05) KAMLOOPS LABOUR ACTIVIST JOINS CIVIC RACE

 

            Kamloops and District Labour Council President Peter Kerek will be seeking a seat on Kamloops City Council this fall. The 41‑year‑old labour activist hopes that other progressives will join him in helping Kamloops become a more responsible community.

 

            "This is a region that has great potential for sustainable development," says Kerek. "We have strength in a diversity of industries at our doorstep ‑ mining, forestry, construction, agriculture, tourism, education, healthcare ‑ there's no need to become a one‑trick pony and lose the economic diversity that has thus far enabled us to withstand the woes of crisis capitalism."

 

            Kerek points to the AJAX copper mine proposal as an idea that would forever change the ecology of the Kamloops area.

 

            "First Nations people around here lived sustainably off the land for thousands of years before the arrival of the Europeans. It's only in the last couple hundred years that industries like forestry and mining have appeared. It would be a terrible mistake to take such a risky gamble on a development that will have a permanent negative effect on the landscape while providing, at best, a short‑term, unsustainable, neutral effect on the overall local economy."

 

            Having listened to a variety of experts in the fields of economics and health, as well as those who have worked and continue to work in the mining industry, Kerek is decisively against the giant mine development. He's also unimpressed with the revised proposal announced last May.

 

            "KGHM hoped that a couple million dollars in brochures, PR staff, and charitable donations would have been enough to quell the mine opponents and have everyone accept Plan A. That didn't work, so they've revealed Plan B, which will cost $800 million more than Plan A, and this new plan is supposed to help reduce airborne toxins.

 

            "So, you must wonder, did they not know how bad the air pollution would be in Plan A until protestors pointed it out? Or, did they know how bad it would be, but thought that if they threw around enough money, everyone would just jump for joy and accept the hush money thereby avoiding the much bigger expense of $800 million?

 

            "I don't think it's hard to conclude that KGHM has no interest in doing what's best for Kamloops so long as they can carry out their plans in the most profitable way possible. They've been very crafty in their messaging with elements of truthiness and generosity around supporting local charities, but they've also shown significant vagueness around the negative health and economic impacts of their proposals."

 

            Among the current seven councillors, only Tina Lange and Donovan Cavers have stated they oppose the mine development. As Kerek says, "folks should be alarmed when something as big as the AJAX mine proposal arises and the majority of their city's council can't seem to form an opinion based on the evidence and risk."

 

            Kerek graduated with a B.A. from UBC in 1997, and then received a Journalism degree from Thompson Rivers University in 2003. He refuses to place optimism ahead of the facts.

 

            "Glossy brochures and meaningless promises are no replacement for the dearth of information already available about the negative health impacts related to open pit mining. We should never forget that multi‑national corporations will always place the needs of their shareholders over the needs of our community ‑ it's their legal obligation to their shareholders."

 

            Kerek also intends to support efficiencies in transportation infrastructure, improved food security, and poverty reduction.

 

            "Federal and provincial governments have been shirking their responsibilities for the last 20 years and, increasingly, municipalities have been forced to tidy up their failures. This is the unfortunate reality communities across the country face, and we shouldn't keep crossing our fingers, hoping that the next government in Victoria or Ottawa will fix things, we need to take action when and wherever possible, including right here at city council."

 

            For more information, phone 250‑819‑5900, or join Kerek's Facebook page: www.facebook.com/pages/Elect-Peter-Kerek-for-Kamloops-City-Council/681848835217146

 

 

(The above article is from the September 1-15, 2014, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading socialist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)