Editor:
Re: Despite propaganda, new terminal isn't required, letter to the editor, June 17
Susan Jones' comments should be taken to heart by us all. As we watch our government and Port Metro Vancouver gobble up farmland we should be very alarmed. At a recent meeting with Richmond Council, PMV's CAO Sylvester was heard to say that the only way to feed Vancouver's growing population is by importing more food through Port Metro and we must sacrifice farmland in Richmond and Delta to do so. Can this be true? A representative of the Business Council of BC wrote in the Vancouver Sun last month that Metro Vancouver's growth strategy is 'preservationist' and 'fails to address Port Metro Vancouver's need for suitably zoned lands in Richmond and Delta to support the port's future growth.'
So there we have it. What PMV wants for you and everyone else in the region is life in a portside community, with all its attendant air and water pollution, and food delivered from Asia. The environmental review process has been broken by the introduction of the so-called 'harmonized process' so please don't rely on that to stop the Port Authority or the South Fraser Perimeter Road. We simply cannot allow this to happen. Food production lands in California and Mexico, to name a couple, are suffering from climate change. China is experiencing drought too and, along with rising oil prices and questionable standards, is a dubious choice to rely on for food supply. If we care about food security, health and quality of life for ourselves and our grandchildren, there is only one choice. We must oppose further port expansion at Roberts Bank and demand preservation of all farmland available for food supply. Neither the federal nor the provincial government can be expected to listen unless we stand firm and in large numbers. Think Egypt!
Wilma Haig