An active member of the District of Elkford community for 43 years, David Jones, who assisted in building the ski hill and the local golf course and has volunteered for Boy Scouts and helped coach the local hockey team, has stepped up to run for mayor in the 2014 municipal election.
His platform is simple: reduce the environment impact of logging and coal mining through spending to ensure proper safety precautions are being incorporated.
“I’ve seen them turn the Elk Valley into the Elk dessert with their logging,” Jones said adding, “The pollution from this mining is unbelievable here.”
Jones first moved to the District of Elkford when he was 16 years old, coming back to work at the Fording River operation when he was 20, in 1971.
“I’ve been an operator all my life,” Jones noted.
But since Jones left the business, he’s been an advocate for clean operations.
“I fought for safety in the mines all my life,” he said. “They can’t just keep polluting like they’re polluting here.”
Some of Jones’ main concerns are with logging in the Boivin Creek Watershed, something that he plans to put a moratorium on if he is elected mayor. Jones also noted the animal deaths in the Elk Valley as a result of drinking contaminated water. He is also shedding light on the use of anti freeze in mining operations, a chemical containing methanol, that is used to defrost digging holes.
“It should have been outlawed years ago but they still use it,” Jones noted.
Another issue Jones is interested in addressing if he becomes mayor is caring for the District of Elkford’s elderly and disabled citizens.
“Look after the older people here, they’re the ones that build this town,” Jones emphasized.