Holy Skrepnek, or, A Tale of Two Kevins

Armchair Mayor column, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2010

Kim Sigurdson — I’m sure you know the name — must be getting dizzy these days from trying to keep up with the goalposts that keep moving on him.

I made contact with South Kamloops MLA Kevin Krueger yesterday to confirm that the upcoming public forum sponsored by the chamber of commerce will satisfy his and Terry Lake’s concerns about public consultation.

If you’re behind on this one, Kevin and Terry, after initially backing the Ministry of Environment’s decision to grant a permit to ACC for its railway-tie plant, and taking note of growing opposition to the project, hit upon a different tack.

While they’re confident the ACC plant will work fine, and cause no ill effects, they decided to oppose it on grounds the company hadn’t fulfilled its “social licence” to consult with the public.

As an arm-twister, they’ve been threatening to block a $1.5 million grant to ACC from the Innovative Clean Energy Fund approved and announced way last April.

A couple of weeks ago, on Feb. 4 to be exact, as the chamber was beginning to formulate plans for the forum, I asked what form of consultation Kevin and Terry feel would satisfy their concerns in connection with the ICE funding.

Via June Phillips, Kevin’s executive assistant at his constituency office, the MLA replied by email: “I have in mind a public meeting, well-advertised and plenty of room, competent spokespeople provided by the proponent and the principals themselves.

“And yes, we would ask the IHA and MOE to take part. ISIC too.”

The chamber event fits those criteria perfectly. Up until yesterday, anyway. Suddenly, the demands have gone up, at least on Kevin Krueger’s part.

Now, ACC would have to hold multiple meetings to make him happy. “He may need a great deal more than one meeting. He’s got a population to convince,” said the MLA.

And anyway, he’d rather ACC just went some place else. And anyway, ACC’s project won’t succeed. And anyway, ACC says it doesn’t really need the ICE money, and that’s another reason the company maybe shouldn’t get it.

Lake has a different view of what’s fair. If the meeting is well run and provides the proper opportunity for people to ask questions and have them answered, “then I certainly would let the Ministry know that he (Sigurdson) has met that obligation” to consult.

Of course, the MLAs don’t have the final say in the matter. Application requirements for ICE state the funds are intended for projects in which “all potentially impacted stakeholders and First Nations have been meaningfully engaged and necessary permits have been successfully concluded or are underway.”

The permit matter isn’t going to be a problem, so the only thing holding back the cheque would seem to be the final paperwork and “meaningful engagement.”

If the Ministry takes Krueger’s advice on what ‘s meaningful, there’s no practical way ACC can fulfill the requirement. If its views are more closely aligned with Lake’s, the money can’t, in anybody’s definition of fairness, be held back.

In response to a couple of phone calls, I got this back from Rob Duffus, communications director for the Ministry of Small Business And a Bunch of Other Things: “There has been no recent change in the status of potential ICE Fund support for the ACC project. No funding has gone to the project, and — as with all ICE Fund projects —  the facility will not receive ICE funding or proceed to construction until all partnership and financing agreements are in place, all local, provincial and federal permits have been secured, and the project is certain to proceed.

“The ICE Fund only provides financial support; it does not regulate projects. . . .” 

At least Lake has only moved the goalposts once, while Krueger seems determined to move them as many times as it takes. Ain’t politics grand?

Now, then, about that other Kevin, the one named Skrepnek. He’ll be proud of me.

Skrepnek was working for then-MP Betty Hinton back in March of 2007 when he scooped the domain name michaelcrawford.ca. Crawford, who was then (as he has been ever since) the federal NDP candidate, demanded Hinton apologize. I suggested at the time he go looking for a sense of humour.

Well, I’ve sort of unwittingly pulled a Skrepnek. I now own the rights to the name Thompson Institute of Environmental Studies, the group (or, not a group, as it turns out) that filed an appeal against the permit granted to ACC.

The other evening, as reporter Mike Youds was polishing up his story on the situation, I suggested we go online to the registry that handles these things and confirm whether or not TIES is a bona fide society, which it must be in order to file an appeal.

Mike couldn’t get the search engine to work so I gave it a try. I couldn’t even find the page that lists registered societies but I did find one where you could apply for a society name. I figured that was one way of finding out if TIES was registered — if I was approved for the name, obviously it wasn’t.

So, for 30 bucks, I went through the application process and, voila, I now own the rights to the Thompson Institute of Environmental Studies Society, at least until April 15.

In a gesture of magnanimity, I’m willing to sell it back for the same price I paid for it.

By the way, Save Kamloops is not registered either. Hmmmm.