Dear Neighbours,
Three quick notes this week.
On the Budget: I gave my response to the budget last week. I’ve included both the Hansard text and the Victoria Times Colonist’s response on this page. The Times Colonist went after how I spoke instead of focusing on what I spoke about. The problem is -- how can you have a “green” budget that off-loads costs on to you and me as polluters while supporting programs to expand roads, ports and container parking lots and giving them a break at the same time? How can income taxes stay low yet fees are increasing all the time? Have you actually checked out how many ways you pay for Translink? Property tax, gas tax, surcharges on BC Hydro and ICBC bills… And speaking of BC Hydro, in the very near future, seniors and low-income students and others will have to choose between being warm and being fed. These user fees and surcharges are nothing more than deferred taxes. See my speech for more on this.
On Rivers: I invite you to join me in the most important financial and environmental fight in BC, the fight to protect our rivers (535 are at risk) and our public power sources from privatized run-of-the-river power projects. These private companies will simultaneously steal our power (and sell it back to us at prices far beyond what we now pay), destroy our fisheries and wilderness habitat. Immediately at risk is the Upper Pitt River, one of the most richly biodiverse areas of British Columbia, unfortunately the Ashlu and Toba Inlet are lost. This video may seem lengthy however people need to know the full story.
Please watch the video Power Play http://ashlu.info/video/bcrivers.html then join the group Save Our Rivers on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5680590325.
On Garbage: The recent media coverage of Burns Bog Landfill and the possible/probable dumping of lower mainland’s garbage in our backyard have me thinking on how to live a less wasteful lifestyle. It’s not just banning plastic bags; it’s looking at what we put into them before they hit the curb. Certainly using cloth and re-usable grocery bags is a start. And definitely recycling as much as possible is a must. But when you think of all the packaging waste we bring into the house in the first place, it really adds up. For example, do small metal tools really need to be wrapped in cellophane, and then put into a large plastic blister pack with six to eight inches of cardboard? And the quality of merchandise has certainly deteriorated to the point where it is more economical to throw it away than to fix items such as shoes and clothes, electronic devises, etc. I could go on, but you get the point. I would like to ask you to think about the reduce part of the reduce-reuse-recycling this week and, like me think about how much we bring in before we throw out.
Guy