Mayor’s comments shaming, belittling
Dear Mayor Siebring,
This letter is in response to the article headlined “N. Cowichan considering hosting 2 new cell towers”. It is not an anti-5G letter. It is in opposition to your use of the phrase “squirrel down” and other comments by you peppered throughout the article.
I believe your comments in the article were shaming and underestimated the intelligence of your constituents. You said that you would not “squirrel down in a multitude of websites with a multitude of opinions”, that we have to trust the regulators and that regulators are accountable. A substance being safe, in this case the substance being 5G, and someone being accountable for that substance are two different things. Specifically it sounds like your constituents want to pursue the safety issue and that they have science, not just ‘opinions’ from professionals with credentials and not just ‘bellybuttons’.
Simply put, simply being accountable doesn’t warrant trust so please don’t weave the two ideas together in that way. There have been substances in the environment that have caused a lot of harm, accountability or not. Asbestos, DDT, thalidomide and many others I am sure. We have all benefited from those willing to ‘squirrel down’ and expose the harm so that it could be stopped.
Furthermore I am sure you have been willing to squirrel down on the internet before when you found value in the reason for doing so. Why not see value in what your constituents want? If you don’t personally have the time, appoint someone else to do it.
Stop shaming and belittling the actions some are willing to undertake to educate and advocate for ourselves and our families. We have valid reasons to question.
Genevra Ornelas
Cowichan Bay