Dear editor,
I just checked the City of Courtenay website and we have a boil water advisory in effect since Dec. 4.
There is an old saying, “Men plan and gods laugh.” Whoever initiated this delightful quote must have had some recent experience living in the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island.
On Dec. 4, I witnessed the city engineering department putting up a huge black sausage along the Old Island Highway beside the Tsolum River. This in anticipation of a flood due to the heavy rains.
I have not heard a single concern expressed at the cause of such flooding. Some scratching of heads about the black sausage, but why is it needed? Because government has allowed over-cutting by forest companies so they can pay rich dividends to their shareholders while heavy rains cause flooding downstream.
Hedge, investment and mutual fund holders have reaped these dividends. I and others who live downstream pay the black sausage tax. And local government utters nary a word.
I thought Oct. 19 would see some real change in how governments operate. However, if wishes were horses, fools would ride.
Cliff Boldt
Courtenay