Re: Column on city fines for tree-cutting on private property.
Please thank Mark Rushton for his contribution on the subject, and providing excellent reasons for not needing this bylaw.
In addition, one might add the fact that the B.C. forest industry currently plants about $250 million forestry seedlings annually in British Columbia.
However, that is not what this is about, is it?
It is my contention that this bylaw must overstep at least one boundary in our Canadian constitution. If it does not, then as a nation I believe we are doomed.
This bylaw is about power and control over citizens, and extracting money from them at will.
These types of bylaws foster distrust and division between neighbours, friends, and even within families.
Bylaw enforcement is complaint or shall we say “fink” driven, is it not?
What a superb way to “divide and rule” the general populace.
With money coerced from the people through this bylaw, I suggest the city take the first opportunity (say the next major new intersection or roundabout) and erect, instead of native art or a berry edifice, a life-size statue of Joseph Stalin.
This gesture will demonstrate the total contempt city of Abbotsford officials have for citizens living here. It might also function to alert potential investors and newcomers to what awaits them.
Eric van Steenis