At fairly regular intervals, editor John Harding keeps bringing up the subject of growth in Qualicum Beach. There is a veiled suggestion that the town needs to grow and be more attractive to younger people.
Regardless of what we do in Qualicum, it is never going to become a Mecca for youth employment. It will always be a community that attracts a lot of retired people. Why not just accept this fact and cater to it accordingly. By and large this is what our local municipal government has been doing over the last few decades, with one notable exception of course.
At some point in the future mankind will have to devise an economic system that relies on something other than growth. This planet is finite and already more than overpopulated. We will need some examples of places that restrict growth. Maybe, however minuscule on the global front, Qualicum Beach can be one of them.
Wim VonkQualicum Beach