The Editor,
Re: "COVID drives down growth rate," (Tri-City News, Dec. 24)
Amid the trials of the COVID era, I was heartened this Christmas by Stefan Labbé's article noting that Canada's population growth has all but stopped.
Many agencies claim that growth is essential — but most of these are large corporations looking for more consumers to exploit, or governments looking for more tax revenue. For the rest of us, increasing population worsens competition for housing, jobs, and resources, drives up the cost of living, and eats up any savings made by conservation.
We already have plenty of people. Let's devote our energies to taking care of the ones that are here, rather than further increasing the load on our already overburdened supply chains and social systems.
Charlie Gibbs, Port Coquitlam
