Editor, The Times:
If it is not criminal, it is certainly morally reprehensible, as unfettered capitalism tends to be. I speak of our record low crude oil prices at the same time as we are paying record high fuel prices at the pumps. Vertical integration, oil well-to-fuel pump control, allows energy giants like Shell, Esso and Chevron to manipulate pump prices to compensate for low crude prices.
The excuses would fill the Pacific Ocean – high demand, refinery shut downs, government taxes, high transportation cost. Why you would think that they were shipping their fuel products to the international space station and back to us. Oh, and of course, there are the crude oil spills from year-old poorly constructed pipelines. I could go on and on, but we all know that greed, not service, is the motivating factor for these petro corporations.
The right honourable Steven Harper is four square behind these greed driven energy corporations. In fact, his legislation on energy has weakened environmental protection, extended tax benefits to these corporations and whole heatedly supporting their efforts to fire sale (excuse the pun) all our resources to the Chinese, Americans or whoever wishes to take advantage of our Walmart approach to resource trade. Yes, some Canadians will benefit in the short run, but we will all pay the price for Conservative Harper-nomics in the long run.
So, on Oct. 19, please exercise your franchise and choose anything but Harper Conservatism.
Wes Morden
Blackpool, B.C.
