Working in a Coal Mine?

Port Alberni Student at Coal Consultation

Someone out there in the world wants to bring a coal mine to the east side of Central Vancouver Island (Courtney Comox) to "harvest" raw coal and transport it to Port Alberni on Highway 4 via Truck (72 trucks a day, one way) and then ship it from Port Alberni to China where it's going to be burned as fuel to make steel.

As a "young person" I hope to fuck that those before me (and those currently in power) have figured out that Big Industry is no longer a goal for the future, for us, or even those after us. To me it's not even about arguing about details around environmental damage or the number of jobs or the "growth" of our local economy, it's that Big Industry is Bad Industry and denying Big Industry in our communities feels  like the only option.

Port Alberni is currently wrapping up the consultation phase of the Raven Coal Project. The community had the opportunity comment on the environmental concerns of the project until June 27th by going here, but really, filling out that survey is a shitty form of consultation (as was the public meeting that was so moderated it was like watching cable TV listings). My dad once told me a story about consultation. He was up against some Enbridge guys up in the Sacred Headwaters and said to the Enbridge person, "Is it OK if right after I'm done talking to you I go outside and key your car?" The Enbridge person said, "No". And my dad said, "Great! Thanks so much for your contribution to my decision making, but I'm going to go out and key your car now!" They Enbridge guy said, "You can't do that!!" And, my dad said, "Well, I just consulted with you so it must be OK now?". THAT is how Big Industry does consultations. And that's the process here.

If you live anywhere affected by the Raven Coal Mine and truly want to have as much of an impact as possible stop writing your dissent just on facebook! Write letters, make phone calls, and email our MLAs and MPs and civic councils and First Nations Chief and Council and tell them why you don't want the coal mine in your community / region. Here's some environmental info. Or you could explain that you're tired of the global patriarchy fuck of big/bad industry and you'd like a different life for you and your community.

Link to MLA Database
Link to MP Database
Link to List of First Nations