Pro-Ajax video ‘absolute propaganda’ says mine-project opponent Schleiermacher

NEWS/ AJAX — A new Ajax promotional video got a negative review from a prominent opponent of the mine today.

John Schleiermacher of the Kamloops Area Preservation Association, one of the groups opposed to the project, called the video “absolute propaganda.”

The video was unveiled at an event Saturday for Ajax supporters and is now on YouTube. Called “The Ajax Project — The Conversation,” it includes winter scenes of Kamloops and is narrated by Yves Lacasse, the external affairs manager for the Ajax project.

Schleiermacher noted that the video ends by saying “let’s talk,” but he said getting KGHM International to discuss the project hasn’t been easy. “We’ve tried to get them to sit down,” he said.

“It’s (the video) an insult to the people of Kamloops.”

The video included three testimonials, one from Jim Thomson of Plainsman Developers, one from resident Caroline King, and another from Lindsay Langill, the dean of trades and technology at Thompson Rivers University.

Schleiermacher said Langill’s support of Ajax shouldn’t be taken as support from the university itself. “We have to interpret it as being his opinion only and leave it at that. We respect that.”

Asked how opponents of the mine will respond to the event hosted by KGHM International that attracted a large crowd to the Interior Savings Centre last weekend, Schleiermacher said they’ll keep on trying to get answers to environmental questions.

“We’re going to call him on his intention to discuss the issues. ‘Let’s have a conversation, Yves Lacasse. Tell us how you’re going to deal with it.'”