Re: 鈥淗ow foreign groups influence our vote,鈥� column, March 24.
Gwyn Morgan is concerned about money spent undermining the fossil-fuel industry, significant amounts of which originate from the U.S. He fails to mention that the amounts are puny by comparison with the huge amount of Canadian taxpayer dollars spent every year by successive governments, without our consent (vote) and against previous Ottawa pledges to discontinue these subsidies by 2009.
By the most recent assessment (International Institute for Sustainable Development, September 2018) $1.6 billion of federal funds are given to the fossil-fuel industry each year. These payments are 鈥渉idden鈥� from public scrutiny (Star Metro Vancouver, September 2018) and are never part of any electoral platform or budget announcements.
Given the considerable behind-the-scenes political power of this industry draining the public purse, funding of environmental groups should be regarded as a valuable 鈥渃heck and balance,鈥� mitigating misguided government handouts that worsen climate change.
Adrian Fine
Victoria
