Deeper Shade of Green

To whom it may concern,

I am a citizen of Coquitlam, BC. It came to my attention recently that the government is strongly considering granting a permission to modify the Pinecone / Burke Mountain park boundaries, in order to allow Run of River Inc., to run a power line through from its megawatt hydro project in Upper Pitt River.

I vehemently oppose such measure, which would set a dangerous precedent and open the flood gates for large corporations to change park boundaries in other places across Canada.

Let me further state that I am absolutely disappointed and very upset that our government is even considering such measures. There is nothing green about diverting water from rivers that spawn ever so precious wild salmon. The impact of these hydro projects on the wilderness will be devastating.

I am further appalled with the tactics the government is employing when it comes to our democracy. Bill C30 is a scam and infringement upon our democratic rights. The result is a systematic dismantlement of public voicing concern for massive projects that affect local people.

As if bill C30 wasn’t bad enough, the government uses dirty tricks such as not letting the public know of “public hearings” with enough forewarning, as stipulated by law. Then there is the issue of locating the meetings away from the area of concern, in the wish that less people will show up. If you’re thinking of amending Pinecone / Burke mountain park, why not have hearings in Coquitlam?

Finally, to call these “public hearings” is a farce. This is nothing more but a private company making a glitsy demonstration full of promises of how good it will be for the local economy and how much we’ll benefit from it. Environmental concerns are silently put aside, or promised, but not kept. The private company is then supposed to report back to the government what the sentiment of the people was. Having a private corporation telling us, the people, the rightful owners of the public lands, what they will do with our lands in order to make money is not democracy. Not to mention the environmental destruction, such as low water levels in the damned rivers, clearcutting through parks and pristine areas, etc.

In closing, let me say one more thing. Systematic dismantlement of our eco systems, of which we are all part, will lead to our destruction. A 10 year old can understands this. In an era of climate change, we need to protect our dwindling ecological resources more then ever. Failure to do so will affect us all – not just the poor but the rich as well.

Sincerely,

Peter Endisch Jr
Coquitlam, B.C

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Here’s a background on the issue. And here is what you can do about it.