Dear Editor,
I've been struck by the irony of recent, published pictures of my
Member of Parliament, Robert Sopick. Smiling broadly, he is shown
in one, presenting trophies to the winners of a fishing derby
and, in the other, in beaming attendance at a sport fishing banquet (below).
A few days later, the government Mr. Sopuck represents, rammed through the all-purpose budget bill which included the gutting of the Fisheries Act. Now, all the Act will allegedly "protect" are those fish that are part of "a commercial, recreational or aboriginal fishery." The old Act protected all fisheries, presumably because fish don't always stop abruptly at the boundaries they have been designated. How naive! As a recent article from a Canadian professor of environmental law suggests, if the fish don't "obey" the new rules imposed by Harper, they could find themselves in mortal danger of strip mines, oil spills, clear cuts and the other hazards posed by this government's wild west, development-at-any-cost mentality.
In his latest flyer, Mr. Sopuck is appealing to his constituents to fly a flag to show their "patriotism." Since patriotism means accepting your government whether it is right or wrong, I guess he'll be needing as much of that as he can get.
Mr. Sopuck, shame on you! Some environmentalist!
If more voters around here don't soon start connecting the dots between the party they keep re-electing, and the destruction it is wrecking on our beautiful country, God help us all!
Larry Powell
Roblin, MB
