Dear Editor,

While I certainly appreciate the important role the editor of The Pioneer and The Valley Echo plays in our valley, I really want to address this letter to all of the citizens of the valley.

With the upcoming provincial election on our minds, there are lots of opinions and views flying around. I would ask that we all look back over the years when the BC Liberals have had the responsibility of governing our province. After all, actual performance speaks much louder and truer than any amount of dialogue.

I ask that we all remember the fuel taxes that smacked us in the face one morning. I am sure a few select individuals in our community knew this was coming, but it was pretty much a surprise to most citizens. I ask that we recall what happened to our very efficiently run Invermere Forestry office and to the forestry industry as a whole under this regime. I ask that we remember that the harmonized sales tax was crammed down our throats with no consultation or explanation from our government. Are we supposed to forget all of this and allow the provincial BC Liberal government to continue to make policy that affects all of us, while benefitting only a few of their cronies in each of our B.C. communities?

The provincial BC Liberals obviously think the majority of B.C. citizens don’t have the ability to share intelligent views on matters that affect their daily lives, because they have seldom consulted us on such matters. Had they presented the HST issue, with all the benefits and drawbacks, it is quite possible we would have accepted it by a vote, the democratic way. Instead, it was looked at as the last straw in a long series of actions by the BC Liberals which asked for no public consultation. Thus, it was forcibly rejected by the majority of B.C. voters. Did we shoot ourselves in the foot? Maybe, but we couldn’t take anymore bullying. Do we want more of the same underhanded, slimy goings-on in Victoria? I sure don’t.

The NDP party is not perfect, no political party is. Hopefully they have grown and learned from their mistakes in the past. Hopefully their mandate will be to consult with all of the citizens of our great province before making decisions that will affect everyone but benefit only a few.

When you go to vote this May, and each and every qualified person living in “The Best Place on Earth” should vote, try to ignore all of the easy words flying out of the mouths of politicians and their special interest supporters. Use your own experiences and good sense to elect the party that will listen to the voices of the majority, and not the one that will do anything to line the pockets of their prime members and “behind closed doors” supporters.

Nola Alt

Spillimacheen