Now that Saanich council has informed the public it wants Panama Flats as a bird sanctuary, why not prove it?

Once a farm, this property will need a little help in bringing it back to wilderness standing.

With only one small permanent pond (that seldom runs dry), how much more welcome would some well-designed larger ponds and carefully planted native bushes and deciduous trees be to the birds that need that sort of habitat to thrive?

A golden opportunity was available when the McKenzie interchange was being developed, but I’m sure Saanich could find some civic-minded business entrepreneurs interested in helping create a world-class bird sanctuary.

Let this be more than just another subject for another meeting for the public to mull over. Time to put this idea on the map.

Eric Roberts

Victoria

The federal government’s Bill C-15 contains an alarming assault on Canadian democracy. Modifications to the Red Tape Reduction Act would give cabinet ministers the power of medieval monarchs — back when people believed in the Divine Right of Kings.

If a project is deemed to be of “national interest,” or to “encourage innovation, competitiveness or economic growth,” a minister can order it to be exempted from any existing legislation except the Criminal Code.

Remember that before being elected, cabinet ministers were ordinary Canadian women and men; they are politicians, not necessarily scientific experts or renowned for their wisdom.

A foundational principle of democracy is that nobody is above the law. Giving certain people immunity from the laws is profoundly anti-democratic — it is an avenue toward dictatorship.

The proposed changes are hidden in a 600-page omnibus bill; this technique, to avoid transparency and public awareness, is in itself anti-democratic.

It is easy to see how these changes might be applied. Successful lobbying by, for example, fossil-fuel corporations could lead to their projects being approved despite concerns about groundwater or human health.

This is not “peace, order and good government,” as the Canadian Constitution Act of 1867 prescribed; it is putting the desires of........

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