Voting on the Jumbo Resort

Letter to the Editor
Doug Anakin, Invermere
Columbia Valley Pioneer & The Valley Echo
August 14 & 19, 2009

As a comparison between Vancouver voting and RDEK voting, I found that on Feb. 22/03 - 64 percent of Vanvcouver voters approved the Olympic bid in a city-wide referendum. Turnout was a record 50 percent.

On reviewing The Valley Echo report of Nov. 2/07, of an official RDEK non-binding opinion poll regarding the proposed Jumbo Glacier Resort, I found that 80 percent of residents and homeowners in Area F disapproved of the plan to develop the 6,000 bed resort in the Jumbo Valley. Response was from 1,084 voters.

On two occasions, speaking with Premier Gordon Campbell, one at the 2008 BC Olympic bid because of the local support and because of the great positive influence of the Olympics for our youth.

I then pointed out plainly that I did not support the proposed Jumbo development because the great majority of residents in Area F oppose it and because that area is so precious as is, for the wildlife and human recreation and eco-tourism. The premier acknowledged my concers and I wished him well with the 2010 Olympic winter games.

Even though I oppose the Jumbo proposed development for what I think are valid concerns - if the majority of people in Area F voted to approve it, I would endorse it, and try to mitigate the negative impact on the environment as much as possible.

Now we get to the heart of the matter - the way the vote went on Fri. Aug. 7. Directors from Cranbrook, Kimberley, etc., where no public opinion poll had ever been made, and far away from Area F, voted to approve the project in Area F, in spite of powerful logical and accurate presentations by many delegates and some Directors from nearby areas.

As I listened outside the RDEK building on the lawn, with over a hundred people quietly opposed to the poject, my heart sank, as I heard the results - the motion passed eight to seven.

But then when I heard that four out of five of the Directors in the valley area had voted to keep the decision on Jumbo local, my confidence in our democratic way of life rebounded - and refreshed with that knowledge - here I go again, doing what I can to keep democracy alive and to keep Jumbo Wild.