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Province should put people ahead of projects

The McKenzie interchange could have been solved by a roundabout for a fraction of the cost

Having seen the plan of the Massey Bridge, the size of Site C Dam, and in smaller form the attempt at the McKenzieinterchange, one has to wonder what the people in charge are thinking.

The McKenzie interchange could have been solved by a roundabout for a fraction of the cost. They work in the biggest citiesin Europe quite beautifully.

The loss of valuable and finite farmland and encroachment on parks will have a big impact for our future. It’s not only thedestruction of nature but our future food source; people will be displaced. We are already importing food and our populationis growing. These projects serve mainly special interest groups.

LNG will not happen as projected and experts have made clear, that we do not need the electricity Site C Dam will provide.

On the other hand those projects are hugely expensive and they will go ahead if the Liberals win again. There is no way tobalance the budget into the future. Balancing the budget has been a big election subject for the Liberals, even though it wasdone by cutting services.

If the Massey Bridge and the Site C Dam are being built, the cuts will be deeper. Hydro has become very expensive and it willget even more so. Nobody talks about the tolls for the bridge, which are certain. It’s a big eyesore as well, turning the areainto Los Angeles North.

Our politicians earn well, and they deserve it, if they do a good job. Yet, they can’t envision or do not care how precariouspeople live, from paycheque to paycheque. We are living in very uncertain times and throwing money out of the window isreckless.

Finance Minister Mike de Jong stated that our welfare recipients should not complain they get double what people in theThird World have to live on. The callousness of this remark is stunning. Has he taken into consideration that the cost of livinghere is a touch more expensive? A comparison to the Third World might soon be in the books.

Karin Hertel

Saanich