Dear Editor:
I find it odd that the two most important issues covered by Wednesday’s (Dec. 12) edition received no mention (on the editorial page) – the secondary sewage treatment planned for the new North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant and Canadian Security and Intelligence Service’s warning to Canadian universities that the Chinese tech giant Huawei is drilling its spy capabilities deep into Canadian society.
The fact that a large chunk of money will be spent on a new treatment plant that will take sewage treatment only to a secondary stage, rather than tertiary level, is unacceptable in modern times. Given the assault on the environment by human activities, tertiary sewage treatment should be a no-brainer.
As well, all marine traffic should be required to dump their bilge at pump-out stations not into local waters. There was plenty of money around to hold the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, but not enough money for adequate sewage treatment.
Is it still acceptable to close the local beaches each year because of water toxicity?
Universities looking for money and research partnerships are accepting cash, personnel, hardware and software from Huawei – a company that is well known for its spying and participation in the Chinese cyberwar offensive. Universities have ignored repeated warnings from CSIS not to get into bed with Huawei. UBC political science professor Michael Byers is quoted saying it’s not the role of universities to do security assessments on companies they work with. That, he said, is the federal government’s job.
Apparently, Canadian universities can be bought pretty cheaply.
It’s my opinion that either one of these topics is far more editorial-worthy then West Vancouver’s budget woes. It’s interesting that the opinion page of Friday’s North Shore News is filled with rabid chatter for and against the proposed transit B-Line into Ambleside.
It’s strange that the public sweats the little stuff while ignoring the important stuff. I understand a local paper must cover local issues, but ...
Brett Humphreys
North Vancouver
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