As a life long Calgary Flames fan and a 10-year resident of British Columbia, I awoke this morning with a serious dilemma.
If you aren't aware, there was a major tailings pond breach at the Mount Polley mine in central BC last Monday, where 5Million+ cubic metres of toxic sludge and wastewater broke free and flooded the surrounding area. This is the biggest disaster of its kind in Canadian history, and just happens to be affecting an area where the Salmon are running towards at this very moment.
We have no idea what the total environmental fallout from this disaster will be, and it will likely be decades before we do. What we do know is that Imperial Metals failed. Whether they knew the tailings pond was going to break and did nothing to prevent it, or they lacked the information necessary to know that it was bound to burst.. either way the negligence of Imperial Metals caused this disaster. And my heart weeps.
If you haven't heard about the spill you can check out
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/britis...arge-1.2732314 or one of the 100s of articles now circling the web on this disaster.
It was this article though, that really put a knot in my stomach:
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Maj...715/story.html
In this article it reveals that Calgary Flames owner Murray Edwards is also the controlling shareholder for Imperial Metals. Not only is he the controlling shareholder for the company responsible for destroying a part of the province I call home and leaving hundreds without drinking water, but he is heavily investing the in the political groups which are expanding the practices of these mines.
So there is my problem...
How can I continue to support the Calgary Flames with my time and money when Murray Edwards is taking that money and destroying my homeland with it?
Do you think Murray Edwards needs to apologize to Canadians for this disaster?
How does it make you feel to know that Edwards' money contributed to the biggest tailing ponds breach in Canadian history leaving fellow Canadians without drinking water or ability to fish the salmon they live off of?
For the record I don't see how an apology removes all the chemical debris from the lakes and rivers.. but acknowledging fault is the first step towards a remedy.
Thanks for giving me a listen, I really need to talk to someone about this.