The Hook

The District of Squamish is asking the province to halt plans for a major ski resort in the region by denying the project an environmental assessment certificate.

Garibaldi at Squamish (GAS) is a proposed four-season ski resort on Brohm Ridge totaling 3,238 hectares. The project includes five lodges and three gondolas, and would be developed over a 15-year period.

In a long and rather testy letter to the environmental assessment office, the District of Squamish made its concerns known, from lack of information about water supply, to the effect on fish and wildlife habitat a project like GAS might have.

The councilors, who passed the motion unanimously, seem to share one common grouse with the proponents of GAS: crucial information on fundamental issues such as water supply is missing.

"It's (the availability of water) not something that we can deal with later. This is a fundamental issue," said councillor Doug Race. Even Councillor Paul Lalli, largely viewed here as pro-business, closed ranks with his colleagues on this issue.

"I am the one who wants to see growth, to see jobs. I am the one who wants to see the resort. But I don't believe in development for the sake of development," Lalli told the Pique.

Jessica Reid was slightly surprised at the letter, but she knew it was long time coming. Reid is a member of the Save Garibaldi, a group that fights the resort tooth and nail and through public meetings, keeps the issue alive.

"It's a relief. We have been bringing the information to the community and for our local leaders to take a stand on this, it's really encouraging," said Reid.

There's a whole of list of complaints that Reid has about GAS, but in the latest community meeting on April 12, attended by 200 people, the group focused its attention and anger on a particular issue: dams.

Reid said that in December 2009, the environmental assessment office noticed certain "inconsistencies" in the proponent's report: there were two new 50-metre dams being proposed on terrain that the consultants had previously deemed too hazardous to build on. The environmental office also stated that the risks and hazards of a debris slide had not been assessed properly by the proponents. The proponents disagree.

George McKay, a resort spokesperson, said all proposed dams in B.C. go through rigorous geological tests and extensive surveys and this dam would be no different. He also said that all the information that is needed has been provided. "We have provided an awful lot of information," said McKay.

Gagandeep Ghuman is a freelance journalist based in Squamish who also reports for the Pique..