Honourable Christy Clark:

I write to you today with concerns over the plans by the Heritage Branch to devolve the care of the Heritage site “the Grist Mill” near Keremeos from the care of the Provincial Government to either a private entity, a society, or the residents of the local Regional and Municipal areas.

In the last two years, the site has been “turned around” by Chris Mathieson and his team of staff who have worked to engage the community and build and increase attendance and site rentals.

As the site’s local Electoral Area Director, I represent the residents of this area of the Regional District Okanagan-Similkameen who are currently already under siege due to a number of urban policy directions which have raised the cost of basic living to such levels that people are suffering needlessly.

From the increases in heating costs due to the Conservation Rate pushed by the BC Utilities Commission, to the loss of our Employment Center in Keremeos, and now to the increase in taxes which would be necessary to care for a Provincial Heritage site, we are being squeezed harder than we can bear. A few hundred dollars to a Vancouverite is a few dinners out. Here it is the difference of eating, buying medication, or driving a car to go to the Medical Center.

There are a number of issues which need to be addressed in considering any changes at the site. The First Nations sites documented by archeologist Stanley Copp must be protected. In addition, this Heritage site is in need of more than 1.2million dollars of deferred maintenance and for any Society or private owner to take this on is unlikely. How will your government guarantee the people of British Columbia that due care and attention will be given to these issues if you stop taking care of the site for all of us?

Please consider housing the Grist Mill in the appropriate Ministry. While Minister Thomson has been supportive of the site, it makes more sense for it to be housed in Community, Sport and Cultural Development under Minister Coralee Oakes. While there may be issues of tenure, I cannot understand why this site is consistently evaluated against Forestry and Mining Operations rather than its fellow museums and cultural centers.

The Grist Mill is a true Jewel in the Crown of the Similkameen Valley. We need to protect it, and work on a plan for the site to become self-sustaining, by following the course which its current operator Chris Mathieson has charted for it.
Thank you in advance for your time and I look forward to a timely response to my comments. Warm regards,

Angelique Wood
RDOS AREA “G” Electoral Area Director