When I was young, I lived in a small town. A young gay boy was being bullied by a few of the older tough guys. They were pushing him and calling him names I can’t repeat. He was crying and telling them to leave him alone, and I could see real fear in his eyes. The problem was, nobody was doing anything about it. So I jumped in and stood by his side. I got a bloody nose, fought back and guess what? Others joined in to help me. It took one person to stand up, and all of a sudden there were 20 other kids willing to stand up for what was right. Those bullies lost their power, and our school was a better place for all of us.
Reading a recent story on Woodfibre LNG (“LNG supporters anxious for work to start” March 30), you will be led to believe that those of us standing up for Howe Sound and our families are bullies and that the silent majority are living in fear of standing up for this project. Nothing can be further from the truth. I am not a bully and there are no facts in this article whatsoever to substantiate the claims that a silent majority are in support of Woodfibre LNG.
At the recent town halls held in Squamish, West Vancouver and Gibsons, only three people spoke in support of the project out of 800-plus attendees. Nearly 9,000 people have signed the Howe Sound Declaration in opposition to the project, while the Yes to LNG petition in support of the project has only 247 supporters. The claim by Evan Drygas that the Yes to LNG facebook page has more supporters is only optics, as when you start looking at the supporters of that page, few of them are local.
I ask that Woodfibre LNG and FortisBC pay for a referendum. If the majority supports this, they will come in and fill out confidential ballots in support. We need a referendum to gain public trust and valuable metrics that actually count for something so we can put this argument to rest. I’ll volunteer my time as I know many of us will.
I love Howe Sound and my neighbours, and I do not support Woodfibre LNG.
Les McDonald
Squamish
