FRIDAY FEBRUARY 27, 2015 VOL. 42, NO. 08
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Sitting down with Sturdy
Representatives from Bowen open up dialogue with local MLA
A taste of Singapore
Another adventure for your taste buds, brought to you by Rob Bailey
Runner’s diary
After training week 6, an aspiring runner reflects
Students at Island Discovery Learning Centre enjoy a morning sing-a-long with the school’s founder and principle, Allan Saugstead. The Learning Centre has been awarded with an innovation award by the Canadian Education Association. Story on p.3 Meribeth Deen, photo
Council takes a stand on LNG in Howe Sound MERIBETH DEEN EDITOR
This week’s municipal council meeting started with a plea to hold-off on a resolution made by councillor Sue Ellen Fast that recommends taking a position on the Woodfibre LNG project. Councillors learned that deadline for comments on the project’s environmental assesment has been extended by 15 days from the previous deadline of March 9. However, after a single presentation and some discussion, a majority of councillors voted to move with councillor Fast’s suggestion, and draft a letter of concern about the proposed LNG export facility to be built near Squamish. Barinda Rasode introduced herself during the public comment session as a former councilllor with the City of Surrey, and the current director social responsibility at Resource Works, a non-profit organization that does research on the value of the resource industry in British Columbia. “My work and my role as a mom has lead me to believe that sustainability has three pil-
lars, social, economic and environmental. And in my conversations with my children about their future, I have learned that these conversations need to be fact-based. I am here to humbly request that motion 5.1 that is before you, if I could ask you to defer that to a later date following a time when Resource Works could make a presentation to your council.” Rasode said that her organization will be presenting in Squamish on March 3, and that if given the opportunity to present, they will provide all the information required for council to do due-diligence on the issue of the Woodfibre LNG project. Rasode’s plea was followed by a larger presentation made by Boyer Island resident Eoin Finn, who described himself as an accidental activist on the LNG issue. “About a year ago I became aware of a project called Woodfibre LNG to be set-up on the Northern part of Howe Sound, and I didn’t know much about it at the time, but as I researched it -and I’ve been researching every since then, I became more and more alarmed,” said Finn. In his presentation, Finn placed the Woodfibre project within the larger context of the reindustrialization of Howe Sound; the environmental and economic promises of the LNG industry; and the shipping technology and potential safety hazards.
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