Editor:

I am writing with deepest urgency about the current logging of the low altitude old growth forest (called Wilson Creek forest) by the Sechelt community forest, despite clear and active opposition from the community.

I attended a recent town hall meeting in Sechelt with two of my sons. Despite the fact that 90 per cent of the people in attendance at that meeting had come solely to express their concerns about this very forest, after a very few questions and comments were accepted from the room, a man arbitrarily declared the topic to be off limits. Undaunted, my five-year-old son raised his hand and addressed the mayor and the quiet room. He said, “You can’t cut down all the trees, because the animals live there. That is their home.”

The mayor responded merely by smiling and walking away. No reassurances, no real acknowledgment.

In fact, from what I witnessed, the mayor did not have adequate responses for any of the questions and concerns that the people at the town meeting had in regards to the logging of the Wilson Creek forest He only seemed sure of one thing — that their minds are made up and that logging will continue no matter what any of the people who do not agree with that decision have to say about it — not even the shishalh elder detained by RCMP on Monday, Dec. 2, for her presence on the mountain that belongs to her people.

I want to believe that democracy still has a place in Canadian society and that the voices of all people will be listened to by our elected officials and not just a wealthy few.

Megan Mansbridge, Madeira Park