Kamloops council not sure who will go east to visit mine towns

KAMLOOPS – In an effort to learn more about the impact of mines located on the edge of town, and how it could relate to the proposed Ajax Mine, city council has agreed to send two council members to Eastern Canada, but which councillor will join the mayor on the field trip is still up in the air.

City council approved the fact finding mission to Malartic Que. and Timmins, Ont. for the mayor and one of the four councillor who say they are undecided on the mine.

However, Coun. Pat Wallace can't go due to an injury, and the three remaining undecided councillors have all said they aren’t going east.

Coun. Ken Christian, who was the only councillor to vote against the trip, says a short trip to a mining town wouldn't give him the data he wants to make a decision.

“It’s not something that you can intuitively observe,” he says. "I was pretty convinced you can’t take a trip to a town and expect in a two or three hour visit to get sense of economic and social implications.“

Councillors Arjun Singh and Marg Spina both say they’re not able to go. Singh says he has prior commitments. Spina says she’s been to Sudbury and Timmins before, and knows the towns, so another visit wouldn’t be very useful.

Milobar says the trip still needs to be planned and he doesn’t know who will be going with him.

The trip needs to happen before May 9, when council will vote on the position it will take on the proposed Ajax mine directly southwest of the city.

Four councillors are against the controversial copper and gold mine, which is currently in the environmental assesment stage of the application process.

The provincial and federal assesment offices are in the public comment phase of the application, which ends April 11. The city has until around May 9 to take a stance and send in its comments. A decision will be made in the summer to support or deny the application, or to ask for more information.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Brendan Kergin at bkergin@infonews.ca or call 250-819-6089. To contact an editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.