Trail Daily Times, October 05, 2012

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FRIDAY

S I N C E

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OCTOBER 5, 2012 Vol. 117, Issue 192

110

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Dr. Jane Goodall speaks in Cranbrook Page 8

INCLUDING H.S.T.

PROUDLY SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF ROSSLAND, WARFIELD, TRAIL, MONTROSE, FRUITVALE & SALMO

Commission gathers input on proposed electoral boundary changes to riding Issue unites towns in opposition BY TIMOTHY SCHAFER

Meeting on Oct. 10 at Legion hall

Times Staff

What threatens to politically divide the communities of the West Kootenay has also brought them together. With a proposal on the table to chop the Greater Trail region into two, and separate the three cities of the Columbia/Kootenay river valley, the issue has created waves in some corners of the West Kootenay. And created some unison amongst the disparate voices of the region, as evidenced by the impassioned pleas Wednesday night in Castlegar for the federal Electoral Boundary Commission to stop consideration of the proposal. The proposal to split the riding that now connects Trail, Rossland, Castlegar and Nelson has actually united the people of the region more than anything in over a century, said Stephen Hill, the Conservative candidate who once vied for the seat as Member of Parliament for the B.C. Southern Interior riding. “You’ve done more for geographic peace and harmony from Nelson to Trail than has been done in the last 100 years. “And it is terrific that you are just bringing that love to the area,” he said. Hill spoke at the

Expert to speak on smart meters BY TIMOTHY SCHAFER Times Staff

TIMOTHY SCHAFER PHOTO

Regional District of Kootenay Boundary chair Larry Gray, right, speaks to the federal Electoral Boundaries Commission hearing panel on Wednesday night in Castlegar. The three-man panel heard from 17 speakers, while the 90-minute event attracted 26 people. commission hearing in favour of a split—one that would marry Trail and Rossland with Penticton, and shuffle Castlegar, Nelson, Montrose and Fruitvale off to Cranbrook—but he was only one of two voices in favour of the changes. He felt the riding was unworkable in its present state for people on the western edge near Princeton and needed to be reworked. That sentiment was dismissed by the first speaker of 17 on the night, the man who beat Hill out for the Southern Interior seat in the last federal election, the NDP’s Alex

“There is historic precedence here. For over 100 years Penticton has not been part of this riding, and we have not been part of the East Kootenay for that matter.” MP ALEX ATAMANENKO

Atamanenko. “The area is doable. It is a big area but it is doable because it follows the Highway 3 corridor,” Atamanenko said, noting the regional district in the Okanagan did not want Penticton to be included with West Kootenay communities. “There is historical precedence here. For over 100 years, Penticton has not been

part of this riding, and we have not been part of the East Kootenay for that matter.” That message was iterated and reiterated throughout the night, from the mayor of Salmo, Anne Henderson, to Village of Montrose councillor Mary Gay, that the riding’s borders should not change, splintering the Greater Trail communities as well as

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the three cities of the Kootenay/Columbia river valley. “I was quite horrified by the suggestion,” said Warfield resident Holly Pender-Love. “It seemed like a fracture to me.” The commission— made up of commissioners Dr. J. Peter Meekison and Stewart Ladyman, as well as chair John E. Hall— attracted 26 people to the hearing in Castlegar at the Fireside Inn. The communities of Rossland, Fruitvale, the regional district (Areas A and B), Salmo and Montrose were represented by elected municipal officials, while Trail and

Castlegar chose not to send anyone. The previous night in Nelson over 50 people showed up and the sentiment was similar: don’t change the boundaries and split the West Kootenay communities. Twentyfive people registered to speak about the proposed changes to the Southern Interior riding. In Castlegar, the 16th hearing out of the 22 planned in B.C., the commission continued the process of considering whether an additional electoral district might be situated in the West Kootenay geographical area.

People are mad as hell and they are not going to take it anymore as a provincial mandate to affix smart meters to the sides of West Kootenay homes prepares to be aired by the B.C. Utilities Commission. Before that eagle takes flight, a local group has planned to bring out what they are claiming is the truth on the health and well being effects of the new technology. On Oct. 10, 7 p.m. at the Royal Canadian Legion, engineering technologist and intervener in the upcoming BCUC hearing on the FortisBC application to install the meters, Curtis Bennett, will be speaking smartly on the meter matter. He said the most important information people will take away from the session is that those against bringing the technology into 115,000 West Kootenay and Okanagan homes have done their homework.

See GOAL, Page 3

See PUBLIC, Page 3

WWW.KOOTENAYCHRYSLER.COM

Waneta Junction TOLL FREE 1-888-812-6506 TRAIL 250-368-8295

Contact the Times: Phone: 250-368-8551 Fax: 250-368-8550 Newsroom: 250-364-1242 Canada Post, Contract number 42068012


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