Dear Editor,
I have been sitting quietly listening to the opponents of the proposed BFI Canada’s Prairie Sky Resource Centre trying to understand the facts surrounding this. The more I learn, the more I disagree with the opponents to this site.
Their approach has been so aggressive supporters of this project have felt bullied and have been quiet. I for one will no longer be quiet and feel Prairie Sky Resource Centre will be good for the MD and for the people of the Blackie area. I have spoken to a number of local residents of Blackie that are in support of this project and they too will no longer be quiet.
The Eastern District of the MD of Foothills is in desperate need of economic development in particular the Hamlet of Blackie. We are at risk of losing what few businesses we have left and are faced with the possible loss of our post office and school at every review. Without economic growth Blackie cannot attract the people needed to grow a community.
When you look at the facts surrounding this proposal, you will see how misleading the information communicated by the opponents to this proposal is.
They are worried about land values – this doesn’t seem to affect the values of the acreage homes just west of the MD of Foothills landfill, a landfill the opponents point to on a regular basis as being a example of how bad a facility can be. Nor has the BFI site in the community of Lake Chaparral in Calgary stopped developers or hindered the home values in that area. This is a myth, BFI has put forth guarantees that land values will not decrease as result of their facility.
I have spoken to a few of the opponents and many suggest another location. In other words, not in my backyard. That tells me that they see a need for the facility, but put it somewhere else. I feel the best option has been selected.
All I ask is that everyone takes the time to look at this objectively and find out the facts and then I am confident many more will agree that Prairie Sky Resource Centre will be good for the MD of Foothills and the Hamlet of Blackie.
Rod Elaschuk
Blackie
