I usually avoid reading Tom Fletcher’s column as I find him very closed-minded. But my partner insisted that I read it Nov. 9 (Occupy is just another squat) because he was so infuriated by Mr. Fletcher’s words that he wanted me to see what he had written. And of course, I was infuriated as well.
I am now a senior, but I have taken part in many peaceful demonstrations and acts of civil disobedience during my lifetime. It is our right as citizens to peacefully protest when we find that our governments have taken a wrong turn.
The Occupy movement is world-wide. It doesn’t just reflect inequities in Victoria or B.C. or even Canada.
Governments are too influenced by corporations and are not representing the interests of their constituents, many of whom are falling behind and losing their savings and even their homes.
Citizens are also speaking out against corporate decisions that negatively affect our drinking water, our oceans, our forests and ultimately the health of our nation.
Many of us protested the North America Free Trade Agreement in the 1980s, which resulted in companies and jobs leaving our country. Thirty years later we are still dealing with the loss of jobs and this is part of the reason that people are on the streets today.
I don’t know what world Fletcher is living in, but he looks fairly comfortable and I am pretty sure he has a good job, a warm bed to sleep in and lots of food to eat. Not so for many of us, as he can see by looking around our city. And his “facts” (like that the protests are funded by government unions) need to be footnoted, as I have not heard those “facts” before and doubt their validity.
I wouldn’t mind if he was just a letter-writer, but to have his column as a weekly mainstay of your otherwise quite readable paper is an affront to our intelligence.
Kathryn Ogg
Victoria