e-KNOW Editorial

Sometimes elected officials have to make a decision that seems to fly in the face of the short burning fuse of public desire, for the sake of long-term gain.

The Regional District of East Kootenay board of directors made such a decision last week when they voted 12 to three in favour of passing the third reading of a bylaw that will allow for the establishment of an abattoir near the Invermere crossroads.

The Windermere District Farmers’ Institute (WDFI) owns about 20 acres of land southwest of the Highway 93/95 and Athalmer Highway junction, tucked behind the BC Hydro substation and between Copper Point Golf Course and the ball fields. The WDFI has used the property for mostly equestrian purposes over the years. This writer remembers photographing a horsey event at that location about 20 years ago; and horses have been kept, trained and ridden there for at least a couple of decades deeper into the 20^th Century.

The WDFI now wants to erect an estimated 1,000 square foot abattoir on the property to give the flagging ranching industry, locally and beyond, a chance to regain its balance. The facility is proposed to be set back about 400 metres from the highway and thanks to an additional requirement voted into the bylaw amendment by the RDEK board May 3, there will be a limit of 10 animals. District of Invermere Mayor Gerry Taft successfully put forth a motion noting the facility cannot be larger than 1,700 square feet, addressing a concern of it growing well beyond its originally stated scale, and requiring a set back of at least 280 metres.

Despite overwhelming support for the concept and need of an abattoir in the Columbia Valley, a majority of nearby residents and commercial property owners stated opposition to the abattoir, by speaking out at an April 24 public hearing at the Windermere Community Hall, and by submitting letters to the regional government.

Electoral Area F director Wendy Booth informed the board prior to the May 3 vote that she heard her constituents loudly and clearly and was not voting in favour of the amendment. That’s the norm for regional directors.

Usually, and we stress USUALLY when contemplating the myriad of votes on the Jumbo Glacier Resort proposal over the years, when a given regional director, municipal or rural, opposes or supports something and is backed by a majority of his/her constituents, the other directors will vote accordingly.

Not this time and thank goodness.

As Electoral Area G director Gerry Wilkie said, the opposition smacked heavily of NIMBYism (Not In My Back Yard).

None of the elected officials would say it, but many of those opposed to the abattoir are second (third…) homeowners from out-of-province, who quite understandably don’t want an abattoir busily slaughtering animals down or upwind from their over-priced getaways. The regional directors took note of those concerns and then overturned them because of the proposed scale of the facility.

This won’t be a massive stinky box with hundreds of bovines lingering in death’s waiting room, mooing their displeasure in packed outdoor pens. There likely won’t be that much odor at all, save perhaps the odd whiff of cow poop now and then; which used to be a staple sensory experience in most rural areas, which the Columbia Valley and the east side of Lake Windermere remains.

The Columbia Valley became the community it is because of ranchers and loggers and miners who settled there over 100 years ago. The Columbia River Trench area is the traditional home to the Ktunaxa First Nation for a reason; it was an awesome place to raise a family thanks to plentiful game on the once lightly treed and heavily grassed valley and benchlands. It’s excellent cow country.

But times have changed and the valley is now home (second home) to thousands of people seeking holiday escape and tourism is now seen as king of the economy.

Tourism’s needs must be considered, but so too do the needs of an industry that provides the second most vital thing to human existence – FOOD.

The Columbia Valley’s economy, like all the economies in the East Kootenay, must continue to strive for diversity and the regional directors did the right thing by keeping their eyes on the big picture.

Safe to say the RDEK board, circa 2006/2007, completely soiled the bed when it caved and disallowed Kicking Horse Coffee, the fastest growing independent company in the region at the time, from moving to Windermere to expand their operations.

The size of the proposed building (now on display on Shuswap land north of the Athalmer Highway) and the smell of roasting coffee highlighted Windermere area residents’ concerns. Despite the above stated need to keep trying to add diversity to the local economy, the regional board shot it down.

Luckily, Kicking Horse didn’t pack up and leave the valley in search of the appropriate space they needed and thankfully the Shuswap Development Corporation was able to convince them to expand their operation there.

Ranchers don’t have the luxury of just ‘moving’ to keep their livelihood afloat.

The ranchers in the valley and all over B.C. need available abattoirs.

It’s good for them; it’s good to have more and more locally grown food; and it’s good for an economy that is suffering under the weight of our changing global times.

The proposed facility is a long way from reality because the WDFI must raise about $400,000.

We hope they are successful and the facility can add to the valley’s economy and thanks to government rules and regulations, and the amendments to the RDEK’s approvals, the facility will hardly be noticeable.

And now for something completely different…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1bHBthJN9w

Ian Cobb/e-KNOW

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