Dear Editor,

I was reading recently that the Prescott Russell County Council is not supportive of the Alto idea. Apparently, they were concerned as to its effects on farmland, property owners, local roads, the environment and taxpayers.

That’s a bit rich. This is the same County Council which happily threw Champlain and the other Eastern townships under the bus when they voted in favour of Colacem’s massive polluting cement plant near L’Orignal. It seems that it’s only when the western townships and, in particular Clarence-Rockland, are themselves threatened that they get all gushy about our rural character.

But I digress.

There have been a great many arguments against the Alto idea, both in this newspaper and elsewhere. They ranged from the disastrous effect it will have on farmers and property owners to the negative impact on wildlife. All perfectly valid, in my opinion. But it seems to me that the main reason this is a bad idea has rarely been touched on and it’s a simple one. We can’t afford it.

$60 to 90 billion has been floated as the cost of this project and if you’ll believe that then I have some luxury waterfront up on Hudson’s Bay you might be interested in. Even if the inevitable cost overruns don’t happen, we simply don’t have that kind of money sitting around waiting to be spent. And we do have a ballooning national debt. But wait, it gets worse.

We are about to go into trade talks with the US. Actually, they are not coming to talk. Or negotiate. They are coming to tell Canada what Canada is going to do and severely punish us if we don’t do as we are told. That maniacal bully in the White House is looking for a victim and we’re it. “Canada is not for Sale” and “Elbows Up ” are nice slogans, but the reality is we are about to take a truly massive economic hit. Now is not the time to be throwing money at shiny, frivolous image building projects that will only benefit a handful of businesspeople and the tourism operators.  If we have that kind of money, spend it on things we really need. Rebuild our military, build those pipelines to BC, central and Eastern Canada, get that port built in Churchill Manitoba. Alto is a shiny toy that we can’t afford. Do the Math.

Respectfully,

Colin Affleck. Champlain Township.