Open letter to Premier Darrell Pasloski:
On Jan. 31, Yukoners could read your response to the community-wide opposition to your governments modified Peel plan . You said: “So what we have here is both ends of the spectrum not happy. And I think that speaks a lot to what we were trying to achieve.”
Yes, Mr. Pasloski, you are right. That speaks a lot about how you define your government. Obviously you define a compromise as a solution which makes both ends of the spectrum unhappy - as you mentioned, “that is evidence that the government has found the balance it was looking for.”
But if you take a moment of thorough consideration, you should know that a compromise is exactly the opposite thing: a solution which makes both opponents - in our case, mining and conservation groups - happy or at least content. The final recommended plan for protection of the Peel watershed, a product of seven years of intense work from different groups of interest, is precisely that.
Now I know you are an intelligent human being and a person who wants to be respected for what you do and think, like all of us. And there is a way to earn respect you’ve lost from your constituents.
The easiest way out would be to accept the final recommended plan (and as a nice side effect, it would also save a lot of money, otherwise spent for court battles).
But maybe you feel you cannot do that because of pressure from the industry or other reasons. Then another option to regain respect and trust of Yukoners would be to call an election now, because finally the people know about your party’s stand on the Peel, on oil and gas development and on frackin - issues you did not have on your agenda before you got elected.
By doing nothing you are not only wasting taxpayers’ money on court battles (fought against the very same taxpayer) but also polarizing our Yukon community - not to mention losing the trust and respect of most Yukoners .
Mr. Pasloski, a couple of weeks ago you travelled to South Africa to honour the late Nelson Mandela’s courage and dignity. I want to ask you now to do the right thing and show courage and dignity yourself.
Elke Huber
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