A combination of thumbs up and thumbs down to your legislative columnist Tom Fletcher.
Thumbs up for providing some balance to the emotion-ridden debate about the Northern Gateway pipeline and tanker proposal, particularly for pointing out the fiction of the tanker moratorium and stressing that we already have some 700 tanker trips a year through our local straits. We need more evidence-based discussion about the pros and cons of the Enbridge project.
Thumbs down to Tom for his assertion that subsidized BC Ferry service to the smaller coastal communities primarily benefits well-healed city dwellers with summer retreats. It is the local economies and the people who depend on them who are hurt by higher and higher ferry fares. Under Social Credit, ferry subsidies struck a balance between cost and the people’s ability to pay. We should go back to that format.
Dave Laundy
Brentwood Bay