?
That’s where it gets silly. Saying the government plans on tossing nearly a billion dollars to upgrade small-craft harbours around a country as large as Canada is an announcement woefully short on details.
According to a press release, one that was sent to selectively few media outlets.
An announcement was made last week in Wheatley, apparently. The government dredged up London West MP Arielle Kayabaga to attend on its behalf. No one bothered to share the information with The Chatham Voice, as well as a host of other local and regional media outlets. The biggest joke of exclusions is the fact the Southpoint Sun, which serves Wheatley and Leamington, was not advised of the press conference in their own backyard.
Many reporters are incredibly intelligent individuals. But we’ve never met one who is downright psychic, something that is apparently needed these days to determine when a press conference is to take place.
Maybe the government didn’t want to be asked how much cash would be used to shore up breakwaters, dredge basins and encapsulate piers in steel at the two C-K harbours.
Perhaps they entrusted the sharing of the information with the staff their nearest MP that sits on their side of the legislature and Kayabaga’s people have little grasp of the Chatham-Kent media landscape.
Regardless, holding a press conference with precious few details, and with precious few media invited, is silly.
At least whoever wrote Kayabaga’s speech on the matter did a modicum of research.
“Southwestern Ontario’s coastal communities have always depended on their harbours, and they deserve the sustained support to keep thriving,” Kayabaga is reported to have said at the press conference. “This funding is a meaningful investment in the people, livelihoods, and local economies that are the foundation of communities like Wheatley and Erieau.”
How do we know the investment is meaningful? Details are rather important. So too is inclusion.
