Letters | Reasons to fight uranium mining plans
Minister of Natural Resources Donald Arseneault claims that the "silent majority" supports uranium exploration.
Is the government of New Brunswick so desperate in its pursuit of jobs that it will support any industry? Are we just another Third World region supporting any kind of development, no matter how problematic?
As a farmer in the Harvey Station area, I have a personal interest in the subject. My farm has been staked for uranium exploration. How long will I be able to continue producing healthy food?
When a company explores an area for minerals, it does so with the expectation that it can develop a mine. Exploration in the Turtle Creek watershed, the site of Moncton's water supply, should be a warning to every New Brunswicker.
To allow exploration in a sensitive area such as this is indicative of the true nature of New Brunswick's envionmental regulations. It is probably more accurate to think of them as facilitating development, rather than protecting the environment.
Anyone who lives in the vicinity of a uranium mine or potential uranium mine can expect to see a loss of property value. A potential property buyer's first choice will not be in the area of a uranium mine. I know of individuals who are reconsidering planned home renovations because of their concerns about uranium mining.
It would be interesting to see how much uranium exploration would occur in New Brunswick if all of the externalized costs associated with it were assumed by the companies.
When mining companies are held accountable for the return of land to its original condition upon cessation of mining, and to compensate all residents impacted by a mine for loss of property value and related health issues then, perhaps, mining can be viewed in a more positive light. Until that happens, uranium exploration and mining should be viewed with suspicion.
When it comes to development, provincial policy should be based upon the "precautionary principal," that is, better safe than sorry. As projects become larger or produce more dangerous products, the enactment of this principal becomes of paramount importance.
If I make a mistake in my farming practices, it will probably have a limited impact which I can hope to correct. The forest industry may create an unanticipated environmental problem much greater than I could ever make on my small farm but, again, there is the possibility and hope of remediation.
An error in judgment or knowledge involving a uranium mine, which affects the health of the environment or humans, will be huge and cannot be corrected.
I've had a number of conversations with New Brunswick residents - rural and urban - and with the exception of two or three people, nobody has supported uranium exploration. They seem to be able to do something that the provincial government cannot do, which is place a proper value on their communities and health, rather than short-term profit.
They do not accept government propaganda that exploration is not a threat because it is not mining. They know that a company will not invest millions of dollars in exploration if the eventual goal of creating a mine cannot be realized.
Many New Brunswickers are not aware of how committed their province is to the development of uranium mining. They are unaware of the large tracts of land that have been claimed for uranium exploration. If they were aware of the true nature of the situation, the voice of the "silent majority" might surprise the minister of natural resources.
Ted Wiggans
Harvey Station, N.B.
Questioning the criteria for turnaround awards
The Turnaround Achievement Award should praise and recognize students who, through no fault of their own, have encountered obstacles that demand they work harder than others to achieve their goals and the requirements set forth in our schools' curricula.
As a father of three, I am familiar with the demands that children place on one's daily life and how difficult it can be to juggle all that demands your attention.
But regardless of how politically incorrect this sounds, children are a result of a series of decisions one has made. They are not an uncontrollable circumstance that hinders a student's performance.
Does Oromocto High School not have students who struggle with learning disabilities of some kind that, despite of their ailments, work hard, take responsibility for themselves and exceed all preconceived expectations that people have of them?
If any such students do exist, which I am sure they do, these are the young people who should be praised and recognized with such an award.
Teri Allaby should definitely be recognized for graduating with honours because, with or without children, it is an outstanding achievement that should not be overlooked.
She should not be singled out, however, for doing this while living up to the responsibilities that she has made the decision, purposely or not, to accept.
Miss Allaby is an inspiring example to all young women who find themselves in a similar situation. Nevertheless, it is our responsibility as parents, teachers and as a community to educate young people and provide them with the necessary support that will assist them in making the right decisions now and into their adult life.
We are all responsible for the decisions we make and the sooner we impress this fact upon our young people, the better.
Les Vail
Sussex, N.B.
Guardian Angels can go to Doaktown
If the City of Fredericton does not want the Guardian Angels to help protect against crime, they can send them to Doaktown and surrounding areas.
We'd welcome them.
Nancy Veno
Blissfield, N.B.
Uranium issue will be Liberals' downfall
SCARE NB (Support Citizens Against Radioactive Emissions in New Brunswick) is telling the government and uranium mining companies not to waste any more time and money on exploring for uranium in this province.
The wave of support for a ban on uranium mining is rising faster than the floodwaters of the St. John River.
Uranium mining companies and their investors should cut their losses and pack up their drilling rigs and get out of New Brunswick now.
This Liberal government's arrogance and ignorance on mining will be their demise in 2010.
The people of New Brunswick shall have the last word.
K. Walter Moore
Chairman, SCARE NB
Hoyt, N.B.
A modest proposal?
When will the whining and complaining ever cease concerning the teaching of early French immersion?
For those wannabe francophones, here is the perfect solution.
Have our provincial government enter into an exchange agreement with Quebec.
The English population in New Brunswick, who would prefer to live and educate their children in French, could relocate to Quebec.
This would be in exchange for the English families who would very much like to move from that province because of their draconian language law, Bill 101.
No doubt our provincial government would be willing to assist with moving expenses, since they routinely supply funding for francophones to move from Quebec to fill the ever-increasing jobs that are being designated bilingual.
These are jobs that our English-speaking children and grandchildren fail to qualify for, even after 12 years of French immersion.
This was obviously a trap set for English Canadians by the Trudeau regime, which many continue to fall for.
By moving to Quebec, these English quislings would have no problem educating their children in French, since they would be forced to in accordance with that province's language laws.
This would also free up millions of our education department's tax dollars desperately needed for renovating and replacing the many aging English schools.
Matthew Glenn
President, Anglo Society of N.B.
Minto, N.B.
Search Articles
More CE Network Sites & Partners:
Comments (8)
All comments are subject to the site Terms of Use. For a full commenting tutorial click here.
Our editorial team relies on filtering technology and our visitor community to identify inappropriate comments. In the event that a site user has submitted offensive content that has evaded our filter, please select the option to Flag As Inappropriate presented within the comment. Thank you for helping to keep this site clean.
You seem to believe that EFI is something that only parents in New Brunswick 'whine' about. In fact, it is a program offered across the country, from Prince George, BC to Corner Brook and St. John's.
Your group should be especially concerned about its disappearance in NB because if our schools produce very few anglo children able to speak at anything better than an 'Intermediate' level of French, the French-speaking part of this province will occupy a greater number of the higher positions in our province, which, as you point out, require bilingualism. Or, indeed, we will see additional Quebeckers, or students from BC and NL, arriving to fill such positions.
At that point, your group will have a very hard time promoting its agenda.
Before we started pissing away all this money on "targeted" programs and special schools we were educated to a point where we produced enough intelectuals(ya, ya..I'm not one of them) to produce the great world we have today.
Maybe we could stand to regress a bit here for the sake of stability!
Mr. Vail... I think you're off base in your opinion. Look at the title of the awards: "Turnaround". Although she was put in a difficult situation due to some poor personal choices, she turned her life around to not only keep and raise her children but obtain her diploma with honours. Shouldn't those who make poor choices in life be given some congratulations for not only picking themselves up and moving on, but also attaining higher goals? I think they should. Ms. Allaby should.
Those children could have been abandoned. Ms. Allaby could have dropped out of school. They could have become burdens of the state. None of these circumstances happened. Ms. Allaby (and her parents) should be applauded.
Don't rain on this parade. Too often we see these situations go the wrong way. Hense, no "turnaround"...