To the editor;
Re: ‘Metro Wants Port Banned from using ALR Land,’ Feb. 7
In the movie Do The Right Thing, by Spike Lee, an Italian restaurant meets its maker when it takes on the largely black community in which it lies.
In the end, the “right thing” is for the Italian owner to show some respect for the black community in which it exists by placing some local celebrities on the wall, to add to the currently Italian-only pictures.
In Canada, while we largely claim we want to “do the right thing,” when it comes to the environment, often our political leaders fail to hear the calling.
To wit: while a vast majority of Canadians recognize global warming is something requiring action, our federal government continues to give it lip service.
Doing the right thing ends up being a smoke and mirrors game.
And yet, now, Metro Vancouver is demanding the federal government “do the right thing” and rein in the Port Authority of Vancouver by limiting the power of the port to unilaterally proclaim land in the Agricultural Land Reserve usable for industrial development.
The Port Authority, having the power to side step the usual review process regarding ALR applications, has been saying all the “right things” about wanting to protect ALR land, yet its vice president for corporate responsibility Duncan Wilson seems to speak with forked tongue in saying; “The industrial land that’s left in the Lower Mainland is insufficient for the future of our economy.”
“Doing the right thing” means not having it both ways.
Something has to give.
While our economy is driven by corporate development, in the end, without a safe and viable ALR our food base is unsustainable...without which, no amount of economic development will result in our society “doing the right thing.”
Not for us and surely not for future generations requiring an environment in which the growth of food must be environmentally sustainable for our society to survive.
Steven Faraher-Amidon
Cloverdale