grantwarkentin.com

An Atlantic salmon leaps in its pen.

I have made the jump from journalism to communications and I am loving it.

It’s not easy, that’s for sure. Multitasking is a must. And I have chosen to do communications for a company embroiled in controversy. A whole industry embroiled in controversy, actually.

I am now the communications officer for Mainstream Canada, based in Campbell River, the second-largest salmon farming company in British Columbia. And boy, is salmon farming ever unpopular these days.

But I think all the hate is unwarranted. I covered aquaculture for the Campbell River Mirror newspaper for eight years and I heard all sorts of awful things about the industry, but I just didn’t see it.

I looked. I tried to see what all the environmental groups hated about the farm industry. But I just didn’t see the evidence.

But I did see a lot of evidence of questionable behaviour by the environmental groups attacking the companies. I refer to inconsistencies, lies and even possible “greenwashing” on behalf of the Alaskan fishing industry. I also refer to a general mean-spiritedness and unwillingness to compromise.

Meanwhile, the industry has become more open, improved its practices and been consistent, ironically, thanks in part to the pressure from environmental groups.

When the communications position with Mainstream Canada came up, I jumped at the opportunity to work in an industry I believe has a bright future in B.C. and which has an important part to play in feeding the world’s exploding population, as well as contributing to a healthy economy on Vancouver Island.

I’ve left journalism and I’m not looking back. This is too much fun. I hope I can help people see what I see about the industry — an earnest effort to run a good business that feeds people, employs people, is environmentally sensitive and is profitable.

Napping in the heat with my dog Sam.

Ugh.

It’s super hot and super gross. Thermometer on the window says it’s 34 degrees Celsius. I believe it. A haze from forest fires on the Mainland hangs over the Island, making for a diffused light and blood-red sunsets. Not 100 feet away, I can see the haze settling over the forest nearby.

It’s exhausting. All I have the energy to do is be a useless layabout. Good thing the dog agrees with me it’s a good way to spend the afternoon.

Vancouver 2010 Olympic mascot Quatchi.

I think I convinced Quatchi to move to Campbell River.

Yup, after the Olympics are over, I’m pretty sure the cuddly, hockey-loving sasquatch mascot of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games is going to come check out our fine city. Well, the woods, anyway. Sasquatches are really shy creatures, unless there’s a hockey game going on. But he might be interested in a patio home near the forest.

We met the big lug when we took our family to Vancouver this past weekend to enjoy some of the sights and free activities downtown. There was plenty of free fun, enough to keep us busy all day, from concerts to free admission to the art gallery, outdoor art displays and even some collectible freebies.

But although I would have loved a chance to wander through the art gallery for free, some things aren’t possible when you’re backpacking a two-year-old and also trying to keep a four-year-old girl from dashing into the crowd.

As far as she was concerned, the whole reason we were there was to watch the “Mascots on Ice” show on the ice sheet underneath Robson Street.

“Can I see Quatchi now?” she asked about six million times.

I wasn’t going to let her be disappointed. I handed off my cranky two-year-old son to my wife, hauled the girl up on to my shoulders and barreled through the crowd, staking out our spot at centre ice 15 minutes before the show began.

I have to hand it to the Olympic organizers – they’re very considerate of kids. Rather than making the thousands of little ones hunkered around the ice sheet wait for the mascots, Quatchi, Miga and Sumi showed up early, high-fiving and hugging kids while the rest of the skaters got their costumes on. And they stayed for a few minutes after the show, too.

While my daughter screamed in joy and tried to rip out handfuls of Quatchi’s fur every time he skated by, I adjusted my “City of Campbell River” pin and did my best to act as an ambassador for our community.

And I think it worked. Quatchi kept skating past us to check out my pin. I think he might be coming up next month to check out our fair city. If you hear a rustling in the woods, that’s probably him. Pray it’s him. If it’s the “Fuwa” things – the mascots from the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics – be afraid. Be very afraid. They only smile before they kill.

Beware the Fuwa, their hearts burn with MURDER

Fatso the Fat-Arsed Wombat.

Quatchi mentioned that other mascots from previous Olympics (barring the Fuwa) are interested in relocating, including Hidy and Howdy, the two polar bears from the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, and my favourite, Fatso the Fat-Arsed Wombat, who was the unofficial but popular favourite mascot of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

I hope our tourism promotion offices can get it together to attract them here, but I’m not confident. The campbellriver.travel website… well… it sucks. Sorry. Tiny little boring pictures and lots of text. Sasquatches and wombats aren’t going to read all that. It needs big, beautiful pictures of the Campbell River region, and less text. Maybe a video testimonial or two. Maybe they’re there, I don’t know, I didn’t bother looking past the front page, it was too dull.

And RiverCorp the city’s economic development agency, well, who knows what they’re actually doing. They’re apparently helping attract new businesses to town, but we can’t tell because they never call, they never write, and when I try and talk to them about a feel-good story all I get is “no comment.”

I sure hope Quatchi doesn’t want to start up a business here to ease his way into retirement, I don’t think he’s going to get a lot of help from them.

Sailboat passing Discovery Pier. Why can’t our tourism promotion sites have more pictures like this? Photo by Grant Warkentin.

As for the rest of them, I know there’s a long, boring history in this community of little tourism and business fiefdoms battling each other to see who can get the biggest pile of crumbs, but come on. It’s only going to work if we put the grievances of the 1980s and 1990s behind us and look at the future.

We’re only 10 years behind. Time to catch up. The mascot market is waiting.

Gonna take the kids down to the beach this morning for a low tide. Maybe we’ll find some cool sea life! Last time we went we found some huge moon snails. This beach isn’t as nice as that one, but there’s  still lots to see.

I find it amazing how much life there is  at the beach. Stand still long enough and you’ll see millions of creatures. The sand is from countless numbers of their crushed shells collected and ground into minute particles over the years.

I see that as evidence of evolution. All the creatures that have lived and died form the foundation for the next generations to thrive, to adapt and to lay the foundation for the next generation after that.

Wow, it’s flipping cold! Forecast says it’s supposed to go down to minus eight and 10 by Thursday and Friday. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen it this cold here. More snow called for Tuesday and Wednesday. Better get out the long johns.