Dear editor,
Last month, federal NDP leaders toured central Vancouver Island, singing the praises of the marine industry and its role in our coastal economy.
Then, in February, the fifth International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC5) took place in Vancouver, with extensive talks about how protecting our oceans is crucial to the future of humanity.
Yet, in the background shadows of all this hype and political pandering, the unregulated shipbreaking happening at Baynes Sound/Union Bay sits as a stark reminder that our oceans and marine interface environments are far from protected. With questionable permitting processes and lacking environmental enforcement, the industrial gong show unfolding in front of homeowners and citizens of our community is deserving of rebuke and immediate government intervention.
The people living with the growing mess and hazards at Baynes Sound deserve help from our elected officials and provincial enforcement staff. Enough is enough.
Dr. Bryce J. Casavant,
Port Alberni