A2 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, February 19, STOP Press Ferry service delayed GROUPS PROMOTING tourism in the north- west are disappointed with last week’s BC Ferries announcement that the start of ferry service this spring between Port Hardy and Prince Rupert will be delayed. The popular summer run sails every second day . between Prince Rupert and Vancouver Island. The ser- vice usually starts in mid- ~May, but this year it has been pushed back to June. 1. Marilyn Quilley of North by Northwest Tourism Association says her group has been lobbying for dai- ly ferry service'so the announcement was a shock. “It's a deadly blow,” she says. “It makes it seem like Spring doesn’t start in the northwest until June.” Quilley says the Ferry corporation lold her they simply don’t have the money needed to refit the ship in time for the May start. To help compensate, there will be an additional two weeks of service tacked on in the Fall, but Quilley says that’s not a good trade-off, “It doesn’t allow us to kick-start the season like we had hoped to,” she says. “We've been working hard with BC Ferries to increase service and instead they cut it. It’s pretty devastating.” Woman assaulted TERRACE RCMP are investigating a sexual assault that occurred early last week. Police were called to the home of a distraugh viC- tim last Wednesday. The woman claimed to have been sexually assaulted by a man she knew in the early moming hours of February 10. A suspect has been arrested and the incident is still under investigation, Drive thru banking AN ELDERLY man wasn’t injured Monday afternoon when he lost control of his pickup truck and crashed into the wall of the Toronto Dominion Bank on Lakelse Avenue. Police say the truck suffered about 515.000 in damages, and the wail another $5,000, No charges are being laid and nobody was injured. Enrolment soars THE SCHOOL BOARD is sending some students back to their own neighbourhood schools in order to deal with enrollment problems at Cassie Hall and Kiti K’Shan. The board was informed last month that the schools would have 12 toc many students in the English program - by. fall this year. And if-kindergarten enrollment stays at current levels. the problem would be even worse by September 1998, In Kiti K’Shan enroliment, has increased by over 60 students in the last three years, The board has requested a. portable from the educa- tion ministry. but assistant superintendent Skip Bergsma said there was only a faini hope it would come through. So ater meeting with parent representatives. trustees and the two principals, the board decided to take action now, There are approximately 17- 20 students attending Kiti K°Shan and Cassie Hall from the Horseshoe and Thornhill. And there are another 17 students bussing in from Rasswood or Kalum Lake Drive. Students from north of town have been going to schools on the southside for decades now. The arrange- 1997 Gitksan made efforts to own bit ONE OF the northwest’s more aggressive native groups made several attempts over the years to either buy into Repap’s B.C. holdings or enter into partnership with it. Two Gitksan leaders say they did so to bring a measure of local control to the forest industry and to provide jobs in a plan to match milling capacity with wood that was available. But Don Ryan and Elmer Derrick say their attempts were rebuffed by Repap which thought it could continue on alone. ‘“Tnstead they kept ‘up with their over- capacity and look where they are now — in more trouble than ever before,’’ said Ryan. Although the Gitksan lined up several sources of money to invest in Repap, the company by the latter part of 1996 was in so much trouble the banks had moved in, Ryan continued. **By that time any acquisition couldn't go further because of the banks,’’ he said. Ryan and Derrick said they have tracked Repap for years, as they have with other forest companies in the northwest, The problem they saw was thal more and more control of northwest woods was rest- ing with larger and larger companies. In Repap’s case, hundreds of millions of dollars was moved out of B.C, to support its operations elsewhere. And that simply resulted in more debt to Repap B.C., said Ryan. of Repap “We told them they could keep restruc- turing the debt anyway they liked but the problem was the same when it came to mills and wood supply,’” he added. “They propped up the crown jewels of Repap at our expense,’ Ryan said in estimating Repap moved $1 billion out of the northwest over the years. Derrick said the Gitksan philosophy was based on the premise that northwest resources used to support the population here and there was no reason why il couldn’t again, “*The resource hasn’t changed, We've al- ways questioned giving the rights to those resources to oulsiders because local people aren’t involved,’’ said Derrick. “We look at the unemployment in the vil- lages and elsewhere in the northwest yet the history up here is that civilization can thrive on the resources,’” be added. Derrick and Ryan said they tried to get (the provincial goverument’s aitention dur- ing hearings last year on Repap’s takeover of Orenda Forest Products. Yet they said the government all but i ig- nored their comments, “Local stakeholders can do just as good or better job than people in Moutreal,”” said Derrick. “Local ownership may not solve all the economic problems but at least there will be accountability, ’’ he said. Good tree news soon A MULTI year deal worth more than $10 million ta be signed soon between Repap and Forest Renewal BC could mean more work for silviculture contractors here. The plan has been in the works for nearly a year and is to provide Repap an incenlive to do reptant logged-off areas not now cov- ered by the new Forest Practices Code. While the code requires companies to replant areas that are logged today, many areas Which were cut before the code went info effect remain barren. “Some of those old watersheds would forever silt there, totally unproductive,” says Amy Hart of FRBC, ‘‘That's what the funding agreement is designed to change.’’ The agreement in the works is only with Repap, but Hart says FRBC wants to eventually extend the plan to others, “It doesn’t even have to be a licence- _. SALESMAN OF THE MONTH Victor Cavalheiro holder,”? she says. ‘‘It just needs to be a legal entity thal is not a contractor.’ Proponents have to present FRBC with a five-year work plan that outlines the work to be done and include any significant mile- stones along the way. “This way, instead of sending us several individual proposals, they look at the big picture,’’ says Hart. ‘The goal is to in- crease predictability and stability in the in- dustry.” Hart points out that if Repap knows it bas a long-term contract it will be able to hire silviculture firms for more than just one season, In tum, contractors will be able to buy more equipment and hire crews. “Hopefully it will remove some of the uncertainty contractors now face,” says Hart. ‘They will be able to look ahead and plan for several years.’’ If you've .got EMAIL, you can reach ut electronically. We welcome tatters, . news tips, sports and community’ contributions, and feedback of all types: : __standard@kermade.net. =: Hudson Ski Get-away! Bay Per Person/Double Occupancy luxury you can afford, 1-800-663-5040 in the heart of the scenic Bulkley Valley $425>° 2 nights Accomedation 2 days skiing al Ski Smithers 3251 Highway 16, Box 3636 Smithers 9.C.. WO) 2N0 Aspen Motor Spring Ski Packages! Inn 60 Modern Rooms Smithers, _ Hitchenettes, Suites, Twins, D/D Indoor Pool, Hot tub, Sauna Family Restaurant 1-800-663-7676 Highway 16, PO. Box 756 NW Smithers B.C., VOJ 2N0 ment dates back from when students used to be bused down the Nass road-on the west side of Kalum Lake. Back then it made sense 10 take them to Cassie Hall. Now however. ihe bus goes right by Uplands Elementary. Ted Hicks, Sales Manager, is pleased to announce that VICTOR CAVALHEIRO, through his customer satisfaction and sales achievements, has been named SALESMAN OF THE MONTH FOR FEBRUARY, We know that his many friends and loyal customers join us in extending In order to deal with enrollment pressures the board is restricting the attendance area of the school from north of the Skeena river and south of the CNR tracks, The French program will continue to accept students from throughout Terrace and Thornhill, FROM FRONT Revolt brews in the woods One of the prablems has been the construction of mills unsuited to the kind of wood there is in the northwest and inevi- table closures and unemployment as a result, Derrick continued, “We have to make sure the same thing doesn’t happen again as it bas aver the past 30 to 40 years.” he said. “All we want is to find a way to gain some local equity in the ownership of the plants and the assets Repap now contrals,” Derrick added. “There's no quick Hix lo what we' ‘Te > facing but we have to make astart.”” The five per cent take back position is one of the key aspects under consideration by forests minister Dave Zimbhelt who has to give his approval of Avenor’s take over of Repap.: Avenor has already written the: government saying it has northwest support to keep the wood, Hazelton mayor Alice Maitland.who i is organizing the meet- ing in her community. hopes small logging Operatars will also attend. The key is to be orginized | in time for Avenor’ s sale of Repap sometime next year, she said. aos “I don't think we can stop the Avenor takeover" Maitland. “But in 18 rhonths when Avenor moves to slice up the holdings. we might be able to have-some kind of- phan j in place to either buy a chunk or tell Avenor:that they can‘t do it.and that they have to stay here and lake responsibility for the community and do what we say." Northwest leaders began talking about a common front when an Avenor official and Skeena NDP MLA Helmut Giesbrechi met with them in the Hazeltoris to discuss Avenor's plans. The company wants to sell Repap’s northwest assets as soon as possible to pay down. the lange debi. it'll accumulate by taking aver Repap. 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