Yearly Archives: 2004
Risk of spill too great
Letter to the Editor of the Victoria Times Colonist, 22 November 2004 The recent oil spill off the shore of Newfoundland will hopefully put to rest the agitation for oil and gas drilling on the West Coast. The Campbell Liberal government is demanding an end to a federal moratorium on offshore drilling. Serving the agenda … Continue reading
Community centres need funding, not decommissioning
Letter to the Editor of the Victoria Times Colonist, August 2004 I am writing regarding the proposed closure of Victoria’s community centres. While action must be taken to meet the city’s future recreational needs, I am not convinced that city council is moving in the right direction. On July 8th, council received the report of … Continue reading
The real problem with resource developments
Letter to the Editor published in the Victoria Times Colonist, 26 July 2004 Re: “Ottawa should invest in the West,” July 15. As a trained historian, I would like to clarify a recent editorial on the pattern of economic development in B.C. From a historical standpoint, investment in infrastructure offers no panacea for economic success. Nor … Continue reading
Irving is not a mountain
Letter to the Editor published in The Brunswickan (Fredericton), 20 January 2004 From their tax shelter in the Caribbean, the Irvings have stamped out free speech on Fredericton’s North Side. While this is not surprising, it should raise alarm bells about the danger of concentrated economic power in New Brunswick. Many of us are prone … Continue reading
Students, workers must stand together
Letter to the Editor of the Marlet (Victoria), 7 January 2004 Since 2001, tuition fees at UVic have been artificially inflated to serve the BC Liberal agenda of privatizing the costs of post-secondary education. How else do we explain an $18-million budget surplus? A government-funded model, accessible to low-income students, is being replaced with a … Continue reading
Condos and ice caps
Letter to the Editor of Monday Magazine (Victoria), 25 November 2004 Scientists identify deforestation and fossil fuel consumption as the major forces driving global warming. In BC, the provincial government seems hell-bent on expanding these destructive practices, through intensified logging of old-growth and delicate forests, and through the opening of oil and gas drilling off … Continue reading »