The B.C. picture

n British Columbia, where the
economy is largely based on the
extraction of natural resources,
renewable and non-renewable, there
is a growing realization that it is
impossible to separate economic
growth from environmental issues
and that many forms of
development erode the resources on
which they are based.

The people of British Columbia, in
their vast majority, are convinced
that their personal health and well-
being are being endangered by
environmental pollution and the
destruction of nature's ecological
balance. The air we breathe, the
water we drink and the soil and
waters which provide us with food
are being contaminated by toxic
waste.

The big multi-national
corporations which dominate our
economy, the Socred government in
Victoria and the Conservative
government in Ottawa bear the

main responsibility for this alarming’

situation. Existing legislation is not
being vigorously enforced against
corporate polluters. In many cases,
nominal fines are accepted by
corporations as a cost of doing
business. The big corporations,
despite their protestations,
subordinate all other considerations
to the search of maximum profits.

The main base of the provincial
economy is the lumber, pulp and
paper industry. Four groups of
multi-national corporations control
three quarters of the provinces
timber and harvest two thirds of it.
These corporations are also
prominent among the handful of
corporations who own the pulp and
paper industry, a major source of
industrial pollution.

Preserving wilderness areas ,

n a province so rich in natural
wilderness, the provincial
government has set aside only 5.24
percent of the land for protected
parks. In New Zealand, the mother
country of Fletcher-Challenge
Investments, which controls B.C.
Forest Products, 17.1 percent of the
country has been set aside for this
purpose, for the enjoyment of people
today and for future generations. A
coalition of B.C. environmental
groups has proposed that protected
areas in B.C. be expanded by
another 7.8 percent, including South
Moresby, Meares Island, Stein
Valley, Sulpher Passage, Carmanah
Valley, Babine River, Stikine River
and Khutzeymateen. this movement
to preserve and protect wilderness
areas deserves wide public support.

Representatives of the major
corporations in the resource
industries, along with
representatives from some
municipalities, have responded by
setting up a pressure group to
oppose the movement for a healthy
balance between development and

For more than 40 years, popular
forces in B.C. have opposed this
monopoly concentration of
ownership and political influence,
ever since the provincial government
began to award near perpetual
access to government timber in the
form of tree farm licences, in return
for promises to manage the lands
granted and to build processing
facilities.

Monopoly control has resulted in
depleted forests. Trees have been cut
down faster than they can be
reproduced. Millions of cubic feet of
useable timber are being left to rot
in the bush while woodworkers
have been laid off because of an
alleged shortage of timber.
Silviculture and reforestation have
not been carried out on a scale
sufficient to provide for the needs of
future generations.

The mismanagement of our forest
wealth has resulted in degraded
landscapes, excessive water run-
offs, soil erosion, damage to fisheries
and a reckless disregard for the
principle of sustained, balanced
development.

Provincial government policies
and corporate decisions have caused
excessive wood waste, logging of
unstable slopes, destruction of fish
habitats and timber harvesting
beyond the capacity of the land.

The export of raw, unprocessed
logs is a major source of profit for
the dominant corporations, to the
detriment of the woodworkers and
the people of British Columbia. For
every job in B.C. resulting from the
production of raw logs, eight jobs
are created in offshore countries.

The 21 pulp and paper mills in the
province release a dangerous volume
of toxic wastes into our coastal
waters, lakes and rivers. Also, they
are a major source of air borne
pollutants. Some inland mills
provide biological waste treatment

conservation. Prominent among the
initiators are top officers from
MacMillan Bloedel which has 28.2
percent of the allocated timber cut
on the coast, and B.C. Forest
Products. These two companies are

What the situation
calls for is not to
maintain employment
by cutting down an
increasing amount of
virgin timber, but to
create more jobs in
processing, manufac-
turing and silviculture.

owned by groups who are part of
the big four who control 57 percent
of the total cut in the coastal area.
What the situation calls for is not
to maintain employment by cutting
down an increasing amount of

but the overall result falls short in
removing harmful substances.

None of the 11 coastal mills
provides adequate treatment of toxic
wastes. Instead, they contribute to
both the short term and the long
term pollution of the environment
by the amount of organic matter
discharged into coastal waters, the
depletion of oxygen, the raising of
water levels and the emission of
deadly dioxins.

The outpouring of dioxins from
pulp mills compelled the Federal
Department of Fisheries and Oceans
to close prawn, crab and shrimp
fishing in Howe Sound and near
Prince Rupert, but only after
disregarding many warnings from
fishermen and environmental

and allowing the situation to reach a
critical stage.

Despite public protests over many
years, both provincial and federal
governments have failed to strictly
enforce compliance with existing
legislation and to pass more
stringent legislation required to
completely eliminate the discharge
by pulp mills of organochlorine
pollutants, including dioxins.

Since 1919, mine owners have
been responsible under the
provincial Mines Act for the
rehabilitation and reclamation of
abandoned mines but the provisions
of the Act have not been enforced.
There are at least five abandoned
mines that are still generating acids
into drinking water and habitats for
fish.

virgin timber and forests, but to
create more jobs in processing,
manufacturing and silviculture after
the trees are cut down. The trade
union movement, the
environmentalists and the Native
Indian people who are seeking
satisfaction of their just claims in
opposition to the encroachments of
powerful logging and mining
interests, should be natural partners
in the struggle to provide full
employment and a better life on the
basis of sustained, balanced
development.

A major issue in protecting B.C.’s
environment is the refusal of the
Socred government to enter into
negotiations with B.C.’s native
Indians over aboriginal rights and
land claims. The government has
allowed major corporations to
exploit resources in lands claimed
by Native peoples and to threaten or
destroy the natural habitat on which
Native Indians depend. This policy
by the Socred government allows
vast wealth to be extracted from
lands which traditionally have been
the home of Native peoples, while
the Natives are left to live in dire
poverty, with little hope for
themselves and their children.