In the House
Doug giving a 2-minute statement on Rural Infrastructure
Last month I was fortunate to attend the full four days of Roundup, the annual mineral exploration conference organized by the Association for Mineral Exploration B.C. It was the biggest Roundup ever, with over 8,200 participants. Congratulations to the AMEBC president Gavin Dirom and staff for another great networking and knowledge-building event.
There were many highlights, from the company meetings I had to taking shifts in the booth shared by the Smithers Exploration Group and Northwest Community College’s School of Exploration and Mining. But a big highlight for me was a meeting with a group concerned about an essential part of the rural infrastructure in the northwest: the small airstrips in Atlin, Telegraph Creek, Dease Lake and Bob Quinn.
Three of the four are run by non-profit societies. Basically, you have a group of dedicated volunteers trying to keep these provincial assets patched up and functioning with little support while depending on trading and bartering and relationships they have established over the years to get things done — stories like spending days picking rocks on the gravel runways because the big ones are starting to emerge from the compact surface or fixing runway and guidance lights with a tool in one hand and a manual in the other, if you can find the manual.
These airstrips were built in decades past by the province, using taxpayer dollars. They need some attention before our mutual investment is lost all together. The volunteers are eager, a good starting point would be a designated contact person within the provincial government regionally.
These airstrips are important for workers’ safety, for air ambulance flights, for attracting professionals to the remote communities and, of course, to the mining sector in the northwest, set to generate billions of dollars in revenue provincially.
In return, I don’t think it’s unreasonable for a group of volunteers and other community members to see a little reinvestment in these public airstrips. I look forward to working with them to achieve results that will be beneficial to all.