On this week's opinion pages we have a letter to the editor from Gwyn Morgan, chair of SNC-Lavalin and a board member of Encana Corporation. We run the letter at the request of David Black, owner of the Clearwater Times and Black Press. In his letter, Morgan asks the people of B.C. not to vote for change for the sake of change but to think about how a NDP government would rev up spending while stymieing resource development.
We also have a letter from our local raconteur, Jim Lamberton. He takes on the same issue as Morgan but from the opposite perspective. The BC Liberals are fear mongering about how bad things were when the NDP was in power 20 years ago but want us to forget the bad things the Liberals have done while they've been in power, Lamberton writes.
We also have a letter from George Briggs. The roundabout about to be constructed on Highway 5 in Clearwater should have been taken to referendum, says the Upper Clearwater resident.
Well, maybe but probably not. The roundabout is a provincial project on a provincial highway being paid for by provincial dollars. Should residents of a local area have veto power over such a project? I don't think so.
Briggs does have a point, though. We do need a better and more formal process to gather public input on projects, such as the roundabout, that have important local implications.
In case any readers might have missed it, your editor is a great admirer of the Swiss political system.
There, any piece of legislation can be overturned by the voters in a referendum.
We had a taste of how this could work here in B.C. with the voting down of the HST, but the restrictions and limitations make such votes a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. In Switzerland, such popular initiatives and votes on legislation are almost everyday occurrences.
The result is that the political parties there must work together in coalition governments. They need to ensure that the majority of the population is behind them on whatever they do. If they don't, the people can and very likely will vote to overturn whatever they decide.
In an ideal world there wold be more power to the people and less to the government. That isn't today's world, however.
Today, or rather on voting day next Tuesday, we need to cast our ballots on who will represent the Kamloops-North Thompson riding in the provincial Legislature.
We can't tell you how to vote. We can suggest to you, however, that it is extremely important that you do vote.
Please take the time to contribute your part to keeping our democratic traditions alive.