The approval of the Site ‘C’ dam, which will scar the beautiful Peace Valley forever, is not the Christmas present the majority of British Columbians have been lusting for all year.
Our government, led by an individual who failed to win a seat in the 2013 election, has 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.
How on earth will spending $9 billion, a conservative Liberal estimate, on a project that benefits an unsustainable energy industry, achieve public trust in government and put families first?
Might 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 one of only two with no plan to reduce it?
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 something that is considered to be one’s right by the rest of society and is enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms?
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 gods Profit & Greed and has no interest whatsoever in humanitarian issues?
What else ought I to expect from a government that has no idea what the ‘Precautionary Principle’ is or has any motivation to ask for public input from its constituents as to how they might prefer to spend $9 billion?
Edgar Murdoch