"Be it resolved that this House supports taking a principled stand on responsible natural resource development and seize the opportunities available so we can continue building communities and planning for future growth across British Columbia."
The MLA's for Fraser-Nicola (BC Lib), Cariboo-Chilcotin (BC Lib), Skeena (NDP), North-Coast (NDP), Maple Ridge-Mission (BC Lib), Stikine (NDP), Abbotsford-South (BC Lib), Vancouver-Kensington (NDP), PG-Mackenzie (BC Lib), Juan de Fuca (NDP), and Peace River South (BC Lib) all particpated in debating the above motion
My local MLA and the Parliamentary Secretary for Rural Development, Donna Barnett spoke to the motion put forward by her colleague from Fraser-Nicola Jackie Tagart as follows:
Today I would like to talk about a mine in the Cariboo-Chilcotin that is being proposed. As we all know, our resource industries are the industries that build strong communities, as my colleague across the floor has just said. We have an opportunity in the Cariboo-Chilcotin that will take the Cariboo-Chilcotin back to where it was. It was once very vibrant and had a strong economy.
As we all know, due to the pine beetle in areas like the Cariboo-Chilcotin we have devastation and industries that are still vibrant but not as vibrant as they used to be. We have a mine, now proposed for the second time, which starts its environmental assessment panel hearing process today in the Cariboo-Chilcotin.
I have followed this mine for approximately 20 years. Prior to being the MLA for the Cariboo-Chilcotin, I was mayor of the district of 100 Mile House for approximately 18 years. I became involved in this process when it first started. I fully supported the project then, as did my community and council, and I support it today.
We continue to hear about child poverty throughout the province of British Columbia and in some of our rural communities. In my opinion, there is no such thing as child poverty. It is parental and adult poverty. The unemployment statistics in some of our small communities and, unfortunately, in some of our First Nations communities are astounding. We must give these people, our young people, the opportunities that are out there and the jobs that will bring our communities and these young people forward.
We cannot continually say we have child poverty and yet say no to good resource development projects. I've even taken the time to monitor the environmental concerns around this project. These concerns, in my opinion, on this second round have more than been taken into consideration. While I appreciate the concerns of some, I appreciate and respect our First Nations communities. I believe that through a consultation process, this new project, the revenue-sharing opportunities for First Nations, will come together and be successful.
We have now gone through some turmoil. We have a chief who was chief for 20 years of the Alexis Creek Indian band. He was tribal chair of the Tsilhqot'in National Government. He was opposed to the first project. He now supports it. He understands that what the concerns were of the First Nations people are being addressed in this second proposal. He understands the needs of the young people in his communities. He understands the opportunities.
We talk about training and trades. Through the British Columbia Aboriginal Mine Training Association we have a great, great training centre in Williams Lake and we have many, many young First Nations people training and working now in Gibraltar mine, which is also a project that has just hired another 200 people and spent millions of dollars in the area supporting our communities.
I would also like to pass along a comment about the company that is proposing this mine. They are a great corporate citizen. They are working with some of our local First Nations bands, have signed an agreement with one and have given over 20 young people recently, in one of our First Nations communities, great opportunities.
You know, this opportunity that we have in the Cariboo-Chilcotin…. I encourage everyone to listen, to not say no, to listen to the benefits, the opportunities. In this province, in British Columbia, we have some of the most stringent environmental regulations there are. I know that once the shovel goes in the ground, and long before it does, the environmental assessment review panel, the province of British Columbia, the monitoring that will go on through this whole process will be the strongest and the toughest there is, I believe, in the world today
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