The approval of the Site C dam, which will scar the beautiful, pristine Peace River Valley forever, was not the Christmas present for which the majority of British Columbians have been lusting for all year.
Apparently our government in B.C., led by an individual who failed to win a seat in the 2013 election but still continues to lead, has totally abandoned its mandate to serve the electorate while continuing to bow and scrape to big business interests.
Ms. Clark vowed publicly to, “restore public trust in government” and mentioned repeatedly that “putting families first” was at the core of her agenda.
Personally, I have some difficulty in finding any justification in this latest flawed decision that would support either of Clark’s regurgitations.
You might attempt to stop me here if you think I might be misguided, but how on earth will spending $9 billion, a conservative Liberal estimate, on a project that benefits largely an unsustainable energy industry which is speculative at best, achieve the goals of restoring “public trust in government” and “putting families first?”
Might just a bit of that outpouring of largesse by the Clark government upon corporate interests be better put toward assisting poorer families in one of the wealthiest provinces, but also the one with the highest poverty rate in Canada and still one of only two with no plan in place to reduce it? Shame.
Or could some of that bounty be used to elevate the deplorable living conditions in a majority of aboriginal communities in the province to an acceptable level considered to be one’s right by the rest of society and is enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Constitution Act of 1982, Part 1, Section 7:
“Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.” Shame.
Or is that a bit much to ask of a political party that has seemingly formed an administration solely to benefit multinational corporations whose only mission is to honour the god Profit and has no interest whatsoever in humanitarian issues? Shame.
Silly me. What else ought I to expect from a government that has no idea of what the precautionary principle is or has any motivation whatsoever to initiate meaningful dialogue or ask for public input from its constituents as to how they might prefer to spend $9 billion? Vested interests only need apply.
Edgar Murdoch
Enderby
