Our provincial, federal, as well as some local governments are evading some of their most important duties to take care of us. Though we elect them it often seems that business, mostly in the form of large corporations, metaphorically stuffs the ballot box.

The result is that we have few laws and regulations, and even fewer penalties applied when administrations of any party fail to protect us from, for instance, ingredients in our foods, fail to ensure adequate security in our transactions, fail to protect us from renovictions, from building for the rich rather than every-man, from professional misconduct, provide equal pollution protection or clean water to various minorities, ensure equal police and court protection and treatment for all.

Most of all, they fail to rein in corporations who persist with every dirty trick in the book to destroy our ecosystems, and pillage limited resources for fatuous purposes, (e.g. helium for party balloons rather than saving it for research and medical procedures). All of this is done primarily in the short-term interests of profit for the fortunate few, not for the longer and greater good.

To stop this and the looming disaster of climate chaos, resultant crop failure and losses of infrastructure and life we must do several things to save ourselves. We must engage in an informed way more forcefully and intelligently with our elected politicians, the media, and when shopping.

We must pay more taxes for more services, and do so on a much, much more progressive scale, and we must be as fair as we must be firm, volunteer, and have empathy and an understanding of how much we often depend on those of less advantage to survive or prosper. It is a tall order for many of us, whether pampered or poor, relaxed or harried, (and like vast numbers among us it does not happen by default for me, either).

Glynne Evans

Saanich