Letter to the Editor
Re: A museum for North Delta.

I woult like to thank MLA Guy Gentner for raising the idea of emenities in return for the destruction being proposed for the South Fraser Perimeter Road (SFPR), but I think he is being a little partisan in his suggestions.

How likely are the Liberals to fund a museum in North Delta when the recurring questions will be "where did the homes of those fishing peioneers go?" The Liberals' SFPR would be the answer.

"Why haven't the aboriginal communities been able to explore their heritage through archaeology?" The Liberals' SFPR black-topped all the world-renowned heritage sites.

I think Gentner knows the museum would be just one embarrassment after another for the BC Liberals.

I would like to suggest an amenity that has been long-awaited in Delta: a Burns Bog Interpretive Centre... oops, now I have fallen into the same trap. People will ask, whatever happened to Burns Bog?

And the answer will be: "A four-lane highway was built right at its edge, destroying the last chances for regeneration and unleashing millions of tonnes of greehouse gases as the bog deteriorated."

If not a museum or interpretive centre, then why not an affordabel housing initiative? There I go being political again.

The SFPR will spend at least $500 million on expropriation costs - bulldozing over 75 family homes just in North Delta and many more in Surrey.

A little embarrassing for the Liberals and their focus on the homeless.

So I would like to ask Gentner to let go of his partisan ideas, to work in partnership with Kevin Falcon and Ministry of Transportation, and open their minds to common sense ideas that benefit farmland, the bog, North Delta housing, and archaeological sites.

What other possibilities exist for the SFPR? How about putting the the road south of the bog, along the existing rail right-of-way, saving hundresds of millions in expropriation costs?

The new highway could connect with Highway 91 to provide a northbound route for cargo, and to Highway 10 for an eastbound route for cargo. Construction costs would be up to $1 billion less than the one-year old estimate of $1.1 billion.

Ernie Baatz