Invermere, BC – The Province of BC announced yesterday that they will invoke the Bill 41 Mountain Resort Municipality legislation intended to allow for development of the notorious Jumbo Glacier Resort against the will of the regional population and of the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM).
“For over 20 years, the regional population has remained unwaveringly opposed to Jumbo Glacier Resort” said Bob Campsall of the Jumbo Creek Conservation Society (JCCS). “This announcement demonstrates the current government’s blatant disrespect for public opinion, for democracy, and for the role of elected local governments as managers of local land uses”.
Bob Campsall’s statement echoes a September 2012 UBCM Convention resolution wherein local and regional governments from all across BC voted almost unanimously in opposition to the Mountain Resort Municipality amendments to the Local Government Act.
“In order to muzzle public involvement in the normal land use amendment process, the Province has appointed a puppet council which will be operated as a commercial enterprise for private profit where the profits gained from private exploitation of public lands will accrue to a single developer, while the economic, environmental, and social debts incurred will be the taxpayers’ responsibility” said Mr. Campsall. “Despite this announcement, we will continue to advocate for a rational and democratic land use process, and for a wild Jumbo Valley”.
“We want to know how much BC taxpayers will be asked to pay annually for the salary of the MRM-appointed administrator, and when the MRM will begin the first of their applications for government grants to build the multi-million dollar road that crosses more than a dozen avalanche paths on its way to the future townsite.”
A grassroots group with over 1,500 members, the JCCS has been working to keep the Jumbo Valley wild since 1995.