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Environment roundtable members detailed

Environmental organizations are coming together with industry, labour, aboriginal and municipal government groups to try to find ways to marry economic development with protection of the environment.
Frank Everitt
Coun. Frank Everitt.

Environmental organizations are coming together with industry, labour, aboriginal and municipal government groups to try to find ways to marry economic development with protection of the environment.

Environment Minister Mary Polak unveiled the first 15 members of the provincial roundtable on the environment and the economy on Friday and tasked them with finding ways to strike a balance between resource development and environmental and human health protection.

United Steelworkers Local 1-424 president Frank Everitt is one of three labour representatives on the commission.

"The objective is to get some diverse opinions and meld them together so that the government has a handle on what the public believes should be a direction for them to set some polices around," he said.

The group will be quarterly for the next year and a half with the aim of producing policy options for the government to consider.

Peace River South MLA Mike Bernier will chair the group's meeting and Burns Lake mayor Luke Strimbold adds additional northern flavour to the group. Everitt said strong representation from this region is important because it's where much of the resource development is occurring.

"We do have a lot of the resources here in the north, whether it's forestry or whether it's mining," Everitt said. "It's good to have the mining association on it and the community mayors, the [Union of B.C. Municipalities] and the aboriginal community because it's about all of those individual points of view coming together and talking about how we do it in a good way for sustained economic growth."

The panel includes representatives from four environmental groups, six industry organizations and two municipal delegates. The 15 people announced Friday don't include the First Nations delegation, which will be confirmed at a later date.

"Our government is committed to finding best practices and solutions from all stakeholders ensuring we continue to be the leader in economic growth in Canada, while protecting our pristine environment," Bernier said in a news release. "Our government has made it a priority in finding solutions to balance of the needs of natural resource extraction and industrial use with the environment."

Everitt, who also sits on Prince George's city council will also be able to bring his municipal government experience to the table along with his labour background. He's looking forward to contributing to the discussions in the coming months.

"It's certainly something that's beneficial to the area that I work in," he said. "And certainly something that I'm pleased to be involved in for our economy and our province."