Dear editor,
I was distressed but not surprised to learn that my MP, John Duncan, voted against Bill C628: An Act to Defend the Pacific Northwest. This news was distressing because Mr. Duncan and his party call themselves conservatives. But what are they conserving?
They’ve done nothing to conserve the environment upon which we and our descendants rely, or the thousands of species that are bound for extinction because of human-caused climate change and habitat destruction. In fact, a recent ranking of 58 nations on how they have reacted to the threat of climate change found that Canada “remains the worst performer of all industrialized countries”.
To add insult to injury they continue providing large tax breaks to the wealthy and especially the petroleum sector, which is the largest contributor to Canada’s disastrous failure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to safe levels.
They fail to protect our oceans from increasing acidification. The last time oceans became acidic this quickly, 96 per cent of marine life went extinct.
They continue to destroy Canadian sovereignty by adding yet more trade agreements designed to enrich global corporations and impoverish the rest of us.
Meanwhile, as they refuse to require the wealthy or corporations to pay their fair share of taxes or to take serious action to recover taxes avoided in tax havens abroad, they widen the gap between the “one per cent” and the rest of us.
They continue to threaten the future of our beloved medicare by refusing to renew a health accord with the provinces.
They appear determined to undermine our national broadcaster, the CBC.
They have taken away freedom of speech from scientist, non-profit community groups and churches.
In short, far from being conservers, they are the most destructive cyclone in my lifetime of almost 80 years and, perhaps, in all of Canadian history. God help us all!
Marvin Haave
Courtenay