Calling Oliver Stone

If the next great project for Oliver Stone doesn’t work out, perhaps BC can offer him up something worthy of the JFK or Salvador oeuvre.

Rafe Mair finds conspiracy and chicanery in the BC fish wars, in a contribution to the online journal the Tyee, Mair finds some funny business in the world of salmon and hydro power.

It’s pretty well the same talking points he used while on the air at CKNW, his battles with Alcan the thing of radio legend a few years ago as he fought the Kemano project and Alcan’s desire to change the flow and levels of the rivers of the northwest.

At one point Mair at the time said he was probably the most hated guy in Terrace, such was the furor over his fight with the Aluminum giant. He fought tooth and nail against the plans of that company over the Nechako River, at times making it his only issue on the air.

Of course as years have gone by, the folks in Kitimat have taken a bit of a suspicious eye on their corporate benefactor and town creator, but that’s a story for another day.

This one is about Mair and his one man fight for the BC salmon a fight he fears is nearly lost. Mair’s take on the situation is that the northern sockeye runs are in such peril that it may be only a matter of time before they’re extinct and the real business can get to work. That of building mighty power dams along the Fraser and Thompson rivers. As Mair describes things, the loss of the salmon runs would be like a gift from heaven for BC Hydro and energy barons across the continent.

While we wonder if Mr. Stone will contact Mr. Mair for the screen rights to this eco thriller, you can check out the article here.