Kamloops chapter
Federal environment minister Catherine McKenna is expected to visit Kamloops later this month to discuss the Ajax mine.
The Canada Journal reports, “City council has been trying to arrange a meeting with McKenna for months, hoping to persuade the new Liberal government to agree to a full panel review, generally considered the highest level of environmental and health-impact assessment available. The City’s request has now been turned down three times, twice by the Harper Conservative government. In her letter to the City, received last week, McKenna expressed satisfaction in the current review of Ajax while reserving the right to launch a full panel review if circumstances warrant one.”
In May 2012, we noted in this campaign blog that the Council of Canadians Kamloops chapter is opposed to the plan by KGHM Ajax Mining Inc. to mine for copper and gold near Jacko Lake – and the associated rerouting of Peterson Creek and the tailings pond which could destroy nearby Inks Lake. The open-pit mine would be partially located within Kamloops’ south east city limits.
The Kamloops Daily News has reported, “The Ajax mine proposal would see a massive pit dug beside Jacko Lake many times bigger than the lake itself. As well, the company proposes a second smaller open pit between the lake and Aberdeen, a dig that would put mining operations within a short [15-minute] walking distance of upper Aberdeen. …[The mine’s] project manager Jim Whittaker said the proposed pit beside Jacko Lake as well as its associated tailings ponds and other disturbed areas, would cover 2,500 hectares. Jacko Lake is 40 hectares. The company promises it will protect Jacko Lake from being drained, even as it reroutes Peterson Creek through the pits to a new course down through the City to the river.”
In Feb. 2013, we noted in this blog that Dawn Mills, a scholar at the University of British Columbia, warned, “I would suggest this is the point where there needs to be a critical examination by the Secwepemc community and also by the City of Kamloops on the impact of drawing down water from Kamloops Lake.” The Daily News reported at that time, “Streamlining of environmental assessments and changes in the Fisheries Act [by the Harper government] have raised new concerns about the regulatory process, leading people to question whether projects are being fast-tracked at the expense of the environment.”
Among the promises made by the Liberals in their election platform, they stated, “Stephen Harper’s changes to the Fisheries Act, and his elimination of the Navigable Waters Protection Act, have weakened environmental protections. We will review these changes, restore lost protections, and incorporate more modern safeguards. …We will modernize the National Energy Board, ensuring that its composition reflects regional views and has sufficient expertise in fields like environmental science, community development, and Indigenous traditional knowledge.”
On March 22, this coming World Water Day, the Kamloops chapter will be organizing a #Pledge2Protect photoshoot at Peterson Creek which runs through Kamloops and whose headwaters are near the proposed tailings site of the proposed Ajax mine. On March 25, the chapter will also screen the film Water On The Table followed by a panel discussion featuring Grant Rodgers, a provincial government Assistant Regional Water Manager, and Jim Cooperman, the president of the Shuswap Environmental Action Society, a non-profit society whose mission is to to study environmental issues and to inform the public about environmental problems and solutions.
The Council of Canadians is calling on the Trudeau government to protect lakes and rivers by reviewing the legislative changes made by the Harper government, restoring the lost protections for freshwater, and implementing strict safeguards for water within the framework of the United Nations-recognized right to water.
We also call on the federal environment minister to reject the current review process and launch a full panel review of the proposed Ajax open-pit mine.
Further reading
What will Trudeau (un)do to protect freshwater in Canada? (Jan. 4, 2016)
