And while I'm at it, why do people go nuts when there is a minor sewage
spill yet the city of Victoria Canada can dump 34 million gallons of
untreated sewage per DAY into the Straits of Juan de Fuca with no adverse
effects?
Gordon


You'll be pleased to know that the Liberals in Canada are now pressing,
hard, to fund a sewage treatment plant in Victoria. Looks like you and
the Liberals are on the same side here, but to be fair the
Conservatives are also in favor of a sewage plant (as well as
additional army bases) so you don't *really* have to agree with the
Liberals in order to be in favor of sewage treatment. :-)

*****


Victoria sewage plant in Liberal plan
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Prime Minister Paul Martin's Liberals will unveil a new "made-in-B.C.
agenda" on Friday.
Photograph by : Canadian Press
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Published: Friday, January 06, 2006
OTTAWA -- Funding for a sewage treatment plant for Greater Victoria is
part of a made-for-B.C. agenda that federal Liberals are expected to
release today as part their election campaign.

The list of priorities, being championed by B.C. Liberal MPs, also
includes:

- A national centre for disaster-response training and research.

- A B.C.-focused regional-development agency.

- A research centre on drug addiction and mental health in Surrey

- A new visa office in Guangzhou in southern China

- Funding for Nanaimo's convention centre in Nanaimo.

Building a sewage treatment plant would allow Greater Victoria to end
its practice of dumping raw sewage into Juan de Fuca Strait.

But the idea of building such a plant remains controversial, with many
people, including Victoria Liberal MP David Anderson, who isn't running
again, saying it's not necessary because the ocean does an excellent
job of diluting and dispersing the sewage, rendering it harmless.

Victoria Mayor Alan Lowe, a sewage treatment plant supporter, said he's
delighted with the news. He pointed out that the NDP and Conservatives
are also supporting sewage treatment for Victoria.

"They're all talking about it now. They know this has been an issue in
the capital region for decades. The timing is right. The 2010 Olympics
are coming. The capital city should have sewage treatment," said Lowe.

Liberal Industry Minister David Emerson and Health Minister Ujjal
Dosanjh are to reveal the B.C. platform in Vancouver today.

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper recently released his own long list
of B.C. vows that includes re-establishing an army base on the West
Coast and giving British Columbians more seats in Parliament.

The special attention to B.C. voters reflects the view among many
analysts that the winner of the Jan. 23 election will be decided in
many B.C. ridings, which are seeing tight two- and three-way races.

"What this is really doing is flattering British Columbians," said
University of Victoria political scientist Norman Ruff. "It speaks to
the special position of B.C. as the government breaker or government
maker."

The new Liberal plan doesn't promise a new army base, but does respond
to the natural disaster concerns that played a role in Harper's vow to
reverse the 1995 Liberal decision to shut B.C.'s only army base, which
was located in Chilliwack.

"More than any other place in Canada, B.C. communities are vulnerable
to threats such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and forest fires. Greater
Vancouver is susceptible to flooding if the Fraser River and its
tributaries overflow," states the Liberal plan, which was provided to
The Vancouver Sun.

© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2006