Water for Cruise Ships

Should we sell water to cruise ships?

Sure why not?

But - yes, there is a but.

What I don't like is the reason we're selling it. Just like the 10-year no hotel tax idea, this water for cruise ships is all about attracting the ships to come here. Oh really! I'm all for giving them water if the reason is because they dock here - that they dock here because this is a great city full of attractions that tourists are eager to see.

The way this mayor, council and city are selling this city is disgraceful. The message I keep hearing is, we have to have a fire sale of the city because there's really no other way of luring people to come here. It's like Nanaimo is the ultimate Edsel - we can; hardly give it away.

I'd rather sell Nanaimo like it was the ultimate plug-in hybrid. And if it's not, then let's make it that! Anyone who has ever been in sales knows that it's easy to sell something that's gorgeous, efficient, beautiful and practical - the iPhone or iPad for instance. Heck, you don't have to sell those items - you just stand behind the counter and rake in the money.

An HP tablet on the other hand? I wouldn't want to flog it, would you?

So can we please get out of the HP mindset and convert to iPad thinking? How do we do that? First, stop selling Nanaimo like it's a dud. And then look around and tell the truth. What do we have that will make people beat a path to our door? Take inventory and then build on it like mad. We have a great downtown. We have Mount Benson - let's build a tram, a restaurant on top and fabulous mountain biking all the way down. A bridge to Newcastle Island. Get rid of waterfront industry - send it to Duke Point. Convert that waterfront land - what a place for a multiplex, retail and condos.

Those are just a small handful of ideas - other great ideas abound. But we have to attract people. Make no mistake, we are selling Nanaimo - to tourists, investors, business people and residents. Right now the way we are going about it sucks. I wouldn't buy.

We need some serious vision to make this a happening place. I don't know why Nanaimo has such a history of doing things backwards. Build a conference centre - build a hotel - now, let's try to get people to come here. That's just plain nuts!

Build the demand for the city and private investors will jump all over it - they'll invest.

Back to water for cruise ships. We have tons of water. Anyone who has been outside or near a window in the last few days can attest to that. And yet we have water restrictions in the summer? Maybe someone should have a look at how to capture some of our winter abundance. And let's not sell water that we don't have - that is, not at the expense of the residents.