Waterfront property issue emotional
The recent guest column written by a previous Parks Commission representative was a rambling attempt to link together different issues into one overall theme of attacking the integrity of waterfront property owners.
The spurious accusation waterfront owners are under the impression their higher tax bills entitles them to “proprietal extensions into the public foreshore” and that they believe that their relative wealth entitles them to special accommodation cannot go unchallenged.
That one or two individuals in the height of an emotional debate may have made such a ridiculous statement in the past is certainly possible, but to build a case on what is no more than a rural legend trivializes the whole issue of private property rights in general and waterfront property rights specifically.
Any waterfront owner who held those beliefs would be ridiculed and ostracized by their neighbours and in fact would become the laughing stock of the waterfront community.
The writer is attempting to introduce this divisive notion as he calls it, all on his own. It is not part of any serious dialogue regarding access to the foreshore but simply a reflection of the paranoia that a small minority continually attempt to interject into the overall debate.
Michael Butler
North Saanich
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