Re: ‘Obstructionism has increased cost of sewage treatment,’ Saanich News July 10
I had to read his letter a second time and I’m still not sure I understand his meaning other than his feelings have been hurt by an event that is really not out of the ordinary.
First of all, if he was able to understand the Victoria sewage treatment plant is only a concession to political correctness by the Federal and Provincial governments as an appeasement to the environmentalists, he may feel better about the whole thing.
However, now that we have the mess to deal with, he has by his own admission, admitted that the CRD did bungle the sewage treatment fiasco, democratically or not, by the fact they didn’t get it done in any length of time ... all costing the taxpayer more and more money.
As to Richard Atwell, if memory serves me correctly, he was elected democratically. Mr. Coburn does not, in my humble opinion, understand democracy. Opinions and the events of government do in fact change, unlike his stance that a small group has undermined the whole of democracy because they have looked for change, in this case most likely for the betterment of the sewage question.
Lastly, he has this misplaced idea of obstructionism. All he has to do is look at this tree-hugger province we live in to see that obstructionism is a weekly occurrence. The protests against Kinder Morgan and Enbridge are fine examples of obstructionism by a “very small” group, his words, that don’t necessarily fit with the majority, hence not in a democratic fashion. Have a look at ‘sumofus’ and ‘engage canada’ for more examples of obstructionism.
I guess the bottom line is it depends which side of the road that you walk on.
Jim Anderson
Saanich