Responsible environmentalism

[Dan Andrews]

Tonight at the St Catharines Game and Fish general meeting I spoke about the damage the Species At Risk Act (SARA) is causing the environment. Instead of partnering with farmers to protect habitat that houses endangered species, the Government simply uses SARA as a trump card and slaps restrictions on the land leaving the farmer unable to profit or sometimes even sustain himself. No compensation is offered. This in turn is causing farmers to drain wetlands and level woodlots before that rare butterfly can be discovered.

A similar situation has arisen from the Green Belt Legislation. The Niagara Escarpment Commission, Niagara Parks Commission and even the NPCA are being infiltrated by developers and are making decisions that are supposed to protect sensitive lands from development. It can all be very confusing.

Before you jump on any bandwagon, be sure to consider both sides of the argument. Get the facts before signing a petition and consider the consequences. Approach that animal rights group and ask questions before condemning them as anti hunting whacko's. A petition is the easiest thing to get sucked into. DON'T sign it if you don't have the facts and you've considered both sides of the argument. Once your name is on that petition, it stays there and in the future when the crap hits the fan, and you've reconsidered, your name will still be there to show how stupid you were to have gotten sucked in to signing it in the first place.

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I believe they screwed up a bit calling it monoxide but you get the drift.