Norm Macdonald MLA                                Columbia River – Revelstoke

MEDIA RELEASE

For immediate release

October 25th, 2007

Environment Minister shirking responsibility: Macdonald

Columbia River – Revelstoke MLA Norm Macdonald today put forward the following question to the Minister of the Environment in reference to the allocation of a conservation officer to the community of Golden:

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The Conservation Officer Service that this BC Liberal Government gutted a few years back has yet to be rebuilt.

I remind the Minister of Environment that the town of Golden has had rangers or conservation officers for over a century until this government got rid of them. Just before the election in 2001, a part time conservation officer was promised to the people of Golden, but that changed after the election. To date, no conservation officer is effectively overseeing an area that is massive by any standards.

It has been reported that the Minister’s motivation to re-issue the old promise of a seasonal conservation officer in Golden stems from the promise that the tax payers of the Town of Golden will pay for office space. This is a further shirking of this Minister’s responsibility.

When is the Minister going to do the proper thing and put a full time Conservation Officer in Golden paid for by the Province as it properly should be?