Addressing Mr. Shypitka
Kootenay East BC Liberal candidate Shypitka has insinuated the divisive issue of trophy hunting into EK politics in the hope that it will distract electors from the very real problems facing British Columbia (letter, The Free Press, December 1).
Trophy hunt supporter Mario Rocca is one of Fernie’s more fervent BC Liberal fans.
In The Free Press (news item, December 8) he claimed that BC NDP leader John Horgan, in his opposition to trophy hunting, is “…governed by emotion and not science”. However, the tone and language of Mr. Rocca’s comments suggest that his opposition to Mr. Horgan is itself governed by an emotional, anti-NDP antipathy and not by scientific observation.
In addition, he stated that since Mr. Horgan “…is not a hunter” he “…doesn’t know anything about wildlife”- which is like saying that since Mr. Rocca is not a politician he doesn’t know anything about politics.
In any case, anecdotal comments are no substitute for statistical evidence such as that laid out in letters such as Ms. Jardine’s (The Free Press, December 8.)
The Kootenay East BC Liberal candidate knows that grizzly trophy hunting affects only a very small number of British Columbians. Perhaps it would be for the greater good of the province if he concerned himself instead with the varied and serious problems, which currently engage the vast majority of B.C. taxpayers both financially and environmentally.
Can he unravel the Site ‘C’, Liquid Natural Gas and Kinder-Morgan boondoggles for us? Or explain why this province has the worst record of child poverty in Canada? Or why his government clawed back essential transit subsidies from the disabled while doubling its advertising budget?
His attempt at distracting the Kootenay East electorate makes his motives clear. It also highlights his political priorities and shows just how threadbare they really are.
JC Vallance
Fernie, B.C.
Grizzly Bears
Mr. Shypitka, you state in your letter to The Free Press that you support science-based decisions when it comes to wildlife issues and that the government just published a thorough study of the grizzly populations. So far this is factual. Your next statements however you have taken out of context. Let me quote the report and some of the statistics about our region.
There are approximately 15,000 grizzly bears in British Columbia—this is about a quarter of the entire North American population; of the 56 extant grizzly bear population units in British Columbia, 9 are classified as threatened.
B.C. is host to some of North America’s last remaining places where large predators and their prey play out their millennia-old roles. Grizzly bears are a key part of these systems, they are an important “umbrella” species, as landscapes that support healthy grizzly bear populations will be able to sustain many other species.
Grizzly bears play a key role in maintaining healthy ecosystems, for example, by distributing salmon nutrients into forests, and transporting seeds through their feces.
They are an important part of the culture of First Nations People living in B.C.
Grizzly bears are ranked S3 (Vulnerable; 2012) in B.C. by the Conservation Data Centre, and are classified as a species of special concern by the federal Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC).
Grizzly bears are extirpated from much of their southern range in the US, as well as several areas in British Columbia.
The populations for our areas are as follows;
Flathead 175 = 53/1000Km2
So. Rockies 305 = 38/1000Km2
No. Purcells 176 = 16/1000Km2
Selkirks 188 = 34/1000Km2
Valhalla 83 = 24/1000Km2
Although the populations in the above areas are very low, they are still listed as viable. All of the rest of southern B.C. is listed as extirpated or threatened.
The above information is copied from the report from the B.C. governments website at; http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/soe/indicators/plants-and-animals/grizzly-bears.html.
Robert MacKenzie
Elkford, B.C.
Highway conditions
Attention Bill Bennett
Our highways already this winter in the East Kootenays are not only a disgrace they are life threatening. So far our highway has been shut down for hours due to accidents three times, the latest this morning (Dec. 8) at Jaffray. The road between Jaffray and Cranbrook are apparently a sheet of ice. I am 70-years-old and after waiting all year for a bone scan for my wife we finally had one scheduled for this morning but due to the accident and the road conditions we had to cancel, my wife was just too scared to drive.
Your government has just signed a huge contract with Mainroads and the roads this year are worse than ever. It is time something is done, I will not even get into the fact that we have to drive to Cranbrook for medical treatment. Even our maternity in Fernie closes on the Dec. 20 for Christmas and my daughter is due Dec. 27, so again we have to put our lives and that of our future grand-daughter in jeopardy due to your government’s actions.
David R Gildea
Fernie, B.C.
A thoughtless recital
It was most disheartening to read the last editorial in The Free Press. Why? Because it was nothing but a thoughtless recital of the same nonsense being chanted by the ‘mainstream media,’ even using the same verbiage, regarding so-called ‘fake news.’ Come on; we expect better in the ‘free press!’ Instead, we get evidence that even at this local, independent level, it’s easier for editors to just repeat the consensus opinion than to do some research and think outside the box prescribed by faceless ‘experts’ in cyberspace.
Once upon a time, we went to school to learn (albeit implicitly) how to think. Today, kids graduate having learned to conform, to believe whatever is stated by ‘authority figures.’ True thinking is forbidden, and can get you in trouble! The recent US election was a classic exercise in disinformation by the mainstream media (‘MSM’), yet half the population fell for it. If you didn’t notice how biased the ‘reporting’ was– and continues to be– in regard to Trump versus the establishment, then you are under the thrall of modern mass manipulation, a.k.a. propaganda.
Most Canadians have no knowledge of the huge scandal that rocked the BBC in England a few years ago, in which the story finally emerged of decades of sexual abuse of children by comedian, Jimmy Savile, and many of his cohorts. That abuse went unchecked for so long because, like today’s situation, the British media ignored it, opposed it as unfounded (‘fake’) until it only broke after the death of the perpetrator.
The sudden explosion of this ‘fake news’ meme by the MSM is no accident. There is plenty of evidence linking high-placed Washington officials (including the Clintons) with pedophilia. Those high-ranking people are desperate to kill any further investigation into their hideous activities, and they exercise great control over the MSM (who may be also complicit). That’s the real reason for this outburst of vitriol over ‘fake news.’ The greatest purveyors of fake news on the planet are the MSM!
There’s talk from Big Media about censoring ‘fake news’ and even shutting down websites that don’t simply repeat the ‘party line.’ That is pure Orwellian strategy for removing the last vestiges of our freedom. Their attack on ‘fake news’ is really an attack on truth. If they succeed, it’s back to ‘1984’, folks.
Sincerely,
John Krzyzewski
Fernie, B.C.
Packaging good news
It is a pity that good news doesn’t sell. As a result, so few people know that we have made huge strides in eradicating extreme poverty worldwide. At the same time as the world’s population has increased exponentially, poverty has been decreasing, according to an article in the Economist, dated October 8, entitled “How the Other Tenth Lives” The article states that in the 20 years between 1993 and 2013, those subsisting on $1.90 or less per day decreased by 1 billion, from one in three to one in ten. The greatest strides have been made in China, while at the same time, the greatest challenge to eradicating poverty is the deeply embedded caste system in India. In some ways it could be likened to the problems facing Canadians in finding ways to lift some of our northern First Nations out of the grips of poverty. It is complicated. But that does not afford us the excuse to do nothing. While 767 million people worldwide still go hungry, the progress is worth noting. It should give us more than just a glimmer of hope that we can, if we choose to, eradicate poverty. A boost to our international aid would be a great first step, as would a strong commitment to our First Nations. We’re back, remember? Isn’t it time that we joined the UK, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Luxembourg and the United Arab Emirates in donating at least 0.7% of our gross national income? Should we not follow the great example set by the Danish government in caring for their Inuit Greenlanders? Christmas is a good time to be generous both at home and abroad to continue to create a good news story. With budget time just around the corner, let’s remind our leaders to think globally and act locally.
Connie Lebeau
Victoria, BC
