Re: 鈥淐ourts and inept leaders are failing us,鈥� comment, Oct. 14.
Gwyn Morgan鈥檚 excellent article on the Court of Appeal panel鈥檚 rejection of the National Energy Board approval of the Kinder Morgan pipeline was right on the mark. It is indeed ridiculous that three judges can prevent a project that was approved by the elected representatives of the whole of sa国际传媒, including the official opposition.
Morgan spells out the lengths to which the NEB went, and surely if there was need for still more information or extra consultation, a provisional approval could have been given. One wonders what expertise the three judges have in economics, natural resources, Indigenous affairs or marine biology. Or whether their personal views overrode rigid legal opinion.
The action of the panel reminded me of a sketch by Peter Cook, the acclaimed British comic, in one of his roles as the forlorn character 鈥淭he misty Mister Wisty.鈥� He started a monologue in a lugubrious monotone, saying: 鈥淲hen I was growing up, I wanted to be a judge. But I couldn鈥檛 pass the judge鈥檚 exam, so I became a coal miner instead.鈥� Seems to me that the three who sat on the Court of Appeal panel might have made better coal miners than judges.
Bryan Holmes
North Saanich
