Last Wednesday night I attended a film presentation at Edward Milne Community School. The event was hosted by CUPE and featured speakers Wendal Milne, Don Brown and a guest from a Victoria-based, nationally sponsored water watch coalition. For the life of me I fail to see how this film, outlining the difficulties in managing aging multi-million dollar European water systems, has any bearing whatsoever on Sooke’s wastewater system, or for that matter, the CRD’s management of our region’s drinking water resources - both of which remain in public hands.
What I clearly saw, however, was that Wendal Milne and his cohorts have no qualms in continuing personal attacks on Sooke’s mayor and CAO, as well as denigrating the credibility of the district’s staff. Milne and his group continue to spew the same negative misinformation and confusion around the long-term plan for EPCOR’s management of the Sooke wastewater system. Milne, while reiterating his plan to run for mayor, unabashedly bragged about his group’s pleasure in disrupting Sooke council’s decision by soliciting enough petitions to stop the agreement from moving forward. What he fails to acknowledge in all this is the significant additional costs he and his band have likely imposed on Sooke, EPCOR, and the taxpayers.
His metaphor of “would you buy a fridge without getting a few prices” is absurd and simplistic. In fact, we are not buying a “fridge,” we are engaging in a service contract with a reputable company with experience and expertise in this specialized field to run a sophisticated system.
What all this proves to me is that Milne and his blackwater coalition are out of touch with the growing and vibrant community of Sooke. Furthermore, with this constant nasty, fear-mongering U.S. style of campaigning, I am convinced of one thing: I can not in good conscience support Milne or any member of his coalition for positions of responsibility in the upcoming municipal elections.
Steve Shortt
Sooke