Credit: CFJC Today

By Mel Rothenburger

ARMCHAIR MAYOR

ROTHENBURGER – Drug overdoses need action but so does the Ajax mine

Dec 16, 2020 | 5:10 AM

KAMLOOPS — A NATIONAL EMERGENCY on drug overdoses will be declared if the powers in Ottawa listen to Kamloops City council.

The council received a notice of motion Tuesday from three of its members calling on the federal government to declare the emergency and consult with provinces to develop a comprehensive national action plan and look at what other countries are doing.

It’s a well-intentioned proposal that received approval from the council, though it would be naïve to think federal legislators will hop to and do something about it. It’s one of those situations where council has no jurisdiction but is using its position to try to influence what somebody else is doing.

Drug overdoses certainly deserve attention both here and nationally but there’s another threat to the well-being of the community that should not be ignored around the council table, and that’s the Ajax mine.

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A local on-the-ground superintendent was hired in September to promote the mine and now an office has been opened. This, a few short years after the provincial and federal governments put the kibosh on the project.

Tk’emlups te Secwepemc Chief Rosanne Casimir has restated opposition to it but it has to go much further than that. City council should first restate its own unqualified opposition, renewing the position it took in 2017.

Then, it and the SSN — the alliance that includes the TteS and Skeechestn bands, should sign a unity protocol reconfirming that a huge open pit mine on Kamloops’ doorstep is not acceptable and never will be.

Next, they must strenuously lobby for legislative changes that would prohibit such a mine in such a location from ever being considered.

The overdose crisis does, indeed, deserve action from City council but the Ajax mine represents a massive disruption to the lives of Kamloops residents, and shouldn’t be shrugged off until it’s too late.

No more avoidance, no more waffling — City council, stand up and be heard.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.