Thorpe rejects

influence jab

Offended by charge Alcan is
politicking on power sales

By JEFF NAGEL
ENTERPRISE MINISTER
Rick Thorpe is angrily re-
jecting suggestions Alcan
is using political influence
m0) get the Liberal govern-
ment’s okay to export
power at the expense of
smelter jobs in Kitimat.

Thorpe was reacting to

comments last month by
Kitimat town manager
Trafford Hall at a business
luncheon here. Hall said
Alcan’s paid ‘lobbyist in
B.C. - Patrick Kinsella -
is also a top B.C, Liberal
who ‘co-chaired the party’ 5
2001 election campaign,
He’s also the party’s top
fundraiser.
:Kinsella's dual role and
Alcan’s recent donation of
$250,000 to B.C,’s 2010
Winter Olympic bid had
‘Hall wondering whether
Kitimat must also “curry
favour” with Victoria.

“I absolutely take of-
fence to that,” Thorpe said
here Friday on his way
into a meeting with local
B.C. Liberals. “That is an
out-and-out misstatement
of fact and quite frankly a
destructive comment — one
that | personally will nat
tolerate,” he said, “If
somebody has the courage
to say that to you then I
think they should have the
- decency and courage to
. Say that to my face.”

Asked about Alcan’s
political connections
through Kinsella, Thorpe
said: “Are we trying to
talk here about the future
of the northwest or are we
just trying to cause con-
flict? I’m trying to bring
people together to build a
spirit of cooperation and
partnership.”

‘Earlier that day, Kiti-
mat mayor Rick Wozney
pressed Thorpe for action
to block future exports of

power by Alcan: He ‘says -
that’s the only way to;

- force the company to us

its Kemano-generated —

power for industrial pur-
poses ~ creating jobs — in
Kitimat.

Town officials fear
Alcan will modernize its
smelter so aluminum pro-
duction -increases, but
using: much less power.
That ‘Would create perma-
nent surplus power that
Alcan ‘could export at
great profit.

But ‘such a scenario
would also mean 500 to
1,000 fewer workers would
be needed in the new
smelter, town officials say,

Wozney says that
would send economic
shockwaves through the
entire northwest. “We're
going to have dead com-
munities up here,” he said.

Wozney maintains that
if Victoria closed the door
to future power exports,
Alcan will opt to build a
much larger revamped

- smelter with close to the
same number of workers as
are employed today.

He had asked Victoria
to determine whether
Alcan’s current power ex-
ports. are in contravention
of its 1950 agreement.
That document envisions
power sales by Alcan but
only to promote the deve-
lopment of other industries
“in the vicinity of the

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works.”

“Our legal opinion is
that Alcan is in complete
compliance with ils obli-
gation to the province of

British Columbia,” Thorpe
said. Friday,

He won’t release.a copy
of the legal opinion.

“You have agreements.
that. peopié are in full.

compliance with,” he said.
“L think it’s important that
you live with the legal
commitments in this long-
term arrangement we’ve
had with Alcan.”

Thorpe did not answer
directly when asked whe-
ther the government has
concluded it can’t legally
block power exports or
whether it has chosen not
to do so.

“The issue here is how
do we work as a team,”
Thorpe said. “My sense is
Alcan has been here a
Jong time and Alcan is
going to be here a long
time.”

“They want to continue
to build a future in British
Columbia.”

Boil water advisory
lifted in Thornhill

HEALTH OFFICIALS lifted a two-month long hoil
waler advisory for the upper Thornhill area last
week after more than 50 consecutive water sum-
ples showed no signs of contamination.

Woodland Utilities also performed an additional
flushing and disinfecting of the water system under
the supervision of an engineer, environmental
health official Colin Mertz said.

By coincidence, the advisory was lifted just
hours before more than 150 people met with health
and government officials at an Aug. 14 meeting..

At the request of the Northern: Health Authority,
Woodland Utilities hired a water engineer late last
month to help solve the problem.

The engineer is also trying to determine what
caused the original contamination in early June
and subsequent poor water quality results that
prompted a second boil water advisory in July.

The engineer's Aug. 8 interim report pointed to
cross contamination of the non chlorinated water
system from taps or faucets inside homes and faul-
ly water sampling as two possible explanations.

“We may never be able to determine what the
cause was,” Mettz said.

The engineer’s final report is expected to con-
lain recommendations on preventing a similar pro-
blem in the future. Possible recommendations
could include increasing the number of water qual-
ity tests or even moving to a chlorinated system.

Meanwhile, the Kitimat-Stikine regional dis-
trict, which already operates a water system in
Thornhill, is considering taking over the Woodland
Utilities system, electoral area E director Les
Watmough confirmed. He said discussions between
the regional district and the company have been
ongoing for many years but the idea has gained re-
newed momentum in recent weeks.

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