Vivian Krause is so shocked (shocked!) that American foundations provide funding to CPAWS for its Peel court case that she travels to Whitehorse to warn the “Yukon chamber guys” (The News, May 23.)
She is mistaken in her claim that American interests are ignoring environmental destruction in Texas and North Dakota. They are not. In fact, American environmental organizations are quite vocal about this.
But more to the point, the oil and mining industry finds nothing upsetting about foreign money influencing our natural resources development. Industry welcomes Chinese investment and ownership in our mining and oil sectors, and I’ve not heard that Krause complains about this.
The Peel watershed plan is now before the courts, the CPAWS and First Nations suit funded in part by American foundations. What is wrong with foreign money funding the search for justice and sound resource management, if it is OK for foreigners to fund resource exploitation?
After all, the Yukon government - arguably on the side of unsustainable development and illegal procedures - is funding its side of the court case with taxpayers’ money. The territory is forcing all Yukoners - Peel plan supporters as well as developers - to finance the government’s pro-development court position.
The foreign foundations have a choice in how they spend their money for influencing this matter; Yukoners don’t. Now that’s disturbing.
Conrad Frieslander
Whitehorse