Government Bail-Out Not The Answer For Harmac

In response to some individuals suggesting that the government should buy the recently-closed Harmac pulp mill, I submitted the following letter to the Nanaimo Daily News. Except for leaving out the specific reference to the individual who had written the original letter which I was responding to and the part about why Prince Rupert was 'saved' and not Gold River, they ran it pretty much the way I wrote it (surprise!).

Dear Editor,
If Jacqueline Leitch believes that the purchase of the Harmac pulp operation by the provincial government (Government should buy what private sector ruins, Nanaimo Daily News, May 20/08) will set that failed private operation on the path to profitability, she might want to consider that our provincial government 'rescued' the Skeena Cellulose operation in Prince Rupert twice, once in the early 70's and again in the late 90's, spending over 450 million of our dollars in the process. Soon after the government of the day 'saved' the Skeena operation the second time, the Gold River Pulp mill was closed down due to a pulp glut - the difference being that the Deputy Premier at the time lived in Prince Rupert, not Gold River. Skeena eventually went bankrupt (the government had the good sense not to try and bail it out a third time!), was sold (we recovered only $6 million) and has not been in operation for the last 9 years.
No, as disruptive to the individuals involved and harsh as it may seem, we need to let the market forces and private initiative work this out or we will very likely, once again, become subjected to the very expensive 'law of unintended consequences', the recent success of the potash industry notwithstanding. As far as the private sector 'ruining' Harmac, her statement that "when the problems with a business are so obviously internal and not external, it is time to give the business of infrastructure back to the people..." shows either a deep knowledge of the operation or a lack of understanding what the external effects like the collapse of the U. S. housing market and a 50% increase in the Cdn. vs. the U.S. dollar had on the business.

Sincerely,
Hans J. Larsen
Lantzville, B. C.

Democracy Not Quite So Healthy In Lantzville

In response to a 'Letter to the Editor' they ran praising the democratic bent of Lantzville council , I submitted the following letter to the Nanaimo News Bulletin and, as usual, they edited it heavily, especially the part about reading more of the adventures of Lantzville council on this blog and requesting comments from their readers on same.

Dear Editor,
Before Mr. Forshaw gets too excited by the democratic spirit which he perceives to be emanating from the District of Lantzville (Lantzville council listens to its citizens, May 27/08), I regret to have to inform him that, on the really big issues, democracy continues to be an elusive quantity here in our semi-rural community. One clear example would be when the majority of the current council, without debate or any substantive amendments and, despite 89% of those expressing an opinion (94 submissions) being opposed for a variety of reasons, adopted our new, very pro-development, Official Community Plan in September of 2005.
If you want to read more about the undemocratic nature of the District of Lantzville council and senior staff, go to my Blog, 'Chutzpah', at http://vigilantz.blogspot.com. Sadly, they are far from unique in this respect and this is what happens when an apathetic public abdicates their responsibility and allows the politicians/bureaucrats to set the agenda for them. In any event, I'd love your comments!

Nanaimo Canwest-Global Newspapers A Little Too Sensitive, Perhaps?

I submitted the following to the Harbour City Star and the Nanaimo Daily News, both of whom had run a version of the Lantzville sewer piece and, lo and behold, the Daily News didn't run it at all and the Star took numerous 'liberties' with it (I can only assume in an effort to keep themselves from looking foolish/uninformed). I have included a copy of what they actually published so you can see for yourselves how 'sensitive' they are and how it works against your need to be fully informed.

AS SUMBITTED
Dear Editor,
The unattributed piece, Sewers improved in Lantzville, The Star, Wed., April 30th, leaves a lot to be desired in terms of reporting. If it was provided by government, surely you have realized by now that even they (you know - "for the people, by the people") have their own agendas and their communications are specifically designed to further them.
For example, the "laying of a sewer pipe along the community's foreshore from its border with Nanaimo north to Oar Road" was only a part of the $3.5 million public expenditure, (one that was completed BEFORE the affected properties had even been asked to approve their share) with the distribution of smaller collector pipes throughout an area of 208 (not 225 as reported) homes and businesses and a sewage lift station comprising the bulk of it.
Since it is the fields which normally fail in septic systems and the tanks remove about 40% of the Total Suspended Solids (TSS), 60% of the Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) and 5-10% of the pathogens, it is irresponsible and just downright wrong to write that "(t)he problem of raw sewage leaking into open ditches from septic fields in Lantzville, where most residences are not hooked into the Regional District of Nanaimo sewer system [in fact, none were at the time] has alarmed residents for years". Not one piece of factual evidence has ever been provided to support the claim or level of concern.
It is uninformed and incorrect articles like yours which are the cause for alarm. Remember when your sister paper, the Nanaimo Daily News, ominously reported some 10 years ago that Lantzville was "literally a cesspool" and sewers were "criminally overdue"? One would have thought we'd all be dead by now!

AS PUBLISHED (Wed., May 21/08)
Dear Editor,
RE: Sewers improved in Lantzville, The Star, April 30th, leaves a lot to be desired in terms of reporting. If it was provided by government, surely you have realized by now that even they have their own agendas and their communications are specifically designed to further them. For example, the "laying of a sewer pipe along the community's foreshore from its border with Nanaimo north to Oar Road" was only a part of the $3.5 million public expenditure, (besides which it was completed before the affected properties had even been asked to approve their share). It was the distribution of smaller collector pipes throughout an area of 208 (not the 225 as reported) homes and businesses and a sewage lift station that comprised the bulk of it. Since it is the fields which normally fail in septic systems and the tanks remove about 40% of the Total Suspended Solids (TSS), 60% of the Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) and 5-10% of the pathogens, it is wrong to write that "the problem of raw sewage leaking into open ditches from septic fields in Lantzville, where most residences are not hooked into the Regional District of Nanaimo sewer system [in fact, none were at the time] has alarmed residents for years". I have never seen any evidence provided to support that claim or level of concern.

Their inability to take to criticism is especially demonstrated by their deletion of the entire last paragraph. Don't you think that its about time we told the media that we're not interested in their 'spin' or distortions and, if they want to use our efforts (such as 'Letters to the Editor') to sell papers (it is one of the most-read pieces of any paper), they can darn well show us the respect due and run them as written so that we can all be better informed?

Mainstream Media May Often Be Wrong But They're Tenacious!

I submitted the following 'Letter to the Editor' to the Harbour City Star because, when we are making decisions involving hundreds of thousands, if not millions of taxpayer dollars on infrastructure projects, it is important that we have access to factual information and not just so much talk to advance someone else's agenda. Notice that the Canwest/Global (now Postmedia) newspaper didn't like the very valid criticism of their past poor performance in this regard in the last paragraph and so deleted it from the letter that was actually published.

Dear Editor,
The unattributed piece, Sewers improved in Lantzville, The Star, Wed., April 30th, leaves a lot to be desired in terms of reporting. If it was provided by government, surely you have realized by now that even they (you know - "for the people, by the people") have their own agendas and their communications are specifically designed to further them.
For example, the "laying of a sewer pipe along the community's foreshore from its border with Nanaimo north to Oar Road" was only a part of the $3.6 million public expenditure, (one that was completed BEFORE the affected properties had even been asked to approve their 1/3 share) with the distribution of smaller collector pipes throughout an area of 208 (not 225 as reported) homes and businesses and a sewage lift station comprising the bulk of it.
Since it is the fields which normally fail in septic systems and the tanks remove about 40% of the Total Suspended Solids (TSS), 60% of the Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) and 5-10% of the pathogens, it is irresponsible and just downright wrong to write that "(t)he problem of raw sewage leaking into open ditches from septic fields in Lantzville, where most residences are not hooked into the Regional District of Nanaimo sewer system [in fact, none were at the time] has alarmed residents for years". Not one piece of factual evidence has ever been provided to support that claim or level of concern.
It is uninformed and incorrect articles like yours which are the cause for alarm. Remember when your sister paper, the Nanaimo Daily News, ominously reported some 10 years ago that Lantzville was "literally a cesspool" and sewers were "criminally overdue"? One would have thought we'd all be dead by now!

Fair Compensation or Feinted Indignation?

I had recently sent this 'Letter to the Editor' to about 3 dozen newspapers throughout B. C. Surprisingly enough, as far as I can tell, not ONE of them chose to run it in their paper. I have to assume that they didn't consider it of interest/relevance to their readers. If you want to know if your local paper was one of them, just leave me a message in the 'Comments' section below this piece (you will probably have to register first, if you aren't already signed up with Google)

Dear Editor,
So B. C. Transportation Minister, Kevin Falcon, took time out of his busy day to call the Chairperson of the B. C Ferries Board to express his concern about the 'exhorbitant' increases that they have just awarded themselves (33% for the Chair, +$35,000/yr.; 31% for the Vice-chair, +$15,000/yr.; 60% for the Directors, +$18,000/yr. - they also get $1500 for each of the approx. 6 Board meetings they attend each year). At least Ms. Harrison took his call and discussed the issue with him, unlike when he, along with the rest of the Liberal caucus, walked out on the debate on Bill 37 while members of the Opposition were speaking and then, after cutting off 'debate' after only 7 hours, voted to give themselves a 29% (+$21,900) annual raise [28%, +$31,900 for Cabinet members; 54%, +$65,200 for the Premier] plus a whole bunch of other 'perks' paid for by the taxpayer.
Pot. Kettle. Black!