Al6 Terrace Review — Wednesday. May I, 1991

Regional district chairman’s role called
into question over Kitimat port issue_

by Tod Strachan

- Conflicting views on the Kitimat
port development proposal have

‘become a problem for the smooth.

operation of the regional district
‘board of directors.

The problem first surfaced at the
opening .of the. Apiil 20. board
meeting when director Les Wat-
mough asked that a resolution
passed. at their March meeting be

brought back to the table for re-
consideration. The motion in ques- .

tion offered support in principle
for a:Kitimat marine terminal and
was opposed by directors Wat-
mough, Alice Maitland and Sandy
Sandhals. :

At the April 20 meeting, how-.

ever, Watmough sald the support
offered in that motion should be
questioned in-view of the lack of
information forthcoming from
proponents of the project. One of
those proponents is in fact the
board chairman, Jack Talstra, and
Watmough wanted to know Tal-
stra’s position on the board if
faced with a lobby from the Kiti-
mat-Terrace Port Society.

Talstra suggested, however, that
the minutes of their March meeting
had been circulated for at least a
week, giving Watmough sufficient
opportunity to submit his objection
to the motion in writing. He also
noted that no one at the table was
offering vocal support for Wat-

mough’s request, and with that

declined to reopen discussion on
the motion, Kitimat director Ray
Brady then moved that the minutes

‘be ratified, and his motion was
carried without opposition.

The port issue resurfaced later on
the agenda with a report from the
board’s Economic Committee, but
‘Talstra had that report moved to
the end of the agenda. When the
time. came to deal with the report,

Talstra noted Watmough’s con-

cer, turned the chair over to
Brady, and left the meeting before
the discussion began.

Following some debate, _ the.

board tumed to a second motion

made during the March meeting:
that the board establish a consen-
sus opinion to be presented to the

Major Project Review Process in

Vancouver on May 7. A position
statement drafted earlier by admin-
istration was finally accepted with
asmall addition, That addition will
note that the position paper only
represents the board’s view on the
technical aspects of the port, and
that more will be said at a later
date on the Major Project Review
Process and the formation of a
Kitimat-Terrace Port Society.

In brief, then, this is the official
position of the Regional district of
Kitimat-Stikine: The board sup-
ports an “approval-in-principle"
decision on the proposal... "The.
benefits of this project are
expected to outweigh possible
negative aspects and remaining
issues and information require-
ments should be manageable dur-
ing the permitting phase of this
project."

At the same time, the statement
also notes that any impact on

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THE RESULTS PEOPLE.

cach office is independently owned aad operated

municipal services, although
expected to be small, will be Kiti-

mat’s problem and it is therefore

not appropriate for. the regional
board to comment. Also, any prob-

traffic, when considering the con-

dition and quality of highways 16.

and 37, would be something for
the: Ministry of Highways to worry
about. The same stand is taken on

the impact of the development on.

fisheries habitat.

The position paper then addresses
the matter of large-scale industrial
development in the Kitimat-Ter-
race corridor. Following this note,

“Cumulative impacts should be

manageable,” the report lists a few
possible developments, including a
CNR upgrade and a copper
smelter/refinery complex.

On the economic side of things,
the paper is critical of the diver-

TERRACE

sion of goods and jobs from Prince:

Rupert to Kitimat and the fact that

although the development requires ‘
a public subsidy, little information

is offered on revenue sources, the

_ distribution of revenues, and the
profitability of the port proposal.

The position paper does acknow!1-
edge, however, that economic
benefits could -be created by a
Kitimat port development. Listed

are transportation cost savings
making manufacturers and supp-

liers along the Highway 16 corti-
dor more economically viable.
Competition between Prince Rupert
and Kitimat ports would encourage
efficiency and offer an alternative

if service at one port was dis-

rupted. And the construction of a
port could attract further industrial
development in the Kitimat-Terrace
corridor. There are some, though,
who are not convinced that more

industrial. development is what we
need,

The’ greatest criticism of the
Kitimat port proposal, however,
comes in the closing paragraph of
the paper. There are "strong mis-
givings", according to the report,
over the prospect of an appointed
authority | acquiring jurisdiction
over land in the Kitimat-Terrace

' corridor.

"In part, trepidation is a conse-
quence of not knowing the final
manifestations of a port authority
and a provincial ports policy, but
creation of an entity which may
not be answerable to the local
community is a source of anxiety,"
the paper concludes.

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