Dear editor,
British Columbia used to be called the Canadian Gateway to the Pacific Rim, but not anymore.
The NDP party is against pipelines from Alberta to the Pacific, under any condition, no matter what stringent conditions are applied to their construction and operation.
The present Liberal government is almost as firm in their opposition to a crude oil pipeline from Bruderheim in Alberta to Kitimat. Their position on the Kinder Morgan expansion is not quite so firm but certainly not a supportive position.
The present Liberal Government is all for natural gas production via fracking to built an export plant in and around Prince Rupert. The fracking could cause an environmental disaster to fresh water aquifers when fracking occurs, but this seems to be OK as it is B.C. money in the bank, so much for environmental concerns.
Locally in the Comox Valley, every government is against a coal mining operation that would create many well-paying jobs for many years. They are against it even if every environmental
assessment confirms that the mine would do no damage to the shell fish industry nearby.
Our health care is grossly underfunded, our infrastructure is in immediate need of money being spent for roads, water mains, sewage mains, and sewage treatment plants. The money being spent for education is being drastically reduced.
No one really believes the Liberal platform that the provincial budget will be balanced and if it is, it will be at the expense of spending on health care, infrastructure and education, etc.
The NDP position is very clear — big deficits for three or four years, even though they say they will increase taxes on corporations and some individuals.
We are a resource-rich country, but these resources must be able to get to the markets of the world, create jobs, provide large contributions to the provincial governments and help us provide the services that could be obtainable through sensible and reasonable rules, not just a position that “we are against everything.”
E.G. Compton,
Courtenay