A public letter from Mike Brown of Whaletown regarding the November 22, 2021 TELUS proposal for a Radio Communications Tower on Tla’amin Nation land on Cortes Island.

In summer 2021, your failed proposals for two TELUS towers at other locations on Cortes Island drew 60 letters of response to  Regional Director Noba Anderson, who made this posting on the online Cortes Tideline on July 6, 2021: 

“Reviewing all the 60 some letters written in the last many weeks, I have found only one that is in favour of cell towers at this time. All others want a better community consultation process and many want nothing to do with cell towers here at all. 

So, at this time I am writing to you, as Regional Director for Cortes Island to the Strathcona Regional District, to advise that you do NOT have my support at this time for the erection of any cell towers on Cortes Island.

After the Connected Coast project is in the water and our last mile fibre is in the ground, and after Telus has conducted a meaningful public engagement process on Cortes Island that is supported by the Regional District, then I will be willing to re-engage with you and your colleagues on this matter.” 

Sincerely, Noba Anderson” 

What stands out here is that RD Anderson identified in these letters a unified request from us, to you, for better consultation with our community. Cortes Islanders are outspoken and typically divided on issues of consequence to the Island, and suddenly not divided on the quality of your consultation. Your proposal is a new one, but your consultation process is the same. You seem to have not listened. 

Your response has repeatedly been that you are following the legal ISED default consultation process for tower siting. Noted. But your job title is Land Use Consultant, you consult in addition to other things, so you would have an idea of what RD Anderson meant by a “meaningful public engagement”. 

Then here is the problem. When we ask for better consultation with our community, you remind us that the law does not require you to do more. But laws set minimums, and only following the law does not necessarily make us good citizens or make TELUS a good corporate citizen. Strict adherence to the law and nothing more is convenient to advance the interests of TELUS on Cortes Island. This legal strictness, however, is an example of using the letter of the law to disregard the spirit of the law, in this case a spirit of asking that corporate interest be restrained so that our community may be consulted with sincerity and good faith regarding a proposal to land major infrastructure on the Island. You have appealed repeatedly to this legal minimum for consultation. But I doubt that these appeals are inspired by a passionate concern for either community or for the law’s spirit, to put it mildly.  

Brian Gregg, Land Use Consultant from Site Path Consulting Ltd., we have asked you for better consultation, and you keep doing the same (legal) thing. Please demonstrate concern for the spirit of the law, and please demonstrate respect for our community by beginning a process of meaningful consultation with Cortes Island about this recent proposal for a TELUS Tower. Please make it a transparent process that does not revolve around one-on-one emailing and private phone calls. 

I ask that you not contact me directly in response. I will not have one-on-one discussion with you as this is not a private issue but a community issue. I encourage you to respond publically. 

And obviously, I’m just one person and don’t represent the view of the entire Island. We’re divisive over here, nobody could ever claim to represent all of us. But I do believe that the many Cortes Islanders who wrote to call for better consultation would substantially agree, as would the many other unspoken Islanders who they each represent. 

Regards, 

• Mike Brown, Carpenter
• Whaletown, B.C.
• Cortes Island
• (250) 935-0224

Top photo credit: The insignia from TELUS House in Toronto (one of many locations where TELUS can be found) – Photo by Raysonho @ Open Grid Scheduler / Grid Engine via Wikimedia (Public Domain)

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