Harbour Station ticket ordering

There has been talk on radio and in the letters to the editor page of the paper that Harbour Station needs to update its online and telephone ticket ordering systems.

To what end?

The criticisms I've heard seem to be in the vein of "people can't get tickets online before they are sold out for major events." People demand Harbour Station spend part of its operating budget on making ticket buying easier, rather than using the money for promoting and attracting new events.

Why would Harbour Station change what it is doing after they were able to sell out for an Elton John show in less than a day? If Harbour Station was not selling out events because of their systems, they could do a cost benefit analysis and decide if a change were in order. Right now they are selling shows out without incurring additional system costs. They should keep doing the same until there is an economic case for changing.

Irving Oil headquarters negotiation

Irving Oil executives negotiated a low fixed tax rate for its new LNG terminal in east Saint John. Since a deal was struck with the approval of council in 2005 there have been many critics.

Irving Oil is now proposing to build its new headquarters in uptown Saint John. This will be good for the uptown economy and community and will benefit Saint John as a whole. Still, for this to proceed, the city needs to sell Irving a piece of land (the former sugar refinery site). The land that is needed will be swapped with the port for the land on which Irving wishes to build.

The city should sell the land to Irving Oil for what it is worth. Council should approve this. But if Mayor Ivan Court wants to win a moral victory for the citizens against the fixed assessment, he should ask Irving Oil to agree to the assessment increasing with inflation as a condition of the sale.

While Irving Oil is not the sole owner of the LNG project, and the tax bill may not change, the company could pay this additional “tax” into a special fund that the city can use for special projects (I think environmental responsibility initiatives could be a good fit).

Emergency Ferry Service

I learned today while cycling back from the Kingston Peninsula that a ferry will unload it's centre aisle and rush an ambulance to the other side when needed. This seems reasonable, but was a bit of a novelty for me having never seen this happen before. Hopefully all is well for the person who needed the ambulance.

Future of Fundy Footpath

I went for a hike and camped on the Fundy Footpath this past weekend. Three of us went in to Seely Beach, about 8.2 km from where we started at Big Salmon River. The Footpath is a rugged hike, made more of a challenge by carrying in our camping gear. It was a good time and the difficulty is part of the fun, but I would not recommend the trip for everyone.

However, our provincial government wants to make the footpath’s highlights available to anyone with a car and the desire to gas up and drive through the heart of nature. This will make the Footpath far less of an adventure; I don't want to hike to a camp site knowing in the back of my mind a road is just a few minutes (or less) away.

I find it difficult to understand why the province is putting so much cash into this project that seems to be tied to the hope that it will generate tourist dollars. As gas prices go up, drive-by vacations might soon be rather unappealing. Also, by putting a road through the park, we are hurting our chances of inviting eco-tourists to the area.

I’m happy to have done this hike and hope to get to enjoy more of the trail before a line up of SUVs can meet me half way in.

Photos: Road work being done at Big Salmon River, including a car bridge (left). Clearing and Future road (right).

Tom Young on IOL HQ debate

I love Tom Young.

Here is part of his opinion on the Irving Oil headquarters location debate:

• "There are many reasons the city of Saint John trails other cities in development and most of the reasons are some of the people who live here.
  If you’re opposed to the relocation of the Irving headquarters to their desired site, there’s only one thing I can say…
  …Shake your head if you can stand the noise."

His full opinion is at his blog.