Ajax action needed!

Posted by Stop Ajax Mine on January 14th, 2016 4:01am

In December we asked you to send letters to Environment Minister Catherine McKenna and other cabinet ministers to indicate your concern with the proposed Ajax mine and expressing an urgent need for a federal panel review.  Mayor Milobar and Councillor Lange have asked for a meeting with Environment Minister Catherine McKenna to request a federal panel review but it seems that McKenna’s office is overwhelmed with requests from people all across the country, and so far no meeting date has been set.

We need to put pressure on the environment office with more letters showing that this is an a very important issue and requires immediate attention.

Why ask for a Federal Panel Review? How is this different from the present environmental assessment process being conducted by the BC Environmental Assessment Office and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency?
    *Independent experts. A review panel is a group of independent experts appointed by the Minister of the Environment to conduct an environmental assessment.
    *Free from bias or conflict of interest. The members are selected on the basis of their knowledge, experience and expertise, and must be free from bias or conflict of interest relative to the designated project.
    *Public hearings allow interested parties, including aboriginal groups, to present evidence, concerns and comments regarding the potential environmental impacts of the designated project
   
    *Capacity to summon witnesses. Review panels have the capacity to summon witnesses, and order witnesses to present evidence and produce records related to the environmental assessment.

Once again, this is where you come in! Please write letters to the ministers listed below - yes, even if you have written before -  and send them via Canada Post (no postage stamp needed). We think this will have more impact than emailed letters. If you focus on one point of concern and then request a federal panel review, that will send a clear message to Ottawa. This is a numbers game – together we are stronger than as individuals – so lots of letters are needed to move our Ajax issue up on the environment minister’s agenda!

Here are the addresses for ministers directly related to our Ajax project concerns:

Hon. Catherine McKenna
Minister of Environment and Climate Change
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6

Hon. James Carr
Minister of Natural Resources
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6

Hon. Jane Philpott
Minister of Health
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6

Hon. Hunter Tootoo
Minister of Fisheries and Oceans
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6

Hon. Dr. Carolyn Bennett
Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6


Hon. Ralph Goodale
Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6


Thank you for your support in getting the message to Ottawa!

– From the hard-working members of the Kamloops Area Preservation Association – We never give up!

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