Tom Fletcher’s likes to oversimplify issues. In his column ‘Public School Crisis’ he showed his lack of understanding of education. Shelley Balfour’s letter of response dealt with his bias and provided the teachers’ view of this lengthy court case. The Supreme Court, after brief deliberation, ruled in favour of the BCTF.
In his latest column ‘LNG won’t bring Horgan down’, he succinctly summarizes the issue of fracking in one sentence “…hydraulic fracturing, the deep shale gas extraction technique developed in Texas and used safely in BC for 50 years”.
I wonder if he has talked to ranchers who have had their water contaminated by fracking? Has he read Andrew Nikiforuk’s book ‘Slick Water’ that documents Jessica Ernst’s battle with the Alberta Environment all the way to the Supreme Court? Is he aware that France, Germany, Bulgaria and Scotland, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Quebec, Maryland, New York and Vermont have banned fracking? The UK, Romania, Denmark, Ireland, South Africa and the Czech Republic have all instituted moratoriums on fracking, along with six California counties.
Although Mr. Fletcher and the oil and gas industry assure us that fracking is safe, that doesn’t make it safe.
We need to be vigilant and informed about issues because some governments, corporations and journalists don’t always have our best interests.
Douglas Francis Mitchell/Cranbrook
