Invermere: Regional Independent Power Projects and 'Wood River Wild'

Wildsight and the Council of Canadians will be hosting the Western Canada Wilderness Committee, who will be coming to Invermere and Golden to speak on issues related to regional Independent Power Projects (IPP). We will also be showcasing the ‘Wood River Wild’ documentary and speaking about BC’s Energy Plan.

Location: David Thompson Secondary School, Invermere
Date: Wednesday, June 2
Time: 7 pm

Highlighed speakers include:

Rex Weyler, Communications and Research Support, BC Citizens for Public Power
Rex Weyler has worked in British Columbia and international environmental movements for four decades, and is a passionate advocate for the protection of BC's wilderness, wildlife, and public power. He served on Greenpeace whale, seal, and nuclear campaigns and is a co-founder of Greenpeace International. Rex is the author of nine books, including Greenpeace: The Inside Story and the Pulitzer-nominated Blood of the Land. In 2005, he received the “social justice award” from the Urban Environmental Policy Center in Los Angeles, for his lifetime achievements in ecology and social justice.
 
Gwen Barlee, Policy Director, Wilderness Committee
Gwen came to the Wilderness Committee in 2001 with a background in political science and a passion for environmental and social advocacy. Her diverse education and experience includes social work, film production, and web development, and she is a past executive team member of the Victoria chapter of the Council of Canadians. For the last several years she has focused on protecting BC’s rivers from private power development.
 
Joe Foy, Campaign Director, Wilderness Committee
Joe has been the driving force behind many of the Wilderness Committee’s campaigns to successfully protect spectacular areas, including the Elaho Valley, Boise/Pinecone-Burke, and the Stein, Carmanah and Lower Walbran Valleys. Joe's passion for the wild shines through in his speeches at rallies, to media, and to the public. In all of his front line work, Joe is inspired and informed by his love for wilderness and the thousands of hours he has spent exploring BC's wild places.
 
Rex will be speaking about the big picture of power and sustainability; Gwen will lay out the recent history of private power in BC; and Joe will speak about what we can do to fight these projects in the Kootenays and across BC.
 
For more information, please contact Rachel Darvill at rachel@wildsight.ca or at 250-344-4961.

"The BC Energy Plan is a forward-looking progressive document that recognizes the value of the green economy.  While there are many positive aspects to it, when it comes to implementation the plan lacks consideration for local communities.  Here in the Columbia Valley we are victims of a proposed giant power line that will cut a 120 km scar along our beautiful wetlands.  The power line will be used for IPP development in the northern Selkirk's, west of Kinbasket Lake.  Very little about this power line is actually meant to benefit local communities.  The energy plan is focused on the big picture, but as per usual, government planners are forgetting about quality of life issues in the valley."  -James Knoop, COC Golden Chapter President.