Billboards on our Bridges?

I was reading a recent article in the Vancouver Courier about the Squamish First Nation's proposal to erect 13 billboards adjacent to three main bridges, Burrard, Ironworker's, and Lion's Gate. Now, this is nothing new. If you've ever been out to Tswassen you'd have noticed them out there. But can you really imagine walking or cycling over Burrard Bridge and seeing 5 billboards at the south end?

There will be public meetings held (Wednesday August 23, 4:00pm-8:00pm, Canadian Centre for Peace, 1825 West 16th Avenue, Vancouver AND Thursday August 24, 4:00pm-8:00pm, Squamish Nation Recreation Centre, 100 Capilano Road) but as the Courier mentions, they won't be consultations. They are intended to inform residents, rather than offer a venue for feedback.

While the development has created a large controversy, especially in local editorials and over at North Van Politics, some say that opposing the billboards is a double standard. This is simply not the case. All projects of this scope should be scrutinized. Other commentators have said the reasons they plan to install the billboards are to generate revenue for the band. The Vancouver Public Space Network agrees, but they point out that its "not clear what alternative sources of social enterprise have been investigated by the band, and whether this represents the most effective mitigation of their concerns. Certainly, the proposal has a number of other important considerations that do not appear to have been addressed -such as the impact of the billboards on the local viewshed, the potential to distract drivers and cyclists at a three high-volume transit pinchpoints, and the injection of corporate advertising into what are quintessential features in the Vancouver urban environment."

My concern is not with the Squamish First Nations, but rather the lack of public input into the proposal. I suppose you could say that there wasn't much public input when we forced them onto reservations in the first place, but we can't play tit for tat. Also, those who point to other examples of invasive advertising are right to do so, but it does not justify more. This is about our mental environment and the influx of advertising images that flood our collective psyches. This isn't a native issue, it's a human issue. We are living in a Toxic Culture.