Editorial — Ajax conversation just gained some voices
WEDNESDAY MORNING EDITORIAL — On Sept. 8, 2014, The Armchair Mayor said this in an editorial:
“Whether you support Ajax, oppose it, or haven’t yet made up your mind, the reluctance by authorities to share information beyond the strict guidelines of existing legislation must seem confusing.
Expanding the conversation.
“A letter from the B.C. Environmental Assessment office’s Scott Bailey to City council agrees to council’s request for a broad-based public information session — not just a presentation to council — hosted by the EA. That session could be held within a few weeks.
“But Bailey hesitates to grant council’s second request — a new official public comment session based on KGHM International’s changes to the proposed site plan for the mine….
“It’s too bad there’s such a reluctance by authorities to stray even the slightest bit outside their formal parameters on a project that is unique for its close proximity to a major centre. Pro, con or in between, people need to know as much as possible.”
Therefore, the A.M. News would like to take full credit for Tuesday’s announcement that the EA office has seen the light and decided to approve a new public comment period in view of the changes to the proposed mine site by KGHM International.
That, of course, would be pure twaddle. What actually happened is likely something like this. Someone in government, maybe our MLAs, maybe even the premier, maybe the minister of the environment, tired of the insistence of their bureaucrats that words on paper must be followed to the letter rather than looking at what makes sense from a public perspective.
Bailey and the EA office likely received some advice to rethink the situation. Bailey and the EA office may have appreciated having the weight lifted from their shoulders, and happily complied.
Or, maybe that isn’t how it happened at all. Regardless, as the A.M, News said Sept. 8, pro or con, people need to know as much as possible and, therefore, need as much opportunity as possible to ask questions and suggest what information needs to be provided. So, a good decision was made, albeit a little slowly.
ArmchairMayor.ca 
And maybe the bureaucrats figured that if they did not follow the letter of the law about disclosure, and the public outcry stopped the mine, then the government could be liable for all the mine’s cost to this date….
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Mel, do you know if the proponent will have to release much more detailed information about the new site plan – models, size and height of structures, number of trucks etc to the public before the comment period? It would be easier to comment intelligently if the new project design was released to the public.
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No, Cavers doing his job and calling Bailey out for what he his (Bailey that is, the incompetent one) did the trick. Where were reluctant Milobar and Singh? Posturing? As if that makes any difference!
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