Re: Leap Manifesto stance a concern (Gazette op-ed, April 21)
Jim Shepard, director of Concerned Citizens for British Columbia, an organization he hatched around the prior B.C. provincial election challenged John Horgan to reveal which parts of the Leap Manifesto he supports. Shepard’s column also suggests he has issues with performing artists in music and film who are supportive of the Manifesto.
While I have a multitude of questions I would like Christy Clark to address, some a good deal more revealing than the Leap Manifesto, those answers will never be forthcoming. So instead, perhaps Mr. Shepard could ask Premier Clark which parts of the Leap Manifesto her government supports?
Being friends with Ms. Clark, he should have easy access. Jim Shepard was CEO of Canfor Corp, the lumber and paper company, so I understand his fear of environmental legislation. After all, B.C. has had, and continues to have the lowest job fulfillment stats in that industry, and the lowest provincial government revenues per cut wood volume, sometimes by less than half of other Canadian wood producing provinces.
That can add up to considerably improved revenues for Canfor stockholders, such as Jimmie Pattison, who, as of two months ago, personally or through his companies owned more than 35 per cent of Canfor’s common shares. And while Mr. Shepard is held in high esteem by some (as a recent inductee to the Order of B.C.), I would like to remind him of some of his notable peers, which include musical performing artists. There’s also climate scientist and leader of the BC Green Party, Andrew Weaver; and internationally recognized journalist, lecturer, author and scientist, David Suzuki. Sometimes a little digging hits pay dirt.
Arthur Entlich
Metchosin