A group of elected officials from South Central Alberta came together to discuss the future of the coal industry in rural communities.
Cody Borek organized the meeting that includes federal, provincial and municipal representation. They met in Stettler on July 19.
“The way it started was that (Robin Campbell) the president of the Coal Association of Canada had a meeting in Castor that I went to. It hit home because I live in Castor and see how much it is affecting our area. With Castor being central to Forestburg and Hanna, where there are the Sheerness and the Paint Earth mines, which are supposed to be phased out, I know a lot of people who are going to be losing their jobs,” said Borek. “It is really hitting our communities hard, because not only are those people going to be losing their jobs and move, all of their incomes are going to leave the community.”
He said there were presentations from Campbell of the Coal Association of Canada as well as Todd Beasley, founder of CCR Technologies.
“He’s the one who brought technology to Saskatchewan where their mines emission levels are well below Natural Gas,” he said. “If there is an option where we can continue to operate the coal plans and have zero emission, which is what this whole Climate Leadership Plan is about.”
He said the carbon could recovered from the process and could become a salable by-product.
Minister of Municipal Affairs Deron Bilous was not able to attend, but did send a letter. It stated that later this summer there will be a series of meetings to listen to workers and community leaders to discuss the best kind of supports to make the transition easier.
Further, it states that Terry Boston will be working with the Alberta Electric Systems Operator and Coal based generating companies for an orderly transition for the industry, including assessing opportunities for non coal based generation at some facilities.
Borek sees the importance of collaboration, and they are looking at further meetings.
“I am friends with mayors in the area, and I realized there is not very much communication between them. I think with an issue of this importance, people need to work together to see what solutions we can come up with because these two mines employ people from so many different communities. To have these leave, how will we keep the people in the area employed?”
