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Opinion: Premier called on for real change

We must stop current logging practices, stop the mining, stop expensive oil and gas exploration and stop building pipelines and infrastructure for fossil fuels.
Horgan
Premier John Horgan, December 2020. Photograph via Kamloops Matters

Dear John Horgan, we have been residents of BC for over sixty years and want to share our heartfelt thoughts with you.

First and most importantly, with the devastating discoveries in this province and now in Saskatchewan in regards to our human brothers and sisters of yesterday and the disaster of residential schools, we ask that our government lobby the federal government to establish a national holiday in Canada that honours all First Nations people. We want this to be not just a token but an honorary holiday that lifts up those who have been wronged in so many ways. With Canada Day, can we ever look on it as a celebration under these current circumstances and with our new realizations? All flags should be flying at half mast. Let BC’s voice echo across the country in human compassion and sorrow for those lost children. 

The second thing is how we treat our environment and our wilderness. We must stop current logging practices, stop the mining, stop expensive oil and gas exploration and stop building pipelines and infrastructure for fossil fuels. Exploiting natural resources for short-term gain must end. The consequences of current practices are devastating our environment and any hope for future generations of living beings. There has to be a better way, and we need to find it, for our children, our grandchildren, and all of creation.

We know this might be hard to achieve, and many have different opinions, but let’s build on our consensus, on the indisputable facts and undeniable evidence of climate change, and find a better way.

Let's start with our provincial parks in BC, and give them the same classification as our national parks.That would mean a moratorium on logging, mining, oil and gas exploration, pipelines and hunting throughout them. Instead let’s make provincial parks the focus of environmental awareness and growth for the future, leaving nature to flourish because it’s the right thing to do.

Let’s learn from First Nations peoples relationship with the land by seeking harmony with our environment and becoming its advocates instead of its enemies. We know there is so much more we could do to help each other and protect the environment. That knowledge and compassion is needed now to help defend and support all those that do not have a voice.

Ralph Rowell and Susan Phillips

Prince George