The war against our environment
Tony Eberts
  POLITICIANS ARE LIKE DIAPERS. THEY BOTH SHOULD BE CHANGED OFTEN, AND FOR THE SAME REASON.
  British Columbians can only hope that they can make the necessary changes before Gordon Campbell's ruinous environmental policies leave our children with only a shadow image of the natural beauty and bounty that we have known.
  The current provincial administration could hardly do more damage to our fish, wildlife, air and water quality, parks and old-growth forests if they declared war on all those things that make life in B.C. rich, varied and special.
  The moves to encourage the outrageously dangerous open-sea netcage salmon industry have been well documented here and elsewhere. Yet, motivated only by its lust to stay in power by wiping away the debt it foolishly created, the government blunders on, seeing nothing but possible fast-money deals.
  Add to this the plans to make us pay fees for walks in our parks (which will be opened to all the glitzy garbage that goes with privatization); pulling the last protective teeth from the Forest Practices Code; gutting environment protection agencies, and much more. It adds up to massive damage that may never be repaired.
  I find it frustrating that industrial-strength chatterers like Rafe Mair are quick to write off the Greens as a "one issue party" despite their wide ranging and practical platform, while failing to see that the B.C. Liberals are truly a one issue party: Money, first and last, at any cost to the majority of the people and their environment.
  It's true that the B.C. Green Party strongly favours encouraging industry to operate with as little environmental damage as possible. But isn't this appropriate in a province that depends so heavily on its natural resources in both business and quality of life? The alternative is simply more of the same old political left, right and back again two-step.
  It's worth noting that in the September general election in Germany, the Greens, with only a few seats, ended up with a great deal of power by forming a government coalition that would collapse without them.
  Instead of scorning a new political force in favour of the "realism" of same old, same old--as dinosaurs like Mair have done--I think we should welcome a real breath of fresh air.
  Just the other day, Victor Vrsnik, B.C. director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, once more defended the Campbell gang's "spending restraint"--solely because of the totally unjustified tax rewards given to the province's wealthy corporations and individuals. The wealthy bosses of the Federation don't give a rat's ass about health, education, social programs or the environment--they just want more payoffs in their trough.
  In his brown-nosing little piece in one of Vancouver's daily bleat-sheets, Vrsnik did us one favour, however, by including two useful websites: recallbcliberals.com and petitiononline.com/2005 and both are well worth a visit. There's little hope of any significant criticism of Campbell's "Gang of 77" appearing in our mainstream media.
 I urge you to sign the petition, write letters or Emails to Campbell, your MLA, and such useless cabinet ministers as Earth, Air, Fire and Water Minister Joyce Murray, who wouldn't know a wild salmon if it jumped into her bathtub.
Time to go fishing.