Mr. Floatie goes to Washington 鈥� and hangs up his costume. The giant turd mascot has convinced our neighbours in Seattle that Victoria鈥檚 sewage-treatment project is finally going ahead.
On Friday, James Skwarok, who inaugurated the Mr. Floatie costume in 2004, travelled to Seattle with a delegation funded by Tourism Victoria to tell the Americans that he was retiring his alter ego because Greater Victoria will have a sewage plant running by 2020.
After decades of argument and false starts, the Capital Regional District has settled on a plan and has begun work on a $750-million system to treat the sewage of the core municipalities.
Victoria definitely has a public-relations problem when it comes to sewage, one with real economic consequences. What do Americans know about our city? A beautiful place to visit 鈥� that dumps its sewage into Juan de Fuca Strait.
It鈥檚 not dumped, of course. It鈥檚 screened and pumped out 1.1 kilometres into the chilly depths of the strait. But that鈥檚 not enough for our southern neighbours, who want us to stop delaying and treat our waste.
Seattle has its own issues with sewage, including a plant failure that pumped millions of litres of sewage into Puget Sound in March, but its people see Victoria鈥檚 current system as wilfully fouling the ocean.
Those Victorians who travelled to the Friday event saw the depth of feeling among Washington residents, who hate the thought of Victoria鈥檚 sewage, screened or not, flowing into our shared waters. They hate it so much that they staged a tourism boycott in 1993, and politicians right up to various governors of Washington state have demanded action for decades.
Mr. Floatie was the walking, talking embodiment of the issue, and he developed an international profile. Ordinary Seattle citizens recognized him on the street Friday. Infuriating as it might be for the opponents of sewage treatment, his campaign cemented the perception of Victoria.
It鈥檚 a campaign and a perception that enrage those in Victoria who say the strong action of the ocean disperses the screened sewage so that it poses no dangers. They point to scientific studies and experts who support their contention.
And they saw Mr. Floatie鈥檚 event on Friday as further evidence that science is being kicked to the curb in the service of politics and emotion.
While they persist in their opposition, the sewage train left the station in 2006. The provincial and federal governments have ordered the CRD to treat the waste water, and they are not going to change their minds.
While treatment opponents see the triumph of perception over reason, their arguments strike treatment proponents as rationalization of the indefensible.
Rightly or wrongly, Americans associate Victoria with environmental degradation. That鈥檚 not just a problem for tourism, but also for attracting businesses to the city.
One Canadian who is responsible for encouraging high-tech companies to consider Victoria thinks the sewage project will change the minds of people she talks to. Entrepreneurs in that sector are conscious of social and environmental issues, so Victoria鈥檚 current system closes doors.
Friday鈥檚 visit, corny as it might have been, was $8,000 well spent because it showed our neighbours that the decades of talk are finally over, and shovels will be going into the ground.
