Dear Editor,

In a recent letter to the editor, the Columbia Valley Chamber of Commerce informed the people that local businesses are suffering, and that’s why we need to build Jumbo. I see it differently.

Businesses are suffering, not because we need more empty condos, but because the locals are suffering. Under the reign of the BC Liberals and Harper Conservatives, our local middle class has been decimated. Forestry, highways, hydro, health services, education, and the Kootenay Park, all took massive job cuts. It’s their paycheques businesses now miss.

Governments have strategically been targeting the middle class. The first thing the BC Liberals did when they got in power was tear up nurses contracts.

A section of Harper’s stack of undebated omnibus bills purposely sets out to destroy unions. Teachers, airlines and others, were immediately threatened with legislation should they ever suggest a walkout.

Yet Canfor and investors like multi-billionaire Jim Pattison were allowed to sit on their wads for three years as they squeezed out a monopoly. Furthermore, Harper’s foreign worker program is specifically designed to bring down wages.

Making the population poor can’t be good for small business, so what is Harper’s plan?

Firstly, its not Harper’s plan. This is textbook U.S.-led Chicago School economics.

The U.S. has used these same tactics against such nation as Chile, Congo and Nicaragua. U.S. corporate predators now control these nations’ resources.

The tactics against Canada are almost identical: set up a puppet regime (Harper), deregulate, create a crisis, slash wages, bust organized labour, then when everyone is distracted, throw a fire sale on the nation’s resources.

Only a grassroots movement can stop Harper now. Support Idle No More. Take Canada back.

Bryan Stawychny

Edgewater