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Make it right, mayor and council of Comox

Dear editor,

On Wednesday, July 20, Comox council is scheduled for the final vote on the fate of Shakesides.

The donor, Mack Laing, is recognized as a world-class naturalist and a leader in this field in Canada. We should be honoured that he left the Town land, money and his house for the enjoyment of the people of Comox to learn about and enjoy nature. You should NOT be moving to destroy that very house and making plans to overturn his will to do so.

I ask each of you to take a creative, bold step, to show courage to do the right thing, to honour the legal will and trust of a citizen of Comox, a man who trusted you to do what he asked you to do after he died and could no longer speak for himself.

I ask that you reject the three flawed recommendations of the committee.

The committee never explored the obvious and best solution to fulfilling Laing’s will: to use it as a “Nature House”. This term is included in the title of the committee but it is an option they did not even consider exploring, so their findings are incomplete and thus must be disregarded.

I ask that you make a motion to create a modest Nature House. A recommendation that makes perfect sense. The ideal solution. One that fulfils the will of Mack Laing. One backed by local businesses, donors, and contractors willing to give their time to restore the building to the condition it was in at the time of his death.

Restore peace to the community. Honour a legal will and the trust money given to you.

Lawrence Buser

Comox