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Page'AB — Tortace Standard, Wednesday, October 16, 1991

-JUANITA HATTON |
LIBERAL

Liberals would’ first give
natives title to reserve land and
other parcels ‘not.under dispute
as a sign of the commitment to
settling land claims, says
Juanita Hatton.

The province must join with
the federal government and.
natives for. fair’ and ‘equitable
settlements.

And, talks toward seif-
government would. be ac-
celerated.

“We-came in here and ex-
ploited the Indians,’ says Hat-
ton. “We gave them smallpox
and TB and took their kids to
boarding schools. We have a lot
to answer to.” ;

Hatton has no objection to
giving title to lands as part of
claims settlement, adding that
there should be cash or other
lands given as compensation if
other parties are affected.

“Natives are entitled to more
than they’ve gotten so far as I’m
concerned,”’ she said.

DAVE PARKER
SOCIAL CREDIT

A Social Credit government
will work towards what Dave
Parker calls a ‘responsible set-
tlement’’ of native land claims.

He says his government will
finally get a settlement of land
claims, adding much progress
has been made towards settling
the issue in the last five years.

Parker noted the province set
up a land claims registry to
record the various claimant
groups.

And, he said, Bill Vander
Zalm was the first B.C. premier
to meet with the Nisga’a Tribal
Council. ‘The NDP never did
that,’’ he said. °

He says the government's
careful policy will be a better
one for the B.C. taxpayer than
the New Democrats’.

“We haven't conceded the
points — title amongst other
things — that they have,” he
said. ‘The NDP basically are
saying the only negotiation

JUANITA HATTON
LIBERAL
Juanita Hatton’s worried that
steam emissions from Orenda
Forest Products’ planned mill

south of kpkelsc. Lake will
hamper flightsfta‘2ite-Hirport.

“Just look at what happens

already when there's smoke in
the air,’” she said.

‘Before Orenda goes ahead,
there should be a radar beacon
at the airport, That’s an ab-
solute necessity.”

Hatton also wants more in-
formation on what pollution
levels will come from the mill.

“They always tell you there'll
be less, you know; but there will
always be waste,” she said.

HELMUT GIESBRECHT
NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY

Giesbrecht is in favour of the
pulp mill going in south of
Lakelse Lake if environmental
issues can be dispelled.

The Qrenda project offers
potential for job creation, par-
ticularly in Kitimat where there
is a need for new jobs, he says.

The environment concerns
that needed addressing were the
planned landfill at the site, in-
cineration of sludge produced
by the process and transporta-
tion of toxic chemicals to the
mill. ;

Giesbrecht said he’s unhappy
with the way the steering com-

they’re going to do is how much
— instead of asking should we,
to what extend and how much.”
He pointed to the NDP
government’s response when |
the B.C, . Government
Employees’ Union — seeking its
first contract — issued a initial
stack of demands. 7
“They signed the deal,’ he
said. ‘‘They didn't negotiate on
the part of British Columbia..
They just gave it all away. And
they'll do the same bloody thing
with land claims and anything
else they get involved in’?
The NDP, Parker warns,
would give away. the store and
be forced to raise taxes to pay
fori ioe 5
‘If the people of British Col-
umbia have an NDP govern-
ment after Oct. .17, then prepare
to dig deep in your pockets and
kiss goodbye to your savings ac-
count,”

HELMUT GIESBRECHT
NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY

Although he cannot predict
what form land claim set-
tlements will take, Giesbrecht
said one thing is clear — the
process must be accelerated.

Land claims are also only one
part of a larger issue, that of
making natives economic as
well as human equals, he added.

Giesbrecht said the money
spent to date on court battles
and the federal Indian Affairs
department bureaucracy
“seems designed to preserve the
status quo of keeping native
peoples out of the economic
main stream.””

An NDP government would
set out to change that, ‘to
change welfare rolls to
payrolls."? Because of natives’
traditional ties to the land, set-
tlement of claims had to be a
part of the process, he explain-
ed.

As for who ended up owning

what, Giesbrecht emphasized
privately owned land would not
be gn the table, In the case of
Crown land, settlements couid
involve transferring outright
ownership of some to native.
bands. oe

Another possibility ‘was some
some form of joint-
management of given parcels.
However, he added, - until
negotiations took place, ‘we
don't know what form that
would take, how much would
be involved.” ;

Similarly, whether set-
tlements would involve cash
payments or the transfer of
forestry and mining resources to
native groups would also have
to await the outcome of
negotiations, ~~ oe

In the case of natural
resources, Giesbrecht said he
had no problem with the con-
cept of native ownership. He
pointed out it would be no dif-
ferent from the current practice
where, for example, private
land owners were entitled to log
off their property.

Noting natives viewed the
forests as something more than
just a source of timber, he add-
ed, “There's a lot of culture tied
to land management and I think
they would be fairly careful
about how they logged.”

Turning to the cost of land
claim settlements to the pro-
vince, Giesbrecht said NDP
leader Mike Harcourt had
already indicated his govern-
ment would be prepared to pay
25 per cent of the cost.

However, it hadn't yet been
settled whether that percentage
would be based on the value of
Crown lands ceded or cash or a
combination of the two.

Giesbrecht also pointed out
expert opinion held the cost of
maintaining the status quo
would be just as high as that of
settlement.

mittee was. selected ,lo. oversee: ‘tlimate-for, investment, Patker;
«res 2° “says.  * Sg

the major, projects review pro-"
cess. .

In particular, he would prefer
it had a balance of outside ex-
perts and local people.

DAVE PARKER
SOCIAL CREDIT

A lucrative and enviranmen-
tally sound development could
soon be lost if residents don’t
support the Orenda mill pro-
posal, Dave Parker says.

The Skeena MLA has always
been solidly behind the propos-
ed $365 million pulp and paper
mill, He is convinced provincial
and federal review agencies will
ensure the proposal meets en-
vironmental standards.

“We can lose this opportuni-
ty in a heartbeat if the investor
is made to feel unwelcome,” he
says. ‘‘If the investor is made to
feel welcome — under the
understanding he’s going to
operate responsibily — then
we'll gain,"”

Further development in the
northwest — and the
maintenance of jobs, services
and our standard of living —
depends on creating a friendly

’

“We already see major int
vestors divesting themselves of
assets in British Columbia,
primarily because of the con-
certed approach taken bysingle- .
interest preservationist groups.
- That kind of attitude means
that capilal isn't going to come
here — that’s all,’

He predicted opponents of 7

Orenda will try to delay or
block the project with the
federal government’s En-
vironmental Assessment and
Review Process.

Using such reviews to delay
projects is a standard tactic of
the green movement, he said,
because the longer capital sits
around the more likely itll be
forced to move elsewhere.

That’s what has happened to
the now-frozen Kemano Com-
pletion Project, he said. ‘“The
five to six hundred million
dollars being spent on Kemano
is now being spent elsewhere —
in places where it's welcame.””

- On economic . development,
he explained, the NDP has ‘tno
vision’ and is ‘‘facing the
future by locking backward."”

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