Our present Mineral Tenure Act does not allow input from municipal, regional, or aboriginal governments with regards to mineral claims in their areas. The decision-making on whether a mine goes ahead or not rests solely in the hands of the provincial government.

Even if the Ajax mine is not approved, there are other mineral claims that could come to life very close to Kamloops, putting us into the same situation again. For example there is a claim registered right behind Pine Valley, called the Discovery Claim.

The mayor of Tofino, Josie Osborne, makes a compelling case for modernizing our Mineral Tenure Act in her letter to the Times Colonist, April 12, 2013. http://www.canada.com/story.html?id=cd2381ea-322d-4359-a955-4f04408a1a01.

Subsequently she brought this as a resolution to the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities meeting in April and it was unanimously approved. She next plans to present this resolution at the Union of BC Municipalities meeting in the fall.

The Kamloops Area Preservation Association is investigating how it can help in this process.