The moment the Canadian government bought the Trans Mountain Pipeline, I thought to myself: “They are going to run out of money, and then what?” It seems that’s exactly what happened now. We are informed that the government is not willing to spend more money on a project that the Prime Minister decided to buy. The voices of protesters were silenced; I remember a town hall event in Nanaimo, where Justin Trudeau said, “Get these people out of here!” referring to opponents of the project.
It is true that a lot of employees have made quite a bit of cash, working for Trans Mountain, but at what cost? There are no houses or apartments available for regular residents in our town. Some property assessments were over 100 per cent higher than the year before, not good for families for whom this is home, and not just an investment property. In case you’re lucky and find accommodation, you can’t afford it anymore. I am afraid workers won’t be happy with a “normal” job, after all this.
A big chunk of our farmland looks like a war trench for several months now. We hear the noise of machinery until late at night, often seven days a week, and the smell of rotten eggs is in the air, since a nearby pond has been disturbed. I read about problems with marshland and mountainous terrain—we were told, everything has been thoroughly studied and figured out by experts. I wonder who the private investors will be, who will be willing to take on a project that has extended its calculated costs by more than eight billion before completion? Are you kidding me?
Maria Lerch
Valemount, BC
