Percentages are working in Ajax’s favour
SUNDAY MORNING EDITORIAL — In October 2012, the Armchair Mayor wrote that anyone thinking the rejection by the provincial government of the Morrison Lake mine project at the headwaters of the Skeena River was a good omen for a similar decision on Ajax should think again.
The same thing goes for New Prosperity.
In the case of the Pacific Booker Minerals project at Morrison, the decision from the provincial-federal review was that it posed a risk to salmon runs. That decision was challenged in court and reversed in December — the government must now decide how to respond.
The New Prosperity mine in the Chilcotin was turned down by a federal panel review based on broader environmental concerns.
As pointed out in the Armchair Mayor column of 2012, only two projects have been turned down by the provincial-federal process in 20 years, one of which was the Ashcroft Ranch landfill.
Despite the B.C. decision against Morrison, the Environmental Assessment Office concluded there would be “no significant adverse effects” on the lifestyle of the surrounding area. As well, there was strong First Nations opposition, unlike with Ajax.
On the one hand, the provincial government turned down Morrison but, on the other, supports New Prosperity — it’s a confusing situation.
But here’s the real thing. Two major mining projects have now been stumped in B.C. The provincial government has pledged to open eight new mines by 2015, though those mines haven’t been named.
With two projects rejected, percentages suggest that the next one will be hard to turn down. If that third one, namely Ajax, is stopped, what does that do to B.C.’s image as a mining friendly province, and to job creation in the mining industry?
No matter how logical and powerful the arguments against Ajax might be, turning it down is getting harder and harder for the B.C. Liberals.
ArmchairMayor.ca 
I agree that a major factor that may lead to the unfortunate approval of Ajax is the lack of opposition from local area First Nations.
LikeLike
You are absolutely right Chris. If first nations were prostesting this mine then I would wager a federal review would be called for. Since the TIB will do anything for money, of course they want it to go ahead. In fact, the TIB is the only group guaranteed jobs from this mine. The biggest reason New Prosperity failed was First Nations opposition.
LikeLike
I think this just means that we need to do a really good job of letting the BC Liberals know what way we want them to take our province and our city. In the next civic election, we need to elect a strong council with VISION, that will communicate effectively with the other levels of government about the direction of our city.
I think that if people become complacent, Kamloops will become a “model for sustainable mining,” in BC, which was the vision articulated by Terry Lake when he was EM. If we don’t want to become a poster child for the mining industry in BC/Canada, we need to continue to be vocal about our own vision for our city!
LikeLike