Thursday, January 10, 2013
LETTERS
Surrey/North Delta Leader 7
Can’t we just elect ‘none of the above’? Forget ‘smoke shacks,’ just quit WaYne Clark’s letter of Jan. 1 blames the
B.C. Liberals with a lot of things, and while not a particular Liberal fan, I’m sure the current “most likely” alternative is not likely to fare much better in the long-term planning and fiscal management department. Remember, Adrian Dix was in the Glen Clark government that brought you the $454-million fast ferries, something we all will continue to
pay for years to come. The old Pattullo Bridge was built by a Liberal government though, so at least in 1936 the Liberals thought ahead. Many of the other things we take for granted today, however, were brought to us by the longgone Social Credit. The George Massey Tunnel, Alex Fraser Bridge, Expo ’86 and the real estate develop-
ment it spurred, the first SkyTrains… all Socred legacies, with the last three all derided at the time by the NDP. They were against the Olympics too, weren’t they? I don’t see what other option we have in this province at the moment; can we vote “none of the above” and start again?
Jeff Snowdon, Surrey
While i agree with some of
Pictured at right is last weekend’s rally at the Peace arch border (see story, page 15). a letter writer hopes the enthusiasm generated by the idle no More protests will lead to change in the federal government and encourage self-reliance, accountability and pride in aboriginal society. BOAZ JOSEPH / THE LEADER
Protest no idle opportunity
aboriginal leaders and government bureaucrats have squandered too much time, money and energy playing the blame game. Idle No More has captured the imagination of Canadians. The aboriginal people, including the Métis and non-status Indians, need the support of ordinary hard-working law-abiding taxpaying Canadians if the politicians are going to become sufficiently motivated to get off their butts and modernize that out-dated, inefficient, incompetent, colonial-based
Anyone want to buy a bridge?
the Port Mann
Bridge appears to be the newest white elephant for Surrey and Langley taxpayers. Will drivers go back to using the bridge given ice bombs and black ice and who knows what’s next? How about faulty billing to credit cards and misreading of licence plates? Mary Polak, our illustrious B.C. Minister of Transportation, claims taxpayers will not be left holding the bag for new expenses because the contract states there will be no ice build-up on over-
head cables. However, logic would dictate that moisture from high above must go somewhere and that is likely onto the bridge deck. My suggestion is we go back to using the old bridge (until summer has arrived), or last I heard was some tourist got a good deal on the Brooklyn Bridge. The fast ferries sold for about $20 million. A good bridge auction could raise the money to get the 300 new buses required for our Surrey-Langley bus network. David Walters, Surrey
babysitting service known as the Department of Indian Affairs. Before Idle No More spokespeople ride off in all directions, the so-called grassroots movement needs a national organization to articulate an action plan of short-term and long-term goals. The politics of power might be distasteful for many banner-waving idealists, but a coordinating organization is necessary to select and negotiate pragmatic change. Hopefully the enthusiasm generated by
Idle No More will also focus on the day-today governance of reservations and thereby encourage self-reliance, accountability and pride. Hopefully, Stephen Harper’s government will view the enthusiasm generated by Idle No More as an opportunity for change and not as a political threat that must be destabilized, disassembled and destroyed. Lloyd Atkins
No votes for three wishes letter Writer Mr. Sangha (“Three wishes for the new year,” The Leader, Jan. 1) is off his rocker on all three points. 1. Very few 15-year-olds are even remotely interested in politics. Raging hormones and testosterone dictate that. Why should a 15-year-old that cannot be either identified or punished as an adult
be allowed to vote? 2 .Why would we demand individuals vote who have neither any interest or knowledge about the process? 3. We have enough politicians on the public purse without doubling the cost to taxpayers. And the principle of electing the best person for the job is not based on ethnic-
ity or sex. It ain’t perfect as it is, but your wishes fulfilled Mr. Sangha, would include a number of uninterested, unqualified individuals in the process. Bad ideas. Rick Hobbs Delta
what Barry Mudge says in “Practical solution: build a gazebo for hospital smokers,” (Letters, The Leader, Jan. 3), we must focus much more on what smokers need, as opposed to what they want because, frankly, I don’t give a damn about what they want. Building a gazebo or any other structure on hospital property to accommodate smokers is not a practical solution. While most hospitals around the world are striving for 100-per-cent smoke-free property status (and an everincreasing number of them have achieved that), building such a structure – a “smoke shack” – would be a huge step backwards. Getting back to smokers’ needs vs. wants: What smokers need is nicotine. Bearing in mind that smoking is not addictive (nicotine, which occurs naturally in tobacco, is the most addictive drug known, but the actual act of smoking, per se, is nothing more than an albeit powerful habit), a much better solution would be for hospitals to provide, either free or for sale, any or all of the very wide range of NRTs (Nicotine Replacement Therapies) that are now on the market – from nicotine gum, lozenges, patches, rubs, implants, inhalers to, believe it or not, nicotine water – to name just a few. So smokers get their nicotine fix and, if they still feel the need to suck on something, well, the options there are pretty much endless too – anything and everything except a burning tube of sliced, diced and carcinogen-laden tobacco leaves, thank you very much. And the rest of us get the 100-per-cent smoke-free air that we need. Everybody’s needs are met. Problem solved.
Errol E. Povah, president, Airspace Action on Smoking and Health Delta
There can never be safe pipelines
Write to us
Yet another quake rocked B.C.’s northwest early Saturday. Thus, whenever the hollow assurances of oil pipeline “safety” are brought up by oil pipeline proponents, it should be noted that there can never be true pipeline safety, nor anything near it. One need only consider what a major tectonic-plate shift – which B.C. is overdue to experience – of even just a metre would do to any strength or solidity of, as a good
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example, the proposed Northern Gateway twin pipelines. They’d breach, to put it mildly, leaving behind detrimental environmental consequences throughout countless pristine and eco-sensitive regions of B.C. Then, of course, there’s also the issue of our northern coast and its waters that are at risk by giant oil tankers. Frank G. Sterle, Jr. White Rock
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