A06 • Wednesday, February 20, 2013 • Burnaby NOW
The Burnaby NOW is a Canadian-owned community newspaper published and distributed in the city of Burnaby every Wednesday and Friday by the Burnaby Now, 201A – 3430 Brighton Avenue, Burnaby, British Columbia, V5A 3H4, a division of Glacier Media Group.
Brad Alden den Publisherr
Conservatives, surprisingly, kill Internet bill ly so, from the federal and provincial Last week, the federal Conservatives privacy commissioners, civil liberties moved in a direction Canadians have yet advocates and a burgeoning group of to see them go – backwards. online activists. The government announced it would The debate reached a new low with kill its much-reviled Bill C-30, better the infamous quote alleging that those known as the Internet surveillance bill. against the bill were tantaHad it passed, the bill would mount to child pornographer have forced Internet service Burnaby NOW protectors. providers to turn over inforIt’s hard to accept Justice mation to police and allow Minister Rob Nicholson’s claim that them to snoop on electronic communicagovernment listened to the criticisms tions without getting a warrant. Canadians had of the bill and decided to The bill prompted outrage, and right-
OUR VIEW
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change course. Other recent decisions by the Conservatives have prompted equal or greater public vitriol, but the government has stuck to its guns. Elimination of the long-form census and removing federal Fisheries Act protections with an omnibus budget bill were met with almost universal revulsion, yet the Conservatives would not blink and continue to stand firm. It’s more likely that Nicholson, et al. finally foresaw what even casual Charter nerds were scream-
ing: that this law would be struck down at its first court challenge and every one after. If public opposition really did make the difference in this rare instance, big kudos are owed to the Internet activists and privacy advocates who kept the issue front and centre. They might have saved us from a fundamental change in the relationship between our government and the people it serves – one with snooping where privacy used to be.
Provincial needs trump protests
But they don’t seem to realize t seems to be very fashion– or simply choose not to – that able these days for folks to coal is used to make steel, which be opposed to all kinds of in turn builds those rapid transit things, from pipelines to coal exports to extracting natural gas. lines and those bikes – and wind turbines, hybrid vehicles and all Not a week seems to go by kinds of “green” alternatives. that doesn’t see a protest rally Unfortunately, the or online petition current debate over appear to denounce some of these controverwhatever industrial Keith Baldrey sial projects lacks coherproject happens ence and a recognition that there to be in the cross hairs at that are very real consequences to moment. saying “no” to everything. Whether it’s the proposed The question is, will the Northern Gateway pipeline, debate become informed? the Kinder Morgan pipeline, The Kinder Morgan pipeline increased coal shipments may prove to be the starting through Vancouver or the conpoint. The Enbridge Northern troversial practice of “fracking,” Gateway pipeline seems to be a lot of people are lined up in dead, as the environmental opposition, ready to shout a movement has effectively mobilloud “no” to all those proposals. ized against it. Building it is But how realistic is it to think likely politically toxic for any that shutting down all these government supporting it. things won’t have a negative But the Kinder Morgan proimpact on the economy? Do the ject is fundamentally different, same folks waving banners at and may spark a more reasoned rallies and shouting rhyming conversation. The big differchants really think their stanence, of course, is that there dard of living won’t be affected if all kinds of industrial develop- is already an existing pipeline along the proposed route and oil ment simply disappear? tankers have been filling up at I know some people think it’s the Burnaby refinery and going unfair to point out that many through the waters of Burrard people who demand the oil or coal industries cease to exist also Inlet and the Strait of Georgia for decades. rely on those same industries So, an activity is being proin their daily lives. These same posed that has been going on for people demand that there be years, and it’s going to be locatmore rapid transit lines instead of more automobiles, and proud- ed in exactly the same area in ly ride a bicycle instead of an Kinder Morgan Page 7 evil car.
IN MY OPINION
PUBLISHER Brad Alden EDITOR Pat Tracy ASSISTANT EDITOR Julie MacLellan SPORTS EDITOR Tom Berridge REPORTERS Janaya Fuller-Evans, Jennifer Moreau PHOTOGRAPHER Larry Wright DIRECTOR, SALES AND MARKETING Lara Graham ADVERTISING REPS Cynthia Hendrix, Cam Northcott, Veronica Wong, Jennifer Kastelein AD CONTROL Ken Wall
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Political memories not accurate
Dear Editor:
Re: Memories of B.C. NDP past, Letters to the Editor, Burnaby NOW, Feb. 13. While I admire letter writer Donald Leung for his interest in government, I believe he is a little deluded. He states that he is too young to remember the 1990s. Well, I’m not. First, some of these adults that he consulted are probably now benefiting from NDP legislation such as guaranteed income, pharmacare, income for the aged and consumer laws. Of course, many benefits introduced by the NDP have been watered down by the Liberals such as the Agricultural Land Act which is being assaulted
PRODUCTION MANAGER Doug McMaster PRODUCTION STAFF Ron Beamish, Kevin Behnsen, Lynne Boucher, Nola Bowling, Rona Eastman-Magee, Laura Powell, Tony Sherman GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Helen-Louise Kinton, Gary E. Slavin REGIONAL CLASSIFIED MANAGER Trixi Agrios CLASSIFIED SUPERVISOR Dawn James CLASSIFIED REPS Darla Burns, John Taylor, ACCOUNTING Judy Sharp
daily. As for dishonesty, how about the Basi-Virk fiasco? How about fiscal mismanagement? How about B.C. Hydro, a Crown corporation, purchasing power it doesn’t need from independent power producers for $87.5 per megawatt and selling it to industry for $37.5 per megawatt? It is currently (couldn’t resist) in the glue for about a billion bucks. Then there’s the give-away of B.C. Rail, smart meters (not so smart), and the embarrassing exposure by the auditor general, whom they didn’t want to rehire. I can’t turn on the TV without seeing the premier every half hour spouting propaganda at enormous expense, probably to taxpayers. Russ Leach, Burnaby
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