Editor,
Atmospheric rivers, floods and fires are inevitable without a paradigm shift towards sustainability. Driving our future are politicians that continue to prioritize profit above our planet. An American global warming denier backed by billionaires is vying to take over Canada and Greenland. This dictator threatens tariffs while feeding off Canadian resources.
Building secondary industry is not an idea new to working people. Canadian hewers of wood and drawers of water feed foreign companies who create products to resell to us as finished goods. B.C. exports raw logs to the United States as part of its forest product export industry. In 2022, the U.S. was the top export destination for B.C., accounting for 57 per cent of the total value of B.C.'s exports.
American factories continue to be fuelled by Canadian oil. B.C. communities have been devastated by governments who focus on exporting low-value raw resources while shutting down secondary industry and devastating communities.
Alternative energy, public transit and building affordable housing with Canadian products are the best way to stand strong against oligarchs. We must not bend to a country that wants our water, grain, lumber and oil while selling us cyber trucks.
Environmental catastrophes will devastate the lives of our children and grandchildren unless we elect politicians who are not in the back pocket of profit mongers.
Working people who are so frustrated, are grasping for change. Change and planetary survival will only come from a collective will to sustainably harvest resources and create products and produce for, and by, Canadians.
Mark Beeching, Langley
