The Society's Timeline of Activities
Before trying legal avenues (Feb 2019) to protect our watershed and intact forest, the Glade Watershed Protection Society (GWPS), Glade irrigation District (GID) and the community of Glade tried many other things to bring attention to our valid concerns. Below is a list of them.
- The GWPS has held public meetings in our community since 2015, we hold weekly GWPS meetings (everyone welcome), update the community by various means, updated and interfaced with the Glade Irrigation District (GID), and created an online Avaaz petition, and organize and hold Glade Markets to encourage community involvement.
- We have organized letter writing campaigns: one was about our concerns to Kalesnikoff Lumber Company’s (KLC) draft FSP, another was to IHA (134 letters) to support our s.29 submission, another petition was sent to both licensees KLC and Atco Wood Products (Atco) stating our objections to conventional logging. A Community Questionnaire was organized and collated.
- GWPS collected signatures from the general public, 200+ who stated they were opposed to conventional logging in domestic use watersheds and were in support of the Glade Community
- We have networked with industry members, scientists, watershed groups and alliances, environmental groups, RDCK Directors and others
- A s.29 investigation under the Drinking Water Protection Act was submitted to Interior Health Authority (IHA) in relation to the proposed logging in Glade Creek (2016). After a year the IHA decided there ‘wasn’t enough evidence’ to initiate a s.29 investigation. Since the IHA decided not to initiate any investigation, we are asking the court to review that decision in a Judicial Review.
- In addition to GID water data collection, the GWPS initiated more data collecting on Glade Creek. Costs for this work are supported by GID and GWPS. We asked the licensees if development could be halted until we had collected the relevant data that is missing from the hydrologists report, but they refused.
- Dr. Martin Carver was retained (Aqua Environmental Associates), who answered the question ‘Is there a Threat to Glade Creek Water?’ in the affirmative in an 8 page professional opinion letter (Jan 2017).
- We retained Herb Hammond, Silva Ecosystems Consultants Ltd, RPF and Forest Ecologist to do an ‘Initial Report’ of KLC’s proposed logging in Glade Creek watershed (June 23, 2017). This 34 page report discussed the planned cut blocks as seen on the ground and the issues concerning water protection, climate change mitigation, and fire risk abatement.
- We have held meetings and written numerous letters to our regional, provincial and federal representatives for their support. We worked with MLA Conroy to try and secure an application for a Community Forest, based on the principles of an Ecosystem based conservation plan. The Ministry of Forests declined that application, and both that Ministry and the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change declined to meet with us.
- We have interfaced and communicated extensively with licensees, attending all meetings and attending three field trips; one with KLC and two with Atco.
- Papers and submissions were sent to the government. I.e. a 29 page discussion paper to KLC and ATCO and government officials and a Professional Reliance Review document.
- A Compliance and Enforcement complaint was filed online June 18, 2018
- September 12, 2018 no response from C and E, so we contacted them.
- October 10, 2018 no response from C and E, so we contacted them again.
- On Oct 18, 2018 I received a phone call from the C & E investigating officer. He basically stated that there was “no offense happening here” and he can only act after an offense takes place. - The GWPS has corresponded with the Forest Practices Board and researched their reports and complaint investigations. In October 2018 a Forest Practices Board Investigation Complaint was submitted.
- The GWPS met with the District Manager of Forests in an attempt to get that public office to advocate on our behalf to defer logging until sufficient water data had been collected to inform the community of the actual state of our water. We asked in May 2018: "Please consider our request: the Glade Watershed Protection Society has tried all legal means. Your office is mandated to work for the public good. The community, the public depend on our creek water, please help us in advocating for that." She responded in part (June 2018): “I am a representative of the public service, not a representative for any individual group or opinion.”
- Court documents were filed which were served to Atco Wood Products, Kalesnikoff Lumber Company, and the Interior Health Authority Tuesday Jan 22, 2019. These court documents were an application for injunctive relief and was heard on February 4, 2019. The injunctive relief was a request that logging be legally deferred until the Judicial Review of the IHA’s decision had been made, and/or until the Forest Practices Board Investigation was completed. This application was dismissed by the courts and costs were awarded to the licencees.
- April 1, 2019: The lawyers for ATCO and KLC applied in court to demand that the Glade Watershed Protection Society (GWPS) raise the funds necessary to pay the legal costs of losing the case in order to proceed. That meant, if we wanted to proceed with an application for a judicial review of the s.29 against Atco and KLC, we had to have $15,000 in trust to pay the legal costs of Atco and KLC in case we lost. We couldn’t raise $15,000 in 60 days, so that application was dismissed before even being heard.
- We recently received an email from Kalesnikoff's lawyers stating that they were expecting payment 'forthwith' or they "have instructions to have these costs assessed at a hearing in chambers."