Dear Editor:
I am a 13-year resident of Forest Grove, located near the Kinder Morgan terminal. I received a letter and a leaflet in an envelope from the environmental group Force of Nature about five days before the provincial election. I had never heard of this environmental group before receiving this letter.
The leaflet outlines all the risks to the community and environment relating to the Trans Mountain Pipeline. However, what grabbed my attention was the accompanying letter which states, in bold print, that “Force of Nature is recommending Katrina Chen of the NDP as the strongest electable candidate in this riding who is likely to act as an advocate for our issue.”
What puzzles me is that the letter fails to recognize that the NDP have previously flip-flopped on the issue and have received more than $670,000 from the Steelworkers Union, who applauded the deal to have the steel pipeline needed for the Trans Mountain expansion made in Canada. The letter also failed to mention that the Steelworkers are paying the salaries of two staff members that work for the NDP.
Finally, I find it odd that the letter refers to lost jobs at the Chevron refinery, which is responsible for degrading air quality, surface water and groundwater – since when do environmental groups back oil refineries? This is especially disconcerting since the first sentence of the letter also states that Force of Nature supports “clean energy alternatives.” I am wondering why Force of Nature waited until just before the election to make themselves known to the community and also would like to know who is funding this group, although I don’t think it’s hard to guess.
Andrei Zawadzki, Burnaby
