The District of Sechelt's application for a community forest license is drawing increasing criticism from other municipal governments and from citizens' groups.
The biggest issues are the inclusion of the Chapman and Grey creeks watershed in the forest license, the lack of detailed information about the proposal, and insufficient community consultation.
Stan Dixon, the newly elected chief of the Sechelt Indian Band, said many people are in favour of a community forest, but the District of Sechelt has not provided enough information.
"Somehow they've got it in their heads Sechelt has got to have a community forest, and they'll get it by hook or by crook," said Dixon at a Sunshine Coast Regional District Meeting March 10. "We're supposed to be involved, but nobody told us anything. We were supposed to have a meeting with [Sechelt mayor] Cam Reid. That never happened."
Reid said the district submitted its application for a community forest license to Greg Hemphill of the Ministry of Forests last weekend, but Reid asked Hemphill to consider it a "draft application."
"I assured him a final application will be submitted at the end of 60 days, and he agreed," said Reid.
Reid said those 60 days will give him time to address the concerns of the SCRD, meet with the Sechelt Indian Band, and address other community concerns.
Reid said the entire application, except for confidential financial details, would be made public on the District of Sechelt web site.
As Coast Reporter went to press Thursday, Reid had released only the governance section of the application.
That document lays out the structure of a new corporation to be called Sechelt Community Projects Inc. (SCPI). Initially SCPI would have a board of seven directors, with five appointed by the District of Sechelt, and two community members, elected at annual public meetings, who would serve two-year terms.
The directors named so far are Ray Parfitt and Joni Heinrich, both senior staff of the District of Sechelt, Kevin Davie, a forestry consultant, and Bruce Smith, a business consultant. Donald Lidstone is named as legal advisor until the first meeting of the board.
The board of directors would not hold public meetings, the governance document says, because "the roles and responsibilities are being redefined constantly with respect to liabilities, conflict of interest/disclosure requirements and the board's role in monitoring and planning."
Instead, the corporation would hold an annual public meeting to report to the public and seek input from the community.The Sunshine Coast Regional District and the Town of Gibsons both formally requested detailed information from Sechelt last week. Several politicians criticized the lack of information provided to date.
John Marian, director for Halfmoon Bay, said the public is being asked "to accept a pig in a poke."
Adrian Belshaw, director for Roberts Creek, said the District of Sechelt has not been candid about its plans.
"They have not taken into any kind of consideration the SCRD's opposition to industrial activity in the watershed. I find this absolutely despicable," said Belshaw. Gibsons mayor Barry Janyk said, "I would expect that a true community forest application would not be cloaked in secrecy in order to just make a deadline. There are concerned stakeholders and if you are seeking their support you should provide them with all the information."
