People against the proposed Ajax mine and teachers waving signs of gratitude to the public lined Rogers Way in Aberdeen on Wednesday, Sept. 17, as Premier Christy Clark and her cabinet attended a Kamloops Chamber of Commerce luncheon at the Kamloops Coast Hotel and Conference Centre. Included among the hundreds of people lining both sidewalks were Elaine Sedgman, the performance artist running for mayor as a character known as Mr. Pitbelly, and fellow Ajax opponent Anne Neave.
B.C.’s Minister of Environment met this week with officials from KGHM Ajax to review the proposed mine’s new footprint.
In interview with KTW yesterday (Sept. 17) at the Kamloops Chamber of Commerce luncheon for the premier and cabinet, Minister Mary Polak said that, despite the meeting with executives from the Polish mining company, the process remains in the hands of B.C.’s environmental-assessment office.
“The environmental-assessment office conducts its work on its own. That involves scientists and experts in their fields,” she said.
“I met with Ajax proponents yesterday and they showed me some of the plans they’ve changed on the mine in response to public consultation.”
Later on, once KGHM has submitted its application, Polak said her “discussion with proponents becomes very limited.”
KGHM wants to submit its application to the federal and provincial governments in the first quarter of 2015.
“There’s nothing unusual compared to any other mine that goes through the process at this stage,” Polak said.
“What we see and we see here is quite typical.”
John Schleiermacher, a director of Kamloops Area Preservation Association, was one of those several hundred people who attended the luncheon.
Following Clark’s speech, he spoke to Polak and handed her a raft of documents.
In an interview later, Schleiermacher said he told Polak about deficiencies with the environmental process and concerns about lack of a comment period on the latest mine design that includes a tailings dam.
Several dozen Ajax protesters were outside the Coast Kamloops Hotel and Conference Centre, sharing space on the sidewalk with teachers.
“We certainly weren’t brushed off and we had a good ear,” Schleiermacher said.
“I certainly think she understands the importance it is to our community.”
Outside the building, anti-Ajax protesters greeted visitors to the hotel.
Bruce Stevens carried a sign urging city MLA and Minister of Health Terry Lake not to be a “yes man” for the mine.
“We’re hoping to stop KGHM’s mine from coming to town . . .
“We’re hoping she [Premier Christy Clark] sees all our signs,” Stevens said.