It is a far reach to say there are excuses for the ignorance of not understanding the concepts of ecosystem vulnerability, human demographics, shifting baseline, importance of wilderness areas, or sustainability, but there are absolutely no excuses for the high level of arrogance demonstrated from our current premier, Darrell Pasloski.
When a person is elected into a position of representation of the people and blatantly disregards the will of the majority, in this case a high majority, it is called a dictatorship (Merriam-Webster, 2013).
Consciously neglecting the Umbrella Final Agreement can only be described as a betrayal to almost every person in the Yukon. It may even be illegal but I suspect we will find out. I can only imagine how severely insulted the people that worked on the Umbrella Final Agreement and Peel watershed plan could be.
It wasn’t too long ago that the challenge was to tame the wilds of North America, but today the new challenge is to preserve it. Some 67,000 square kilometres of wilderness are being compromised with a single act of arrogance and betrayal.
Sadly, perpetual growth is the only concept that this government seems to be able to work with. I don’t believe that perpetual growth has ever ended without utter disaster. It may take years or centuries but the end is always the same.
I am dumbfounded that this government wouldn’t want to secure a legacy for having the vision for protecting such a huge tract of wilderness for the enjoyment and health of everyone that comes after us forever.
One may need to be a bit of a visionary to realize that wilderness will be the monetary, spiritual and ethical renewable resource of the future. Thanks for reading.
Mike Martin
Whitehorse