Dear Editor,
Our farming community needs us. I usually think in rational arguments, reasoned bullet points nicely arranged to form an opinion about protecting ecological and community values.
But this time, learning about Port Metro Vancouver’s arrogant and anti-democratic plans to expropriate farmland and develop the precious estuary at the mouth of the Fraser River, reason is too obvious and is eclipsed by reaction purely from my heart.
Port expansion, a bridge, jet-fuel, coal, LNG... I won’t stand by while short-sighted greed steals even more water and land, takes the fish and food, paves the shoreline, silences the birds, and diminishes our local farming economy even further.
Mayor Brodie, thank you for defending what’s left of our Agricultural Land Reserve. Thank you for speaking up with rage and defiance to protect what we know are the most important assets we have, for which we have the biggest responsibility to pass on to future generations.
We all know that PMV’s CEO is making simplistic and ludicrous claims when he asserts that we don’t need to grow local food because we can import so much more than we produce. Anyone in their right mind can see that the frenzy of industrial proposals along the Fraser is part of the dying throes of the fossil fuel economy, with far greater (and permanently damaging) costs than benefits.
We know these plans were all set in motion under the Harper regime that cared nothing about climate change, and that Prime Minister Trudeau has the power to stop them if he cares.
We know that the ALR in Richmond is still legally protected from removal for industrial use, and that Premier Christy Clark has the power to ensure it’s protected, if she cares.
Change is here, the time is now, and if we all rise up shoulder to shoulder, we can protect the Fraser and Richmond’s farmland and shorelines from this onslaught of industrialization.
If we don’t, we have no hope, and we’ll look back at this time as a turning point, when we stood by and gave up the land and the river that were once so dear to our hearts, our heritage and our livelihoods.
Kimi Hendess
Richmond
