MONDAY
DECEMBER 14, 2015
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THE BULLETIN PROUDLY SERVING KIMBERLEY AND AREA SINCE 1932 | Vol. 83, Issue 236 | www.dailybulletin.ca
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SUBMITTED
Playground Committee member and KIS parent Andy Christie cuts the ribbon to the new Chapman Camp Playground located on the grounds of the Kimberley Independent School.
MLA addresses energy at Chamber meeting TRE VO R CR AWL EY
Energy was on the mind of Kootenay East MLA Bill Bennett as he addressed the Chamber of Commerce at a monthly luncheon last week. Bennett, who serves as the Minister of Energy and Mines, was the keynote speaker for the event, who spoke about British Columbia’s leadership in energy conservation and climate action. Bennett had two central points to his speech—first noting what the provincial government has done on the energy and climate change while wrapping up with what the future looks like in terms of legislative policy. He began with a history lesson on Liberal policies concerning the carbon tax, greenhouse gas emissions, renewable and innovation technology funding. He punctuated his speech many times by noting that B.C. was one of the most progressive jurisdictions in North America
on the climate action front. However, he tempered that by noting that it is important to remain environmentally conscious while being competitive economically. “We are so far ahead of the rest of this country and the vast majority of North America and the world. If we get too far out in front of what we’re trying to do, we could easily find ourselves being uncompetitive in our major industries,” Bennett said. “Our major industries are energy-intensive, trade-exposed industries. We sell all our stuff off-shore for the most part, whether it’s mining, oil and gas, forestry, agriculture… “We have to be very careful that we don’t get out too far. This is going to be a debate over the next year and a half leading into the next provincial election.” He gave a nod to his namesake—W.A.C. Bennett (no relation)—the former B.C. premier
who was instrumental in building major hydroelectric dams on in the Columbia and Peace River regions. In large part because of those legacy projects, Bennett said 97.9 per cent of B.C.’s electricity is clean. Some of those major hydroelectric dams can generate power for 100 years, he added. “It’s pretty cool for us to be able to say that. You look around the world, places like Ontario that are trying to get off coal and now Alberta, which has said they’d like to reduce their reliance on coal to generate electricity,” Bennett said. “You look in Europe, in Germany—the Germans are working pretty hard to clean up their energy. They want to have 50 per cent of their energy clean by 2050. We’re 97.9 per cent clean electricity in this province already.”
KIS playground opens SUBMIT TED
Monday, Dec. 7, marked an event that many people had been working towards for years. The Kimberley Independent School, in collaboration with the Chapman Camp Community Playground Committee and dozens of volunteers watched the cutting of the ribbon to a fantastic new playground. Over the years there has been major fund raising and vision involving dozens of people including past KIS board members, Ursula Salatto, Jenn Roberts, PAC members and parents of KIS children. In the fall of 2014 the design started to tighten up and the decision to start building in 2015 was made. A group of people including Andy Christie, Mark Raymond, Celeste Needham, Brian Leeb and Cal Johnson began the work of designing, learning the standards and regulations of playgrounds and choosing the materials and equipment. Next, Tyee Log Homes was chosen to do the work of bringing the conceptual vision of the playground to life. It was a tall order to fall a standing 70 foot tree with branches intact and many attempts were made by Tyee employees. Finally with lots of sweat, artistry that Tyee is known for, and their hard work, it paid off. A one of a kind playground has been
created on the school grounds of the Kimberley Independent School for the community at large to enjoy. In a project of this magnitude there are many people involved that the CCCPC and KIS would like to acknowledge. Tyee Log Homes/Rob Wheeler donated so much time, resources and craftsmanship to make this a remarkable edifice. Others that donated generously with supplies/ time were; Vermette Roofing, Salvador Ready Mix, Mardis Forest Products, Kimberley Building Supplies, Sandor Rentals, Cloverdale Paints, Sustainble Spaces, Alan Kavanaugh . In addition to this, many volunteers made this project possible by physically helping to build the playground, through grant writing, advertising, brainstorming, attending meetings and much more. It truly was a community effort that KIS and CCCPC are incredibly grateful for! So on Dec 7th after much anticipation and patience and with the ribbon dangling all the KIS kids screamed and yelled with excitement and explored the new structure. Like ants they scurried over the pirate bridge, monkey bars, swings, tire swing, climbing options and slides, which are all housed by an enormous, beautifully crafted log structure. Come check it out...come and play!