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Girls curling team heads to Games
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BERNIE RAVEN CHRIS RAVEN 1-866-598-7415 TEAMRAVEN.CA Offices in Panorama, Invermere & Fairmont
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Every month, Panorama Mountain Resort hosts a rail jam and skier Michael Brush’s moves on January 23rd made for a masterful action photo. The next rail jam, hosted by Rockstar and Syndicate, takes place Saturday, February 13th at 4 p.m. and is open to both skiers and snowboarders. PHOTO BY ANDREW BROWN
Stetski steps into Mother Canada controversy STEVE HUBRECHT steve@invermerevalleyecho.com Although just a few months into his new job, Kootenay-Columbia MP and NDP National Parks Critic Wayne Stetski has already waded into one of the largest parks controversies in the country by lambasting the planned Mother Canada statue in Cape Breton Highlands National Park — and he’s emerged from the debate on the winning side. On Friday, February 5th, it was announced that Parks Canada has pulled its support for the $25-million project. “Parks Canada will no longer be working towards the realization of the memorial in Cape Breton Highlands National Park. As a result, the project will not be moving forward on Parks Canada land,” said a Parks Canada news release. Stetski had sent a letter to federal Environment Minister Catherine McKen-
na, calling on her to reject the 24-metre concerns have been raised that the statue, which had been in the works statue might affect the ecological integfor years, intended as a memorial to rity of the spot.” Canadian soldier who lost their lives The statue, and the parking lot and fighting wars abroad. Models of the visitor centre to go with it (which are statue show it cloaked and standing being planned by the Never Forgotten on a rocky headland along the Cabot National Memorial Foundation), has Trail, with arms outstretched across stirred deep emotions across the counthe Atlantic. try among both those Ultimately, a “The idea of a memowho oppose it and rial to honour soldiers those who support it. national park is who died overseas in not an appropriate place Supporters saw the wars is truly a good statue, facing in the one, but ultimately a for a seven-storey statue. direction of Europe WAYNE STETSKI national park is not MP KOOTENAY-COLUMBIA where so many Caan appropriate place nadian soldier have for a seven-storey high statue,” Stets- lost their lives in war, as entirely apki told The Echo last week. “National propriate and point to what they call parks are set aside for their ecological the high level of commercial activity importance and developments in the in Banff and Jasper, saying if it can park should support those ecological happen there, why not in Cape Breton values. To just put in a statue that has National Park. nothing specifically to do with that They also cited the potential econompark is inappropriate. On top of that, ic benefit to nearby communities.
Critics, meanwhile, were not only sounding alarms bells about ecological concerns, but also charging that the statue’s size was excessive and its design distasteful. A partner in the Toronto-based design firm originally hired to develop the memorial concept alleged that the Never Forgotten Memorial Foundation ignored advice and cast aside the initial model, stretching it from something the size of a light post to its current size. Other critics voiced the opinion that promoting the statue in an effort to bolster the local economy amounted to earning a profit from the war dead. And a group of 28 former senior Parks Canada managers, including a former Parks Canada chief executive officer, sent open letters to the former Conservative Environment Minister raised concerns about the proposal’s negative impact on the park. See A2
CV Arts AGM
Tuesday February 16th at 6 pm Screening of film afterwards – What does ART everyone welcome! mean to you? Popcorn & pizza served Visit columbiavalleyarts.com for our current events calendar, or call 250-342-4423.
Happy BirtHday to pynelogs!
1914 - 2014
Celebrating 100 years