Next They’ll Want Toilets
Welcome to the 90’s New Denver, B.C… cell phones have arrived. Text ‘em if you got’em
B.C. community loses fight to ban cellphones
The village of New Denver, B.C., is about to join the wireless world — whether they like it or not.
Industry Canada has given Telus the go-ahead to install a cellphone transmitter atop an existing radio tower in the town of about 600, despite resistance from some residents who say they don’t want the service in their community.
“We were responding to customer demand for cellphone service in the area,” said Shawn Hall, a spokesman for Telus in Vancouver. “We’d been hearing from businesses in the area, as well as consumers, that they really wanted cellphone service.”
Telus received permission from the municipality to install the transmitter in 2007, Mr. Hall said.
But when citizens in the town — which sits in the Kootenay region about 150 kilometres west of the Alberta border — started to voice concerns about health effects and the changes it would bring to the town’s rustic and laid-back lifestyle, Telus halted the process and held a public meeting.
A referendum in January 2008 saw a slim majority of residents, 117 to 110, vote against the introduction of cellphone service.
“Suddenly the municipality was opposed after giving us permission,” Mr. Hall said. “It was really frustrating for us. We were ready to invest half a million dollars in bringing service to this community.”
The case eventually went to Industry Canada in Ottawa for arbitration, which last week approved Telus’ bid to build the transmitter.
Richard Caniell, chairman of the Valhalla Society, an environmental organization, said he and other community groups opposed to cellphone service intend to take legal action against Telus.
“We’re consulting two lawyers about the possibility of litigation,” Mr. Caniell said in an interview from New Denver. “There’s a great deal of upset. Telus is considered a corporate bully here. They don’t care about it. It has outraged people.”
Mr. Caniell’s chief concern with going wireless is the possible negative health effects.
December 1st, 2009 at 10:20 pm
OMG, what health concerns are they so afraid of? If they are afraid of brain damage, don’t buy a phone – now that was easy. They should have allowed anyone over 6 to vote.
Industry Canada was smart on this move, as sometimes the will of the people is misguided. I understand though, I had a really nice grandpa b. 1864 who, I am told, believed that the car would never replace the horse.