To the editor:
Re: “Newsmaker of the Year,” Dec 12.
My faith in the Vancouver Courier is being tested. While I don’t live in Vancouver, I do travel into the city frequently and, whenever possible, I try to find a Courier because, in my opinion, the paper is less mainstream than most papers, more independent, less politically biased and more objective.
That said, I couldn’t believe the absolute drivel I read the article under “Newsmaker of the Year” entitled “Whale of a tale.” I’ve never seen so many inaccuracies and outright falsehoods in such a short (just 110 words) piece. It was, indeed, a whale of a tale.
The tone of the article is very condescending, making reference to those (clearly implied “radical,” “fanatical,” “militant”) animal rights activists who sort of had a good idea but, in the end, common sense and the status quo prevailed.
The Vancouver Park Board was NOT divided on the breeding ban last summer: The five commissioners present last summer voted unanimously in favour. Gutless and cowardly former VPB chair Aaron Jasper only became “divided” at the last minute, when his puppet-masters at the Vision Vancouver executive started pulling his strings.
And despite the NPA’s Melissa De Genova’s denials, the public consultation on this matter last summer was extremely thorough. I don’t recall Kirk LaPointe participating in that process!
And finally, how dare anyone “presume” that, as a result of Aaron Jasper’s last minute betrayal — of himself, his kids, his party, the citizens of Vancouver and, most importantly, the whales, dolphins and porpoises — “the aquarium’s water-borne mammals...breathed a little easier.”
They will only breathe a little easier if/when they’re no longer imprisoned in small cement tanks and forced to learn stupid circus tricks for dead fish, all for the entertainment of us supposedly-more-intelligent human beings!
Don’t assume that the NPA now controls the VPB because of their position on the cetacean breeding ban or cetaceans in captivity; they won the VPB exclusively on the community centres issue.
As I’ve alluded to throughout this letter, if there’s money to be made, animal abuse is not merely acceptable, it’s actually condoned.
Errol E. Povah,
Delta
