Big River Hopes To Meet With Premier, Timber Users

Big River Hopes To Meet With Premier, Timber Users

Tuesday, December 01, 2009 at 13:25

 

 

Groups that got timber in last week’s allocation announcement can expect a visit from Big River representatives soon.

 

The Big River sawmill didn’t get any timber rights in the Prince Albert Forest Management Agreement allocation.

 

Residents decided last night the best thing to do now is meet with groups who did get timber rights, which includes the Agency Chiefs Tribal Council, the Montreal Lake Cree Nation, the Northern Village of Green Lake, and several forestry companies.

 

They also gave up on suing the government over the allocation.

 

The Merchant Law Group told town officials that’s something the company buying the mill should look into.

 

But Big River residents are going ahead with plans to send a delegation to the provincial legislature tomorrow.

 

The goal is to meet Premier Brad Wall to outline their concerns about the allocation.

 

They’ll also press for a public inquiry into how the allocation was arrived at.

 

Big River mayor Brian Brownfield says so far, organizers haven’t heard whether the premier will meet with them.

 

“They haven’t said ‘no’ yet. So I guess we’ll have to see. I mean, you can only try. And do we have much hope? I don’t know,” Brownfield says.

 

He says if Wall doesn’t meet with the delegation, they’ll still go into the legislature.

 

They hope to be introduced to MLAs there and push their call for an inquiry.