Inside
WEDNESDAY, May 30, 2012
NEWS BRIEFS New principal for Sowchea Margaret Mattess will be taking over this fall for Cam McCormick, who will be retiring at the end of the school year. Mattess was the Vice Principal for Aboriginal Eduction for School District 91 this school year and will start her new role in August.
Free workshop Join Dr. Franzi Ng for a workshop luncheon on How to Succeed in Any Economy: Overcoming the 17 Classic Business Performance Blocks. Franzi Ng is a StraightLine Coach and holds a doctorate in Leadership and Change. Franzi’s presentation is grounded in the unique concepts taken from the new best-selling book “Straight-Line Leadership” Franzi is also the Executive Director at Straight-Line Coach and works closely with the author of the book. When: May 31,2012 Time: 12 noon - 1:00 pm Cost: FREE! Book early as lunch is provided Where: CNC in Fort Phone or drop by the College campus at 179 Douglas Avenue to pre-register or phone 250-996-7019. Your pre-registration will help determine how many lunches to prepare for May 31.
Ruth Lloyd Caledonia Courier
◆ Letter P. 4 ◆ Mayor’s Caucus P. 5
◆ Taking a stand P. 3 ◆ Nation Lakes P. 12
PHONE: 996-8482 www.caledoniacourier.com
VOL. 35 NO. 13 $1.34 inc. GST
Fire leaves GUF with uncertain future
After a devastating fire which destroyed their new recycling centre, Greening Up Fort St. James is looking hard at being able to rebuild. GUF had insurance for the building, but the insurance will not cover the entire cost of rebuilding the structure, and there may now be stipulations as to the type of building they will need to have, which could also drive the cost up. The group presented a short update to Fort St. A fire being treated as arson in the early morning James District mayor and hours of May 21 burned the recycling centre to the council last week at the coun- ground. Jeff Jones Photo cil meeting, but they still had ing to other buildings, and they Two employees few answers for the council thanked both the community of and an independent as to how they plan to proceed. “We really want to find a so- Fort St. James and the mayor and business with one other employee are now lution, we don’t want this to be council for their support. Mayor Rob MacDougall ex- all out of work for the the end,” said Jana Gainor, GUF recycling coordinator. But the pressed his own support for the time being. The group was group needs to ensure there are group. “Words can’t express how meeting with some of going to be adequate funds to rebuild before going forward. Their disappointed I was to see that,” their funding partners most immediate need last week said MacDougall. “The cowardly to discuss next steps was for site cleanup, with the pile act of vandalism better not go un- for the society last week. of burnt metal and debris causing punished.” “Don’t give up,” said MacThey will be holda bit of a hazard at the site. Dougall. “We’re down a bit, but ing a community They thanked the fire department for their work on the fire Fort St. James just doesn’t quit so open house on June 5 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and preventing it from spread- we’ll make it happen again.”
as well for the public on the second floor in the library. They will be inviting new members to join the group and looking for community input into their work. Fort St. James Fire Department was called to the Integris Recycling Centre, along with police and am-
bulance, at around 2:30 a.m. on May 21. The newly constructed recycling centre was fully engulfed in flame when firefighters arrived. Chief Bennet said the fire appeared to have started in the far (mixed paper) bin and moved from there into the building. Video surveillance from a nearby business is still being examined to attempt to identify possible suspects in what is now being treated as arson. Members of the volunteer organization arrived at about 6 a.m. the same morning to survey the wreckage and were stunned by the total destruction. The group had worked since 2008 to reach where they were. The centre hosted their grand opening only one month almost to the day before the fire destroyed the facility. The group had recently marked a major landmark in their recycling program, they diverted over 100 merit tonnes from the landfill. They had been bailing A firefighter looks through the remains of over two metric tonnes a twisted metal which were all that remained week since the purchase of their bailer. of the facility. Ruth Lloyd Photo
Mt. Milligan presents Ruth Lloyd Caledonia Courier A representative from Mount Milligan and Thompson Creek presented last week on their proposed environmental assessment (EAC) amendment. Jocelyn Fraser, director of corporate responsibility for Thompson Creek Metals, spoke to mayor and council and a large group of public. Fraser came to give reasons for the proposed 450-person operational camp being proposed and the proposal for the location change for the ore load-out facility. Fraser indicated increasing capital costs as part of the hurdle the company is having to overcome during the construction phase. While the estimated cost for the project started out at $900 million, with increasing costs for many materials given the large number of projects now being initiated globally, this estimate has since soared to $1.4 billion. They are also challenged with a shortage of skilled labour, driving up labour costs as well. Mining stocks have already fallen, with Thompson Creek stocks having fallen significantly. “We’re being very cost-conscious and we’re looking for every way we can keep the project on track,” said Fraser.
While the original plan for a permanent camp said the company would like to apply to have a 300-person camp on site at Mount Milligan, the actual EAC amendment has asked for a 450-person camp instead. “It was our original intention that we would have accommodation for about 300 of the workforce, what we’re also asking for is the capacity to accommodate contractors, maintenance personnel, visitors from other sites, temporary employees,” said Fraser. The proposed camp would provide gym and fitness facilities as well as living and eating facilities for those on site. The amendment application also asks to change the location of the load-out facility in the original application from Fort St. James to Mackenzie. The original plan was approved to build a rail load-out facility in the industrial area on the Tachie Road to ship out the metal concentrate after it was brought down in trucks from the mine. Thompson Creek now says they would prefer to use Mackenzie as the location for the load-out because the connector road has been upgraded to accommodate the concentrate trucks since the original application, and there would be no use of public roads to ship the material out from Mackenzie, only forestry roads. In addition, there is a Kemess loud-out Thompson
Creek may be able to negotiate a lease on instead of having to construct their own initially, which Kemess has expressed a willingness to do. The load out would produce three to six jobs for the site, with some short-term construction jobs were they to need to build a new facility. “We want to be considered to be a valued partner in the communities in which we operate,” said Fraser. “We will be submitting some comments regarding the change,” said Mayor Rob MacDougall. “I guess for us, the camp may assist in some ways in that the single workers, they tend to be transients and for us, transients don’t help our communities, so that may be a benefit for us.” “What we’re after is the family that can come and live in our community, contribute, be volunteers, support our businesses and our schools, etc.” he said. “While we’re opposed to the size of the camp, we’re not necessarily opposed to the camp in general.” In regards to the load out, MacDougall said the community was hoping to help offset the loss of the Stuart Lake Lumber Mill jobs with the jobs at the load out. The mayor also expressed his desire to see the planned fouron, four-off work shift for the mine in writing to ensure the camp does not later become a way to bring in more workers from far outside the region.