Mine is about opportunity, says TRU dean on his appearance in new Ajax promotional video
Dean Lindsay Langill in video.
NEWS/ AJAX — A Thompson Rivers University dean said today he appeared on an Ajax mine promotional video because the community needs to look at economic opportunities that will keep young people in Kamloops.
Lindsay Langill, dean of trades and technology at TRU, was one of three people who provided testimonials in the video, commissioned by KGHM International and entitled “The Ajax Project — The Conversation.”
The video was announced last Saturday and is now on YouTube.
“It really bothers me that so many of these kids are going off to Alberta or Saskatchewan to work,” he told The Armchair Mayor News.
“That was my message — it was around opportunity.”
“I think that when we look at the province in general we just do not have the tax base that’s contributing to our system. We just have to get something going.”
He said the TRU trades and technology department has doubled its intake in five years to 2,000 students. Reaction to the video in the department has been positive, Langill said.
“So many students say ‘Great video, thanks for speaking out on our behalf.'”
Langill said he was expressing a personal opinion and TRU is a place where diverse opinions can be expressed. “The university is all about having dialogue,” he said.
“I’m speaking on my pure principles.”
He said he hopes the community can find ways to respectfully debate Ajax. “It’s not about taking sides. Let’s stay open-minded.”
ArmchairMayor.ca 
You can count on us. We need the income and recognition. No polnt leaving a needed resource in the ground, its a win-in situation to me.
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Jocelyne Mitchell says this: I am sick and tired of people who pretend to be neutral on the topic of the Ajax mine who are so clearly pushing their own agendas.
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“It’s not about taking sides. Let’s stay open-minded.”
Isn’t this a bit hypocritical from someone appearing in a video clearly trying to promote the AJAX mine?
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“Lindsay Langill, dean of trades and technology at TRU, was one of three people who provided testimonials in the video.”
He was also their supposedly “neutral facilitator” at the last information sessions put on by KGHM.
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Lindsay Langill co-moderated the Grand Hall sessions last fall with Tom Dickinson, TRU’s dean of science.
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He introduced himself as the “neutral facilitator”. http://vimeo.com/78926592#at=0
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I admire your support of your students, but “When we look at the province in general we just do not have the tax base that’s contributing to our system”.
Is it because the corporate welfare bums are skilled at creating unsustainable shareholder value?
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There may be opportunity for a limited number of Kamloops residents with the proposed mine, but I also think there will be costs. If a limited number of people get benefits, but the larger community gets saddled with the economic externalities and the risks associated with the project, is that still a net benefit? I think that the opportunity costs need to be fully explored.
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