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MIGRANT CRISIS
Friday, September 18, 2015 MUNICIPALITY
Council lobbies for stronger water rights Watershed among list of concerns brought to Union of B.C. Municipalities ERIC PLUMMER ALBERNI VALLEY TIMES
A Syrian boy walks in a sunflower field while he and other migrants wait to board a train for the Austrian border, in southern Hungary on Tuesday. The Syrian civil war has displaced millions from the country. [AP PHOTO/MUHAMMED MUHEISEN]
Refugee coordinator encourages group to bring Syrians to Alberni MARTIN WISSMATH ALBERNI VALLEY TIMES
You can help bring Syrian refugees to Port Alberni. That was the message an Anglican pastor brought to about 40 people gathered in the basement hall of Holy Family Notre Dame Catholic Church on Wednesday evening. It was an interdenominational event, with members of several churches in the Alberni Valley including Lutheran, United and Baptist congregants, who met with the intention to create a sponsorship group to help a refugee family. Rev. Bruce Bryant-Scott, refugee coordinator for the Anglican Diocese of British Columbia, said interest in helping refugees has increased tremendously in recent weeks since photos of three-yearold Alan Kurdi – the drowned Syrian boy lying on a Turkish beach – were published around the world. The response has likely been particularly acute in Canada, Bryant-Scott said, since news surfaced that Alan’s aunt lives in Coquitlam and had been trying to bring the family to this country. The boy’s mother and five-yearold brother also perished in the attempt to escape their war-torn homeland. “It transformed things,” BryantScott said of the photo. “An issue that I and people in refugee work have been slogging away at for – in
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“An issue that I and people in refugee work have been slogging away at... suddenly leapt into the consciousness of every Canadian.” Bruce Bryant-Scott, refugee coordinator for the Anglican Diocese of B.C.
my case many months, for other people years – suddenly leapt into the consciousness of every Canadian. “A lot of Canadians became aware of the humanitarian crisis,” he said. “They became incredibly aware of Canada’s response to it.” Responding to the crisis is complex and challenging. BryantScott said part of the problem is Canada’s bureaucratic structure, embedding refugee services into the work of Citizenship and Immigration Canada. It’s like trying to fit a “square peg in a very small round hole,” he said. While Canada has been largely untouched by the crisis, the refugee situation is desperate. The hundreds of thousands of refugees pouring across European borders are only a fraction of the 11 million people displaced within Syria by the civil war there, said Bryant-Scott. Across the globe
there are an estimated 50–60 million displaced people, more than at any time since the Second World War. The federal government has promised to bring over 11,000 refugees into the country in the next few years. Of that, they’ll be relying on private sponsorship for 60 per cent of those cases, said Bryant-Scott. Private sponsorship is expensive, costing an average of $30,000 to support a family of four. Fundraising is a significant part of sponsoring refugees, Bryant-Scott said. Syrian and Iraqi refugees are currently a priority for the Canadian government, and could arrive within a matter of months, he said. Sponsoring refugees from other countries could take years. The quickest cases are refugees with a Blended Visa Office Referral (BVOR), which have already been approved by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and a local Canadian embassy. The Canadian government covers half of their costs and these people could arrive within a matter of weeks, said Bryant-Scott. The Anglican Diocese of B.C. works as a Sponsorship Agreement Holder. An SAH helps a “constituency group” sponsor refugees, providing assistance with applications and fundraising. Martin.Wissmath@avtimes
Protecting Port Alberni’s source of drinking water is at the top of the agenda as city council heads to an annual gathering for municipalities and provincial representatives in Vancouver next week, says Mayor Mike Ruttan. Residents are concerned about the effects of forestry operations on the community’s water source, said Ruttan, who wants a legislated assurance that the city will be informed of any logging operations within the China Creek Watershed. Although this network feeds into the municipal supply, the majority of the watershed is privately owned by forestry companies. “I’ve met with almost every mayor from Nanaimo to Campbell River and we all share the same concern: we need to make sure that we have as much say in what happens in our watersheds as we possibly can,” said Ruttan. On Monday members of city council are set to represent Port Alberni at the Union of British Columbia Municipalities Annual Convention, a gathering of local governments expected to include more than 1,800 delegates over five days in Vancouver. Premier Christy Clark will be attending as well as NDP opposition leader John Horgan and several provincial ministers. Council has requested a meeting with the Minister of Forests Steve Thomson to discuss the watershed issue, following regular discussions Port Alberni officials held with the provincial ministry and Island Timberlands over the last year concerning logging in the China Creek Watershed. These talks stem from a resolution passed by the city in August 2014 for IT to stop harvesting old growth in the steeply-sloped McLaughlin Ridge out of concern that the activity could interfere with the natural filtration process provided by trees. Ruttan said McLaughlin ridge isn’t currently being cut, but operations could resume in the future. “It’s not currently happening but there’s been no formal decision
Over 1,000 motorcycles in town for Toy Run
Photo exhibit opens next week at Rollin centre
The annual event to generate gifts and funds for children’s programs begins at noon Saturday in Little Qualicum Falls.
Work from 10 photographers with the AV Photo Club is on display, with experience ranging from amatuer to professional.
» Alberni Region, 3
» Community, 10
RUTTAN
not to log in there,” he said. “There is a potential if there’s logging on McLaughlin Ridge, that could hugely impact the quality of water in China Creek.” Island Timberlands recently gave the mayor a tour of operations underway by Coombs Country Candy at the eastern entrance to the Valley. Ruttan believes the company is taking the community’s concerns into consideration as the area is harvested. “They’re very small cut blocks, they’re just a couple of acres each one,” he said. “Forest companies are incredibly accommodating. But going forward, they are a company and could sell to another company that has a different attitude.” At the UBCM representatives will vote on 166 submissions made from local government’s across the province. Three matters are on the agenda from the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District, including the forestry industry’s reliance on exporting raw logs to be manufactured oversees. This trend has been particularly pronounced in Port Alberni, where the volume of raw logs shipped from local berths has increased from 82,272 tonnes in 2006 to 783,381 tonnes last year. Meanwhile 76,854 tonnes of lumber cut in local sawmills were shipped oversees in 2014. Other ACRD submissions up for a vote are for the province to fully fund victim services agencies to help those affected by crime and the establishment of a fund for search and rescue squads in B.C. Eric.Plummer@avtimes.net
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