When will the insanity stop?

"So bleak is the picture... that the bulldozer and not the atomic bomb may turn out to be the most destructive invention of the 20th century". ~Philip Shabecoff, New York Times Magazine, 4 June 1978


As I am reading and hearing different information regarding South Fraser Perimeter Road (SFPR) I get more and more lost in the insanity of cost of construction and the cost of loosing wildlife and natural habitat.

First off the governments involved have you believe that the cost involved is to help stimulate the economy. Whose economy? The contractor is not only out of province they are out of the country? So who is the company going to hire? Will they be bringing in their own employees from Spain or where ever else they have their headquarters?

Secondly, Shirley Bond will have you believe in her statements that this road will take trucks out of communities. This will never happen. I know in Surrey the residents of Whalley thought the SFPR would take trucks off 140th, 108th, 104 and several other roads until someone (like a person who really understands the reason for the road) asked Jaime Boan, Transportation Manager for City of Surrey to confirm the truth and told them that those roads would still be truck routes. Also, owner operators will take the shortest way to get anywhere to keep his cost down.

Thirdly, cost keep on increasing. They are building this road along the south bank of the Fraser and bulldozing homes (and not recycling any of the material, it is all going straight into the dump, which is another story), cutting through sensitive ecosytems and paving over some of the best farmland in the world (what about food security). To help mitigate the impacts to all this destruction they have to spend even more money for enhancement for the loss of habitat and agriculture land.

Finally, the road is not needed. We don't need to buy junk that is imported and coming through the ports. They could use the existing rail lines to take all of it out. Delta Port has stalled building the new berth because port traffic has slowed down.

So if the road is stopped, more money will be available for things we need. Education, health care, housing, homes for seniors ......