Howlett’s the right man for this job

RE: PORT AUTHORITY RAISES RED FLAG ... (MARCH 1)

I am visiting Hamilton from Vancouver for a few days and read your article about the Hamilton Port Authority’s shenanigans regarding local environmental activist Jim Howlett.

Jim’s persistence and devotion to the welfare of his community are inspiring. City Council naming him to the Hamilton Port Authority is brilliant. The HPA blocking him from meaningfully filling the role delegated to him by the democratically-elected city council is bizarre and raises questions about conflict of interest.

This all reminds me of our struggles in Vancouver with our port authority attempting to permit a huge coal port expansion against the wishes of local municipal councils, and of the federally-appointed, three-member National Energy Board ruling that it has jurisdiction to override the municipal permitting regimens that regulate the proposed Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion.

It is heartwarming to know that BC is not the only place where this goes on.

David Mivasair, Vancouver