The Fort St James Sustainability Group set up a gathering last Thursday, Jan. 5, for registered oral presenters to help them prepare for the presentations.
The bulk of the meeting was taken up by a webinar hosted by various environmental groups to educate the presenters on what the hearings would look like, and how to make their presentations the most effective.
“It clarified, for me, what it was I wanted to focus on,” said Kandace Kerr, the head of the Fort St. James Sustainability Group, and an oral presenter herself. “Because I had been all over the map.”
The webinar also helped to calm nerves among the group.
Kerr said some of the presenters had told her they were nervous about the hearings, but felt more confident after having listened to the speakers.
Kerr plans to continue meeting with the oral presenters in ‘sessions to help each other out.’
The Tuesday sessions will run from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. with plans to brainstorm ideas, practice run throughs and ‘get a little less nervous and a little more comfortable with the presentations.’
The intervenor sessions started on Jan. 10 in Kitimaat and will start on Feb. 2 in the Fort. These hearings are for organizations such as First Nations and environmental groups. The hearings for individuals to give their presentations are not yet scheduled. All hearings are simulcast online.
The webinar was presented by a group or environmental groups including West Coast Environmental Law, Dogwood Initiative, ForestEthics, Friends of Wild Salmon, Living Oceans Society, and Sierra Club BC.