Dear Mr. Zimmer:
I attended the McBride public meeting on Southern Mountain Caribou Recovery Planning on the evening of April 24, 2019. You were also in attendance at that meeting.
I thank you for attending, but there were some things you said to the audience that really bothered me.
First you said that the Yellowstone to Yukon Initiative is a plan to “lock up” all the land between the Yukon and Yellowstone National Park along the Rocky Mountains. You attempted to paint the organization as a diabolical plot to deprive Canadians of employment and the right to fish, hunt, hike and explore the Canadian wilderness. I have been a member and a very minor player in Y2Y since its inception and strongly disagree with your characterization. Here are the Y2Y Vision and Mission Statements from its website: “An interconnected system of wild lands and waters stretching from Yellowstone to Yukon, harmonizing the needs of people with those of nature. Connecting and protecting habitat from Yellowstone to Yukon so people and nature can thrive.” Personally, I would support a stronger commitment to increasing fully protected area in the Y2Y region, but that is not really its mandate.
Another thing you said was how many constituents you represented. I think it was about 105,000. My impression from that was that you represent all the citizens in your constituency. However, I certainly do not feel represented by you due to your blind allegiance to industrial development in the BC wilderness and apparent lack of concern for environmental issues, especially climate change and the major extinction event that we are currently overseeing. Woodland caribou are part of that extinction and they are expiring primarily in your jurisdiction and on your watch.
Finally, I was offended by your rudeness in “hogging” the microphone that night and making an election style speech, rather than freely sharing it with the community members that had come to hear from the caribou recovery team members and provide comment back to them.
Roy Howard
Dunster, BC
