PAT DEAKIN
PORT ALBERNI – I started this column with the intention of thanking everyone who has pulled together to make 2021 an amazing year of transition for Port Alberni. As I thought about the many organizations, businesses and individuals who have contributed to our continued evolution, John Donne’s poem ‘No Man is an Island’ came up for me. For more inspiration, I looked it up and read it again.
I realized then, that on every previous occasion I have referenced it anywhere I have been focused on the notion that we are better working ‘in community’ than on our own and I hadn’t paid as much attention to the middle and last stanzas of Donne’s poem (written in 1624).
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less,
As well as if a promontory were,
As well as any manor of thy friend’s,
Or of thine own were.
Any man’s death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.
Given the fires and floods that have ravaged many parts of the province this year, the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing opioid crisis in BC and elsewhere, those lines seemed particularly poignant.
And although I had our economy in mind when I started this column, it seems a good time to express thanks to everyone, and every organization, striving for the physical repair and mental well-being of our communities and our citizens.
On that note and on behalf of our community, I would like to extend our best wishes to all Business Examiner readers for a safe and happy holiday season.
Pat Deakin is the Economic Development Manager for the City of Port Alberni and currently the President of the BCEDA. He can be reached at 250-720-2527 or Patrick_deakin@portalberni.ca