They’re at it again Young green thumb timber\NEWS A9 American environmentalists threaten another boycott of our ; He’s only eight but he’ S already a winner of a garden competition\COMMUNITY B1 Full contact hockey Expect Some action when locals face a touring RCMP team\SPORTS B7 WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 9, 1998 93¢ PLUS 7 @sT VOL. 11.NO. 35 Hospital’s money woes deepen A PROMISE to at least balance Mills Memorial Hospital’s budget seems more remote than ever but the chair of the Ter- race and Area Community Health Coun- cil isn’t ready yet to concede defeat. ‘We've not been overly successful to live within our budget,’’ said Larisa Tar- wick last week after the newest financial figures were released which show the hospital is sliding deeper into debt. As of Oct. 15, Mills was running a deficit of $86,453 in a time when it had predicted a surplus to provide a cushion over the busy winter season when costs increase, The deficit would have been $40,000 more had not the hospital brought in ad- ditional revenue through what it called a bookkeeping adjustment. The hospital went into the fiscal year April 1 with a budget designed to bring in a surplus of $130,000 by the end of March 1999, And that was to help meet a promise the hospital made to the health minisiry in 1997 to at least balance the budget by March 1999, just four months from now. Yet Tarwick said she’s not giving up on that goal. “We'll see,’ said Tarwick in noting that Mills continues to examine ways to cut costs and increase efficiency. The balanced budget promise ran into trouble the first year when Mills posted a deficit of $318,000 for the 12-month pe- riod ending March 1998 compared to a m The cure for the hospltal’s budget Hiness may require a new way of running health care In the northwest. @ Health care officials are worried about staff burnout. For these storles, see Page A12 prediction of a deficit of $178,000. *T don’t think we have enough moncy in our budget to do what we're doing,” said Tarwick. Most of the cost pressures faced by Miils come from specific departments which provide services to patients from around the region, said Tarwick. But departments such as the intensive care unit don’t receive any extra money to reflect the regional use. And matters aren’t helped when other hospitals in the region have either scaled down their own intensive care services or close their wards on weekends. That results in patients being trans- ferred to Terrace and more costs, said Tarwick, As well, attempts by the hospital to Keep the palicnt load to an average 25 patients a day on its main ward aren't working. The daily patient average is 30, “We have too many people in the hos- pital but they need to be there and that’s our role,”’ said Tarwick. “We are serving the people in the northwest and our people and that comes first.” Tarwick said the health council con- tinues to speak with the health ministry which, in turn, monitors the hospital’s spending. “They know that’s going on. They know what the problems are and they think there are some things we can do,’* she said. The health council has persistently pursued the province for more money for its intensive care unit but a suggestion this past spring of help hasn’t material- ized. ‘People feel we haven’t moved ahead on the question of funding,’ said Tar- wick. New challenges take aim at treaty THE NISGA’A treaty faces two new chal- lenges — one from non-native residents of the Nass and one from an internal critic. Nass resident Lloyd Brinson has filed a class action lawsuit on behalf cf himself portant ancestral lands under the treaty rammed through by leaders who come from the other three villages, ‘The Kincolith band has been sacrificed by the president of the NTC, and the parties a Waxing the board GETTING READY: Tyler Wilson prepares a snow board at Ruins Board Shop In Terrace. The store is hopping with customers these days selling boards, boots and bindings for Christmas and Shames Mountain's scheduled season opener oan Dec. 10, Wilson has already climbed Shames this year to test the slopes and do some back-country snowboarding. and other non-natives in the valley, He claims the treaty will effectively dis- place him from his country by:surrounding his property with native-ownéd land, ad- ministered by a government he can’t vote for or participate in. Brinson, 64, seeks damages for resettle- ~ ment, loss of woodlot rights, loss of future income and properly value, The suit contends Ottawa and Victoria don’t have the power to transfer lands and resources to the Nisga’ a, and that Nisga’a self-government i isn’t constilutional, The suit joins court actions launched by the B.C. Liberal party and the B,C, : Fisheries Survival Coalition challenging the treaty on constilutional grounds, A Nisga’a man from Kincolith but now living in Richmond is also continuiag his drive to defeat the treaty. Frank Barten, who lost a court action ear- lier this year aimed at quashing the Nisga’a leadership’s authority to negotiate the treaty, is now demanding a federal inquiry into a wide range of allegations. He maintains the Kincolith band lost im- in the final agreement,”’ says Barton. In addition to points raised in bis previous court case, Barton now- also ‘contends an episode of financial irregularities at Kin- colith was used in 1997 to silence dis- content there and force the band council to overturn a resolution to pull out of the Nisga’a Tribal Council. He also raises numerous questions about the Nisga’a vote on the treaty, which passed by a 61 per cent margin last month. Barton suggests the number of eligible voters should have been much higher. And he said some ballot boxes from ur- ban locals like Terrace could have been tampered with on their way to the Nass. “The public of B.C. would not accept the results from a ballot box that made such a trip,’ he says in his letter. ‘Particularly when the parties who want and must see to it that the treaty passes are involved in the transportation of the boxes and the counting of the ballots.’’ Barton also contends a planned $15,000 payment to Nisga’a elders when they turn 60 amounted to a bribe to buy yes votes. New Skeena school CONSTRUCTION OF a multi-million dol- ‘lar school to replace aging and over- crowded Skeena Junior Secondary could begin as early next summer. And it will become a full-fledged secondary school by adding Grades 11 and 12, trustees decided Dec. 2. Official word that the province will pro- vide the money for the school came through late last week, Trustees were told by the province they would have to re-apply for a new school if they changed their minds about adding Grades 11 and 12, It’s the second time in two years the pro- vince has announced it will replace Skeena Junior Secondary. A 1996 announcement that $1 million would be given to the school district to plan a replacement stalled when all capital spending was frozen later that year. Last year, the province revived the re- gets the green light placement plan but under certain ‘condi- tions. One of those conditions requires the district to use a common architectural plan viewed as one way to cut costs. That should mean a fast construction start date, says school district maintenance su- perintendent Harry Eberts. He said the present school would still be used while the new school is built on the present playing field. Once the new school is built, the old school will be demolished and the land will become a new playing field. Eberts estimated the school to house 650 students will take about two years go build, The next step is to meet with educators to determine what stock building plan best suits students’ needs, Skeena Junior Secondary, built in 1953, suffers from a leaking roof, drafts and cost. ly heating bills, Reformers reaching out to Liberals | WHAT COULD be the first sign of an attempt to run a “‘Unite the Right’’ can- didate in the next provincial electlon has surfaced. The provincia! Reform constituency association for Skeena is asking its mem- bers what they think of the idea, “*There’s a hint, just a hint, out there of a coalition to try and get together with the Liberals,” says constituency associa- tion secretary-treasurer Jim Bell. On this we could probabl ¥. lead the way,” he added, The request for Reformn ~ member opinion comes through a mail out being sent by the Skeena Reform executive, ‘We're asking our members to renew their membership and to Iet us know how they fell,’ said. Bell, “We don’t know what the response will be but we have to ask.’” Bell said it would be wrong for the Reform executive to pursue the idea of a -coalition without first taking the pulst of its membership in Skeena. -Bell described as interesting sugges- tions that the Reform and Liberal parties might hold ‘separate. candidate ‘nomina- tions and then have a run-off to choose one candidate to go up against silting Skeena NDP MLA Helmut Giesbrecht, Giesbrecht took the Skeena riding in . the 1996 provincial election with 5,147 votes, a hittle less than 600 more than his closest competitor, Liberal Rick Woz- ney. Reformer Andy Burton received 2,654 votes. Had there been a Reforra-Libcral coali- : tion and had all those who voted for the two parties voted together, Glesbrecht ‘would have been handily defeated. © Talk ofa right-leaning coalition began - right after the provincial clection, fulcled by the NDP popular vote tally province- wide of under 40 per cent. Bell spent several days last week com- paring policy positions of the Reform party with those of provincial Liberals, “There’s not that much differerice be- tween us and there are a lot of similarities,’* noted Bell. “We both sell ice cream. They might be different flavours but it's still ice cream.) . Bell also said momentum for a coali- tlon carte from the Nov. 19 ‘Unite the Right”’ rally at the RE.M. Lee Theatre. That rally heard speakers say the only chance of defeating the NDP in the next . provincial election is to form coalitions. ‘They put the call out and we'll see what transpires,’’ said Bell, He said it was important not to lose any of the ground gained that came out of the rally. Provincial Liberal leader Gordon Campbell and B.C, Reform . president Bilf Vander Zalm have talked about the idea of uniting, but nothing yet has come out of those discussions.