Dear Editor:
I watch with interest our local municipal elections and find I have two concerns, and I am sure others have similar points of view.
1. One concern is that the elections seem to have a large number of people running for the positions of mayor, council and school board. Just as the numbers indicate for the Nov. 15, 2014 election, you will see that more than 50 per cent of those running will lose (all I can say is good luck!).
Maybe one day`the cities and municipalities will charge a fee, say $500 to $1,000, just to get the candidate's name on the ballot. If the candidate did not win or achieve the prearranged portion of the total votes for the position he or she has chosen, the candidate would then forfeit the deposit to the city or municipality.
This would eliminate those who want their name in the local papers but really have no chance of winning.
2. The other concern is the system between the right and left political wings. The right wing that seems by public opinion to support the builders and pipelines, e.g. Kinder Morgan, ships through our Vancouver harbour, LNG plants in Prince Rupert and Kitimat and, of course, the possibility of Site C dam. All the above do make work with good-paying, long-term jobs.
The public opinion of the left wing group seems to be those who make work with good money and long-term futures, but it seems that they are against most of the above. Is it that they are afraid of the Green Party? And I wonder if they have forgotten that pipelines are the safest way to pump oil and/or gas.An additional advantage would be if the environmentalists would let us build a pipeline, say, to Tsawwassen; it would eliminate the ships going through Vancouver harbour and get the oil/gas almost directly to the ocean. We all must remember that if we kill the pipelines, the trucks and trains will haul coal, oil and gas through every town and road in British Columbia, and we must remember that they don't need any laws changed or environmental approval, as they already have it, and it is my understanding they have the right to do this without our approval.
Thinking back to the left-wing labour, it seems to me that the local politicians are the hand that feeds them.
In my opinion, both left and right political wings want and try to do the best for the working man and his family and, of course, both political wings are working for our future.
Remember, on Nov. 15, when you vote, vote only for the person who you really want elected. If there are six or seven candidates and you only believe in two or three of them, vote only for those two or three. If you just fill in the numbers, you probably will eliminate your own vote.
I would suggest the electorate gets out to vote, and vote wisely.
Earl Marshall, New Westminster
