Editor:
Open letter to Skeena Wild:
As I watched your pictures unfold today in Vancouver as you assisted in launching lawsuits against Pacific NorthWest LNG (PNW) I felt compelled to respond.
I want you to know how disappointed I am that you would accept foreign funds to oppose economic development in Canada.
That you would knowingly oppose opportunity for northwest British Columbia. I remember talking with you years ago understanding that in fact you too were tied to an oil and gas economy because without a project to oppose you would in fact also be out of work. Win or lose you are also sitting on the edge, I’m sure wondering where the next target will be.
Tomorrow marks the seventh anniversary of the announcement of Eurocan closing. I remember exactly where I stood... At my computer in Out Spoke’N Bike and Sport and I knew that I would lose everything I had. The stress was insurmountable and I remember my ears started ringing and although I couldn’t hear I could look up and see customers in the store not knowing what had just transpired.
I can’t help but wonder if you gave yourselves a high five...
If you celebrated but not really understood the incredible loss that would come to the region. Keys would be turned into the bank, vehicles would be repossessed, bankruptcy would be filed...
I’d like you to know that as you line up your funders, as you rally your social media that this time it’s going to be different. We aren’t going to let you have free reign in smear campaigns, we will not let local business owners be bullied for believing that LNG is a once in a lifetime opportunity, this time the masses are going to come together and let you know that foreign investment in opposing the progress of British Columbia is no longer welcome here.
When you invest in the best outcomes of people, when you train people to be biologists and hydrologists we create better projects.
We all care about the environment, we all care about the best outcomes of our families and we know you do too.
This time we’re going to have a different outcome ... and it won’t be a no.
Lucy Sager-Praught
Prince George