The Editor,
Re. "No way to reduce when building mega houses" (Letters, The Tri-City News, March 4) and "Leave existing areas alone" (March 6).
Let me remind the people of our city and all the other municipalities why we have too many oversized houses being built in our neighbourhoods. It is not just because our municipal politicians voted it to be so; it is because the people of our region do not get to vote on important issues such as this during elections.
We do not have equitable democracy in Canada. We can't even vote on whether we want it.
We have the rich supporting the politicians they want to be elected for and it works just great for them, except now we know the biosphere is so quickly deteriorating it is endangering and killing off many species.
Changes are needed to slow down the risks and destruction. We shouldn't just have to accept the status quo and go bigger because it's "better."
There are so many faults with our local governments, like the lack of strong tree bylaws.
A property was cleared by Porter Street elementary school last week: a dozen large trees up to 60 years old and several smaller ones, more than 800 years of growth that added to Earth's biology.
And how will our city "balance" this out? How does it balance out the trees lost on the side of Burke Mountain? Without good bylaws, it doesn't.
I agree some trees have to go for new housing and there's nothing wrong with building larger homes, based on the sustainability of our actions.
Thanks for letting me vent.
Steve Mancinelli, Coquitlam
