Qivaro

 

 

 

The Salish Sea represents unity

     

Trevor Doré

opinions editor

he Salish Sea? Never heard of it. Not
T= know where the Salish Sea is

and perhaps that is because the name
is not yet official. But residents in both
Washington and Vancouver know parts of
the Salish Sea very well; does Puget Sound,
the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Strait of
Georgia sound familiar?

Retired Western Washington

University marine biologist Bert Webber
is trying to get Washington and British
Columbian governments on board for a
name change. The change would encompass
a body of marine water they both share. The
name Salish Sea would not replace any of
the names like Puget Sound or Strait of Juan
de Fuca; instead, it would unite them as a
whole. The unification would recognize and

symbolize the collective First Nations of the
area, commonly known as the Coast Salish.

Renaming a well-known landscape, or
in this case, a seascape, always results in a
variety of praise and criticism. One of the
main reasons Webber wants to rename the
body of water is to raise awareness about
its history, as well as increase interest in
present-day ecological issues.

Some oppose the renaming as
they feel it is an American ploy to erase
the American-Canadian boundary and
somehow erode Canadian cultural identity.
This opposition just goes to show how
set the so-called boundaries that politics
impose on the land really are. Hopefully,
the unifying name will not erode anyone’s
cultural identity, but rather create an image
of the body of water as a whole instead of a
smattering of straits and sounds.

It is important to realize that people
downstream use waste water from people
upstream.

In other words, what we British
Columbians do in the Strait of Georgia

 

affects Puget Sound and the citizens of
Washington. Essentially, environmental en 5
issues don’t stop at political boundaries.
We are all part of a bigger picture—the
environment of the world. Pollution that
occurs in one body of water may have
negative repercussions for citizens in
another country further downstream.
The Salish Sea represents unity, which is
important for us all, as we are all a part of
this ecosystem.

On November 13 the United States
Board on Geographic Names approved
the name. All that is left for the Salish
Sea to become a transboundary feature is
Canadian approval. In the end, the new
name will hopefully unify an ecosystem, the
surrounding populations of people and their
collective efforts.

Bian the perth cmd ad the Strut of Georg,
40 the: west exel ob the Steatt of Jaan de Face
aned tee south end of Propet Satan

 

 

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Should we still hunt Nazis?

By Garth McLennan

ith the recent arrest and

subsequent trial of Nazi war

criminal and concentration camp
guard, John Demjanjuk finally getting
underway —a case that has dragged on in
some form or another since the 1980s—a
conviction in Germany in 2010 could quite
possibly be one of the final cases of World
War II Nazis still on the run.

The knowledge that almost all of those
responsible for one of the darkest periods in
human history are either dead or in custody
should bring feelings of victory, even if it

long ago. They still killed untold millions
of people, or sat by and watched them die.
They still tried to exterminate entire groups
of people all across the world in the most
brutal and horrifying ways imaginable.
So yes, even if the crimes of Nazis were
committed decades ago and that entire
generation is coming to a close, they should
still be held accountable for their actions.
Some would question the purpose of
continuing to invest resources into hunting
for men now in their ‘80s and ‘90s and
realistically unlikely to cause anymore
damage. Today’s generation is so far
removed from World War II that there isn’t

“Finding these Nazis guilty, even if it does prove to be merely

symbolic, still makes the statement that actions as severe as those

carried out by the Nazis years ago won’t go unpunished, regardless
of the passage of time.”

 

is almost 70 years after the crimes were
committed. However, we’ ve been robbed of
that sensation in some sense.

After all, no matter how heinous the
crime or the individual, the sight of an 89-
year-old man being wheeled off the plane
and into a German hospital instead of a
prison cell isn’t exactly fulfilling. Now, it
isn’t like everyone just forgot that WWII
was all those years ago, and everyone
should know that those war criminals are
little more than broken old men now.

Despite that though, it just doesn’t
bring the same sense of accomplishment
and justice to see a cancer-riddled,
wheelchair-bound senior wasting away in
a Munich courtroom as it would be to see
the same scenario with the idealized Nazis
that Hollywood has depicted to us. There’s
nothing that can change that, but it just
feels... different.

Does that mean that we shouldn’t still
search for, apprehend and prosecute these
people? Of course not. After all, these
people still were Nazis, even if it was so

8

anything to be served by it, they say. The
argument has been made that regardless of
whichever court finds them guilty, it won’t
mean or change anything.

There may be some truth to that, but
no one can say that it won’t mean anything.
Finding these Nazis guilty, even if it does
prove to be merely symbolic, still makes
the statement that actions as severe as those
carried out by the Nazis years ago won't
go unpunished, regardless of the passage
of time. It sends the message to all of those
still hiding around the globe that no matter
how much time has gone by, or how safe
they think they are, there are still people out
there that will hunt them, and bring them to
justice, no matter what the cost.

Should we still hunt Nazis? Absolutely.

 

 

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John Demjanjuk