6 • Wednesday, May 14, 2014 • Burnaby NOW
Speak up! The Burnaby NOW welcomes letters to the editor and opinion pieces. Email your letter to: editorial@burnabynow.com or go to our website at www.burnabynow.com, click on the opinion tab and use the ‘send us a letter’ form
Climate change: No time left for pondering
temperatures, seasons and unusual For years we’ve been told that climate change is going to be the unfortu- weather patterns discernible to even non-scientists in our lifetimes. nate legacy we leave to our children. As the report makes clear, the chanBut it turns out we don’t have to wait ges are borne out by science. that long. They are caused by human As a new report by more Burnaby NOW activity generating greenthan 300 top scientists made house gases and they are hapclear this week, climate pening faster than predicted. change is already here. Most of the effects are extremely Although meteorologists are at detrimental. pains to point out that weather is not They include increasing numbers of climate, most adults can’t help but be hurricanes and tornadoes, heavy rains struck by the remarkable changes in
OUR VIEW
Site C plans face steep obstacles IN MY OPINION
T
Keith Baldrey
he issues that swirl around B.C.’s biggest-ever megaproject aren’t going away: jobs and a secure, “clean” energy supply versus environmental damage and ignoring some First Nations rights. Those were among the issues at play when the first huge hydroelectric dams were built on the Peace River in the 1960s, and they remain attached to the latest dam – Site C – envisioned for the same waterway today. The recent, mammoth (450page) report by a joint review panel flagged all those same issues but didn’t side one way or another on whether the dam should be built. There is a lot of on-the-one-hand-but-on-theother-hand reasoning in the report, which can be used by either side in the debate to bolster its arguments. But there is one big, important difference between the debate or legalities of today compared to the 1960s: the First Nations now have very real, court-upheld constitutional rights that weren’t a factor in the construction of the first dams,
but which could ultimately block Site C’s construction today. And the panel devoted more than 30 pages in its report addressing First Nations issues, an indication of the importance it attaches to how those interests must be weighed in the eventual decision for the project. The dam would have a “significant adverse effect” on local First Nations’ “traditional use” of the land, including hunting and trapping, the panel found. We’re not talking here about the court-mandated requirement to “consult and accommodate” First Nations that impact so many land use decisions. These rights run far deeper and are entrenched in section 35 of the Constitution. Further, the valley to be flooded by Site C encompasses Treaty 8 territory, which affects 21 different First Nations bands. Treaty 8 specifically gives those First Nations the right to “pursue their usual vocations of hunting, trapping and fishing throughout the tract” of land in question. So, unless the panel’s analysis and conclusions on this one issue are completely off the mark, the Site C dam seems to be facing one heck of a steep mountain to get over before construction could begin. As is so often the case, much of the controversy over Site C has focused on other issues over Site C Page 7
in some parts of North America and drought in others. On the West Coast, reduced snow pack, rising sea levels and ocean acidification, storm surges and forest infestations are just some of the challenges likely to get worse in the future. Those West Coast scallops you love? Kiss them goodbye soon as they are already unable to survive here as coastal waters become more acidic. The question remains, what are we willing to do about it? Despite
widespread acknowledgement of concern, Canada’s own efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions remain inadequate. Oil and gas production is one of our country’s largest contributors to the problem. Yet our government largely refuses to recognize this, much less move to mitigate it. As the report this week makes clear, however, the time to act is now. Because a dramatically altered planet will soon be everyone’s problem.
– Guest editorial from the North Shore News
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR School district doing a good job
Dear Editor:
As trustees of the Burnaby board of education, we felt compelled to write a response to Mr. Friesen’s and Ms. Ward’s letters to the editor of the Burnaby NOW (April 22 and 24 respectively), “Creativity could help to alleviate school cuts” and “Why aren’t kids in public schools?” Firstly, it should be noted that the statistics used in Ms. Ward’s letter are misleading. The school-age population is misrepresented as she includes 18year-olds in her calculations while school district data is based on five- to 17-year-olds. Further, her stated per pupil funding formula is very much oversimplified.
The real issue we wish to clarify is the simplistic suggestions stated by both Mr. Friesen and Ms. Ward that the Burnaby school district is eliminating programs and losing enrolment – that little is being done to attract students to Burnaby’s public schools. This is simply not true, and our enrolment statistics indicate that we are meeting the learning needs of our community – and then some. Our district has sustained enrolment, and we attract students to our schools by continually offering creative and innovative programs. These include Challenge Programs, sports academies, Mandarin language arts, international education and one of the strongest Advanced Placement programs in the country. We continue to lead the way – and, in Proud Page 7
BURNABY NOW www.burnabynow.com
PUBLISHER Brad Alden
EDITOR Pat Tracy
balden@van.net
editor@burnabynow. com
DIRECTOR OF SALES AND MARKETING Lara Graham lgraham@van.net
Copyright in letters and other materials submitted voluntarily to the Publisher and accepted for publication remains with the author, but the Publisher and its licensees may freely reproduce them in print, electronic or other forms.
#201A - 3430 Brighton Avenue, Burnaby, BC, V5A 3H4 MAIN SWITCHBOARD 604-444-3451 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING 604-444-3000 EDITORIAL DIRECT/NEWSROOM TIP LINE 604-444-3020 FAX LINE 604-444-3460 NEWSPAPER DELIVERY 604-942-3081 DISTRIBUTION EMAIL distribution@burnabynow.com EDITORIAL EMAIL editorial@burnabynow.com ADVERTISING EMAIL display@burnabynow.com CLASSIFIED EMAIL DTJames@van.net CEP SCEP
UNION
LABEL
2000
The Burnaby NOW, a division of Glacier Media Group respects your privacy. We collect, use and disclose your personal information in accordance with our Privacy Statement which is available at www.burnabynow.com
2013
CCNA BLUE RIBBON CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER AWARD 2013
Send letters to the editor to: editorial@burnabynow.com or go to www.burnabynow.com – under the opinion tab Follow us on twitter @BurnabyNOW_news
Like us on Facebook BurnabyNOW
26
The Burnaby NOW is a Canadian-owned community newspaper published and distributed in the city of Burnaby every Wednesday and Friday