Jacob ZinnWhat’s this aboot a housing development? #idontthinkso!
Olivia Peters, a 12-year-old Canadian lass, singlehandedly scaled back a massive construction project that would have eliminated a beautiful plot of old-growth forest. She was out for a walk with her mother in the town of Surrey, British Columbia, when she noticed something odd: All the trees had tags on them and orange paint. Young Olivia was — as only a Canadian can be when confronted with the injustices of runaway capitalism — incensed to learn that the trees were going to be cut down to make way for a housing development.
And if there’s one thing in the world uglier than an American housing development, it’s a Canadian housing development. So little Olivia Peters was going to let them build it over her dead body. She wrote an earnest and heartfelt letter to Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts, asking her if she might perhaps disallow this housing development from being built. And guess what happened? Town officials took notice and scaled back the project considerably, leaving much more of the wooded area alone. All because of a 12-year-old girl’s letter. Her mother said, “Someday maybe she will change the world.” Seems like you already have, Olivia!
