Forgive me, I did not vote.
I know, I know, a reporter who doesn’t vote isn’t much of a reporter at all.
But don’t write me off just yet.
I DID vote in last week’s federal election, but I have dutifully declined to enter a ballot in another recent race.
If you haven’t heard, Campbell River boosters are on the bandwagon trying to get the city named as the “Ultimate Fishing Town Canada.”
And they’re particularly hungry to try and catch this year’s grand prize of $25,000 to be put towards fish enhancement projects.
That seems worthy, but I’m not taking the bait.
This so-called race is actually a clever marketing tool created by the World Fishing Network.
I’ve never seen a single fishing episode on WFN, but I assume it does exist. I do know they have a nice website.
This I know because I wrote several stories last year on the Ultimate Fishing Town contest. Heck, I even voted online for Campbell River.
But we were trounced and didn’t even make the final cut.
To add to the indignity, Port Alberni won the grand prize and the gloating rights as well.
Those dang Albernites! I can imagine them hanging out and laughing by their ramshackle wooden “Salmon Capital of the World” sign as they carve another notch in the post as if they were gutting the other so-called “Salmon Capital of the World.”
That would be us, of course, the once-proud Salmon Capital of the World. These days it is perhaps more appropriate to call Campbell River the “Fish Farming Capital of the World.”
Somehow, it just doesn’t have the same ring. It’s kind of like calling Nosewipe, Manitoba, “Pig Farming Capital of the World.”
Anyhow, with the shame of Port Alberni’s victory hanging over us like a bad pulp mill smell, local fishing boosters are doing their all to prop up the city’s angling image.
So far, they’ve done pretty good. Yesterday was the first round of cuts and Campbell River survived for round two (we were sitting in fifth with two Ontario towns leading the way followed by Port Hardy and Port Renfrew).
But I’m still not voting.
A vote for Campbell River is really a vote for the World Fishing Network and its website. The more hits it receives, the more money they can presumably charge their advertisers.
As for the “big prize,” 25 grand is relative peanuts if you’re attracting media attention across the nation.
In other words, I’m not biting.
paulr@campbellrivermirror.com