McEwan Departure a Major Loss
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 @ 3:45 AM
Tim McEwan, CEO of Initiatives Prince George, is far too much of a class act to tell the people of Prince George and the northern half of the province just what is up with the organization that he heads. I have a very strong belief that the meddling of the new city hall leaders is front and center in his decision to pack it in.
We are about to bust out at the seams in development in the central and northern half of the province and McEwan was a big part in all of it.
Keep in mind that he was with the BC Progress Board before coming to Prince George. He knows his way around the big leagues and that has been demonstrated by what he has accomplished.
He pressed for the Northwest Transmission line, the Cariboo Connector, Boundary Road, the Airport Logistics Park, development of Industrial lands outside the city’s airshed, the improvements to the Pine Pass, the sale of the former LiveBridge building and arrival of the Fortis Customer Centre and he has been integral in building relationships with key business leaders in China. All of this work has laid the groundwork for Prince George’s future and no doubt there will be those who will be eager to stand up and take credit for his work.
Instead of telling the guy to go out keep digging, the city hall has decided to take a different direction.
If Mayor Shari Green and Councillors like Cameron Stolz feel they have all the credentials to do the job that McEwan has been doing, they had better look over their shoulders for a spell.
Stolz discovered what the people of the northern half of the province thought about his ability when he ran for the Federal Conservatives. Green can best be remembered as the Councillor seeking a 10-20 and up to 30 year tax break for those investing in the downtown.
So we will await the string of accomplishments coming out of the new “Business Committee” for the City of Prince George. They will find that it takes a lot of ability to put these things together, an ability that a good many do not possess.
So we will move along, pillar to post and in a few years, wonder why we are being passed by. Only then will the value of McEwan be realized, but alas at that time, it will be far too late.
I’m Meisner and that’s one man’s opinion.
Comments
I think he was all cowboy hat and no cattle.
One man’s opinion would pretty much cover it. To be fair, maybe 3 or 4 others would share the “major loss” sentiment, even if they aren’t collecting the possibly now threatened banner advertising revenues from the departing exalted.
As for the rest of the taxpayers who funded McEwan’s $250K+ salary for four years for minimal return…most are excited to see a mayor who apparently actually had the cajones (ironically, it took a female) to stand up to IPG and shout “LOOK, THE EMPEROR HAS NO CLOTHES!”.
A Fortis call center with low paying jobs. What did IPG do to stem the loss of 1000 good paying jobs that were lost through the closure of Winton Global, Clear lake, Rustad, and NCP. Has the city really gained on employment numbers because of IPG. With the popoulation continuing to drop it would appear that the employment picture in PG is not improving. Certainly there are projects happening such as Thompson Creek spending a billion dollars bringing the Mount Milligan project into production but can anyone really attribute the opening of this mine to IPG involvement.
A more open IPG is needed rather than the usual non-tangible, un-named billion dollar projects that continue to make headlines but never seem to go beyond the headline stage.
I think we have to give credit where credit is due, and it certainly is not due to McEwen or IPG.
1. The Northwest Transmission Line is being built to service those industries, mines etc; that will locate in that area. It may also service some parts of Alaska. I suspect that Rio Tinto Alcan, and BC Hydro, BC Transmission Corp, David Emerson, and the BC Government are the main drivers of this initiative., Certainly not IPG.
2. The Cariboo Connector is part and parcel of the long term planning of the BC Government, and its responsibility for Highways, and IPG had no more input into the Connector than it did for the Port Mann Bridge, or the Sea to Sky Highway.
3. The Boundry Road, and Airport Logistics Park are interconnected. Lets not forget that it was an outside developer from Edmonton who purchased this property. They somehow managed to get it out of the ALR. The connector at this time makes absolutely no sense other than to service this industrial park. If one considers that we already have (a) The Carter Lite Industrial Park. (b) Ongman Road Ind. Park (c) CN Rail and River Road Ind area. (d) Danson Ind Park. (e) BC Rail Ind Park, (f) Maple Leaf Ind Park (Pulpmill Road), one would have to wonder why we would need another.
4. There may have been some Industrial Land Development outside the City, but the question is. Did any business locate on this development???
5. The improvements to the Pine Pass, are the same as the Cariboo Connector. That is, nothing more than normal improvement to our highway system, which is the responsibility of the Government. Certainly not IPG.
6. Selling the Livebridge building to Fortis. How soon we forget. This building was purchased by IPG with tax dollars. In addition the City had the building wired for computers etc; at a cost of $400,000.00. I beleive that the sale of the building recouped the initial cost, but I dont beleive that we got any value for the cost of the building upgrade, so in essance we lost money on this endeavour. Lets not forget that BC Gas was sold to Inland Gas, Inland Gas was sold to Teresan, Teresan was sold to Kinder Morgan, and Kinder Morgan sold its gas utility portion of the business to Fortis (Head office back East) So the question is; at what point in this long line of sales and purchases did McEwen and IPG get involved??? Were they involved in Fortis establishing a call centre in Abbotsford and creating 200 jobs, or was Fortis able to do this on thier own, but needed assistance with the PG Centre.???
7. The IPG building on 1st Avenue was another big expenditure on which we get nothing in return. The property that this building sits on is contaminated with diesel fuel, and we are going to have a really hard time getting rid of the building. This can hardly be touted as an impressive expenditure of tax dollars.
Considering that China, has been involved in Mining in Tumbler Ridge, Pulp and Paper in Port Mellon BC. Pulp Mills in Prince Rupert, and MacKenzie BC. Oil development in the tar sands, etc; why would they need our assistance in Pr George???
8. The development of the Port of Prince Rupert was a direct result of Maher Terminals in New Jersey, The Port of Prince Rupert, and CN Rail, and the Provincial and Federal Government. Pr George would not even rate as a bit player in this development.
I notice that there was no mention of the expansion of the airport runway?? Why is that. Doesnt IPG want to take credit for that endeavour.
Have a nice day.
EXACTLY, Palopu! About the only things McEwan can take direct credit for are lobbying for Horizon Air (epic fail); lobbying for runway expansion (epic fail); and lobbying on behalf of business against the anti-HST referendum (another fail). Everything else was happening on its own regardless…but why not insert one’s self into a photo-op, eh?
If it’s true that Stoltz and Green finally decided to call a spade a spade and look out for taxpayer interests…good on them. The only people who appear to be shedding crocodile tears at his departure are the media who stand to lose IPG advertising dollars, and politicians who might actually have to do some of the work they were elected and paid to do, versus pawning it off onto an extremely well compensated unelected Lower Mainlander.
On the upside, they sure have an impressive website. No need for rose coloured glasses if you drank their kool-aid. I didn’t.
Well stated Ben, well connected and hard working – a well respected expert in the field of economic development. I guess the Games Store Owner and The Scented Candle Lady have different ideas on economic development. I wish them nothing but luck, they need it, because they have no expertise! Tough to attract the best when the best want to leave due to poor leadership.
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