Editor:
As I look at the pictures of demonstrators against cutting trees, pipelines or just about anything, I am struck by the fact that most of these people look just like me (older and gray haired). I can only assume that these are people who have lived the good life, taking advantage of our high standard of living, fueled primarily by our good fortune to live in this wonderful resource-rich country. Also fueled, I might add, by the incredible level of government debt that we are leaving for our children and grandchildren to pay off after we are gone.
Many of these people are receiving guaranteed government pensions and they really like the way things are now - they are part of the "I'm alright Jack" generation. "I don't want those trees cut down, I don't want that pipeline to be built, because my financial situation is secure and I don't want anyone rocking my boat."
The problem is, it is the wealth creators and risk takers who continue to provide those pensions and pay for the array of social welfare programs including our sacred health care system. My own gut feeling is to oppose cutting trees and laying pipelines, but where will the jobs come from for my children and grandchildren? Who will pay for the medical and social programs they will need and, for sure, I will need in the years to come?
I remember a discussion I had with a former director of the regional district for Halfmoon Bay about 12 years ago when he told me that he saw the Sunshine Coast like a ship on the ocean - that the ship was now full and we shouldn't allow any more aboard. That is exactly what these demonstrators are saying. It is selfish and very self-serving.
Brian Smith,
Halfmoon Bay
