BIG EDDY WATERWORKS DISTRICT at crossroads after school development plans stalled - 3
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Weds., March 19, 2014 www.revelstoketimesreview.com Vol. 117, No. 12
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Health Care Assistant grads
B.C. Gov’t opts for Columbia River Treaty negotiation TOM FLETCHER, ART HARRISON, AARON ORLANDO Black Press
places where people live,” Zacharias explained in an interview with the Times Review. “This is really about looking at upstream prevention. For me, what was cool about this was really connecting the dots – saying this is what we’re doing, but connecting it … to the health and well-being of our citizens.” The 29-page report can only be touched upon briefly here, but we’re embedding it with this story online at revelstoketimesreview. com It’s a facts-, figures- and statistics-heavy report that inventories all kinds of health-related information, such as available recreation options, food-related information, socio-economic data, mental
Bill Bennett, Minister of Energy and Mines, announced Mar. 13 that the province will continue the Columbia River Treaty (CRT) and try to negotiate improvements to the treaty from within its existing framework. The decision comes with the deadline of September when either side in the agreement can give the required 10-year notice to terminate substantial portions of the treaty or end it entirely in 2024, the 60-year lifespan of the original treaty’s time frame. The decision to continue with the treaty includes 14 principles intended to guide B.C. in any discussions on the future of the CRT between Canada and the United States. The announcement comes after a two-year review of the 50-year-old treaty between Canada and the US, with the province of B.C. acting as Canada’s representative and the US Entity made up of the US Corps of Engineers and the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) representing the U.S. “We believe continuing the Columbia River Treaty while exploring how improvements could benefit both countries is the best strategy moving forward for B.C., Canada, and the United States,” said Bennett in a media release. “The consultations that have included various levels of government, stakeholder groups, First Nations, and the public have helped ensure the future of the treaty will be shaped by the people it impacts.” Kootenay West MLA, Katrine Conroy, is the NDP’s opposition critic for the Columbia River Treaty but, in this case, she is not being so critical. “This is a good thing,” said Conroy. “You won’t hear this much in my political career but the minister and I agree on this. “I think it’s better to work within the treaty and improve upon it. We gave up far more than we gained in the treaty, they gained a huge socioeconomic boost, to their tourism, agriculture, flood control, all this on top of the hydro. It’s pretty amazing what you can do when you have control of the flow. “This is a good start and we have to be tough in negotiations but I think we’re in a strong position. I’m glad the ministry has let the federal government know the direction they want to go with this and I think the citizens will support it.” Bennett said the province would try to convince the U.S. government it is a fair deal. B.C. gets “downstream benefits” worth between $100 and $300 million a year from the treaty, and the U.S. has suggested that is too much. “We believe, with all due respect to the U.S., that if all of the benefits in the U.S. are identified and valued, that in fact Canada probably does not receive enough,” Bennett said Thursday. “There hasn’t been a major flood in the U.S. since the Canadian dams were constructed,” Bennett said. “Before the Canadian dams were constructed, there were some horrible floods causing loss of life and billions of dollars of damage. So the treaty was negotiated 50 years ago on the basis of producing power and controlling floods.” The review process included numerous community consultation sessions held throughout the Columbia Basin to discuss the impacts of the
Healthy Communities, page 10
Columbia River Treaty, page 18
Students participating in the Health Care Assistant program at Okanagan College in Revelstoke gathered on Mar. 17 to celebrate their upcoming graduation from the program. The program was a first in Revelstoke and the result of a partnership between Interior Health, Okanagan College and the Revelstoke District Health Foundation. Some of the students will go on to work in home support and residential care in Revelstoke. Congratulations graduates! Front row left: Jennifer Crockford, Chantelle Cumskey, instructor Audrey Austin, Mallory Dale-Anderson, Dawn Peterson, Jackie James. Back row from left: Jennifer Lenzi, Kayla Dodman, Nataliya Kiyan, Connie Marsden, Maralee Faurot, Kara Farrell. Aaron Orlando/Revelstoke Times Review
Project seeks community health improvement Revelstoke and Area Healthy Community Project wants to improve community health and ease burden on health care system AARON ORLANDO
editor@revelstoketimesreview.com
When it comes to preventable health issues, whose responsibility is your own personal health? Whose responsibility is our community’s health? Many might answer the burden rests with the individual to take basic steps like maintaining a healthy diet, getting exercise, maintaining a healthy weight, not smoking, practicing moderation in lifestyle, health selfeducation and generally striving for health. But when we don’t, and we run into chronic, preventable health issues, the responsibility to pay for the consequences falls on the health care system – which we all pay for. A few years back, the B.C.
Ministry of Health set out to better coordinate their efforts to control “upstream” health, embarking on several initiatives designed to improve health at the community level and, therefore, control the financial burden preventable illnesses place on the health care system. Locally, the offshoot is the Revelstoke and Area Healthy Community Project, a new report completed by City of Revelstoke Social Development Coordinator Jill Zacharias and the city’s Social Development Committee. The report’s goal is to find out what the community – Revelstoke – can be doing to positively affect health outcomes. “The health authorities do health care; they can’t control the
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