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Globe and Mail,
Tuesday December 19, 2006 Mining gets foothold in park plan Ottawa giving in to B.C.'s coal interests in Flathead Valley, environmentalists say by MARK HUME VANCOUVER -- A federal government policy reversal appears to have cleared the way for coal mining in an area long coveted by Parks Canada and which environmentalists have called "one of the most biologically important places on Earth." Documents obtained under the Access to Information Act show that in negotiating with British Columbia over ownership of massive coal deposits now under federal jurisdiction, Ottawa has dropped a major condition that would have required a parks feasibility study in the Flathead Valley. The region, in the southeastern corner of the province adjacent to Waterton Lakes National Park, has long been seen as the key to protecting the southern Rocky Mountains by creating a linked series of national parks in the rugged landscape where Alberta, B.C. and Montana meet. Environmentalists said yesterday they were shocked to learn Ottawa has thrown away its trump card in negotiating with B.C. over the fate of the wild valley. "I find this unbelievable," said Vicky Husband, one of B.C.'s leading environmentalists. "This is an area that belongs to all Canadians and even though B.C. wants to allow coal mining in there, I would expect the federal government to show some backbone and demand a parks feasibility study. "It is absolutely one of the most environmentally significant places in B.C." Gwen Barlee of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee said, "I can't believe the B.C. government is standing in the way of expansion of a national park and is championing big business and big power concerns instead." Ms. Barlee added it is disturbing that governments would put coal development ahead of a study to determine if an important region should be saved as a national park. "Don't they realize it's time we broke our dependency on dirty energy? " she asked. Documents obtained by an Ottawa-based researcher, Ken Rubin, show the federal government has not been able to get a parks feasibility study done in the Flathead Valley because of persistent objections by B.C. "The province of B.C. is interested in development of the non-renewable resource of the Flathead Valley, especially coal and coal-bed methane," says an undated and unsigned Parks Canada memo to Alan Latourelle, chief executive officer of the Parks Canada Agency. The document, which makes reference to meetings as recent as last July, says the Dominion Coal Blocks were ceded to Ottawa under the Crow's Nest Pass Act of 1897. "Canada and British Columbia are negotiating the transfer of these lands to the Province . . . In March 2005, British Columbia asked that the terms under which the transfer could proceed be reconsidered, as it objects, in part, to supporting the feasibility study for a national park in exchange for the Coal Blocks. British Columbia believes that it is not in the provincial interest to establish a national park reserve due to the resource potential in the area. "Canada is no longer insisting that the transfer of the Coal Blocks be linked to the launch of a feasibility study for a national park reserve in the Flathead." The document states a feasibility study would not be launched without the formal support of the B.C. government, and that support had been withheld despite requests at several meetings. Bob Peart, a consultant for the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, said the federal Liberal government passed an order in council in 2005, that created a link between a national park feasibility study and transference of the coal deposits to B.C. He was surprised to hear that link had now been broken by the Conservatives. An environmental group known as Flathead Wild has labeled the Flathead Valley "one of the most biologically important places on Earth," saying that it has dense wildlife populations "as rich as . . . the Serengeti. "Officials for the federal and provincial governments were not available for comment yesterday. |