Editor:
Re: “Wood heat is self-reliant” by David Rogers, Letters, Feb. 8.
As an autistic woman, parent and advocate I’d like to take a minute to respond to Mr. Rogers’ letter and thank him for writing it. I saw on social media that some people were trying to say wood smoke causes autism and I was aghast at the misinformation being spread. This is simply not true.
I too have a long history on this Coast. My family roots go back 109 years and my grandfather built the very first elementary school in Gibsons plus numerous houses and buildings that still stand to this day. Self-reliance up here is something us Coasters have always taken great pride in and rightly so. During World War Two my family and many others did not even feel the effects of the war due to that simple fact. We had goats for milk, raised chickens, grew gardens and bartered with caring neighbours for anything else. Since the influx of new people that have come to the Coast I have been belittled, treated with disrespect and told over and over again on social media (or what I now call anti-social media) that us locals are nothing but backwards country bumpkins and they have come to save us from ourselves. Yet, ironically, I’ve seen them do nothing but complain about our ferry, our highway, our people, our restaurants, etc. The list sadly goes on and on.
So I’ve had enough and I agree with Mr. Rogers’ statement wholeheartedly. For all those who don’t like our Coast and wish to change everything just to please themselves and not our community at large, might I suggest the same thing that Mr. Rogers so graciously stated: The ferry is free to return to the city anytime we country bumpkins are not good enough for you high-priced city folk.
Sheri Marino, Halfmoon Bay
