A public meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday in council chambers where, to quote Mayor Kerry Cook, “the purpose of branding, the process followed to date and next steps will be outlined.”
The public has been invited to participate in another survey. Whether the meeting will be a “we’ll listen to what you have to say” or a “we’ll tell you how it’s going to be” remains to be seen.
My question is why council chose a regional brand when the city itself has so many attractions. Few cities have a lake on their doorstep, and few our size have a university.
No council in my memory has paid much attention to the lake, but hopefully the beach will be feces-free this summer.
The university is relatively new, and if we must change, why not be a university city? Thompson Rivers University’s Williams Lake Campus (TRU North) has a progressive executive director, Dr. Ray Sanders; a state-of-the art building; a top notch staff; and room to grow.
A university-centred community would be environmentally and economically sustainable, politically correct and would attract the young professionals council covets.
A group, TRU Grit, headed by local businessman Brian Garland, is promoting the university and has taken first steps by raising money for bursaries and scholarships.
The possibilities to move forward are exciting, and will probably happen anyway, but community support would speed things up. A political champion or two wouldn’t hurt either.
Think of the fun we could have branding. “Williams Lake, Home of the TRU North,” or, “Come to Williams Lake for the TRU Story.” Or ... ?
Why all the kerfuffle over Senator Mike Duffy and so little about the robo calls during the last federal election? Isn’t interference with the democratic election process as newsworthy as an alleged greedy-guts senator?
Diana French is a freelance columnist for the Tribune. She is a former Tribune editor, retired teacher, historian, and book author.