We don’t often hear from our MP Dick Harris at this end of his riding.
I guess he is too busy with his parliamentary duties and looking after his constituents, but last week he was reported by Greg Fry on Cariboo BC Online, as saying the possibility of having NDP governments was scary.
By opposing mega developments (i.e. Enbridge pipeline, Prosperity Mine) he said they would doom the area to unemployment.
Dissing the opposition is fair game, it’s part of a politician’s job, but if Mr. Harris is so concerned about unemployment he could do something about it right now.
People who live in areas devastated by the Mountain Pine beetle epidemic have known for years there would be unemployment when all the beetle-killed timber had been logged. Some years ago, forward-looking local politicians formed the Cariboo Chilcotin Beetle Action Coalition (CCBAC) to develop strategies to mitigate this situation. “BACs” were also formed in other beetle- hit areas. The federal government said it would kick in dollars to help out.
In a recent column, Prince George writer Peter Ewart (Opinion 250 Online) says little of this money ($1 billion) has been forthcoming, and some that did disappeared into other programs. The thing is, mills are closing now, two in Williams Lake already. I believe CCBAC has strategies ready to go. Wouldn’t this be a good time for the federal money to start kicking in? Mr. Ewart quotes Mr. Harris saying in 2006 that he supported this funding. Is he working to get it for us now?
***
Prince Harry and Conrad Black have been in the news lately. Prince Harry’s latest escapade is hardly earth shattering but Mr. Black is a bit much. He’s a convicted felon who rejected his Canadian citizenship.
Why should he keep his Order of Canada? Others have lost theirs for lesser reasons.
Diana French is a freelance columnist for the Tribune. She is a former Tribune editor, retired teacher, historian, and book author.
