Ajax — from a community in bloom to a community in gloom?

LETTER — From Kamloops resident Donna Greenlay on the Ajax mine proposal.

Every week, I end up talking with someone about the proposed Ajax mine.

The one issue that causes me frustration is the claim Kamloops needs the jobs.

What seems irrelevant to some is environmental impact, proximity to elementary schools and day cares, health concerns related to toxins in the air, doctors and physicians objecting to the health repercussions, impact on property values and effects on buildings due to ground instability linked to blasting.

Those who support Ajax due to job creation do not seem to realize the mine’s own printed material states job possibilities vary from 380 to 500.

These numbers may look impressive, but are less than one per cent of the jobs in Kamloops.

And there is no guarantee on how long these jobs will last after initial construction.

The fact is, Ajax sits on a very low grade of copper and is, therefore, vulnerable to market fluctuations.

There will be mine closures for significant periods.

In any event, promised jobs may not go to local residents.

Our government is enabling foreign workers to be hired at reduced wages and technology is replacing many jobs in the mining sector.

Ajax acknowledges the conveyance systems will replace trucks and their drivers in later mine life.

There is also the practice of transfer pricing, in which services like engineering and research and development may be conducted in other countries — such as Poland, home to Ajax parent company KGHM —  but charged back to the company in Canada.

This results in lower taxes for the company and fewer jobs for Canadians.

Of course we all need jobs, but local existing mines are constantly hiring and high-tech green industries, which also pay well, may choose to look for communities that offer employees a city with healthy  air and groundwater.

International students at Thompson Rivers University bring in approximately $100 million annually to our community.

This is through student fees and spin-off spending in the community.

Will these students see Kamloops as a desirable place to live while receiving their education?

Do we go from a community in bloom to a community in gloom, with huge waste-rock piles at the gateway entrances to the city, 10 per cent less sunshine due to increased fog and an increase in the amount of diesel in the air from trucks (diesel being the No. 2 cancer-causing toxin, according to the World Health Organization)?

Really, Kamloopsians, we can do better.

DONNA GREENLAY

Kamloops