Editor, The News:
Re: Tree-spikers cling to Lelu Island (B.C. Views, July 20).
The United Nations declaration on the Rights of Indigenous peoples, adopted by the General Assembly in September 2007, states:
“Indigenous peoples have the right to the conservation and protection of the environment and the productive capacity of their lands or territories and resources. They have ‘the right to redress’ for the lands that “have been confiscated, taken, occupied, used or damaged without their free, prior and informed consent.”
Lelu Island is an isolated area that takes 40 minutes in good weather to get to by ferry.
Given that fact, should there be a man-made LNG caused disaster, the consequences would be dire along the coastal waters of British Columbia, affecting ocean life (fisheries) for decades.
I do not feel Tom Fletcher’s opinion provides a complete and accurate picture of what happens when the fossil fuel industry, in its frenzy to extract resources, moves onto land which belongs to indigenous people and non-native landowners.
Mr. Fletcher’s article, I feel, promotes divisiveness, intolerance, misunderstanding, and marginalizes an already impoverished minority.
Marie R. Robson
Maple Ridge