Dear Editor:
Re: Paul Sullivan’s opinion column Pipeline Opposition Gushes From ‘Wilderburb’ Values and MP Jonathan Wilkinson’s opinion expressed in his paid advertisement Protecting North Vancouver’s Backyard
It was a clever move to put these two opposing views on opposite pages of your March 16 paper. While Sullivan acknowledges a duality in his thinking, he is quite clear about which side of the pipeline issue he is on.
Wilkinson expresses a concern that “thoughtful discussion about it (the Kinder Morgan expansion project) is being clouded by a muddle of misinformation” and uses as an example the oft-touted comment by the Greenies that this expansion would “make an oil spill in the Pacific Ocean all but inevitable ...” while providing little to substantiate this.
Sullivan provides a perfect example of this in his comment “if 20 per cent of a single tanker load is spilled, it would permanently ruin the shoreline from Lighthouse Park to Cates Park.” (Why stop at Cates Park?) How he has determined this is not explained. There is a 50/50 split in public opinion in the Lower Mainland on this project but what is intriguing is why the majority (61.7 per cent) of this same group did not vote for Christy Clark’s 0.5 per cent sales tax to help fund the regional transportation plan aimed at reducing cars on the road and hence the need for more fuel. It would be interesting to take a poll of those marching and protesting to find out how many voted against this tax (or did they vote?), whether they drive a car (did they drive to the march?), whether they have taken a flight in the past year, whether they use any of the by-products of oil such as cosmetics, plastics, cleaning products, synthetic rubber, and more?
What are they willing to give up or is it enough and the trendy thing to do to just hold up a sign and shout?
Margaret Mason
North Vancouver
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