Editor:
Re: Alarm sounded over the lack of industrial land, Aug. 3
To have this comment quoted from a "commercial brokerage firm that deals with industrial property sales and leasing" is equivalent to asking Century group if we need more houses in Tsawwassen.
If the environmental reviews of the port expansion hadn't been fragmented into small parts to avoid the full picture, and if the feds hadn't railroaded this expansion, along with the South Fraser Perimeter Road, and if Prime Minister Stephen Harper wasn't committing our natural resources to China and the U.S., none of this would be an issue.
Now, because we've had these decisions forced upon us, we are told it's a dire situation to not pave over the rest of Delta to accomholesale sellout of our country.
The article tells us that, even with the optioned 560 acres and the TFN's 335 acres, that's woefully not enough to satisfy the greedy corporations and big box stores.
This development does nothing for our local economy. In fact, it's very harmful, as it drives independents out of business, and funnels profits out of Canada. What jobs it might create will be low pay, entry level, and unskilled labour with little or no benefits.
Also, as with the proposed pipeline, there's a call out in the U.S. for thousands of workers to build it, so, if it goes through, those jobs will not even benefit most Canadians.
If we don't fight the industrial developers now, where will they stop? How much of our local food supply do they want to destroy to achieve this agenda?
The majority of South Deltans have chosen this location because of its previous appeal, and not because they wanted their house values to drop, their quality of life diminished and their voices unheard.
It's not Delta's fault that Vancouver has taxed most industry right out of town, but now they want Delta to bear the consequences.
Why does Vancouver need to send all of its container business to Delta?
Could it be they see more value in using their current container storage land for other purposes? If so, we should take a lesson from that, and not just embrace, without question, the foolish route we're on.
The resulting loss of farmland, and the overcrowding and gridlock in this area, are apparently not considered in the agenda of our governments, which only see the dollar signs at the end of every major decision.
I'm disappointed your paper has chosen to represent such an unbalanced viewpoint that only considers the financial bottom line. I though you were our community newspaper, and not just another rag for the corporations.
Maurice Bourassa
