"Reason is always a kind of brute force; those who appeal to the head rather than the heart, however pallid and polite, are necessarily men of violence. We speak of 'touching' a man's heart, but we can do nothing to his head but hit it." --G.K. Chesterton

Monday, April 30, 2012

How our eco-embrace hurts workers

A briliant column in today's Vancouver Sun prompted me to write the following to the piece's author, Fazil Mihlar:

Brilliant op-ed on poverty today! Very good way of presenting the information. Interestingly, I've read many left-wing pieces in the US, questioning why low-income Americans "vote against their interests" by voting for Republicans (answer: tricky Republicans dupe them by waving the flag).

But your piece today has me asking: how is it that so many Canadians, of all economic levels, "vote against their interests" by supporting what I call "green tape" (environmental red tape). Furthermore, I also wonder how the NDP is allowed to get away with self-describing itself as the party of the working person while, at the same time, also being the chief supporter of job-killing green tape.


One more thing: since the two by-election results earlier this month, I've been thinking that the Number One peril posed by an NDP government isn't higher taxes, ballooning deficits, or trade-union protectionism; it's the spectre of more green tape (which, of course, will soon lead to higher unemployment, lower wages, ballooning deficits and higher taxes). Just look at what's happened/happening to California.

I'll no doubt be speaking about this general topic during deliberations of Coquitlam Council (of which I am now a member) in the coming months and years. I've already been quite outspoken about some other enviro-related issues. See http://www.terryoneill.ca/.

Once again: congratulations.




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