Christy Clark weighs in on Prosperity Mine project

First things first --- I support the Prosperity Mine project, and thought it insane when it was reported the federal government was using the environment as the excuse for not approving the go-ahead of the mine.  

There was no issue with fish and fish habitat -- Fish Lake is a hole in the ground filled with water that supports fish.  The mine said they needed the current lake area for the mine, and would create a new lake.  I personally don’t see that as a big deal.  I believe however that the federal government took the cowards way out on an issue they knew was going to cause huge problems with some in the First Nations community. (Read the Summary of Panel's Conclusions HERE and then tell me why it didn't go ahead)

That said the decision was made several months ago, and now the folks at Taseko Mines are looking at new ways to try and make the Prosperity Mine a reality by coming up with changes to meet the environmental concerns that were raised. 

So with the initial decision in, why would anyone want to go stir up the pot and mess things up, while Taseko / Prosperity are working on new ways to get the mine approved?  Seems to me the logical thing would be to let that play out, and then if the answer is still “no”, then everyone will have a pretty clear indication why.

Christy Clark has a better idea though --- and has indicated she plans to go toe to toe with the feds to have the decision to reject the mine reversed.  

A story in yesterdays Globe and Mail says that if she takes the top job, winning the Liberal leadership race to become premier, she will.... use her first meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper to demand a reversal in the decision to halt the open-pit copper and gold mine near Williams Lake.

Apparently she has even indicated that … it would be in Ottawa’s interest to reverse course to win support from B.C. voters in a spring federal election.

Said Clark, “This isn’t the final decision as far as I am concerned.”  With her vast knowledge of mining and the environment, her rationale for the approval is … “the common sense of it, the ridiculousness of this decision, the common sense of changing it. I think Ottawa does want to change it. At the political level, they see how dumb this decision is, so I think there’s an appetite to change it. … They also have a federal election coming up, so I think they are sensitive to that as well.”

Clark didn’t spend much time in the BC legislature before deciding it wasn’t the career for her … and I don’t recall that ministries involving the Environment or Mining being on her resume.

The Cariboo region where I grew up has seen a huge decline in all aspects of the lumber industry from crews in the woods falling trees … to the log haulers … to the mill workers.  The Prosperity Mine would have been a huge boost to the economy of not only the Williams Lake and Chilcotin region … but the tax revenues of the provincial government.

Christy Clark said, “The thing I don’t understand about this process is that BC approved it, and the federal government comes in and says, ‘It’s not okay,’ as though the British Columbia process somehow lacks integrity, and it doesn’t. We need one approval process.”

Christy, keep your nose out of this one because it is NOT an environmental issue --- and the sooner she realizes that the better.  The mine did not get federal approve because some in the First Nations community simply do not want the mine.  Leave it alone because it’s better to get that on the table as the reason, than to play around and be nice using the excuse it’s the environment that needs to be protected.

BC has lost too many well paying jobs that allowed parents to own a home, raise a family, and enjoy a good life.  What that doesn’t mean though is that we risk destroying or damaging the environment just to see those $50 - $60 dollar an hour jobs return.  We need to balance protecting the environment for each us to enjoy -– and to ensure no more losses to fish, wildlife, and bird habitat – while ensuring that BC doesn’t become a burger flipping minimum wage society.

Oh by the way, Christy Clark has apparently been quoted as saying that if she becomes premier she’ll reduce health-care spending and tie it to the rate of economic growth in the province.

The health care debate has been raging for years now with people on all sides of the issue having either a position that we can do no better than to hold the line on spending by finding efficiencies, or that the only answer is to increase spending.   This is the first time I have heard of anyone saying that the BC government needs to reduce health care spending.  I wonder how the thousands of people who are currently on waiting lists for surgery will feel about that suggestion?

I’m Alan Forseth in Kamloops, and those are the thoughts of one conservative.

PS ... not that it makes me any more of an authority on the subject, I did however actually spend four years working at an open pit copper mine near Williams Lake -- although it does seem a lifetime ago.