The Editor:
An alarming percentage of local newspapers have gone out of business, giving up to TV and online services and discarding their valuable historical files.
I am so pleased that The Northern Light is bucking that trend; you are still alive and better than ever.
Tom Kimberly
Blaine
The Editor:
When I moved to White Rock 17 years ago, I was fortunate to have a view of Boundary Bay. Recently, I have often seen hundreds of gulls, ducks and mergansers join five to six dozen seals in attacking schools of fish (salmon or herring?) around the White Rock pier. I had never noticed this before. During the summer, I observed gray whales for the first time. At dusk last fall, I saw thousands of gulls and flocks of crows simultaneously fly eastward for hours. It was amazing! Several years ago my wife and I spotted two pelicans, apparently blown north by strong winds, struggling in the bay; only one survived.
It makes me wonder about the environment. All it takes is one oil tanker disaster to destroy all of this. Bearing in mind the storm that damaged the White Rock pier last December, it is an accident waiting to happen. The province of Alberta seems more concerned with jobs, which they will probably get when the federally owned Liberal pipeline satisfies the Conservative gluttony for oil with daily tankers. The wildfires of B.C. and Alberta the last few years and the recent Brazilian, Californian and Australian fires have left their mark on the global environment.
It also makes me think of the White Rock urban environment, which has been in a rapid process of change. The plethora of cranes foreboding high rises in White Rock center have grown like weeds thanks to the previous city council. I think a plaque identifying the former mayor and councilors should be posted on city hall so that we remember in perpetuity how they so drastically and permanently changed the panorama of our city by the sea.
I realize that change is inevitable as our population grows, but how and at what cost? Considering the reality of climate change, our natural and urban environments are increasingly becoming at risk.
Albert Leering
White Rock, B.C.
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