Editor, the Times;
I must say that your front page headline on March 5, “Kinder Morgan’s MOUs bring $4.6 million to communities along the pipeline,” brought my ever-increasing blood pressure to a boil! It looked to me like a carrot in front of the donkeys! I thought we were done with donkeys after the roundabout debacle! It seems that MOU stands for “Moments Of Underhandedness!”
Let me bring everyone up to speed. Last week it was announced that B.C. has the highest gas prices in North America. The price of oil has dropped below $49 per barrel, and Kinder Morgan wants to export over 900,000 barrels of oil per day from Canada.
Our gas-buddy gurus from Calgary explain that our high gas prices are caused by California’s labour unrest and by the loss of a refinery there (due to fire). I don’t profess to be a mathematician but anyone with an I.Q. higher than that of a gnat must realize that there is something very wrong with this picture!
It’s time that the people of this province stood up and said, “Enough is enough!” Our natural resource should be refined here in Canada so that Canadians can benefit from lower fuel prices. After that takes place, then gas could be exported.
There was a time in this country when gas taxes were implemented to pay for building, maintaining, and repairing roads and bridges. Now all that money goes in to general revenue!
Those of you who listen to Michael Campbell’s NL Radio show on Saturdays will know that he gives out a “Goofy Award” each week. I have decided that I’ll give out an “Idiot of the Week” Award. This week’s award goes to “Vavenby Water Meters.” The TNRD wants to install water meters in Vavenby. The announcement comes with a perk: a large portion of the cost will be paid with a GAS tax grant!
The topper is that our Christy Clark government just informed the Nestle Co. that it will have to start paying for the ground water that they bottle in Hope B.C. The cost? $2.25 per million litres! So relax, residents of Vavenby. You can water your gravel driveways until they turn green but you should still only pay $4.50 to $6.75 per year!
Jim Lamberton
The Rambling Man
Blackpool, B.C.
