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Council of Canadians questions City on Prosperity
August 20 2009 | News Articles | Williams Lake Tribune
Council of Canadians questions City on Prosperity
Erin Hitchcock – Williams Lake Tribune
August 20, 2009
The Williams Lake Council of Canadians provided a presentation to council members Tuesday night about various topics, including the proposed Prosperity Mine project, which some councillors say nearly became a debate.
John Dressler, a representative of the Williams Lake Council of Canadians, said Wednesday that the presentation was supposed to be 20 minutes but lasted an hour.
“It was a really good session, very good dialogue between the Council of Canadians and city council,” Dressler says.
He says the group presented information on a range of topics, including industry using water from the aquifer, the City’s use of committees, and questions and concerns about the proposed Prosperity project — particularly surrounding council’s support.
In regards to the mine project, the Council of Canadians asked council:
• What research have you done that led you to such early and enthusiastic support of the project as it is currently being proposed?
• Have you sought input from the Water Committee, your Sustainability Committee, your Social Planning [Council] or your constituents?
• Is council’s support unanimous?
• Did or do you have any concerns or reservations?
• Are you convinced that the public [is] sufficiently informed about all the ramifications?
• Are you sufficiently informed about what all your constituents think?
• Would council be prepared to host an “all-sides” type of forum to clarify the many concerns and contradictions?
• Would council consider making another submission to the Federal Review Panel itemizing the concerns of local citizens?
Dressler says the group wants city council to hold an information session involving the whole range of players that have not been pulled together yet.
He says there was the public session at the Gibraltar Room, hosted by the B.C. Environment Assessment Office earlier this year, the Amazay film night hosted by First Nations that brought several groups together, and a Taseko Mines Ltd. information session at the Pioneer Complex that involved the Sustainability Committee and the Conservation Society.
He says the Council of Canadians attended the meeting at the Pioneer Complex, even though they weren’t invited.
“But at no point in time has there been a public event that provides the forum for this whole range of interests to be at this one sitting,” Dressler says.He says while the forum at the Gibraltar Room allowed anyone to attend, he says “it became very quickly a Chamber of Commerce event.”
He says First Nations people were left “awkwardly standing for two full hours in protest.”
When asked about the meeting that was supposed to be held at Alexis Creek but was essentially cancelled due to First Nations protesting it, Dressler says that also wouldn’t have been an event that would have included the wide range of people affected.
While the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office meetings have been held, including the one at the Gibraltar Room, federal panel hearings won’t be held until the panel decides it has enough information to proceed.
But Dressler says the Council of Canadians asked council if it would be prepared to host a forum for all sides to clarify “the many concerns and contradictions.”
“Some council members did respond individually to some of the questions that were asked, but it certainly wasn’t a council response,” he says.
Dressler says the Council of Canadians also suggested that First Nations’ concerns and interests have not been settled or satisfied at all.
“That’s a big concern because the Council of Canadians does not want to see this evolve into a head-on confrontation between groups,” he says. “That would be in no one’s best interests at all. That would just divide the community. It would stall things and would set us back as a community and as a city socially for perhaps decades.”
Coun. Sue Zacharias said Wednesday that the Council of Canadians brought up concerns around environmental and First Nations issues in relation to the project and said the group was disappointed that council submitted a letter to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency supporting the project.
After the group finished the presentation, there was a question-and-answer period she says almost got into debate.
“I just said, ‘hey, this is not the time or the place to debate this issue. This is a committee of the whole meeting. You’re here to do a presentation.’”
She says council members took turns expressing how they feel about the proposed mine, and the Council of Canadians provided a list of questions it wanted council members to ask themselves.
“I think council is very well aware of the environmental and First Nations sensitivities,” Zacharias says, adding that she is also aware of the employment conditions in Williams Lake and sees the mine as being a positive project.
“I think that lots of really positive things could come out of this whole Prosperity project, with people ending up working together,” says Zacharias, who is co-owner of United Concrete and Gravel Ltd. in Williams Lake.
As an employer, she says she would need to hire more people.
“If there is more work, we would love to hire more people,” she says, adding that mining isn’t the same as it was 30 to 40 years ago, as mines have to adhere to strict environmental standards.
“It seemed to me like they (the Council of Canadians) were almost fear-mongering in a way,” she says, adding that they presented many negative points of view instead of being more balanced. “I was quite disappointed in the way their presentation ended.”
She says the City has been working with First Nations and notes that Mayor Kerry Cook has taken trips to First Nations communities to further develop relationships.
She says council believes the environment and First Nations issues are of prime importance, but that council rightfully supports the project based on its potential economic benefits.
Dressler says the presentation didn’t turn into a debate.
“There were questions asked and responses given, but no, it did not turn into a debate at all,” he says. “We just wanted to make the council aware of the Council of Canadians’ concerns on the social issues, primarily, and I think we were successful in that, in making council aware that there are community concerns that have not been addressed by any of the events thus far.”
He says council’s support of the project is unanimous and refers to the letter of support council sent to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency.
He notes the Williams Lake Council of Canadians don’t have a specific stance on the project, since there are about 40 local members.
“There is quite a range of opinion on it,” he says, adding that members generally feel they want a thorough review of the project that covers all of the social, environmental, economic, and First Nations aspects of the project.
For Dressler, personally, he thinks there needs to be a careful review of the project.
“There are some serious, serious pitfalls that the community could blunder into with the wrong decision,” he says. “An example I have heard expressed is, ‘let’s just do this and to heck with the natives,’ and that would be catastrophic.”
Cook says the City has not altered its position on the mine.
“What we’ve said is that this is an important project for Williams Lake,” she says. “We are confident in the process and how it’s unfolding, and that we need to have more information about environmental and First Nations concerns.
“We need to find ways to work together to make sure there is a positive outcome for all concerned.”
She says the Council of Canadians presentation was informative, and that the discussion could have gotten out of hand, but didn’t.
“I think everyone conducted themselves in a productive way,” she says.
Council has not disucssed Dressler’s request for a City-hosted forum.
Coun. Surinderpal Rathor says he didn’t see the discussion as a debate.
“I was very happy to receive the information,” he says. “It’s my job to listen.”
Coun. Natalie Lynn Montoya says the Prosperity aspect of the presentation was “quite fast turning into a political debate,” but after 10 minutes, council stopped it from getting out of hand.
“It was not the right time or place of setting for it because our delegations are governed by legislation,” she says, adding council can only receive information from a delegation.
“It’s not supposed to be getting into debates or a defense of a position that was taken,” she says.
She says her position on the proposed mine reflects the letter city council had submitted.
“That letter was very clear from council that we are in support of it from the economic base,” she says, adding that she is not an environmental expert and can only rely on both the federal and provincial environmental assessment authorities for their understanding of the environment impacts.
She says while there are social impact concerns, she says there are also social positives.
“We have to balance those out,” she says. “Any industry has both of those — that’s the unfortunate aspect of life.”
She notes that since the mine wouldn’t be built on or immediately next to City property, the City is the biggest and closest centre where people will have to flow through. The employees, even those who may be coming from outside of Williams Lake to work, would travel through and shop in Williams Lake.
“From an economic standpoint, it will be beneficial to Williams Lake,” she says, adding that socially, the proposed mine gives people hope.
“My hope is that a large portion of individuals will be employed from Williams Lake.”
She says there are environmental concerns that are important, but notes that is why Taseko’s environmental impact statement is so in-depth and why there are opportunities for public consultation.
“We’re in the same position we were in before,” she says. “We’re not going to make a final decision on the environmental aspect until we have the information, and we won’t have that until the process is done.”
Other city councillors were not available for comment Wednesday.
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