December 15 2008 » News Clippings » Belleville Intelligencer - Ontario
Students Take Environmental Stand
Mitchell Dafoe, left, and Melanie Barriage write letters opposing any drilling for methane gas and oil in a remote area in Northern British Columbia. Intelligencer photo by Henry Bury
By: Henry Bury
A remote corner of northern British Columbia would likely be the furthest thing from the minds of local Grade 4 students at this time of the year.
Not so for Prince Charles School students like Melanie Barriage and Mitchell Dafoe.
The Grade 4 class wrote letters to B.C. Premier Gord Campbell asking him to scrap plans by Royal Dutch Shell to drill for methane gas and oil in the Sacred Headwaters, a vast alpine basin that has been occupied for centuries by the Tahltan First Nations.
“I want the premier to stop any drilling because native people might die in this special shield,” said nine-year-old Melanie. “Animals might also die and that will be bad news.”
The student said she’d hate to see the natural habitat destroyed by a maze of wells, pipelines and roads.
“I’d hate to see that happen,” she said.
Mitchell, also nine, said he hopes the premier heeds their message.
“That stuff could seep into people’s houses and put their lives in danger around the drilling sites,” he said. “It’s also not fair to the animals because they have their habitat there.”
Grade 4 teacher Erin Fox said students learned about the drilling controversy through their study of Canada and they wanted to do something about it.
“The kids are not happy that drilling may happen. They are worried about the impact on the environment and its affect on people and animals,” she said.
Connie Gallupe, a half-time teacher who spearheaded the letter writing campaign, said she has since learned the B.C. government granted a two-year moratorium Dec. 5 on any coalbed methane drilling on the Sacred Headwaters area as a result of public pressure.
“But we are going ahead with our letters to keep up the pressure on the government to support the Talthan’s cultural rights,” she said.
Students from every grade also wrote messages of hope on greeting cards Friday afternoon.
Prince Charles participated in the activity as a way of celebrating Human Rights Day (Dec. 10).
“We are hoping to raise awareness about the importance of human rights in creating a peaceful world and we recognize how important it is to develop a social conscience in people,” Gallupe said.
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
