It looks like there’s a fight a-brewin’ in Burnaby over some turtles. Long story short, Burnaby wants to dig up some mud, but Barry Penner says they can’t because it’ll kill some cute little turtles.
Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan said city staff were told they couldn’t apply for the salvage permit until just before they were ready to start work. When they did, the provincial environment ministry turned them down.
“They don’t care that there’s machines sitting on the side of the water ready to go. They don’t care that we have procedures in place. They’re saying, ‘we forgot to tell you this and now we’re stopping you.’ “ (…)
“They really should rename that to the Ministry of Silly Walks,” he said, in reference to the Monty Python sketch. – Burnaby NewsLeader
OOOOhhhhhh, them’s fighting words! You can’t just compare the Environment Ministry to Monty Python! Who does that make Barry Penner, John Cleese?
Hmmm, now that you mention it...
Of course, Barry Penner was having none of this:
“We’re not going to allow the mayor to kill turtles just because he’s been caught not having permits in place,” - Burnaby Now
Yeah, you lousy turtle-killer! What could you possibly say to justify this?
Other media reported that Mayor Derek Corrigan said he had anecdotal reports that the Western painted turtle was not native to the area. “They brought them down from the Interior, and their moms made them get rid of them, and so they’d take them down to Burnaby Lake or Deer Lake,” he was quoted as saying. – Burnaby Now
So they are illegal immegranturtles? This changes everything! It’s fine to kill them now!
“I’m not a biologist,” he said… – Burnaby Now
No kidding. Your response, Minister?
“The mayor has made a number of irresponsible comments suggesting that Western painted turtles are not native to the Lower Mainland. That shows a rather profound ignorance, because, in fact, Western painted turtles are native to the Lower Mainland, and Burnaby Lake is known as one of the healthiest populations of this endangered species,” Penner said. “It is the responsibility of the city to know what they are talking about.” – Burnaby Now
Oh, snap! Who’s the groundbreaking surrealist British comedy group NOW?
The provincial government supports the project, hence the funding, but it also supports protecting the environment “and endangered species in particular,” Penner said. – Burnaby NewsLeader
It’s too bad for the Burnaby mayor that the turtles aren’t migratory. That would get the Environment Ministry out of his hair pretty fast.
Tags: Animals, BarryPenner, Environment, Quotes, WeekendWordsofWisdom
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