Editor:

Recently I observed a Government of Canada vehicle, a navy blue Chevrolet Suburban, bearing Canada licence plates, sitting in the parking lot of a local Tim Hortons, with the engine running for well over half an hour, while the two occupants, in army fatigues, sat in the vehicle drinking their coffee.

Are government vehicles exempt from the Idle Free B.C. program? Or since it is voluntary, are they simply ignoring it, not to mention ignoring the fact that it is taxpayers who have to shell out to cover the gas burned for these lengthy (engine idling) coffee shop stops?

Tim Hortons does provide tables and chairs inside the store!

Here is the information the Idle Free BC website has about the City of Chilliwack: A two-step idle-free initiative has been approved by the City of Chilliwack to reduce idling within the city. The intention is to achieve compliance through voluntary measures. Step one includes municipal light duty fleet vehicles only.

The second step takes the results of step one to the community, seeking voluntary involvement from such groups as public schools, driving schools, transit operators, trucking associations, and the general public. The educational campaign will raise awareness about how unnecessary idling contributes to the deterioration our air quality and has negative impacts on our health and our environment.

K. J. Goertzen Chilliwack