Deputy Premier Rich Coleman says that he hasn’t heard a lot from the Squamish community regarding the Woodfibre LNG proposal. One can only wonder if it was because he sneaked in and out of our town without letting anyone know. Perhaps if he had let the community know he was coming to town, he would have heard more from the community. Instead he chose to hide behind the Science World road show, the government’s latest addition to its plan to brainwash our children one policy at a time. First it was our environmental school programs and now it’s our beloved Science World.
I am a bit concerned by his statement that due to my opposition I am one of the “people that don’t understand it” and the assumption that once I “understand” it, I will buy into it. They use that kind of education in a few countries I could name and they call it brainwashing, or more commonly, propaganda.
I would like Mr. Coleman to have no illusions about my opposition, nor about my “understanding.”
I “understand” that fracking is extremely harmful to our planet, utilizing far too many resources and causing irrefutable damage in the process. There is nothing clean about the project.
I “understand” that the economics behind this proposal are extremely flawed. Tax will be applied to net profit, rather than revenue. I have seen how corporations can hide profit, so don’t be surprised if taxation brings a lot less than the “1 trillion” dollar revenue figure for the five proposals. (Seriously? $1 trillion?)
I “understand” that my tax dollars will be subsidizing this project both by supplying cheap electricity and tax breaks to make it “affordable” for the corporation.
I “understand” that in order to make this project affordable, foreign labour will have to be used, and at the end of the day, the specialized jobs will come from outside our community.
Lastly I “understand” that they plan on using local resources if possible. My guess is they will commit to get the project passed, then look for the best deal, which may not be in our community.
In fact, I’m pretty sure it is Mr. Coleman who doesn’t understand. I think I’m on top of it!
Mary Mitchell
Squamish
