Critics in for tough battle
Laura Walz, Editor
Powell River Peak
PEOPLE POWER: A panel, including [from left] political commentator Rafe Mair, Texada Action Now spokesman Chuck Childress, Sierra Club of BC representative Tom Hackney, COPE Local 378 vice president Gwenne Farrell, and Powell River Chapter of the Council of Canadians representative Denise Reinhardt, made presentations at a meeting Monday night opposing a WestPac LNG proposal.
LNG opponents told to be ready for the fight of their lives
Political commentator and former BC politician Rafe Mair told people opposed to a proposed LNG storage facility and power generation plant to be prepared for the fight of their lives.
WestPac LNG has proposed a combined LNG (liquefied natural gas) import terminal and natural gas-fired power generation facility at the northern end of Texada Island. If the project passes through a variety of government and other approvals, large tankers would transport LNG from Australia, southeast Asia and the Middle East, arriving once every 10 to 13 days.
An outspoken critic of salmon farming in BC, Mair said the proposal was not an employment issue and the promise of jobs was an illusion. The issue in Powell River is "can industry, with government holding its hand, trample on the rights of communities, just because those communities happen to be small?" Mair said. "This is not a left-right argument . . . This is a right-wrong issue."
The meeting was organized by the Powell River Chapter of the Council of Canadians, Texada Action Now, the Sierra Club, and COPE (Canadian Office and Professional Employees) Local 378, which has launched a Take Back the Power campaign. Nicholas Simons, MLA for Powell River-Sunshine Coast, introduced Mair. People travelled from Gibsons and Victoria to attend the meeting.
"You must take action as a group and must stick with it," Mair told about 250 people who packed into the Town Centre Hotel on Monday night, October 1.
Chuck Childress, from Texada Action Now (TAN), said the perception is that the proposed location is an industrial site on an industrial island, but Coho Point is one of the best fishing spots on the West Coast and the island is pristine. He also said property values have been adversely affected and just the announcement is killing the retirement industry on the island.
"The people of Texada feel that we have the right to determine, as every other community does in this province, land use issues within our community," he said.
Mair supported the idea of having a referendum on the issue. "As one who has been in government and received petitions and that sort of thing, you don't spend a minute looking at mile-long petitions. If you have an actual scientific referendum that actually polls people fairly and squarely on a question, you have to listen to that."
Tom Hackney, from the BC Chapter of the Sierra Club, outlined the environmental impacts on the proposal, pointing out the project was a $2 billion investment in a fossil fuels infrastructure at a time when there is mounting pressure to change directions and move away from that technology. "That's an investment in energy that will not be available to invest in sustainable forms of energy, like energy conservation," he said.
Denise Reinhardt, from the Powell River Chapter of the Council of Canadians, announced the formation of a new group, Malaspina Communities for Public Power, which was holding its first meeting on October 23.
Powell River Peak
PEOPLE POWER: A panel, including [from left] political commentator Rafe Mair, Texada Action Now spokesman Chuck Childress, Sierra Club of BC representative Tom Hackney, COPE Local 378 vice president Gwenne Farrell, and Powell River Chapter of the Council of Canadians representative Denise Reinhardt, made presentations at a meeting Monday night opposing a WestPac LNG proposal.
LNG opponents told to be ready for the fight of their lives
Political commentator and former BC politician Rafe Mair told people opposed to a proposed LNG storage facility and power generation plant to be prepared for the fight of their lives.
WestPac LNG has proposed a combined LNG (liquefied natural gas) import terminal and natural gas-fired power generation facility at the northern end of Texada Island. If the project passes through a variety of government and other approvals, large tankers would transport LNG from Australia, southeast Asia and the Middle East, arriving once every 10 to 13 days.
An outspoken critic of salmon farming in BC, Mair said the proposal was not an employment issue and the promise of jobs was an illusion. The issue in Powell River is "can industry, with government holding its hand, trample on the rights of communities, just because those communities happen to be small?" Mair said. "This is not a left-right argument . . . This is a right-wrong issue."
The meeting was organized by the Powell River Chapter of the Council of Canadians, Texada Action Now, the Sierra Club, and COPE (Canadian Office and Professional Employees) Local 378, which has launched a Take Back the Power campaign. Nicholas Simons, MLA for Powell River-Sunshine Coast, introduced Mair. People travelled from Gibsons and Victoria to attend the meeting.
"You must take action as a group and must stick with it," Mair told about 250 people who packed into the Town Centre Hotel on Monday night, October 1.
Chuck Childress, from Texada Action Now (TAN), said the perception is that the proposed location is an industrial site on an industrial island, but Coho Point is one of the best fishing spots on the West Coast and the island is pristine. He also said property values have been adversely affected and just the announcement is killing the retirement industry on the island.
"The people of Texada feel that we have the right to determine, as every other community does in this province, land use issues within our community," he said.
Mair supported the idea of having a referendum on the issue. "As one who has been in government and received petitions and that sort of thing, you don't spend a minute looking at mile-long petitions. If you have an actual scientific referendum that actually polls people fairly and squarely on a question, you have to listen to that."
Tom Hackney, from the BC Chapter of the Sierra Club, outlined the environmental impacts on the proposal, pointing out the project was a $2 billion investment in a fossil fuels infrastructure at a time when there is mounting pressure to change directions and move away from that technology. "That's an investment in energy that will not be available to invest in sustainable forms of energy, like energy conservation," he said.
Denise Reinhardt, from the Powell River Chapter of the Council of Canadians, announced the formation of a new group, Malaspina Communities for Public Power, which was holding its first meeting on October 23.
posted by Friend of Texada at
2:32 PM
<< Home