Dear Editor
Re: Letter published Aug. 11, 2016 in the Regional Optimist.
Mr. Hult complained about the public protest on Aug. 4, where protesters from many cultural, linguistic and ethnic backgrounds walked to display their concerns over the Husky Oil spill into the North Saskatchewan River.
First, implying that the First Nations’ protesters are “slow” is racist, and should be above publication in the Optimist. Shameful.
Second, the protesters are not looking for sympathy. We were all there to express our concerns about the pollution of our drinking water, the lack of environmental review of the leaking pipeline, the destruction of wildlife, the disregard of citizens’ concerns by their own government and the lack of oversight of a major environmental threat.
Each and every resident of Saskatchewan should be concerned about the quality of the environment, the quality of their water and the protection of our waterways and wildlife. Advocates who engage in public participation and advocacy want action taken to insure our children, and our children’s children, live in a province where they can eat the fish they catch, drink water free of bitumen and chemicals, and have a waterside picnic without animal carcasses washing ashore.
It is too bad drivers were inconvenienced. The spill certainly caused more than “inconvenience” and costs to the City of North Battleford, Prince Albert, First Nations lands and other communities. The animals that lost their lives in this environmental disaster were more than “inconvenienced.”
Edouard Trippe De Roche
Cochin
