Open letter to Premier Darrell Pasloski,
I was reading some national news headlines and saw your name pop up in an article where you accused Liz Hanson of being a racist when she questioned the wisdom of the upcoming trade deal with China. I was a tad embarrassed at reading this in a Canada-wide Yahoo News site.
We don’t need insults, Mr. Premier. We want facts. Since I have a regular job and don’t have time to delve into the finer points of the honesty and integrity of the Chinese government, perhaps I could just give you a few personal instances and some others that seemed to just stand out very clearly.
* A few years ago my daughter had to burn bags of dog food that had wheat gluten or rice protein laced with melamine that originated in China. Pets died of kidney failure because someone was adding substances to pet food that increased the protein content.
* I heard that Olympic athletes were warned not to eat meat in China because they could possibly fail their mandatory drug tests if they ingested the government-inspected meat.
* We heard about many toys being recalled because they were painted with lead-based paint.
* This government is also listed in a recent National Geographic as being involved in the largest number of incidents and seizures of illegal ivory products.
* The past president seemed to have scored big time and is listed as having a vast amount of available cash and the new president, Xi Jinping’s family, has a comfortable nest egg of $400 million.
* There was a study done on other politicians in that country where they looked at the net worth of the top 70 members of the aptly named National People’s Congress. These guys had a combined total worth of 89.8 billion. I don’t know if that is in pounds, dollars, yen, or shekels, but that seems like a pile of green to me.
* We love to forget history when it suits us, but this is the same government that did not seem to have a problem with running over students in Tiananmen Square.
So now you are involved in trade negotiations with this less-than-stellar group of businessmen. They didn’t get that rich recycling pop cans. It wasn’t their ability to work hard and save for a rainy day. They got that rich using and abusing power.
From what I have read on your attempts at dealing with this government, I am not filled with pride and confidence. Fear and trepidation would be a more apt description.
Don’t sell out Yukoners or our resources. Don’t believe that the world is a fair and equitable place. Don’t blast someone as a racist when prudence and some careful reading would be a better strategy.
Perhaps go back to basics and ask yourself: “Would you buy a used car from this man?” Somebody just might want to take you for a ride.
Pete Harms
Whitehorse