Cantelon Worker Deflects Heat

Parksville-Qualicum MLA Ron Cantelon took heat after a staff member used an environmental group’s name to defend government logging policies, but his constituency assistant says her actions were taken out of context.

Ancient Forest Alliance campaigners took issue after a Cantelon’s constituency assistant included an AFA website hyperlink in an e-mail to a Nanoose Bay woman asking government to save coastal Douglas fir forests.

Helga Schmitt is urging Cantelon to convince the province to abandon plans to allow Snaw-naw-as First Nation to log District Lot 33, since the land is rare, mature coastal Douglas fir forest. The AFA too opposes logging DL 33, but did applaud government for setting aside other CDF forests on the Island.

Cantelon is on vacation and can’t be reached.

Cantelon’s assistant, Caroline Waters responded to Schmitt’s email with a message containing an AFA website link, as evidence the province is protecting CDF forests.

AFA forest campaigner Ken Wu, said Cantelon is using the group’s name “to insinuate that we somehow support logging” in DL 33. Waters said the link was only in response “to her letter saying please protect coastal Douglas fir.”

Schmitt said she’s glad CDF forests are being protected, “but it’s miniscule, that’s not enough.’

 

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