On this beautiful spring day in my nature-filled neighbourhood, I am once again pained to hear the sound of chainsaws ring out and watch the branches skimming off more of our precious Douglas firs.

These are firs that will no longer grace the neighbourhood with their beauty, nor provide habitat for the birds, animals and insects. Firs that will no longer stand with the other trees in our neighbourhood against the windstorms. Their loss will make more wind tunnels, leading to more tree loss in neighbouring properties.

I have called upon the North Saanich council to protect the natural environment of our municipality since I moved here in 2012. In 2020, I and many others are still calling for real protections for the existing natural environments and supportive programs to grow and enhance them.

We are in the middle of a pandemic which has cost hundreds of thousands of people to fall ill and die. It is costing trillions and trillions of dollars. Yet still, we ignore the connection between our contempt for nature and the threats to our health and wealth that we are living with now.

North Saanich council continues to ignore the value of our environment. But they are not alone in taking no real action. Perhaps they are afraid to stand up. Perhaps they are afraid of not being fiscally prudent. Perhaps they fear what other people might think or say. But by focussing on those small fears, they blind themselves to immensely greater dangers.

I feel sad for us all.

Terrie Rolph

North Saanich