I wrote this letter addressing the explosions this morning in Sooke.
Open letter to: The Honourable Mary Polak; Minister of the Environment and The Honourable Peter McKay; Minister of National Defence.
British Columbia is home to green forests, blue oceans, and the the most healthy and well-treated wildlife and ocean life. When someone here wants to go for a hike, there’s ever a shortage of trails and forests; for that, I am proud to say I’m from Sooke, British Columbia. The only thing I can say I’m not proud of, is what the Department of National Defence is happening just off our beautiful coasts.
When explosives are set off in the water, the shockwave and the shrapnel from the explosions have a gruesome affect our ocean life and their habitats. The ecosystem has many delicate living organisms that are required to keep our waters clean and healthy - when the explosives are set off - those organisms die and they’re habitats are destroyed!
How often do we require we test our explosives, and why so often? Don’t we all know what happens when an explosive is set off? BOOM. If the ammunition is live for when we need it, then why are we depleting our natural resources that can’t grow fast enough between tests. It really makes no sense to me and I’m sure others.
The environment is important to me because it pertains our future. I am 16 years old and I’m worried about the current state of our environment. When I’m old, I want to be able to say the ocean is just as beautiful as when I was a kid, and if I have to fight for the beautiful, and rustic environment of British Columbia, I will volunteer.
I hope my words did not go unheard as I want my point to be clear; I won’t stand for our government to harm our environment any longer. We - as a population of informed, knowledgable individuals - will not stand for it.
Taylor Caspersen
Sooke