There have recently been letters and articles in the Optimist concerning the pipelines from Alberta coming to the coast.
Our current provincial government is opposing Alberta and the feds on the construction of this pipeline, which I don’t believe has anything to do with climate change or the environment. If the NDP supported the pipelines, it would lose the support of the Greens and as a result control of government. It’s as simple as that.
I also take issue with all the protesters who proclaim doom and gloom for the forest and waterways of B.C. Do people really believe that corporations are going to spend billions of dollars to construct pipelines that leak? Of course there will be issues, usually caused by human error, that will cost these corporations millions to clean up, so I believe they are very motivated to be responsible.
It is my understanding that many of the well organized protests receive financial support from U.S. entities. Why would people and firms in the U.S. donate that money? Well if you owned stocks in the U.S. gas and oil and for a few bucks could keep your competitors’ oil land locked in Alberta, why wouldn’t you do that? And if Alberta wants to use rail cars to transport its oil to the coast then American investors who own large amounts of Canadian railway stock make great money with no pipeline.
The one thing I have never understood is why the pipeline is protested and delayed which causes the oil to be transported down the Fraser River canyon by train. If 60 cars of oil go into the river can you imagine the damage and clean-up costs as the oil will spread the length of the river into Delta.
My last point on this topic is the provincial debt, which I believe stands around $43 billion. How is the province ever going to pay this off? Tax B.C. wine? Tax salmon? Increase the cost of ferry tickets?
Gas and oil is the only commodity, which if taxed reasonably and all revenue from that tax applied to the debt, has any chance of making inroads to pay the debt down or off.
On another note, you might recall that in my last column I asked for Attorney General David Eby’s assistance to have a question added to this fall’s civic election ballot, only in South Delta, asking residents if they want the casino planned for the Delta Town & Country Inn site.
So far no response has been received, so I’m asking my readers that if they agree with the idea, maybe they could contact the attorney general themselves to also request a ballot question. You never know, if both of you do that it might make a difference.
Greg Hoover is a project manager in industrial and commercial construction who has lived with Christina in Tsawwassen for 25 years.
