Editor:
Re: Tom Fletcher’s Jan. 24 column on Neil Young’s criticism of the oil sands (‘Old man, take a look at your facts, they’re not quite true’):
Fletcher should stop taking Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver’s advice.
Drinking from tailings ponds does not appear to be bringing any clarity to Fletcher’s argument.
The fact similar environmental destruction exists in the U.S. means Canadians should shut up and ignore what goes on in our country?
Would Fletcher at least concede any industrial development of this size comes at a significant cost to the environment?
I agree the oil sands are extremely important to the Canadian economy and provide thousands of high-paying jobs to people across this country but, surely, there’s room for a balanced discussion.
Perhaps we can start somewhere between shutting it down, as Neil Young would prefer, or expanding it as fast as humanly possible — the clear choice of the present federal and Alberta governments.
If Young’s comments lead to discussions at dinner tables across this country, then he did us all a great service.
Bob Tanner
Campbell River
