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GOLDSTREAM NEWS GAZETTE
Wednesday, August 8, 2012 - GOLDSTREAM
EDITORIAL
NEWS GAZETTE
Penny Sakamoto Group Publisher Kevin Laird Editorial Director Jim Zeeben Editor Oliver Sommer Advertising Director
The Goldstream News Gazette is published by Black Press Ltd. | 117-777 Goldstream Ave., Victoria, B.C. V9B 2X4 | Phone: 250-478-9552 • Fax: 250-478-6545 • Web: www.goldstreamgazette.com
OUR VIEW
Time to fight summer blues While the days of summer are marching past, there is still plenty of time and numerous special events to take advantage of around the Capital Region on those precious days off. While you’re at it, why not check out a new store or restaurant, or combine a trip with a sightseeing tour of sorts? While Victoria is still considered a tourist town first and foremost – government, education and high-tech sectors notwithstanding – the benefits don’t always accrue to those who prime themselves for the annual rush of visitors. The cruise-ship business, for example, focuses primarily on certain major players such as Butchart Gardens, the Fairmont Empress Hotel and tour bus companies. While the passengers are given free time to walk the streets of downtown, many merchants report the hard financial benefits aren’t as rosy as the tourism folks might have us believe. That’s where localized events such as the upcoming Victoria Dragon Boat Festival, and the fledgling Chalk Festival, spotlighting sidewalk artists, can make a difference to our small businesses. Those events allow residents from the Capital Region to gather and see what’s new or interesting in an area of town they may not have visited or explored before. With musical gatherings such as Folkwest, the Vancouver Island Blues Bash and Rifflandia coming up, theatre’s Victoria Fringe Fest, and the visual arts-based Esquimalt Arts Festival and Fibrations – not to mention the numerous regular offerings in those sectors – there are plenty of opportunities to support area merchants while taking in an event. Whether you’re from Langford, Oak Bay, Saanich or James Bay, these focused events allow chances to broaden your experiences and try out a new restaurant, step inside a retail store you haven’t visited before, or meet someone new and interesting who might be working at street level. You might be pleasantly surprised and wind up your summer on an even higher note. What do you think? Give us your comments by e-mail: editor@goldstreamgazette.com or fax 250-478-6545. All letters must have a name and a telephone number for verification. The Goldstream News Gazette is a member of the British Columbia Press Council, a self-regulatory body governing the province’s newspaper industry. The council considers complaints from the public about the conduct of member newspapers. If talking with the editor or publisher does not resolve your complaint about coverage or story treatment, you may contact the B.C. Press Council. Your written concern, with documentation, should be sent to B.C. Press Council, 201 Selby St., Nanaimo, B.C. V9R 2R2. For information, phone 888-687-2213 or go to www.bcpresscouncil.org.
Pipeline posturing doesn’t help The B.C. Liberal government is belated tour of the proposed route taking its new hard-line approach to reiterate his opposition. to federal environmental hearings There had been earlier hints from on the Enbridge Northern Alberta that B.C. might Gateway pipeline need further rewards for proposal in September. the risk. But when Clark Environment Minister made the “fair share” Terry Lake has filed demand public, Redford the B.C. government’s was moved to channel notice to cross-examine Margaret Thatcher, Enbridge, one of the declaring: “The Premier world’s biggest pipeline of Alberta is not going to operators. Lake outlined blink on royalties.” The the “tough questions” lady’s not for blinking, B.C. representatives will but neither is B.C.’s Iron Tom Fletcher Snowbird, as Preston ask about spill response B.C. Views capacity on land and sea, Manning dubbed Clark tanker escort tugboats, this spring. pipe wall thickness, and All this political Enbridge’s sluggish response to a theatre doesn’t amount to much. I pipeline rupture in Michigan. predicted in a January column that That’s all fine, and to be expected the Enbridge proposal is unlikely to after Premier Christy Clark’s highproceed, mainly due to the tangled profile confrontation with Alberta state of aboriginal claims. Wealthy Premier Alison Redford going into U.S. foundations that view the B.C. the recent premiers’ meeting in North Coast as their 500-year ecoHalifax. experiment will be happy to help Clark’s demands for “worldfund a decade of legal challenges, leading” safety and spill while continuing the media-spinning response, as well as meeting the and protest support they are doing constitutional obligation to consult now. and accommodate aboriginal Even if some way can be found to groups along the route, are mostly levy a B.C. tax on revenues from the a statement of the obvious. Her call Northern Gateway pipeline, it’s no for a “fair share” of proceeds from solution. exported oil to reflect B.C.’s risk has For one thing, it would confer an been assaulted from all sides. advantage to the Trans-Mountain Pipeline opponents seized on pipeline that has been shipping Clark’s suggestion that a major oil Alberta oil to Burnaby and the U.S. spill might be tolerable if there was for more than 60 years. enough money in it for B.C. NDP The competing expansion leader Adrian Dix picked up the proposal by Trans-Mountain’s theme as he conducted his own current owner, Kinder Morgan,
shows the inconsistency of opposition to pipelines. Does anyone really believe that a new pipeline built to the highest standards ever is too dangerous, while a 60-year-old pipeline is safer? Protesters have an easy target in Kinder Morgan. With a tenfold increase to 25 tankers a month proposed to sail under the Lions Gate bridge, a heavy oil spill from Second Narrows to Stanley Park would be catastrophic to Vancouver’s environment and economy. Tankers have made the trip safely for nearly 100 years, but the congested modern shipping lane offers more threat of collision, and clearing Burrard Inlet for neardaily tanker transits would disrupt the rest of B.C.’s shipping trade. An Angus Reid poll last week showed as many as half of respondents remain open-minded about the costs and benefits of new oil pipelines across B.C. Unlike B.C. politicians, they seem interested in learning more before making up their minds. Dix and the NDP ran to the front of the anti-pipeline parade early, as they did with the carbon tax and other issues. Clark began the Northern Gateway discussion with a principled position to wait for the result of the federal review, but that’s apparently out the window with an election looming. Tom Fletcher is legislative reporter and columnist for Black Press and BCLocalnews.com tfletcher@blackpress.ca
‘Levying a B.C. tax on Northern Gateway revenues is no solution.’