LETTER: The tradeoff is good

I see our elected body is asking staff for further studies now that the Woodfibre LNG project has changed its cooling system to meet councils’ concerns. The change was made to facilitate concerns and now there are concerns over the change. 

We should have a referendum on the matter and then council can pass on the vote. Instead, our council is saying by action only their opinion is relevant – they are spending our money to soothe individual views. 

I am not thrilled about a whole bunch of this process. I don’t see a whole lot of difference in Site C or the dike alterations on Blind Channel. Either way, the public is subsidizing a private endeavour that should stand or fail on its own. 

The project either makes sense financially or it doesn’t. To say that a project makes sense, providing part of the bill is paid by the taxpayer, is dumb. Shame on the politicians and bureaucrats who think this is OK. This is not what democracy is about. Our elected disagree with the concept and are trying their damn best to derail the project. Reality check – the project will happen, unless even with the subsidy the project makes no sense. 

Life is all about trade-offs and this is one – good local jobs and citizens’ needs met. It isn’t perfect but as a trade off it is OK. 

If we are that concerned about the well-being of the planet there are things we can do that will more than compensate for the impact. 

The tax revenue from the project should ALL go to the residents, not to additional bureaucracy. 

We seemed to ask a lot from the government from daycare, toll-free bridges, improved and free medical, better mental care, affordable housing solutions and the list goes on and on. Someone tell me how we pay for these requests? What is the alternative plan to pay for this that I am missing? Is some fairy going to grant us these asks? 

We cannot afford more bureaucracy and pet projects as it stands. Let us put 100 per cent, not 99 per cent, or something less of the extra tax revenue into things citizens need or the alternative is to abandon our desires. Which is it ?

A while ago, the end of the Cold War was supposed to yield a peace dividend. No dividend happened. The dividend just got sucked up by the politicians and bureaucrats. We shouldn’t let this happen. 

A dividend will accrue, but it is up to us what happens to the LNG dividend.