To the editor;
The recent Supreme Court ruling to dismiss the B.C. government’s attempt to halt the construction of the TMX pipeline is a positive step in a long string of senseless obstructions to increase capacity to more efficiently and safely move oil we all depend on.
The irony of the process of blockading and frustrating the construction of these pipelines is that they are a very essential part of infrastructure we need to develop our natural resources, to help the Canadian natives abandon their traditional way of life that was once very dependent on the buffalo as the main food source.
Governments have signed a number of treaties with the natives, in exchange for title to larger areas of reserve lands for resource development in defined regions of Canada, to help them re-locate, develop, and refine a new sustainable lifestyle.
Jamming the courts with claims for lands, resources, and compensation instead of working together to pursue the intent of those treaties has virtually immobilized our justice system and reduced the process to a senseless and costly political head-butting contest that will only continue to frustrate all participants with no end in sight.
It’s also important to keep in mind that building pipelines will have no impact on climate change, as it does not result in changing consumption one iota.
Andy Thomsen
Kelowna, B.C.