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Forget the money
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Editor, Sir;
Yes, the tax payers of BC will be paying for the Olympics for some time but no matter who you are, we were all pumping our fists and cheering when Canada won the gold medal hockey games. We were united. No special interest group trying to control our world. We were united.
As far as MIEDS and the money they spent, forget about it. Many a pipe dream has gone by the wayside and the future will dictate whether this was another cockamamie idea. Too much secrecy when it comes to spending tax payers' dollars.
As far as tourism being our number one priority, you bet. If the SLUP goes through as presented, will there be anything else?
Gord Usher
Sandspit
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Tar sands a farce
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Editor, Sir;
For anyone who hasn't taken note of the 'development' in the tar sands north of Fort McMurray Alberta, or doesn't think it noteworthy, consider the following realities:
. This is the world's largest construction, energy and capital project covering an area larger than England. To date, there has been no environmental, social or economic impact study.
. The tar sands industry is by far the largest water user in the country. Canada has no national water policy and the worst water pollution regulation enforcement in the world. 90 percent of the tar sands water ends up as toxic waste at the rate of 400,000,000 gallons per day. The water is so polluted it won't freeze at -30 degrees C. This is taking place in the Athabasca watershed that contains a fifth of Canada's water.
. It takes two tons of earth and sand and three barrels of water to mine one barrel of dirty oil.
. It takes 1,400 cu ft. of natural gas to produce 1 barrel of oil. The tar sands industry uses enough natural gas (an efficient clean energy source) to heat 4,000,000 homes per day or the same as Colorado. This is slated to rise to 12,000,000 homes per day by 2015. It's estimated Canada's supply of natural gas will be totally consumed by the tar sands industry in 15 to 20 years. Canada has no government policy for natural gas depletion, and this extravagant use of our natural gas resource will only extract 29 percent of the estimated deposits of bitumen (tar).
. To extract the bitumen and then refine it into the low-grade end product, one third of Canada's boreal forest will be removed, releasing 70 billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere. This project accounts for a 109 percent increase in green house gas (GHG) emissions since 1990 for Canada. The end product-fuel-emits three times as much GHG as conventional oil, making it the dirtiest fuel on the planet. Canada has spent $6 billion on climate change programs and not met one target to date.
. From an economic view point things get even more puzzling; the investment to date is pushing $300 billion and yet Alberta has imposed the lowest royalties in the world. Between 2001 and 2004 Alberta made more money from video lottery terminals than from oil royalties. The total cost to produce one barrel of usable oil is about $100,000 when all actual costs are tallied. In fact the oil sands produce about $99 worth of bitumen and minerals per acre whereas the water production and filtering characteristics of the replaced wetlands was worth $1,064 per acre.
. Canada is the world's only industrial nation with no energy plan and no oil storage plan for emergencies. We have no back up!
. The provincial and federal ministries and departments involved have approved all applications for resource extraction, lay almost zero charges for health violations, environmental damage or occupational health and safety infractions despite the death of 154 people and 34,000 injuries in the development zone in just one year.
. The air around this development is more polluted than Mexico City (before they began their clean up) or the five worst polluted cities in China. 98 percent of the population is simply there for the money. The drug and alcohol consumption rate is the worst in the country. When one drug-induced worker jumped off a 300-foot tower, the coroner listed the cause of death as 'natural causes'.
. Every agency, ministry and industry group is involved in this immense farce at enormous costs both monetary, environmentally and socially and pretend everything is fine. Their answer to the staggering environmental damage is carbon capture and storage. This will cost as much as the development to date and is a totally unproven fantasy technology and problematic at best. We the Canadian people are underwriting the whole mess.
Makes one begin to worry about the Enbridge pipeline and all those tankers off our shores.
John Disney
Masset
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Too bad
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Editor, Sir;
In my opinion, it's too bad the public input to the Protocol meeting was not reported on in the last edition of this newspaper. It was also unfortunate that this rare, all-island, public meeting took place during a weekday. Thank-you to all the public that took time off work to participate and witness.
It will be good to see the all-island recreation strategy developed, but time is of the essence. Our children are not getting any younger, and our communities are suffering, with more "for sale" signs going up all the time.
I encourage concerned residents to contact their local government representatives, to encourage them to do what they can to get something moving on the development of the strategy, and right away. We have momentum going with our MP and MLA on this issue, so let's keep it going.
Karen Church
Saangan, North Beach
Masset area
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Unique program showed the world
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The BC Civil Liberties Association deserves our praise for its action during the Olympic period.
The BCCLA trained approximately 400 citizens, all volunteers, as legal observers who took to the streets during the games, observing the security and policing of the Olympics.
The observers were neutral citizen monitors who recorded street scenes to safeguard the right to demonstrate and deter arbitrary and excessive policing.
This was a unique program for the Olympics and the volunteer involvement showed how much Canadians care about safeguarding their democratic rights.
The BCCLA said Canada should showcase itself not just as host of the games but also as a free country. It wanted the Canadian values of toleration, diversity and democratic strength to be showcased along with Olympic sports.
The association's aim was to help show the world how a robust, democratic country can tolerate dissent while protecting citizens' rights. The police, according to the association, ought to protect the rights of those demonstrating as well as those not.
The association noted that many past Olympics had been used by governments to suppress dissent. In China, dissidents and potential protesters were detained and silenced. In Atlanta and Sydney, homeless people were harassed and displaced by security teams.?? The association didn't want the Vancouver Olympics to displace the homeless, interfere with free speech or trample citizens' rights while impressing the international visitors and the press.
The association said "we believe what will impress tourists and international media the most is demonstrating our tolerant, diverse and unique democratic society and the values that guide us, protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms."
Many people attending events on the street thanked the legal observers for their work, and said they felt more secure and confident knowing the events would be safe and their rights respected.
What did the association discover? It found security and police personnel carrying military-type semi-automatic weapons at demonstrations that no one thought would get out of hand. They discovered Canadian Border Service personnel patrolling the streets of Vancouver, many kilometres from the nearest border, and they found Corrections Officers being called to help police at demonstrations, many kilometres from any prison.
Doesn't sound like much? Maybe it's not. But security personnel can easily be tempted to overreact, choosing a large instead of a small fly swatter, and the BCCLA made it easier for them to choose the appropriate response.
It's a credit to all, the police, the BCCLA and the demonstrators that the games had a strong component of dissent that never went beyond the pale. Perhaps the world has something to learn here. Take note, Krasnodar, Russia, where the winter Olympics will be held in 2014.
Well done, one and all.
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