Shawnigan Lake – I am in complete agreement with David Procter’s letter (‘Environment Minister not interested in protecting us,’ Citizen, May 27) and hope Mary Polak gets that clearly and strongly stated message that we will not give up.
Do the people of B.C. realize this decision (this permit approval) by Mary Polak has already cost taxpayers a lot of money? Four hundred and sixty thousand dollars for the Cowichan Valley Regional District, and “no one knows how much” from the provincial government, as the Minister of Justice Suzanne Anton could not or would not answer Bill Routley’s questions in the house when asked repeatedly.
My guess would be half a million too. Shawnigan residents have already spent $500,000 to fight this through the Environment Appeal Board and now it is going to the B.C. Supreme Court. I hope the Supreme Court will be more impartial.
Taxpayers across B.C. should be outraged that the Minister of Environment is putting communities (Victoria and Shawnigan so far) and people at risk of losing their clean drinking water and a clean, safe environment for wildlife.
Is that not what the Ministry of Environment is there to do? Protect the environment? Who is monitoring this property now that the permit has been granted and are all the conditions attached to the permit being followed? Does Mary Polak have any idea what they are doing up there? Or does she care? I am sure they are doing a great job of “self monitoring”.
Cathy Bhandar
Shawnigan Lake
