As one of the people portrayed in the photo with your article “Marine Trail Holdings still holding,” Sooke News Mirror, June 22, 2011, (front row, second from left) I was bemused by Director Hicks’s description of resort opponents as the Dogwood Initiative army “eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches until school starts in the fall.”
The photo speaks for itself. It shows the diversity of people — young, old and in between — who care about the Juan de Fuca Park and the green belt in the Regional District. They are affiliated with any number of groups; Sierra Club BC and the Wilderness Committee among others, or none at all.
Sierra Club supporters alone sent over 600 letters to the CRD and/or the provincial government opposing the resort.
Sierra Club BC’s local group volunteers have been to every meeting and public hearing since February and we intend to continue. The process has been protracted and burdensome for people who also have work and family obligations. But we’re hanging in there because we know that this is not just a local issue and not just about Marine Trail Holdings. It’s about saying no to creeping sprawl and yes to protecting the irreplaceable beauty on our doorstep; yes to sustainable livelihoods and regional governance where decisions affecting the whole region are made by all municipalities and electoral areas.
Ana Simeon
Victoria