Editor:
Venting on local municipal politicians over the watering restrictions due to drought is understandable but it may be helpful to take a more global perspective.
Provincial and municipal governments struggle with a paucity of funds for vital infrastructure while Ottawa spends literally billions bombing the water works of small faraway countries like Libya. As of 2011 Canada spent $92 billion on the so-called war on terror (Rideau Institute). The ensuing slaughter, masquerading as “humanitarian bombing” and “democracy building,” fills the coffers of well-healed thugs in the arms industry. Some of this money is then ploughed back into the election war chests of federal political parties who respond with more war. The major media, also co-opted by the arms industry, help stir up trouble and provide favourable coverage to those who tow the line.
It is ironic that, during the Old Sechelt Mine Fire, B.C.’s Martin Mars water bomber sat idly by for lack of funds while Ottawa spent our tax dollars bombing Iraq and intimidating Syria. All the major political parties are complicit in this folly. Even the Green Party leader in the recent televised leader debate claimed to oppose war while referring to Bachar Al-Assad as a “butcher,” thus deliberately participating in the demonization of the democratically elected president. Claiming to oppose war while lending credence to the propaganda that legitimizes it is a tragic hallmark of the opposition parties.
The vicious war cycle must end. We must beat our swords into ploughshares, bring our troops home and get them to work putting up solar panels and rainwater collection infrastructure all over the place to harness the free energy that rains down from heaven. There is much work to do to bring security to Canada, and it needs to be done right here at home.
Roger Lagassé, Halfmoon Bay
