ne eee

Tom Weegar is a
resident of Terrace. He
instructs at the
Northwest Community
College and works for
the Kitsumkalum Band

“as a community

_ development co-
ordinator, assisting with
economic development
and the treaty process.

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday,

Kemano decision hailed as victory

By TOM WEEGAR
The provincial government’s
recent decision to cancel Alcan’s
controversial Kemano Comple-
tion Project is an immense vic-
tory.

Not only is it a victory for the
Cheslatta First Nation and the
various communities that live
along the banks of the Nechako
and Fraser Rivers, but it is a vic-
tory for all citizens. of British
Columbia, First and foremost, the
decision to can KCP is a victory
for direct democricy. and
communily-based movements.

Lead by the Cheslatla First Na-
tion, details about the dubious
1987 agreement between govern-
ment and Alcan to dramatically
reduce the flow of water in the
Nechako River system have been
made public throughout B.C.

In alliance with environmental
organizations and interior com-
munities, the Cheslatta waged a
public relations battle against Al-
can to inform the public of the
negative environmental and so-
cial consequences of with KCP.

Struggling against the corporate
giant’s financial resources and
media spin doctors (promising to
build ‘not one dam’ and kill

“fot onc salmon’), these grass
roots movements were able to
convince the majority of British
Columbians, and eventually the
B.C, Utilitics Commission, that to
allow the KCP to proceed would
have disastrous results. The deci-
sion is also a victory for com-
munities of the northwest.
Although the short-term construc-
tion jobs associated with the com-
pletion of Kemano II will no
longer be reslized, northwest
communitics might now promote

long-term economic opportunities .

without the far reaching impacts
on communities throughout B.C.
Rather than focusing on
megaprojects to create employ-
met, northwest residents might
now look to far more sustainable
and environmentally conscious
developments such a8 6Co-
tourism, wilderness outposts, and
fishing operations to promote
community-based employment.

Certainly the pristine beauty
and ° exceptional wilderness
treasures of the northwest should
coincide well with these develop-
ments.

The decision is also a huge vic-
tory for B.C. salmon, for the
Nechako and Fraser River sys-

tems, and for the environment
more generally.

We need only look ta the south
to see the impact of successive
dams and water diversions on a
river system. The once produc-
tive Columbia River now suffers
from near depletion of salmon on
its upper reaches due to altera-
tions to ils original course. Fur-
thermore, with the population of
Pacific salmon showing stress up
and down the B.C, coast, we can-
not afford to further meddle with
precious spawning habitat.

The last thing we want is for the
Facific salmon to go the way of
the East coast cod fishery.

Finally, and somewhat ironical-
ly, the decision to halt KCP is
also a victory for Alcan. This de-
cision removes an environmental
albatross from the corpoyation’s
shoulders.

At a time when most multi-
national corporations are trying to
reconcile the environmental im-
pacts of their activities, KCP just
doesn’t make sense,

Furthermore, the decision al-
lows Alcan to improve their im-
age within an international com-
munily that is increasingly con-
cemed about indigenous peoples

Political expediency real reason for

An open Ictter to:
Mike Harcourt,
Premier,
Victoria, B.C,
Dear Sir:
“The Terrace & District Cham-

_ ber of Commerce hereby ex-

presses, in the strongest possible
terms, its objection to your
government’s rejection of Al-
can’s Kemano Completion Pro-
ject.

The decision is one that we
view to be based on political ex-

'. pediency, sacrificing the econom-

“fe. well-being and future develop-
ment. in our part of the province
for votes in the Lower Mainland.
Your recent. musings on the pos-
sibility of a May election certain-

_ ly support this conclusion.
We find it extremely offensive
for ‘you to suggest that this
“sedecision protects our Fraser

River system and our salmon
fishery forever.” What buhk! The
B.C.U.C. report does not uphold
this statement. Sockeye returns in
the Stuart have been improving.

It also states that the province is
the only signatory to the 1987
Settlement Agreement that has
failed to keep up its obligation to
the protection of freshwater fish.

The report further states that
Fraser River migration would not
be impacted by the project. To
link K-C-.P. as responsible for the
problems with ihe salmon fishery
is absolutely ludicrous.

You; and others, have con-
tinually decried the 1987 Settlc-
ment Agreement as one made
“behind closed doors’. Yet you
and your cabinet are no better,
having had to report for 30 days,
deliberating and deciding a cabi-
net, and releasing the report to the

public and Alcan only minutes
before announcing your decision!

In all honesty, we must admit
that we were not very surprised at
your govermment’s decision, It
fits and follows quite naturally
with this government’s pattern of
land use decisions. Withdrawal of
lands from fulure development
may gain you dinner with Al
Gore and kudos from National
Geographic, but, Mr. Premier,
they will not gain the revenue
needed to support our social pro-
grams.

We watched you sidestep any
teview process for the Windy
Cragey project in the Tat-
shenshini; we hear about the fear
coming out of Gold River,
Tahisis and Zeballo; and now we
face the loss of another major
project in our province.

We have a deep and abiding

a 1 ahh iB,

CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD

~The Mail Bag

| Shallow comments surprise

Dear Sir:

After reading Rob Brown's

column of Feb.1, 1995, I had to
respond, since I know Rob to
see and talk with I am not sur-
prised at his shallow comments.
Although not condoning his
views I have managed to live
with them until now.
“The man you refer to as a dolt
and lout is a fine man and was
taking the views of a group of
construction men to that meet-
ing. The words he used at that
meeting were the feelings of all
of vs that had been spoken the
night before.

That rabble you refer to was
600. Kitimat residents and
honest working citizens crying
out: for their survival. Appar-
ently thelr words landed on
deaf ears. I wonder how many
of those peaple were polled as

to thelr views. I should like to
have attended, however, I was
in Kemano where I have been
employed for the past three
years,

Good thing Harcourt was
born with ears or he wouldn’t

have anything to keep his
glasses in place.

The pecple you keep hammer-
ing away at, be it loggers, con-
struction workers, commercial
fishermen, miners, or whoever
are the people who have been
paying your wages and building
that nice benefit package for
you all these years.

Uniil Alcan —_ developed
Kemano and the smelters in
Kitimat, the Douglas Channel
was just like any of a dozen
other coastal inlets. There was
nothing there except a little In-
dian village with inhabitants
struggling for survival year in
and year out.

Today although they and
their forefathers did not have to
pay taxes, they have free medi-
cal, free dental, free optical,
Satellite T.V. ,dishes, diesel
powered boats and vehicles to
hunt and fish with.

Some of their people work for
Alcan and Eurocan and earn a
fine living and do not wish to go
back to the ‘‘good old ways’’ as
T noted you insinuated in a pre-

vious column.

With construction workers ar-
riving along with their familles
te build Kemano and Kitimat,
school teachers followed, That's
right Rob, without construction
workers, logeers, commercial
fishermen, and their families,
school teachers become an
unimportant commodity,

If not for construction, log-
ging, fishing, etc. there would
be no Prince George, no Prince
Rupert, no Kitimat, no Terrace,
and certainly no Robert Brown.
So get off your high horse, put
your stool in order and cope
with reality.

By the by Rob, if you have
been watching Harcourt’s tac-
tics, don’t they resemble the by

gone Social Credit Party
maneuvers for years.
That is: to ‘say, putting

megamillions into the south and

highly populated areas in an at-

tempt to buy votes In such

ridings, while sacrificing the
north.

Allan Grier,

Terrace, B.C.

fear that there is more to come. It
is interesting to note the only
major project going on in B.C. is
the Island Highway, and we are
informed it was not subject’to any
review process, How can this be?

Our chamber has long been on
record as a
sustainable development, and we
have no wish to see development
that would be detrimental in the
long term.

But we also believe that the
process should be fair and
honourable. This one does not
meet the test.

The B.C.U.C, report and its
recommendations have
given no consideration that we
can see, and Alcan has been
given no opportunity to respond
to the recommendations.

What was the point? It seems to
us that this whole exercise was

Environment or jobs?”

Dear Sir:

The business and political community of the north
pointing fingers at Mike Harcourt is ridiculous at

best, but [ refrain.

Pointing and laughing, myself, at a comered
animal is only going to get me bitten.

To say that our premier is not looking for the
Norsth’s opinion is a fact of demography. If you
think Alcan is looking to help people, think again.

Alcan is here to make money. If Alcan thought it
could make more money building toothpicks in

China from B.C, wood, it would.

If aluminum was suddenly found to be as un-
healihy as asbestos or ifa better alloy was found to
fit the market, Alcan would pack its bags.

Harcourt is trying to get re-elected,

Northemers want to have employment.

Alcan wants to make money.

The children wonder whose going to fi ight for

those six long term jobs.

. So what’s the real issue? Not an evil ‘politician.
He’s just the scapegoat. The real issue is whether ar
not the environment can take priority over jobs. Is
global catastrophe imminent if we continue to ex-
pand? This is the issue of the decade and the com-

ing millennia, 50 get used to It,

I've lived hese, watching the story unfold most of
my life. People fear change, Change is never easy,
especially where employment in an isolated area is
concemed. But it must happen; it is inevitable. To
be surrounded by trees and clean air is a very local

phenomenon.

supporter of -

been |

and their traditional lands.
While Alcan was able to steam-
roll over these peoples in the lofty
megaproject days of the 1950s,
they are unable to do sa today.
Alcan has no right demanding
compensation for the cancelation
of this project from either the
provincial or federal government.
The 1987 pact that they reached
with government was a shoddy
deal to begin with, and it certain-
ly had profound negative environ-
mental and social consequences.
If it had been allowed to go
ahead, it would very likely have
alicnated many Canadians’ en-

‘vironmentally and socially con-

scious sensibilities, and these
people would have consequently
tured against the corporation.

As well, since Alcan owes the
government roughly $950 million
in deferred taxes, seeking com-
pensation from the Canadian tax-
payer at a time of fiscal frugality
is nothing less than an insult.

This intrepid decision by the

provincial government to cancel
KCP demonstrates that Canadian
citizens are sick and tired of
agreements being reached behind
closed doors by wealthy men in
sults without regard for public In-

decision

simply the most expensive public
opinion poll ever undertaken by a
political party.

We believe this decision places
any possible future major devel-
opment in our province in grave
jeopardy. Why would any private
company want to risk millions of
dollars when they cannot, depend
on the word, and signature, of the
government of the day?

Mr. Premier, you have
sacrificed jobs and economic
benefits for the north, and indeed
ihe whole province, to satisfy en-
vironmental hysteria in the south.
How on earth are you going to
pay for it?

With decp regret,

Sharon Taylor,

; Past President,

for the executive and board of
the Terrace and District
Chamber of Commerce.

February 15, 1995. A5

for all

put and decision-making (the
Meech Lake Accord and the
Charlotietown Agreement are
testimony to this).

As well, the public mood will
not tolerate big business imposing
their profit-driven motives upon
Canadians, as the Rogers Cable
fiasco aptly demonstrated.

The provincial government
should be congratulated for
making the ardyous decision to
shut KCP down. As well, the
Cheslatta First Nation and the in-
terior . communities should . be
commended for their tenacity and
determination in bringing this
project to the public’s attention.
And Alcan should be thankful
that it no longer has to
pursue a project that would have
dire consequences for ils corpo-
rate image both domestically and
internationally.

When all things are considered,
the cancellation of this project is
beneficial to all British Columbia
citizens,

One creative alternative for Al-
can is to take the partially com-
pleted behemoth within Mt
Dubose and turn it into a one-of-
a-kind tourist museum. ‘‘if you
. build it, they will come!’

Sharon Taylor -

view of a future without change. It’s taken only the:

continent.

Think about it.

our children,

" Jast four centuries for Big Brother and his flock to
nearly destroy four billion years of ecology on this

Don’t you think it’s time to accept the need for
change? The ‘Europeans don't even have our option.

There is an old saying that gocs something like
this: We do not own the land; we borrow it from

I believe everything is interconnected, That’ is the

nature of life and that is the way of God, IF we

chose to do harm rather than do harmony, we
choose death rather than life-the beast over God.
The fact that B.C. taxpayers are going to.foot the
bill for a bad government decision from 1950 is a
travesty but the corporate beast is insatiable and its

demands will be met. As Jesus said “Give to.

Caesar what is Caesar’s...”? but let us- finish his ,

words: **,..give to God what is God’s.’?

Even Rome fell. Like Hitler or Napoleon heading .
into the Russian winter, so the culture of power will
crash. It is a fact of history. x,

Whether we head for apocalypse or heaven is our
choice, but you also have the added responsibility

of making the choices for coming generations.

truly be asked,

It sure Is nice to be here compared to New York
or Ethiopia, but that’s where you must look for a

KCP decision definitely a fishy one

Dear Sir:

One never ceases to be amazed
at the Jengths or depths that
politicians will go to while in the
throcs of pre-election frenzy, but
Premier Harcourt’s cancellation
of the Kemano Completion Pro-
ject stands oul, _

However, there’s something es-

; pecially fishy about the spectacle
I of Mike Harcourt, a.k.a Captain

: Salmon, swimming up the
 Nechako river to ‘‘save” his
: brethren.

The B.C, Utilities Commission

A did: not recommend rejection of

‘ the project, nor did find that it
- would affect salmon migration in
: the Fraser River,

Tn fact, It notes that there would
be potential under KCP for en-
-hancement of Nechako sockeye
~ populations and a significant in-
crease in the annual valuc of the
sockeye fishery.

Mr. Harcourt never bothered to
explain the ‘‘fraudulent informa-
tion’’ he alleged at his televised
news conference.

The Kemano Completion FPro-
ject involved nearly a dozen years
of planning and redesign in con-

junction with federal fisheries and -

varlous provincial agencies, so
the collusion must- have been
pretty widespread.

Let’s look at what cancellation
of the project is likely to accom-
plish:

+ $530 million, plus interest, in
compensation to Alcan for money
already invested.

: A billion or two more for lost
future earings.

: Loss of about $500 miltion or
more in Alcan’s private invest-
ment (no taxpayer dollars in-
volved) for the second half of the
Kemano Completion Project.

» Total loss of investor - conte

fidence in B.C., which is clearly a
bad risk for any resource com-
panics,

+ Loss of 1,000 construction
jobs, now, and more in the future
(sce above).

- About $500 million in addi-
tional hydro costs to B.C. con-
sumers over the next 20 years
(the Kemano Completion project
was the most economic way to
meet future power demand in
BC.).

* Continued flooding of low-
lying agricultural Jand along the
Nechako River during periods of
high spring and summer relcaacs,

‘A possible end to the Nechako
Fisheries Conservation Program,
which has helped to maintain the
Nechako's historical population

of approximately 3,000. chinook -

salmon for the last half dozen or
‘80 years.
‘No tetum of hereditary ands

to the Cheslatta Band, as pro-

posed by Alcan in 1989, since

they could only be restored after
the Kemano Completion Project
relieved the danger of Dooding.

: No CTMP pulp mill for
Vanderhoof,

* No expansion of the aluminum
industry in British Columbia by
Alcan, whose operations over 40
years have poured billions of
valued offshore dollars into
provincial and federal coffers,

No doubt, Mr. Harcdurt will get
his reward, in due course,

After the forest industry has
withered and the mining com-
panics all gone south, perhaps the
tens of thousands of unemployed
can get jobs guiding rich foreign
eco-tourists through the pristine
glades of the province during the
brief summer season.

; Edward K. Sager,
Athabasca, Alberta.

Dear Sir:
Your editorial “Plain Wrong”?

(Feb.f, 1995) is as close to the |

truth as one could get!
Mr. Harcourt has insulted the

intelligence of us British Colum-:

_bians when he tries to shove. his

decision down our throat, even
“public. -

before letting — the

review”? it, Democracy???
Who does Harcourt think he is

kidding when he says we don't

have to pay for his folly, talk:

about a “‘Jout’’,

As for Rob Brown’s column,
Feb.i, 1995, it’s painfully ‘ob-
vious he has not read the review.
He must just write what he thinks

- ahd not consider the facts,

Rob, do you really think power
comes from a hele in the wall? If
Rob was a trie Northerner he
would know the real history of
the north.

Before Kemano, Terrace got its
power from two generators. They
were set up In the neighbourhood

. Of the Skeena Hotel. There was co oh

Who is the lout?

United we stand, and divided we fall. Separating:
ourselves from our environment is like amputating
your soul leaving only the ego.

Continuing to point fingers will sooner or later
get you poked in the back, then the questions will

Rob Mercereau,
Terrace, B.C.

no road to Kitimat, for that matter
no Kitimat.

Without that power at: 1 Kemano
there, would be no alumiaum
smelter, no Eurocan Pulp and
Paper Mill, or no ‘Methanex. And
"guess what, Rob; no teaching job
for you,

-"You, would also not be able to
guide foreign fishermen. to catch
springs on the local rivers, -Talk
about selling out our resources to
foreign interests!!! You wouldn’t
have double standards would you
Rob???

By the way, Rob, 600 tax-
paying grass roots Northerners
are not a ‘‘rabble’’ these people
were merely voicing their
opinion, and the Jast time I
checked, the NDP had not yet
nade freedom of speech against
the law.

So, Rob, the next time you want
to confront a real “‘lout!? just take
a look fn the mirror.
~ Graham Geeraert,
Terrace, BC Cy