Letters to the Editor: July 25, 2012

Significant individuals sustain industry

Catalyst Paper Corporation’s retired salaried employees are to be congratulated for their determination and initiative in the company’s restructuring [“Catalyst creditors approve restructuring plan,” June 27]. The pensioners’ commitment to the success of the restructuring, in giving up extended health benefits, frees financial room for Catalyst to rebuild.

The corporate successes of the various forest industry companies that were to become Catalyst were built, in part, upon the ingenuity of the retired salaried employees. These former employees have demonstrated continued innovation in helping perpetuate one of the great industries on which British Columbia was built.

The fact that Catalyst’s secured and unsecured creditors accepted the second restructuring attempt by 99 per cent margins is indicative that the solution is an outstanding one. It is also a tribute that these retired individuals that helped build British Columbia forest industry communities are playing such a significant role in maintaining them.

The investors, too, are to be acknowledged and congratulated for adopting a strategy that will have far-reaching effects in maintaining and rebuilding a corporation that has economic and community significance in British Columbia.

Finally, I have witnessed first-hand the unity of Powell River, a community of divergent interests, which knows how to find common ground and punch forward for the benefit of all. I'll never forget the pride I felt to observe two union leaders, Catalyst's top representatives, and the City of Powell River’s mayor and councillors work together for innovative solutions to tough problems.

As Neil Young might have put it in a tribute to the workers, pension holders, investors and officers of Catalyst: "Long may you run."

John Weston, MP

West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country

With the recent opportunity for the Nestlé company to plead its case “without further action,” to its rights to feed us with plastic water, it would appear there is a lurking fear of lost profits [“Bottled water has a place,” July 11]. I mean, excess petroleum turned into plastic serves as a great container for drinking water?

Nature has provided this wonderful source for our bodies’ main existence for many millennia. Nature filters and purifies this stuff for our benefit. Nature does not ask for a payout.

Making an argument that the United Nations’ global declaration for clean drinking water as a free right, is of benefit. It is not of benefit if it comes in a plastic bottle.

We must re-educate ourselves to understand that the reason water has become toxic is because of industrial companies like Nestlé which has disposed of its waste upon the public. We have entrusted the environment to the government who has turned lake water into tailing ponds by allowing companies to manage their own responsibility. Native land has been occupied to extract resources and the surrounding water and wildlife (which is food) has become contaminated and in turn has contaminated people. Cancer anyone?

So what to do? Industry has been destroying habitat faster than it can repair itself, rivers are being re-routed to obtain hydro and we can all expect to adapt. Now if all of the world's water becomes contaminated, and a vast majority of it already is, Nestlé is going to make a great profit selling bottled water. See the picture?

Protecting our water means to drink our water. Less plastic means less oil extraction and less fossil fuel to produce plastic and ship water all over the world. We are a very privileged city to have clean drinking water. Oil and its byproducts are the world's one major resource that is destroying it.

Adam Cramb

Joyce Avenue

Hmmm, Nestlé marketing as Viewpoint [“Bottled water has a place,” July 11]?

The point isn’t water. It’s the plastic bottles and choices we can make now for sustainability, possibly even prosperity for our children. We can choose to turn on the tap and fill our reusable metal bottle with pure clean Powell River water. A reusable water bottle can be purchased for as little as a flat of plastic bottles. It takes just a little forethought.

Nestlé makes money from the plastic bottle business catering to human convenience and laziness. Can our future afford that? Brooks Secondary School students don’t think so. That is what Blue Communities and its non-profit, albeit political, originators are about.

Our sustainable future is not a concern of the Nestlé multinational corporation. My concern is for our children’s prosperity. What choice will you make?

Robert Southcott

Gordon Avenue

Pardon the pun, but my sister and I had a "peak" experience recently, attending the magnificent International Choral Kathaumixw festival in your beautiful town [“Composer stokes musical fire,” July 4]. How privileged we felt to witness such excellence among the performers and how thankful we felt to the hundreds of people in Powell River who gave of their time to make this happen. We certainly will be back in 2014.

Incidentally, while there we experienced a real friendliness from the residents of the town. Additionally, I had my car very professionally and thoroughly detailed while there, by a local business. Like many others, my sister and I also spent money in a number of your local businesses--a fact that ought not to be lost on them when asked to support this worthy endeavour.

Cheers to Powell River and the continued success of Kathaumixw.

Linda Grant

Salmon Arm, BC

When 500,000 tons of garbage is burned in an incinerator, it leaves behind 125,000 tons of toxic hazardous ash: ash that contains high levels of dioxins and furans along with tons of neurotoxic heavy metals [“Directors talk trash,” July 11]. These must be landfilled in specially engineered landfills that will eventually leak.

Wheelabrator Technologies Inc.’s messenger told our City of Powell River council that this ash would be removed from our community. This makes no sense to me: transporting hazardous waste is very expensive and requires hard-to-obtain permits, not to mention the danger for those who handle the ash and the residents of the communities that this hazardous waste would be travelling through.

Furthermore, what community will accept the 6,250,000 tons of ash that this incinerator will produce during its expected lifetime of 50 years? The answer is "close by." Since its first meeting with mayor and council, Wheelabrator has changed its mind and is now looking at Tla’amin (Sliammon) First Nation as its economically viable solution for the ash.

After a recent meeting with the business community of Powell River, Wheelabrator and partner Urbaser travelled to Tla’amin, no doubt to present these business and job opportunities to our local first nation. What happened to the original idea of taking it out of Powell River? Even this early in the game, they're changing their story to protect Texan money.

Incineration is inconsistent with our community's sustainability strategy, and certainly inconsistent with the idea of leaving our children and our children's children with a clean, healthy environment. If we as a community allow this incineration project to go ahead, our legacy to future generations will be one of disease, fear and death. How much is that worth?

Mark Biagi

Warner Street

It looks as if John Challinor sends a form letter to newspaper editors in towns across Canada, with only names and places changed, when Blue Communities is mentioned in a story [“Bottled water has a place,” July 11]. Nanaimo received a similar letter in April. Nanaimo’s city council officially passed becoming a Blue Community anyway.

Challinor, the director of corporate affairs for Nestlé Waters Canada, has reason to “read with interest” editorials or comments about single use plastic water bottles. Nestlé’s profits depend on convincing consumers to disregard the effect that disposable plastic water bottles have on our environment. Any chatter about using tap water instead could well conflict with Nestlé’s corporate bottom line objectives.

Selling bottled water is very lucrative. In Ontario, Nestlé pays $3.71 per one million litres of water or $14/day for the water it extracts from the Guelph aquifer. It charges over $4 million for the $14 worth of water. That is almost 300,000 times the cost of the water. Nestlé’s predicament is that they own over 70 water brands, but have been losing ground in water sales since 2006 as consumers switch to non-bottled water due primarily to energy and environmental concerns. These form letters are part of Nestlé’s attempts to reverse the public trend to better protect the environment.

In regard to recycling, the International Bottled Water Association this past Earth Day announced that a little less than 33 per cent of plastic water bottles are recycled and that Red Leaf, a company that manufactures water bottles, said last year that only 25 per cent of single use plastic water bottles are recycled.

Nearly 100 municipalities, including six provincial and two territorial capitals, have banned the sale of bottled water. Powell River needs to think carefully about both water sourcing and plastic waste. Let's stand by the Blue Communities, not companies like Nestlé. After all, environmental responsibility complies with our charter on sustainability.

Trish Cocksedge

Council of Canadians, Powell River

I would like to let you know, as a citizen of Powell River, in my books City of Powell River Mayor Dave Formosa should not have apologized for the lack of a Canada Day celebration this year.

It’s not Formosa’s job to organize one. The people who were supposed to be organizing it were Powell River parks, recreation and culture director Bill Reid and his staff. They should have stepped up to the plate and apologized to this community. Reid could have started planning the Canada Day event in May. It looks like he did nothing to plan for this event and showed no leadership qualities. He should have approached community groups here in Powell River and asked them to volunteer to help make Canada Day a success for our community. He did not do that. It appears that he did not even consider bringing together people who represent different service groups who could have made Canada Day a success.

There are a number of things that Reid could have done, which he did not do. He, not Formosa, should be issuing an apology.

Ken White

Harvie Avenue

I was surprised to see three letters in the Peak last week complaining that Powell River did not celebrate Canada Day. Their heads must have been in the sand because Powell River’s Open Air Farmers’ Market put on a wonderful celebration [“National celebration,” July 4].

There was live music, miniature train rides, a beautiful Canada Day cake (donated by Quality Foods) and plenty of vendors. No grant was applied for and no taxpayer money spent. As far as I’m concerned let the market take care of this every year and save our tax dollars.

Donna Anaka

Ward Place