And democracy is defined as government of the people, by the people, for the people.

It appalls me but does not surprise me when you see government officials try to ram decisions down the majority’s throat in the name of progress because we are all deemed too stupid to know what is good for us.

It is true that the valley needs industry badly to infuse financial growth and stability. What we don’t need is bad industry. We may be red-necks, Neanderthals or ill-informed according to our “smart, elected officials” but we’re not stupid. We can and do take facts and we can and do analyze the pros and cons of a project and we can decide for ourselves whether the benefits outweigh the negative aspects of a project in the long run.

“Not in my back yard” sometimes is a result of too much risk to have a project place near a more populated community. Therefore, let’s put it somewhere else where there are less lives to put in jeopardy or maybe less objection to the project. As long as everything runs well, these same officials will brag “we did this or we did that.” However when an accident happens that affects the whole community or destroys the environment, these same officials will pat themselves on the back for how well they dealt with the disaster. “We were lucky, it could have been much worse” is often the way they justify their actions. They are not the ones having to cope with long term effects of pollution or the destruction brought on by the industry. The local “backwood hicks” are the ones forever affected by bad decisions.

A few years ago, we were told that tourism was going to be our saviour. This industry seems to have taken a toe hold in the valley. Are we now going to shoot the toe off in the name of progress? Some industries are not compatible when put side by side.

My tip of the hat to the peoples of Crescent Spur and good luck to Mark Webb in his business endeavours.

Agnes Blanchette, Valemount