Re: “Humpbacks off ‘threatened’ species list,” April 22.
Yet another infuriating move that exposes Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s ideological pro-oil agenda in crystal clarity: He is now removing the humpback whale from the Canadian endangered species list, effectively scrapping yet another inconvenient legislative barrier to pave the way for Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline project.
Doesn’t this make you question the truth of all those multimillion-dollar TV ads you see during the hockey game, propagandizing us with soothing reassurance that Enbridge is doing all it can to protect the whales, the salmon and the raw physical beauty of the delicate marine environment of B.C.’s wild coast?
More than ever, we need a government that respects and strengthens, rather than destroys, laws that protect the environment, not mere empty greenwash from notorious corporate polluters. Harper is recklessly slashing established science and all and any laws that stand in the way of the marketing of Alberta’s dirty oil. He is an embarrassment to all Canadians who put a value on the institutions of scientifically based environmental assessment above corporate interests.
It is high time to put Harper on the endangered politicians list and stop the damage he is doing to our country.
Bobby Arbess
Victoria
