“Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore, get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.”
– Proverb 4:7
Premier John Horgan should heed the supreme advice of Proverb 4:7. It’s an unimaginable sacrifice, a betrayal of our sacred public trust, to allow the last stand of remaining, unprotected, intact ancient forest that pristinely blankets the Fairy Creek watershed to be logged.
For more than 150 years, forestry has been in the ascendant. Generation after generation of loggers feasted on nature’s providence. Forests filled to overflowing the coffers of our community chest. Less than three per cent of the ancient forest remains on Vancouver Island due to industrial scale, mechanized harvesting.
Government-issued tree farm licenses are still the accepted norm. We’re scrapping over the last remaining pieces of the ancient forest. Crumbs will be all that is left. Imagine Teal Jones, the authorized tree farm licensee holder, as a heat-seeking missile, targeting Fairy Creek. Bull’s-eye! How much is a 1,000-year-old cedar tree worth? Do the math. Standing: priceless. Cut down: $40,000 to $50,000.
If corporations rue the day, there’ll be nothing left standing. The “blockaders” preserving the last stands at Fairy Creek are the true guardians of the forest. The NDP? Mere puppet servants that kow-tow to their overlords, the corporate rule of law mindset pervading over our supposedly, not in conflict, non-prejudicial colonial court system.
Perhaps the New Democrat Party, in all its wisdom, could offer Teal Jones a land swap, or are we running out of Crown land, too?
Mick Rhodes
Sooke
editor@sookenewsmirror.com
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