6 ‘THE VOICE, WEDNESDAY NOV. 30, 2016 EDITOR ASHLEY SINGH iy Flying fears real have had a fear of flying for as long as [ can remember, sometimes just thinking about it makes my stomach churn. It is primarily the intense dread of being in the air, suspended above ev- erything, always one malfunction away from plummeting to my death. Well aware of the irrationality of this, it is a hard feeling to shake. On top of that most planes offer a great amount of claustrophobia, not to mention the dry throat and skin that is inevitable after being stuck in | an almost-airless OPINION chamber for hours. This fear has not CAITLIN stopped me from O’FLANAGAN travelling though, the desire to see the world some- how trumps unbridled terror. This seems the case for many others with the same fear, whether they pop an Ativan, or two, before flying, or just sit there struggling through the sky. Layne Daggett, counsellor and avia- tion-lover, has started a program to help individuals face their fear of fly- ing. He focuses primarily on individual counselling and then breaks people into groups to do practice runs, where they get on a plane for a “flight.” He has been quite successful with his program, proving that it is all in our heads. I think it is r4 4 safe to say that most people are were of this, Anxiety, ut unfortu- nately that real- whether ization does not related cure the anxi- 2 ro to flying Daggett also Or not, Is reassures that ; planes are built of ten irra well and even tional and goes into detail about their theref ore workings. very hard This is some- thing that to get would benefit Randle on because so much of the fear lies in the unknown. Hav- ing more knowl- edge on any topic usually helps ease the mind. Anxiety, whether related to flying or not, is often irrational and therefore very hard to get a handle on. Luckily there are counsellors, like Daggett, who want to solve these problems and help people face their fears, whatever they may be. Your voice matters to us e federal Liberal gov- ernment giving ap- proval to the Kinder Morgan Trans-Mountain pipeline is a di- saster. Climate change is a real issue, and the implica- tions of burning fossil fuels, are demonstrated in scientific evidence and our environ- ment every day. Such as the ice caps in the Arctic, which are melting rapidly. By approving Kinder Morgan's heavy oil pipeline expansion, Canada takes a huge step backwards for all the work the provinces have put in place to cut back fuel emissions. OPINION ASHLEY SINGH Climate will change Since the proposal of the controver- sial $6.8-billion project, an uproar from climate change activists and First Na- tions have been rightfully vocalizing their concern for the future of the envi- ronment. The Tsleil-Waututh Nation of North Vancouver filed a challenge to the Na- tional Energy Board review process in 2014, expressing concerns about the risk of oil spills and the impacts of in- creased marine shipping. Earlier this week the Tsleil-Waututh Nation again made an appeal to the Prime Minister not to approve the pipe- line. Tsleil-Waututh Chief Maureen Thomson argued that the approval would violate Trudeau’s campaign vow to create a better relationship with First Nations groups. The Liberal gov- ernment made multiple promises that they failed to keep, including to con- duct new reviews of the existing pipe- lines. At the COP21 international climate conference last fall, Justin Trudeau agreed that Canada would do its part to limit global temperature increases to 2 C. Instead, the Liberal’s “real change” is the adoption of Harper's targets, part of global commitments that, if imple- mented, take us to a catastrophic 3 C and 4 C increase in warming. Trudeau's promises to respect the rights and territory of First Nations were also made by the Liberal govern- ment, but with the recent decision to approve the pipeline, these promises are at risk. By approving the pipeline, the many Canadians who are clearly saying they don’t want the pipeline are being ig- nored, and that is a cause for great con- cern regarding how the Liberal govern- ment plans to fulfill their promises that gave voters hope for change from the previous Harper government. LAUREN BOOTHBY photo Protesters take to the water on Nov.21 to draw attention to their oppostition to the Kinder Morgan pipeline. Winter taxing for shelters ast week the City of Vancou- yer dismantled a tent city at Thorn- ton Park after it moved from its pre- vious location at 58 West Hastings. The tent city was de- clared unsafe and a health risk and resi- dents were encour- aged to relocate to an emergency shelter. This story isn’t new. Victoria’s tent city battled for a year before being shut down by the province in August while other tent cities have popped up and been shut down in Chilliwack, Langley, Burnaby and Maple Ridge. The problem is, forcibly removing OPINION ALYSE KOTYK tenters and ordering them to relocate to emergency shelters isn’t a long-term solution. Not only is the cold weather and emergency shelters often full, they are extremely expensive to operate. A Victoria-based study estimates that the annual operating cost of a shelter bed is $31,032 — primarily due to the spe- cialized nature of facilities provided in a shelter like kitchens and common spaces. In comparison, a bachelor unit costs approximately $21,957 annually to operate. Not only are they expensive, but emergency shelters can also be unsta- ble because many individuals are only allowed a limited number of nights that they can stay, some have strict require- ments to participate in programming and no privacy in dorm-style rooms. For some of Vancouver's homeless, liv- ing in a tent city with a degree of au- tonomy is prefera- ble to abiding by 66 these living ar- us rangements. The prob While I don't lem 1S, wish anyone a forcibly night out in the : cold and in an un- removing safe environment, tenters and the provincial and nl municipal govern- ordering ments need to con- them to sider making room for authorized tent relocate... cities for those who isn’t a long prefer them as a living option. The term focus can then solution steer away from funding short-term shelters to finding long-term housing solutions. Contact us: Online at langaravoice.ca Twitter: @LangaraVoice