Regarding the Viki Lyne II and the adjacent forty foot boat that ‘burned to the waterline’ 36 hours before a well advertised public protest, speculation presented as fact can by itself be threatening and in this situation may have incited arson.
What might be an environmental threat speaks more to emotionalism than to rationality and ignites vigilantism? Those suggesting governments arbitrarily seize property, without due process, would do well to explore world history: totalitarianism.
My understanding is that the marine survey indicating Viki Lyne II as an ‘imminent’ risk to sink is three years old. Aware of this vessel since 1996, I can verify, as does the vessel’s waterline, that it floats higher in the water than ever.
There are greater environmental threats. A study conducted in the 1980s determined that North America, with 10 per cent of the world’s population, was consuming 80 per cent of the earth’s resources. It might better serve the world to address our society’s over-consumption and leave the matter of derelict vessels to the experts?
Transport Canada and the Coast Guard placed the Viki Lyne II in Ladysmith to mitigate its threat and they regularly monitor the vessel.
Bryan Livingstone
Ladysmith
