By Lyla Smith

I write to appreciate our local paper’s (Powell River Peak) fine and objective coverage of recent events at city hall. At a time when western
governments choose to send the pride of our youth to foreign lands to fight and die for democracy, it is truly a horror that we still have to fight so hard to maintain it at home.

What will be the cost to the taxpayer in legal fees for council’s harassment of its citizens? Perhaps council could save itself and the people a lot of future pain by publishing a clear list of what it considers fair and legal comment on its actions. For all I know, these very words I write now will be deemed outside the law.

Whether or not I agree with Ms. Aldworth, Mr. Brown, and Mr. Hopkins is truly beside the point. Fair criticism of elected officials is a pillar of our freedoms of speech and the press. And anyway, the only way a charge of libel or slander can have any legal teeth is if the  offending statements are untrue. Let’s have a full airing of the issues at hand. Let Mr. Alsgaard et al. open up and share all the facts of
the matters in question.

Until this draconian legal action on the part of the city arose, my opinion was wholly unresolved. Now I’m reminded of the bard: Methinks thou dost protest too much. Until all the laundry is aired, methinks I smell a rat!