I have been reading the various articles and columns about our climate and natural resource industries.
It surprises me how frequently we forget that our environmental protection laws are among the best. How our rule of law, our freedoms and equality, while not perfect, are again among the best in the world.
It boggles my mind that we would not be doing whatever we can to increase the export of our products rather than buy products produced in countries where all these laws are inferior to our own.
I think it is shortsighted when Canadians protest the development of our economy, (the economy which produces our standard of living, our healthcare, our education,) and simply watch while we lose market share to other countries that are busy developing theirs.
Too frequently it is forgotten that if it wasn't for resource extraction, there would be very little work in the north. Tourism is a wonderful thing but unless we want to become a nation of low-paid tourism workers, we need to begin fighting against this tide of misinformation.
Daily, we hear of protests against the industries that support our families. Daily, it is implied that those working in the resource industry should be ashamed of their work. We need to begin to stand up for each other, to bridge the false divide between resource development and environmental stewardship.
I have often wondered when the average person who knows we need good work and is not ashamed of what we do, would begin fighting back, so I was very excited when I heard one fellow stopped just complaining about it.
His name is Dave Johnston, an electrician from Kitimat, and he is conducting a Prince George Community Engagement on July 12 at 7 p.m. to see if there is interest in forming a group to begin organizing an effort to bring dignity back to the north.
The event is listed on EventBrite under "The North Matters" and you can register there,or send me an email at itklassen@hotmail.ca. There is very limited seating.
It is time to stand up.
Trudy Klassen
Prince George
