Skip to content

Priorities skewed in going after poachers

I am not condoning poaching, but it seems we may have our priorities skewed
25207917_web1_Letters-logo-2-660x440

Priorities skewed in going after poachers

Reading the headline of Robert Barron’s column “Poachers in forest reserve should be treated harshly” made me wonder about today’s realities.

Looking at the picture of the two trees, the strong staining tells me that those two trees were suffering root rot and probably showed all the symptoms; loss of canopy and the canopy that was left was lighter green or shades of yellow than a healthy tree. Many cedar trees are also in distress and the die off is significant. If I had a look at the stumps and trees close up I could probably tell a lot about the stolen trees as well as the poacher.

Our arch villain the poacher might have been some reasonably honest tax payers rationalizing it would be alright to put these dying trees in our community forest to a good use; perhaps to heat his or her house and save a little money for the ever increasing local taxes, or perhaps they have lost their job during this pandemic and are holding on by the skin of their teeth.

But go ahead, form a posse, saddle up the import SUVs and ride through the King’s Forest searching for these hardened criminals. By chance you may also catch someone poaching the King’s salmon. They could be hung from the nearest yard arm on a gill-netter or seine boat!

I am not condoning poaching, but it seems we may have our priorities skewed.

I read in a local forum that the St. Julian temporary housing has four out of 12 rooms occupied by drug dealers. That there is a black pickup parked near our schools selling sex and possibly drugs to the kids. The brag is all they have to do is sell a kid a hit and they have a customer for life — however long that might be.

We read about the 12-year-old girl dying from an overdose in the Victoria area and about the guy who gave the kids a ride downtown to buy the drugs and make sure they were safe in the sketchy area where the dealer was, but he can’t remember what the dealer looked like. He wants to be thought of as a hero.

I would like to see the Cowichan Valley Citizen strap on its high powered silver pen and research and write an article about these dealers that in a roundabout way murder a lot of people. Or how about a story on the problems that business people and regular people are having in the areas where these drug dealers and users hang out? The filth is terrible but yet I never read about how many business people start their days cleaning these areas. As far as I know Tek Manhas and Al Siebring are the only elected officials in the Cowichan Valley who lend a hand with the daily clean ups. Where are the rest of our paid elected officials?

I wonder if I am just an old retired working man that no longer understands where our priorities of right and wrong lie.

John Money

Duncan