B.C. residents oppose ski resort: Calgary Herald

Tuesday, November 20, 2007
JOEL KOM
CALGARY HERALD

A controversial ski resort development that has been in the works for more than two decades isn't expected to be derailed by the latest thumbs-down from some Kootenay residents.

The biggest obstacles for the proposed $450‑million Jumbo Glacier Resort now seem to be settling on a municipal plan and treaty negotiations with the area's First Nations.

The negotiations between the Ktunaxa Nation and the B.C. government have been going on for around a decade.

 "There are still big accommodation issues that I don' t think have been resolved," said Lillian Rose, who sits on the board of the Regional District of East Kootenay and represents the proposed Jumbo site.

It was Rose's survey of her constituents that revealed strong opposition to the proposed all‑year ski resort in the Purcell Mountains near Invermere.

Of the 869 residents who filled out valid surveys, 689 people, or 79 per cent, voted against the Jumbo plan.

Many of the survey comments included concerns about the economic effects of adding a major ski resort to an area that now includes Kicking Horse, Panorama and Kimberley, said Rose.

Some people said rents would skyrocket and infrastructure would be further strained with a new resort.

However, Grant Costello, vice‑president of Glacier Resorts Ltd., which is spearheading the Jumbo plan, said the survey didn't poll all of the region's 70,000 people.

"It's just the opposition hammering away," Costello said.

 "It doesn't affect us or the government," he said of the survey.

 "We've got all the official regulatory approvals that we need."

 The Jumbo development, which has jumped through numerous hoops, was given the environmental green light in 2004 by the B.C. government.