A6 - North Shore News - Wednesday, June 18, 2014
VIEWPOINT PUBLISHED BY NORTH SHORE NEWS A DIVISION OF LMP PUBLICATION LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, 100-126 EAST 15TH STREET, NORTH VANCOUVER, B.C. V7L 2P9. DOUG FOOT, PUBLISHER. CANADIAN PUBLICATIONS MAIL SALES PRODUCT AGREEMENT NO. 40010186.
Pipe schemes
O
n Tuesday, one of the worst-kept secrets in politics was announced with the federal government’s approval of Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline. The “announcement” was a curious one for a project of this magnitude, delivered in a press release without fanfare or ministers rushing to take credit. That’s tacit acknowledgement that the pipeline, which chiefly benefits the Alberta oil sands, is still hugely unpopular in British Columbia, where 21 Conservative MPs currently hold seats. The decision Tuesday was widely anticipated. Also anticipated were environmental groups and First Nations immediately cranking up campaigns to oppose the pipeline. Numerous court challenges, civil disobedience and potential political retribution have all been promised before any heavy equipment starts work.
MAILBOX
Opponents of the pipeline — who according to polls make up the majority of British Columbians — have repeatedly charged that the National Energy Board recommendation overlooks significant environmental issues. Even voters in Kitimat, which would probably gain the most from the project, symbolically rejected the pipeline. That’s all been noted by the province — a significant wild card — which set out five conditions that must be met before Victoria will give the project its blessing. The province doesn’t have a veto, but it can create significant difficulties for the pipeline. So while the decision may have been announced, the political and legal battles are just beginning. As one pundit joked wryly, the only sure pipeline announced Tuesday was the one transporting lawyers to the frontlines of an issue that won’t be resolved any time soon.
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Motel ‘classically nice,’ not outdated Dear Editor: I was sitting having breakfast in the Grouse Inn on Capilano Road when I picked up your newspaper of Wednesday, May 28 and read the article on page 1, Highrises Proposed for Lower Capilano. Paragraph 2 said, “Pacific Gate Investments has applied to build a 23- and a 19-storey tower, housing between 262 and 280 units, on the site occupied by the Grouse Inn and a gas station.” The third paragraph from the end continued, “The development is in accordance with the district’s vision of a village community centre on the spot, according to a district report penned by community planner Tamsin Guppy. Hotels
like the Grouse Inn are increasingly outdated, according to the report.” I have stayed at the Grouse Inn a number of times in the past, and would continue to do so. Each time I’ve been there, it has been fairly full, which questions the above statement, “hotels like the Grouse Inn are increasingly outdated.” I have found the two-storey Grouse Inn to be clean, comfortable, reasonably priced, with free parking, free continental breakfast and free Wi-Fi. There is something classically nice about being able to see your car right in front of your motel room, and not having to squeeze into a crowded elevator with several other people and their luggage.
CONTACTUS
If the Grouse Inn is outdated, then so are a number of other motel/ hotel structures near the Grouse Inn, such as Best Western Inn and Suites, Travelodge, Comfort Inn and Suites and North Vancouver Hotel.
I have found it difficult in the past to find a reasonably priced room in North Vancouver and hope that the Grouse Inn and others of similar design continue to provide accommodation in the area. I’ll continue to stay as
long as it remains as is. Otherwise, it would be good if the commercial building planned as part of the development has motel accommodation, but I doubt that it will. Margaret Cochran Qualicum Beach
Retired teacher does the math Dear Editor: I retired from teaching in 2001. My B.Ed. degree (five years at the University of Victoria) plus 35 years of teaching in secondary schools in North Vancouver provided an annual 2001 salary of $60,113.What if I had continued to teach until this year (2014)? My annual salary this year would have been $76,220.52.That is a
13 year increase of 26.8 per cent. About two per cent per year overall. Compare this to a BC MLA. In 2001 my MLA received a salary of $72,100. An MLA now receives a salary of $101,859. So in the same 13 year period an MLA enjoyed a salary increase of 41.3 per cent. How about our B.C.
premier? The premier’s salary in 2001 was $117,000. Christy Clark is the happy recipient of a 2014 annual salary of $193,532.That’s actually an increase of 65.4 per cent in the same 13 years. Do you find this fair? Christy Clark thinks it is fair. I don’t. Stu McDonald Gibsons
Conservatives’ online spying Bill C-300 goes too far Dear Editor: Kudos to the North Shore News for the May 25 editorial No Place to Hide. The Conservative government under Stephen Harper is indeed trying to turn us into a police state with constant and unregulated monitoring. I urge everyone who is concerned with their online privacy to write their MP and let them know we will not stand for the government’s intrusion into our lives. Thank you North Shore News for having the courage to tell it like it is. Dave Iverson North Vancouver
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