Re: Your hypocritical poor-mouthing in general and the Juan de Fuca lands in particular
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Apparently, you’re in such desperate fiscal straits that you don’t have the revenues to fund treatment and housing for the mentally ill; you can’t afford reasonable-sized classes in our public schools, and there are so many claims for parkland that the Juan de Fuca Lands just have to take their turn—to name only three of the areas where you have failed to live up to your responsibility to further the public good.
Claiming lack of funds is pure baffle-gab. You guys always find money for anything you want to do—$8 million for your ill-advised attempt to save the HST; $600 million for a fancy new roof on a sports stadium—so don’t tell me you can’t find the money to buy the Juan de Fuca Lands; that spin won’t wash.
If you don’t want to increase your deficit you could a) persuade the Pacific Carbon Trust to do something laudable with the public’s money they receive through schools, by buying the lands, and/or b) reverse the unnecessary income tax cut your predecessor made in 2001. Without that windfall for the richest people in the province, you might not be in a deficit position today. It’s time your wealthy business backers started paying for the quality of life they enjoy here, including our wild lands. B.C. is a high-class place to live and do business; there’s plenty of tax room at the top.
Among the many bad decisions the Gordon Campbell Government made, releasing thousands of hectares from the protection of a Tree Farm Licence without appropriate compensation, was among the most gratuitously egregious. So unnecessary; so focused on the welfare of a private company at the expense of the public good, this lack of care and forethought by that Government has created an obligation for you—the Christy Clark Government—to rectify the error by buying the land and protecting it in perpetuity as a park. (The recent Raeside cartoon in the Victoria Times-Colonist showing the sign at the entrance to the park as—The Gordon Campbell Provincial Park—is an idea worth considering. Surely it would ease the pain of owning up to, and paying for, your predecessor’s mistake, to see the Opposition and other opponents squirm at the designation. :-)
You have a little under two years to work your way back into public favour; to convince citizens that you really do understand where your duty lies. Ensuring that the Juan de Fuca lands remain forever un-logged and undeveloped would be a good step in that direction, as well as a long-term investment in the economy of the region.
Think about it.
