THE UGLY DETAILS: rally cancellation

The 21st annual Kipawa river Rally is Cancelled due to the punitive actions of PWGSC

The Kipawa River Rally is a great festival and celebration. It is also great community event. It has introduced thousands of people, not only to the river but to the whole Temiscaming region.

PWGSC has made it impossible for Les Amis de la rivière Kipawa (LARK) to host the event this year. To run the festival successfully, LARK needs confidence that water is available on a given rally date. After cooperating for 18 years PWGSC, who owns the dam, stopped cooperating on water releases.

In 2005 PWGSC dumped a bunch of water early and then gave LES AMIS a reduced amount, and then again in 2006 they shut the water off a day early. They've succeeded in
crippling the Kipawa River festival. Les Amis numbers were way down in 2005, their 20th anniversary, because of the uncertainty around the water release (PWGSC
purposefully reduced flows in 2005), because of the uncertainty around running the dam, and because people just don't like the controversy, they just paddled
somewhere else. Now in 2006 Les Amis know their numbers will be down again, which raises the possibility that they will lose money, which they can't afford to do while their court case is on.

The worst kind of arrogant bureaucrats have been brutalizing Les Amis, something only absolute amateurs would do. PWGSC officials responsible must think that
working for the federal government somehow gives them the right to violate the rights of Canadian citizens. And they're hurting Les Amis. In this matter, Les Amis has not been antagonistic. They have spent over two years trying to reach out to PWGSC, trying to engage them in dialog, trying to meet with them, trying to explain their values, trying desperately to demonstrate that they want to work with PWGSC to find a solution. They refused to meet. Then they lied to Les Amis representatives.

The relationship between Les Amis and PW is at an all time low point right now. It is not where Les Amis wanted to be. It is not where Les Amis tried to get to. It is where PW drove it. For example, PWGSC's published ad in a tiny newspaper in Ville Marie, stating that they are eliminating the entire upper section of the river from the rally, as an appropriate way to communicate with LES AMIS, certainly a primary stakeholder.

As an organization Les Amis do not fear challenging government and especially bureaucrats and believe that organizations such as theirs can make a difference. Les Amis believe the Kipawa is one river that is worth fighting for. They believe the history of recreational whitewater navigation at Laniel, that goes back almost 40 years, and the more recent commercial whitewater navigation, with a perfect safety record, are worth protecting and preserving.

In this matter LARK does not want "casual observers". Their affidavits in their Federal Court Case, a judicial review of te environmental screening assessment of the Laniel Dam refurbishment amount to many thousands of words. They want people to contribute to the debate by reading the documents filed with the federal court that
are available on their website then voicing this informed opinion to the media, to their MNA members and to their MP's.

LARK believe that PWGSC and Transport Canada needed to be challenged on their incomprehensibly opaque approach to public consultation. And they've managed to
secure the dedicated and extremely generous services of a very good lawyer, plus the support of two prestigious Ottawa law firms.

Does that mean that LES AMIS are guaranteed to win this case…no,... but if Les Amis did not decide to fight this fight, all Canadians would have lost.

Currently PWGSC continue to reference “safety” as a main concern of theirs. Last year they had a construction supervisor on the site during the 2006 rally, carrying large and cumbersome pieces of fencing, working right next to the water above the drop through the dam, with construction boots and blue jeans on, and no life jacket. Les Amis cannot afford the liability risks that come with the capacity for stupidity that has been exhibited at the construction site.

LARK are concerned about the safety of rally participants. PWGSC talks safety but they can't see to the safety of their own people. During the 2006 rally, the project manager on the construction site worked without a hard hat. Someone, likely a PWGSC employee or construction contractor led a group of young children wearing beach sandals across the entire construction site, right up to the edge of the river. The security people on the site made no effort to stop them.

-PWGSC is currently proposing using the backs of pickup trucks to carry paddlers and their gear 3km down a provincial highway, to a park which has no camping, no parking, with limited access and egress.

-LARK are concerned that the future of the rally has been crippled by the actions of PWGSC

- LARK are concerned that PWGSC continues to engage in aggressive, punitive behavior against the festival.

- LARK are concerned that PWGSC are simply looking for an excuse to pull the plug on the rally forever.



Doug Skeggs: Les Amis Director of River Preservation...

For the first time in 21 years, there will not be a recreational white water festival on the Kipawa River this year.

Just to give you a bit of background on this:

- the Les Amis executive have been agonizing over this decision for a couple of weeks

- desperate last-minute efforts were made to engage the Laniel Dam owner, Public Works and Government Services Canada, in discussions that would give us some confidence that we could run the Rally as a feel-good event for recreational paddlers

- in the end the executive decided that it is not possible to run a successful, safe event this year

- it took Public Works and Government Service Canada over a week to decide if they even wanted to talk to us

- federal public servants at PWGSC rather than working cooperatively and for the benefit of the paddling public to promote one of the oldest whitewater festivals in North America, is working against the interests of our festival

- PWGSC published an ad in Teminscaming newspapers May 16 stating that they were going to deny access the entire upper section of the river from Laniel to the highway park during the rally (denying paddlers access to the chute through the dam, Rock and Roll and Tumbling Dice rapids)

- the PWGSC ad also stated that our new put-in at the highway park would only be open from 8 am to 6 pm

- PWGSC has since backed off that public statement

- in 2005, PWGSC released a large volume of water one week prior to the festival and then provided a reduced flow for the rally

- leading up to the 2006 festival, with a Judicial Review application underway, legal counsel for PWGSC informed us that historic practices would be respected and that no special steps would be taken to interfere with our festival

- the 2006 reality was that PWGSC erected a snow fence across the river to deny the navigation rights of rally participants

- During the 2006 festival PWGSC shut off the flow one day early, eliminating a paddling day for some participants and causing the cancellation of a commercial rafting trip

- there was serious confrontation during the 2006 rally, as a direct result of PWGSC's complete refusal to consult with us, police were called in by PWGSC, clearly in an attempt to intimidate us...this is not the way you treat a group of volunteers who are trying to run a community festival

- this year, Les Amis has no confidence that PWGSC is prepared to support this community festival and provide an adequate water release over the duration of the event

- the ingredients for confrontation are there this year, as they were last year...we simply refuse to fulfill PWGSC's desire for that confrontation

- we have launched our judicial review of the actions of PWGSC with the Federal Court, and we respectfully await our day in court (NOW SCHEDULED for October 23-24)

- when the dust settles, whatever the outcome of our court case, we sincerely hope and will work very hard to ensure that the Kipawa River Rally will return to its past glory

- the spirit and intent of the Kipawa River Rally is to promote whitewater paddling on a pristine and very special Canadian river, to celebrate our paddling heritage, to raise funds to go directly to the protection of the river, and to demonstrate the sustainable whitewater tourism potential of this region of Quebec

- the current and past actions of PWGSC make it impossible for us to achieve these goals in 2007

- this is a tragedy