To the Editor,
Re: Protests shine spotlight on skewed priorities, Science Matters, May 31.
I think the way David Suzuki (or Faisal Moola) makes use of both the anarchistic Montreal rioters/students and the incoherent Occupy movement is interesting.
He even sympathizes with them as he correlates their activities with his own anti-government/anti-corporation agenda. However, I’m not sure that identifying with those people would add to anyone’s credibility.
I agree with Suzuki in that, “The Montreal protesters are drawing attention to a growing trend”. But I see the trend leaning more toward a narcissistic entitlement mentality rather than any sense of responsibility or concern for the economy.
Although, I would be in favour of lower post-secondary tuition fees if our debt/deficit were eliminated.
To say that, “Corporations are not people” doesn’t coincide with my dictionary, and obviously no Suzuki column would mention the contributions corporations make to our economy, like millions of jobs and investment opportunities for individuals and pension funds.
I’m skeptical about coastal First Nations communities that are “desperate for jobs and economic development”, but they find that “some things are more important than money”?
Could these be communities that are also funded by American interests in return for obstructing the Northern Gateway pipeline?
As expected, there’s no mention of the many First Nation people who have trained and found good jobs working in the oilsands, nor of those who have expressed an interest in training and finding work on Northern Gateway.
Rather than continual vilification of government and corporations, ideas on how they can coexist with the environment without shutting down progress would be more useful.
Jim Corder
Nanaimo