Another Daily News article reported that Kamloops City Council will propose a resolution to the Okanagan Mainline Municipal Association calling on the Conservative federal government to finally declare the pine beetle epidemic a disaster. Reportedly, Kamloops-North Thompson MLA Kevin Krueger has brought the issue to the provincial forests minister and solictor general: the consensus is the province's hands are tied until Stephen Harper finally calls this a natural disaster. It's too bad that our municipal government has to go around our MP to get the funding our region so desperately needs.
Cited article by Cam Fortems
Published February 1, 2007
©Copyright The Daily News in Kamloops
5 comments:
I read about this site in the newspaper. Very good work.
It is, on some level already considered a tragedy by the Conservative government (2006), if we are to look at the 200 million dollars offered to the province of BC by the federal government for the pine beetle initiatives to take place as ‘aid’.
Its all just rhetoric- we don’t want to bring down the cost of our lumber on an international market or cause concerns ( I am almost surprised other countries have not banned the wood due to bringing in the infestation). But the members of city hall should have been asking how much of that money is coming to kamloops and the area to help with the local problems associated with the infestation. The mayor could have stood up and said that for the ‘tourist capital of Canada’ brown trees aren’t so pretty to back and show your friends on the digital cam!
Re: article
“It was on a non-partisan basis” OH?
Lobbying is never non-partisan- when the list of people who were invited to the meeting (by suggestion of Betty Hinton) are Coun. John O’Fee, chairman of the airport authority, business leaders Bud Smith, a former B.C. attorney general, Russ Cundari, a city lawyer and local director of the Conservative party, Sun Peaks Resort representatives Darcy Alexander and Frank Quinn, city businessman Todd Stone, a Liberal – looks like a stacked deck of partisanship to me!
Like throwing the Liberal in there would ever convince me it was not in all of their best interest… humf!
G.P
Kamloops BC
Actually, OFee, Quinn, and Stone are all card carrying Liberals.
See the Kamloops This Week interview with provincial minister Rich Coleman on Feb 2 where he confirms what Hinton says and disagrees with Krueger who is actually part of his own government!
Mayor Lake is wasting his time pursuing this avenue.
Hinton gets a lot of abuse even though it usually turns out she is right.
The water intake of many people on the river (near Rivershore) and on many lakes have had to be redone because of prolonged drought. Ask any rancher if thats been a natural disaster and they will say absolutely. So should the govt pay for that?
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