News Leader News for February 20, 2007
LALI DECLARES VICTORY FOR SIMILKAMEEN
Yale-Lillooet MLA Harry Lali declared victory on behalf of the people of the Similkameen Valley and area.
"Great things happen when committed people from different socio-economic and political backgrounds band together to fight an injustice taking place in their own back yard," said Lali.
"In their Throne Speech on Tuesday (February 14th) the Gordon Campbell Liberals capitulated on their ridiculous attempt to forcibly build a dirty coal-fired plant in Princeton," explained Lali as he spoke from the B.C. Legislature.
"Finally the government has seen the error of its ways and decided to kill dirty coal plant proposals in B.C."
Lali said, "It is a shame that the Campbell Liberals only acted after the 'Friends of the Similkameen' and 'Save Our Similkameen' organizations and residents of the Similkameen raised a hue and cry. Together, the Similkameen Valley residents and the NDP Opposition were able to highlight the destruction dirty coal plants would have wreaked on the pristine environment of Southern B.C., on the health of area residents and on the local tourism industry. Similkameen residents had been fighting against this dirty coal plant for over a year," said Lali.
"Initially, the Campbell Liberals tried to bring in the project by attempting to sneak it under the 50-megawatt radar of the Environmental Assessment Office. Then the E.A. Office refused to give any information to local municipal leaders and residents regarding specifics of emissions and pollutants the plant would put into the local air, land and water, including mercury levels. Local residents were forced to go public with their concerns and demand action through the media and the MLA's office in order to get government to pay attention to their concerns," charged Lali.
"Local residents like Brad Hope and others, together with municipal leaders like the mayors of Princeton and Keremeos and the chief of the Lower Similkameen Indian Band, were also forced to call a number of public meetings, execute a petition, a letter writing campaign, produce leaflets, hold demonstrations, one at Environment Minister Barry Penner's office in Chilliwack, solicit the help of the local, regional and provincial media and the NDP Opposition and in their struggle."
MLA Lali spoke against coal-fired plants at a public meeting in Princeton in October, again in November when he brought NDP Environment Critic Shane Simpson and Energy Critic John Horgan to speak at a public meeting in Princeton.
In December, Harry Lali and Yale-Lillooet NDP President Robert Tarswell were successful in introducing and having an Emergency Resolution passed at the NDP Provincial Council (the governing body of the provincial NDP) calling on the New Democratic Party to ban coal-fired power generation in British Columbia.
Earlier this month Lali and NDP Leader Carole James toured the Similkameen Valley and visited with citizens, local municipal leaders, and the two First Nations in Keremeos, and ended the day with an open public meeting in Princeton on February 3rd where they came out strongly in support of the people of the Similkameeen who were fighting dirty coal plants in B.C.
"In the end, the victory belongs to the people of the Similkameen," said Lali.
"As a politician, it is my duty to stand up on behalf of the people of Yale-Lillooet."
COMPLIANCE CONSIDERS ALL-WOOD PROJECT
The Princeton Power Project is looking seriously at moving from burning a coal and wood mixture to becoming a wood only plant.The key to the change could be increased access to Mountain Pine Beetle killed wood, which would be used in addition to local wood-waste being diverted to the plant.
"There is a huge amount of timber affected by the Mountain Pine Beetle, and this provides a real opportunity for us," said CEO John Tapics.
"The conversion to wood will also assist the project to meet tough new standards regarding greenhouse gas emissions. When we started this project, we faced some of the toughest environmental standards in North America. We have always expected that would continue, and it has," said Tapics.
By using 100 % wood, output from the plant could be eligible to be classified as BC Clean Electricity under BC Government guidelines.
The project in its new form would result in similar economic benefits to the local area as previously anticipated. About 230 full-time equivalent construction jobs, up to 30 jobs at the power plant, and another 40-plus jobs created indirectly.
The project will provide power for over 40,000 homes and will help the Province meet its goal of being electricity self sufficient by 2016.
It is expected that a feasibility review of the conversion will be completed by the end of March.
NEW DVD FEATURES PRINCETON POSSE
Similkameen News Leader Owner/Publisher George Elliott releases his latest DVD project this week.Titled "Princeton Posse 2006/07 - The DVD" the second DVD produced by Elliott in less than a year covers the entire 5th season of the local KIJHL hockey franchise.
"There's over 400 hundred photos, mostly action shots from home games as well as player profiles and photos from last weekend's awards banquet," Elliott says.
"One interesting feature of the DVD is that it contains every single Posse story that ran during the season in the News Leader."
The Posse DVD will be available exclusively at the News Leader office for $19.99 each, including GST.
Elliott's first DVD project, "Princeton Area Ghost Towns - The DVD" continues to sell weekly and he hopes to see similar success with the Posse project.
"Coach 'Duner' was very encouraging when I told him about the Posse DVD and the coaching staff - along with team members - were a tremendous help with a portion of the project," Elliott adds.
"I couldn't have asked for more cooperation from them and that helped make the player profile portion of the DVD possible."
Elliott says he has more DVDs in the production stages.
HELP LINE ELECTS 2007 EXECUTIVE
Princeton Help Line Society met February 12 to elect a new executive. Keith Olsen returned as President, with Gail Davidson as Treasurer and Dawn Johnson as Secretary. Fran La Brash and Marion Marsel are Directors.Gail Davidson reported a successful Christmas visit to clients with gifts. The Help Line Society gives friendly calls to people who live alone in order to provide community contact and a safety net in case of sudden needs.
Community Services Society has graciously agreed to be the contact point for anyone wishing to receive or have another person receive a friendly call. Persons who live alone, especially those who are elderly or disabled, may benefit by contact with others in the community. This is a free service to the client. The Help Line Society is supported by grants from Princeton's service organizations.
In addition to providing contact through phone calls, the Help Line Society offers visits and occasional get-togethers for clients. Anyone wishing to have this contact should phone 295-6666 for a referral.
