Editor:
Anti-bullying week in schools was prominently featured in the news recently.
But bullying exists in other places. I’ve recently experienced it, via a document as seemingly innocuous as an RCMP report. In it, several environmental organizations are accused of being “anti-Canada” and are alleged to include “militants and violent extremists.” Wow — good thing my mother isn’t alive. She’d be pretty shocked that her retired daughter, as the board member of an accused environmental group, is apparently ready to wage war on the state.
On the board of the Sierra Club of BC with me sit highly regarded fellow academics, lawyers and business consultants. We oversee the activities of staff, including education programs in the schools that focus on stewardship and ecological issues. Older students learn outdoor and sustainability skills. Other staff members work to ensure that fracking activities and pipeline construction do not result in threats to human, wildlife and fish habitats. Our several volunteer groups work on local issues such as building and extending local trails.
Do these folks sound like a bunch of “violent extremists” to you? Are we some of the shady characters they hope to round up and charge through Bill C51 legislation?
I pay taxes to support a non-partisan national police force — not one voicing overblown rhetoric that merely echoes government positions. I work every day, in a quiet, determined and non-violent way, to help ensure that our democracy and planet remain intact for my grandchildren. Bullying and threats towards those of us who care enough to act are inappropriate in the extreme.
Gail Riddell, Sechelt
