Refugee update: Welcome Powell River Refugee Support Group outlined its mission statement as well as various aspects of how the group will manage funds at their Monday, November 30 meeting.
The information is included in a report issued by the group’s steering committee, which includes Powell River Employment Program Society executive director Lyn Adamson and City of Powell River councillor Rob Southcott, among others.
The group’s newly drafted mission statement outlines the group consists of “concerned citizens organized to facilitate the successful welcoming and establishment of refugees to the City and District of Powell River.”
According to the steering committee’s report, charitable receipts will be issued by Powell River Diversity Initiative (PRDI), which will receive donations from individuals and community-wide fundraising events.
The organization’s next fundraising effort is a garage and bake sale organized by support group member Hands Across the Water at 2 pm on Saturday, December 5, at Assumption Catholic School. The next meeting of the Welcome Powell River Refugee Support Group is at 7 pm on Monday, January 11, with a location to be confirmed.
For more information go to welcomerefugeepr.org.
Coal facility
A controversial Texada Island coal-transfer plan has been officially nixed.
Port Metro Vancouver gave a green light to the construction of a coal-export terminal on the Fraser River in Surrey on Monday, November 30, ruling out the option of shipping coal to Texada.
Fraser Surrey Docks’ previous plan called for trainloads of American thermal coal be to barged to a transfer station on Texada before being loaded into cargo ships bound for Asia.
The coal comes from Wyoming and Montana’s Powder River Basin, home to the United States’ largest supply of thermal coal. Thermal coal, not to be confused with metallurgic coal used in steel production, is burnt to fuel electrical power plants.
An estimated four million tonnes of the material is expected to be shipped annually by train through White Rock, South Surrey and Delta to the transfer site.
The port authority’s approval of the Surrey terminal comes after it concluded the project would unlikely cause severe environmental impacts.
Some Texada and Powell River residents had expressed concern about environmental impacts if the coal-transfer idea was to proceed on Texada.
