To the editor;
In a radio interview on CBC Daybreak before Christmas, B.C. Minister of Mines and Energy, Bill Bennett made an erroneous statement.
He naively said KGHM had an international reputation for being very “responsible and community-minded,” thus inferring the Polish mining company (and KGHM Ajax) can be trusted to run a safe tailings dam and mine.
The reality is that, historically, KGHM has had one of the worst environmental records in Europe, as reported by the Environmental Investment Organization, which independently rates large companies on their annual carbon emissions.
Bennett’s other spurious belief about KGHM being “community-minded” is simply an euphemism for buying one’s way into town.
This sponsorship-type bribery has been doled out in the thousands to Royal Inland Hospital, Kamloops Blazers, Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops Chamber of Commerce, Western Canada Theatre and dozens of other groups.
On the surface, it appears to suggest community caring, whereas it most likely is an attempt to silence potential opposition as funding would be jeopardized for speaking out against the proposed mine.
Bennett would do well to do some basic research before promoting and implicitly rubber-stamping the proposed Ajax mine, a mine whose earth-, water- and airborne toxins will poison the people of Kamloops.
Bruce Stevens
Kamloops,
B.C.
