Duncan - An open letter to Ms. Clark: You recently went public with your thoughts about those mothers who took their children up Burnaby Mountain to protest Kinder Morgan's pipeline site testing.
You said, "They're 11 years old, for heaven's sakes. Teaching your kids that it's okay for them to break the law when they're 11 years old isn't okay. I think we all as parents would ask ourselves, 'What kind of message are we sending to our kids?" So I will remind you that you intentionally ran a red light with your son and a reporter in the car. You broke the law simply because your son challenged you to do it. You see, there is a difference between you and those mothers. You taught your boy that breaking the law is a lark. It's okay if no one gets hurt and if you don't get caught. Whereas, those mothers were teaching their children that when you feel something is morally wrong, you have to have the courage to take a stand even if that means participating in civil disobedience.Those mothers didn't do it on a dare - they talked to their children about the moral decision to take a stand about things you believe in. They knew there would be immediate consequences so it wasn't about hoping to get away with it. And they knew it wasn't going to be a lark, but a serious and important lesson for their children to learn.You asked, "I think we all as parents would ask ourselves, 'What kind of message are we sending to our kids?" I think those mothers were sending their kids a very different message than you sent to your son.Cathie CamleyDuncan