The B.C. Liberal government and the NDP Opposition are miles apart on the proposed New Prosperity Mine project.
Cariboo-Chilcotin NDP candidate Charlie Wyse says the NDP is united in its belief the New Prosperity Mine project should not move forward due to environmental concerns.
“The party supports mining and all the benefits that go to individuals, communities, corporations, government and taxes. [But] mining also needs to be looked at through the lens of environmental responsibility.”
When rejecting the first proposal, then-federal environment minister Jim Prentice said it was “the equivalent of the worst proposal that the federal government had ever seen,” Wyse notes.
“The NDP agree with the Stephen Harper government’s federal environmental assessment process, which rejects that [original] proposal.”
Another component of the party’s concern involves legal responsibilities for First Nations consultations that Wyse says was recently upheld in the B.C. Court of Appeal process with some “very distinctive rights” to title for the Tsilhqot’in First Nation, including the proposed mine area.
He also points to costly environmental cleanup bills footed by the province’s taxpayers in the past.
“With the proximity of the Prosperity Mine ore body, and geological structures that exist, to the Taseko River and the effect that effluent would have on getting into it and salmon runs … are such a high, significant risk that is something that we do not support.”
B.C. Liberals support mine
However, Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Donna Barnett says the mine project offers the promise of a lasting legacy to benefit all the surrounding communities now and for future generations.
“The Prosperity Mine would bring strong and far-reaching economic benefits to our region, but it has been delayed by an ongoing federal environmental review.
“Our province has the highest environmental standards, and we value our environment. That is why we demand full environmental impact assessments before allowing projects to go forward, secure in the knowledge that when a project is approved, it has been evaluated in a fair and thorough manner.”
When these assessments lead to subsequent approvals, Barnett says it is confirmation those projects are environmentally safe.
“The B.C. Environmental Assessment Office gave it a conditional approval [after] environmental experts looked at the project objectively, and ruled that it met our stringent environmental standards, and the project should be moving forward at this very moment.”
The region needs the “prosperity” the mine offers after having been adversely affected by the global economic downturn and the forest industry devastation from the pine beetle infestation, she adds.
Barnett says she is “disappointed to see the political posturing of the Opposition” around this issue.
A project that can help revitalize the economy of the entire region should not be “held hostage by what is politically convenient,” she adds.
“When built, Prosperity would create 500 full-time jobs, over 1,200 indirect jobs, and would spend $200 million every year during the 22-year anticipated lifespan of the mine.
“That is why it disappoints me to see the NDP opposing this beneficial project, which could have such a positive economic impact on our region.
“The NDP remains opposed, both literally and figuratively, to ‘prosperity’.”
B.C. Liberal let-down
Wyse says if B.C. is going to continue mining, it cannot continue to follow the same practice the B.C. Liberal government has “done for 12 years, particularly in this project, by ignoring its responsibility” for following due process.
“The government very clearly has a responsibility to involve First Nations in the process, and there clearly has been a failure there.”
Wyse explains that with hundreds of millions of mining dollars continuing to flow into the Cariboo, which was founded in the Gold Rush days, the NDP realizes its importance to the region.
“Our party wishes mining to continue to flourish and prosper, but it has to be done in an environmentally appropriate way.”
