Dear HCN,
As an American who
immigrated to Canada a couple years ago, I was curious to read your
story about efforts to protect the Rocky Mountain Front on our side
of the border (HCN, 10/8/01: Whoa! Canada!). While I thought the
article was generally fairly good, there were two obvious errors of
fact that need correcting, and call into question other facts cited
in the article which could cause some readers to question the
author’s authority. First, the capital of Alberta is Edmonton, not
Calgary, as mentioned in the paragraph in the section labeled
“Provincial lands.” Is this another example of American ignorance
of some basic Canadian geography?
Second, in the
section labeled “Wildlife in retreat,” the author mentions that the
premier declared a three-year ban on grizzly hunting. While that is
true, the ban was lifted after the so-called Liberal Party came to
power in last May’s B.C. provincial election. Now the fight over
grizzly protection begins anew. You can read the official press
release online by going to
www.env.gov.bc.ca/main/newsrel/fisc0102/july/nr159.htm. Despite
these errors of fact, I think the article will help illuminate
Americans to the issues of wilderness conservation in Canada, and I
hope you will do other stories on your northern neighbors in the
future.
Jeff
Graham
Vancouver, British
Columbia
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline A capital offense in Canada.
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