To the Editor,
Whether or not Raven Coal comes, there’s isn’t enough vehicular traffic on Highway 4 to justify building a new highway now or for decades to come.
Indeed, in response to my question at the COC luncheon, MOT minister, the Hon. Mary Polak, said that the Liberals will not even give funding for the ring road. No amount of crying or pleading is going to change the overall situation, but one can try with Scott Fraser and the NDP.
Similarly futile are the lame attempts to make Port Alberni an Asia-Pacific Gateway port and encourage shipping lines to bring containers here. For 100 years, an argument for more overseas shipping is that we’re “closer to Asia,” with proponents forgetting that we live on an island.
Whether or not ships would come here to unload container cargo destined for Vancouver Island alone, the Port Authority can investigate and report. But the likelihood of any port expansion through overseas container shipping to here is very remote indeed.
Let’s face it, the forest industry is still the main driver of our local economy and the idea that we’re going to transition to something else with the same economic impact, whether tourism or another new industry, is drivel.
Richard Berg,
Port Alberni
