B.C. official quits after anti-U.S. e-mail exchange

The Daily Inter Lake

British Columbia's minister of mines, Bill Bennett, was forced to resign Tuesday because of an e-mail exchange expressing anti-American sentiments.

Bennett is of interest in Montana because of his decision-making capacity about the future of mining in the Canadian Flathead. A wide range of organizations and agencies south of the border are staunchly opposed to mine development near the headwaters that feed Montana's Flathead River system and Flathead Lake.

The now-infamous e-mail exchange, which was broadly dispersed in Montana, started with correspondence from Maarten Hart, president of the Fernie Rod and Gun Club. Hart, an American who has lived in Fernie for years, accused Bennett of favoring big-money game outfitters over resident hunters in determining big-game permit allocations in the southeastern part of the province.

While attending a mining conference in Vancouver, Bennett typed a flaming response.

"It is my understanding that you are an American, so I don't give a s-t what your opinion is on Canada or Canadian residents," the e-mail says.

He goes on to call Hart "dumb" and says that he is not going to listen to "someone, who, for all I know, is up here as an American spy who is actually interested in helping the U.S. create a park in the Flathead."

He concludes by saying, "I will continue to work for hunters and anglers in the East Kootenay as I always have and you will continue to be a self-inflated, pompous, American know-it-all."

"It was an unacceptable exchange, clearly," British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell was quoted as saying in the Vancouver Sun, after he had accepted Bennett's offer to resign. "I think e-mails should be answered in a way that's respectful of the opinions of the citizens that are involved."

Campbell also said that Bennett did a good job and showed integrity by stepping down, the Sun reported. But the premier added, "It's always better to sleep overnight over an e-mail or any letter you're angry at."

The Sun reported that Bennett had a sheepish response. "In the old days before e-mail I would have written that letter, I would have looked at it in the morning and tossed it into the wastepaper basket … but I blew my cool and e-mail was too easy."

An aide to Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., described Bennett's resignation as a "significant development" because the Canadian has been a source of polarization in the ongoing debate about coal mining in Canada.

"Bill Bennett was a divisive, my-way-or-the-highway kind of guy," said Baucus spokesman Barrett Kaiser. "And his actions were unbecoming of a top Canadian government official. Not only should Bennett resign, but he should apologize, too. The Canadian people are probably ashamed and embarrassed by him."

In February of 2005, Baucus had a hostile encounter with Bennett during a visit to Fernie to discuss coal mining. "You're actually not welcome here," Bennett said at the start of a meeting aimed at forming a transboundary coalition for sharing information on natural-resource management.

"Senator Baucus brushed off Bennett's abusive behavior, because Max was doing his job fighting for Montana," Kaiser said. "But Bennett's actions hurt the overall effort to resolve this dispute."

Rich Moy, chairman of Montana's Flathead Basin Commission, said Bennett's e-mail didn't deal with coal mining, but it was revealing and relevant to the relations that Montana has been trying to establish with the BC government.

"I was very disappointed in his comments toward Americans in general," Moy said.

"I think Mr. Bennett was in a very powerful position," he added. "I think he's a very strong advocate for coal mining. And I'm sure it made negotiations far more difficult."

Moy had a hand in developing Montana's official comments on draft terms and conditions that Canada's Cline Mining Corp. would have to meet in developing an environmental assessment for an open-pit coal mine that's been proposed above a headwater stream to the Flathead River.

Moy maintains that the draft "terms of reference" did not address any of Montana's main concerns. But he is hopeful that the province will become receptive to the state's concerns about downstream pollution and other environmental impacts from coal mining in the Flathead drainage.

"We have a very positive working relationship with folks from the premier's office, and those that work with the environmental assessment office," an agency that is separate from the Ministry of Mines.

"And that's not going to change," Moy added. "I think a positive working relationship with those folks will continue."

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com