by Pieter Vorster | Dec 11, 2019 | Letters to the Editor, Member Submitted Articles, News and Events
An Open Letter To Governments of B.C. and Canada Regarding the LNG Canada project, environmental damage and global warming: The B.C. Government has entered into an agreement with a consortium of oil companies to build and extract LNG (liquefied natural gas), process it, pipe it to the coast, and sell it to China. Great! Rather than addressing climate change seriously and taking a leadership role, we get sucked into a short-term monetary gain. You have sold this LNG extraction project to the citizens of B.C. and Canada as a way to fund the climate change fight. The federal government has also become complicit in this project by throwing our tax dollars at it. Both governments have promised to do more to meet climate change goals and claim to be committed to greenhouse gas reduction. Have you actually listened to yourselves? One minute you are talking about the need to do more about climate change (climate “emergencies” are being declared continuously), claiming you believe the science. You say you see what’s happening, and promise to make this fight a priority; however, the next minute you are signing deals to frack gas and build pipelines to boost the sale of dirty oil (dilbit) from Alberta. All to fuel foreign economies. The Government of B.C. website claims this LNG extraction, processing and transport will be state of the art and clean, which leads me to the following questions and comments: How will the “fugitive” gases be monitored, measured and reported? When methane is released into the atmosphere, how much will be allowed and at what point will the process be shut down? ...
by Pieter Vorster | Feb 19, 2018 | Letters to the Editor
Feb. 15, 2018 Dear editor, I went to Nanaimo on Friday, Feb. 2 for PM Trudeau’s town hall. I didn’t even try to get inside, but talked to people in the line who were waiting to get in. There were people who had concerns about Kinder Morgan, LNG, electoral reform, the opioid crisis, the national housing strategy, and much more. I was astounded at the number of people who waited hours outside. Even at 11 a.m. people were lined up for what would probably be the equivalent of four or five city blocks, and that’s after people lining up since 8 a.m. had been slowly entering the hall. I was so heartened by the number of people who are engaged enough and who care enough to have made the trip to Nanaimo. I was especially heartened to see so many young people in the line. They are the people who are going to inherit our government, and the world we leave them. Many of the ones I spoke to were aware of all the various issues, including electoral reform, both federally and provincially in B.C. Some of these people who waited hours may have been there just to see their prime minister in action; this is also a laudable goal. Whether in support or in opposition to PM Trudeau, people care about how their country and province are run. People may not vote because they’re disillusioned, but they care. If we had an electoral system provincially or nationally that represented more of the voters, more of those many people in line in Nanaimo, I think the number of people...
by Pieter Vorster | Feb 15, 2018 | Letters to the Editor
From The Comox Valley Record, February 8, 2018 Dear Ms Ronna-Rae Leonard, In kind response to your mass email, “A word on Site C from Ronna-Rae Leonard, MLA for Courtenay-Comox To those who emailed me regarding Site C” Seems to me you say: ‘I can not say it was the wrong decision to continue the Site C project’, maybe so. But I for one will say it is not only wrong, it is a terrible decision. First, we were told: “We cannot cancel the Site C project due to the fact we would have to add $4 billion right away to our balance sheet, and we just can’t do that”. That is an incorrect and misleading statement at best. The new NDP government cancelled the tolls on the Port Mann and Golden Ears bridges, and thereby adding $4.6 billion to our dept instantly and with no hesitation. Meaning, Premier Horgan and his team took away tolls on two bridges and gave us Site C! What a bargain! Fancy that, an election goodie for an ill-advised and unnecessary project, that my unborn grandchildren will not see the last rate-payer payment on, ever. Second, your NDP government traded some 2,000 jobs for seven to nine years, and then what? Build another dam to keep providing jobs for a mainly transient work force? With this project you have blown nearly all future green energy jobs out the door and existence, with this massive over-supply of electrical power. The net result is this, no private investment in alternative energy, no engineering, ‘know-how’ nor design jobs, no manufacturing jobs nor installation and maintenance jobs for...
by Pieter Vorster | Jan 17, 2018 | Letters to the Editor
Re: “Green Party’s challenge,” editorial, Jan. 11. In general, I agree with some of the points made in the editorial. However, I would like to point out a couple of areas that require clarification. Contrary to what many still believe, the B.C. Green Party is not simply focused on the environment. The 2017 election platform (available on the website) covered a full spectrum of issues with an emphasis on modernizing the way we view economic growth and the creation of a healthy, prosperous society. The party does believe fundamentally that every policy decision must take a holistic, evidence-based approach because we all know it is not possible to have a strong economy and an equitable society without paying close attention to environmental sustainability at every step. Just look at the catastrophic climate-change-related events recently in the U.S. to see the results of short-sighted political decision-making in action. And I would certainly argue that the passing of the referendum on proportional representation this fall would not only benefit the Greens, it would benefit every voter by making everyone’s vote count. Over and over, people say they would have voted Green, but didn’t want to “waste” their vote on a candidate they didn’t think could win. Assuming (and hoping!) the PR referendum is successful, I strongly suspect that the Greens could win the majority of seats in 2021. Then we’ll see what a truly modern, progressive and fair government looks like. Rita Fromholt...
by Pieter Vorster | Nov 29, 2017 | Letters to the Editor, Member Submitted Articles
Dear editor, I want a new political experience. One in which I actually feel my values are represented. But that’s impossible without fair representation. Our current system is badly broken and it so obvious to me that it’s time for a change. I want proportional representation and I want it in place for our next election. It’s easy to just throw up our hands and say the system sucks and I don’t want to play so I’m just not going to vote. My view is, if you don’t vote, you don’t get to complain. At the same time, I can completely understand their feelings, being saddled with a system that so clearly does not and will not allow all voices to be heard. We all need to be heard, if only to ensure that the sane voices don’t get drowned out. Better we learn from our neighbours to the south the cost of an electoral system that doesn’t actually represent its constituents. Our current system is likewise broken. I believe that if people actually felt their vote counted, more of them would vote. It’s way past time to make sure that every vote does actually count. Whether PR is the best system isn’t the question. I can’t imagine anything worse than what we have, so why not try something new; something that works in many other countries. If it doesn’t work, we can try something else. We purport to live in a democracy. It’s time we actually had a democratic voting process. Let’s give PR a try. It’s got to be a step up from what we’re dealing with...
by Pieter Vorster | Jul 16, 2017 | Letters to the Editor, Member Submitted Articles, News and Events
July 6, 2017 Dear Editor, Last week must have been pretty tense for Christy Clark. She was supposedly so humbled by the fact that the voters didn’t give her a majority that she underwent a conversion, as testified to in her Throne Speech. Her blatant plagiarism of the Green’s and NDP’s policies must have infuriated her supporters, both within the government and among the voters. She completely disowned her own election platform in a craven attempt to bribe enough Greens or NDPs to support her. Now she has to either reveal herself as an opportunist with no shame and a complete hypocrite who is willing to throw her party under the bus to keep power. And who, having lost, will try to obstruct the efforts of the NDP and Greens to govern and thereby throw the people of British Columbia under the bus. Or, as a politician who has truly been humbled by hearing the voices of British Columbians and is willing to work collaboratively with the new government. Which version of Christy Clark will we see in the Legislature? Megan Ardyche...
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