United Church sued Charged up | action\NEWS AQ The agony of residential schools results ina massive court Last month’s dry period gave more than a few people a shock\COMMUNITY B1 WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 7, 1996. Coach of the Year It’s time to consider who | deserves a tribute for athletic involvement\SPORTS B8 ANDARD 75¢ PLUS-5¢ GST VOL. 8 NO. 43 | Loggers on own after treaty By JEFF NAGEL LOCAL LOGGERS could face a 15 per cent reduction in cutting if a Nisga'a treaty is signed. And if that happens, Terrace-area con- tractors will have to fend for themselves, according to Skeena Cellulose vice- president Reg Lightfoot, He said there’s no assistance for its contractors built into Repap’s demand for $80 million in compensation if an ex- pected [40,000 cubic metres of timber is removed from their holdings. And he said their best bet is to prepare to work with native groups and get ready for the post-treaty era. “Our subcontractors have a major problem,’ Lightfoot told the Standard. “They should be talking to the pro- vince and making their concerns known and discussing with the Nisga’a pos- sibilities for the future — just like we are,” “Nobody can sit on their hands right now and ignore these evolving events.” Regardless of the outcome of the dis- pute over compensation, the treaty isn’t likely to force Skeena Cellulose to shut down any of its northwest mills. The 140,000 cubic metres of wood represents less than 15 per ceat of the to- tal amount of wood Skeena Cellulose’s mills require. And that wood will ikely continue to flow to the company’s mills — it will just be cut at the direction of the Nisga’a and it may cost SCI a bit more money on the open market than when they owncd it themselves. “We have worked very hard with the Nisga’a to develop win-win business re- lationships for the Jong term,’’ Lightfoot said. The other difference is that Nisga’a companies may eventually be doing most of the cutting — replacing Skecna Cellulose’s existing contractors, “One of the opportunities the Nisga’a want to develop is jobs for their own people,’* Lightfoot said. ‘'There’s going to be a big problem there.” “There are going to be changes and dislocations and [ don’t know where it will all lead.” “All of us have to work together long term up there. It’s certainly going to mean a change around of jobs and things like that.’? Even if a deal is struck to continue get- ting the Nass wood and even if com- pensation from the province makes up the difference in what that wood will cost, Lightfoot said removing it from the Skeena Cellulose’s boldings still reduces the company’s securily of Gbre supply. Right now about 60 per cent of the wood SCI needs is owned by the compa- ny, with the rest being bought from other companies. SCI has aggressively increased its northwest timber holdings, buying out firms such as Buffalo Head Forest Pro- ducts in the last 10 years. Even with a 140,000 cubic metre claw- back ‘that would be handed to the Nisga’a, Skeena Cellulose would still have significantly more secured timber holdings than it did a decade ago. Lightfoot says the firm bas worked “very dilligenty’ in building up its secured fibre supply, and any cutback will require compensation. “We as a company expect to be made Local logging firm owners admit they're apprehensive about the anticipated deal, “It'll raise hell as far as the contractors are concerned,”' said Jasak Logging’s Jack Smaha. He predicted the reduction would be shared between all the contractors asso- ciated with Skeena Cellulose, rather than one or two individual firms being cut out of the action, That would mean everyone would feel the pinch. “It would mean a damn near 14 per cent cut in our annual allowable cut by the look of it,’’ But it may be some time before native contractors are capable of taking over all of the wood to be transferred to the Nisga’a, fh : Watch out! Instructors fear for jobs TERRACE UTTLE THEATRE starts the new year with a big with Greenwich Village apartment. You'll enjoy a trip back to the past Hey, Naked Lady. Opaning night is tomorrow and the play runs this with psychedelic clothing, and the richly datailed set. Take a look at weekend and the next. It's a comedy set In the 1970s in a funky the play through the eyes of one of the actors on page B1. College labour scene heats up By CRIS LEYKAUF NORTHWEST COMMUNITY COLLEGE in- structots haven't ruled out following the exam- ple of faculty at other colleges by striking to back contract demands. College instructors across the province have been holding talks with their employers on mat: ters such as wages and job securily. Thi talks are going on at two levels — provin- cially for broad ranging issues such as job security and locally for non-monetary issues. Both job security and wages are in jeopardy now that the federal government is cutting back on the amount of money It sends to the pro- vinces for education. Talks broke down across the province the end of January, sending instructors from eight col- leges out on rotating strikes, Negotiations also broke off at Northwest Community College. “Our employer told us Friday (Jan. 26) that they would not meet with us until the provincial table was resolved or dissolved,” said Liz Ball, who runs the negotiations for college instructors Bae here. _ That news surprised college president Michael Hill late last week, ‘I’m assuming now that bargaining will resume,” he said in adding he was under the impression that talks had only broken off to wait and see what was happening across the province. “Tm prepared to go back to bargaining,” said Hill, Instructors here met last week to talk about getting local negotiations back on track. Local negotiations include non-monetary and organizational issues. Instructors also want the college to more actively promote and advertise its programs. Right now all the instructors plan to do is to write letters of support for the striking colleges and try and get local negotiations back on track, said Rocque Berthiaume, president of the local instructors’ union. The big issucs are mostly at the provincial- level. Teaching staff is asking for wage in- creases and job security. “Wages for those at the top end of the scale have been essentially frozen for the last threc years,” sald Berthiaume. The average salary for an NWCC instructor is in the low to mid $50,000 range, be said, The scale tops out at $60,000. That’s more than a lot of people make, but it’s actually Jess than what a high school teacher wilh a master's degree might make. They have the potential to make $2,000 to $3,000 more, said Berthiaume. “We're certainly not doctors or lawyers making six figures,”’ he said. ‘‘But wages aren’t the primary issue, The big issue is job securily.’” With deep cuts anticipated for col- leges around the province in the next few years, instructors are worried about keeping their jobs. But the group that bargains for colleges across the province feels that teachers should bear a portion of the costs of the cutbacks. “Students will face higher tuition fees next year as a result of the federal cuts,”’ said Dr. Leo Perra, president of the Post Secondary Employers Association. ‘‘But students cannot be expected to bear the entire burden. If we are to maintain the viability of the system, everyone must share in the burden — government, employers, employees and students.” Berthiaume thinks there are other ways to cut costs, And he fears colleges plan to lay off staff and eliminate programs in order to save money. Berlhiaume hopes that through negotiations both provincially and locally, instructors and college employers will find ways to keep going. That means finding money from untraditional sources, such as the provincial forest renewal program and from skills training projects. whole at the end of this,” he said. Gov't walks trom land talks GITKSAN LEADERS are accusing the provincial govern- ment of playing politics by deciding to walk away from land claims talks. Chief Gitksan negotiator Don Ryan last week said the province’s decision is more aimed at the next provincial clectiva than at reaching a setilement with the Hazelton- based native group. He made the comments amidst speculation that the pro- vince’s decision was engineered by NDP leadership candi- date front runner Glen Clark in an attempt to put a tough face on the NDP as it prepares to choose a new leader and then head to the polls. Officially, aboriginal affairs minister John Cashore is saying talks ended because the province thinks fundamen- tal questions of nalive rights should best be teft up to the Supreme Court of Canada. The parties did sign a deal to negotiate a land claim and thereby suspend a court aclion brought on by the Gitksan more than 10 years ago. That agreement to talk has now expired and the pro- vince’s decision to abandon the talks paves the way for a resumption of the court action next month. Cashore also said Gitksan logging road blocks last year hampered negotiations, The suspension of the talks comes at a time when the province and the federal government are close to an agree- ment in principle with the Nisga’a on their claim to the Nass Valley, Mark Stevenson, the province’s chicf negotiator on the Gitksan claim, wouldn’t comment when asked if the pro- vince wanted to prove it could settle claims with Indian groups considered more co-operative than others, The Gitksan have been at the forefront of land claims for more than 20 years and have never hesilated to pul up road blocks to prove their point, Throughout those years Doan Ryan has been a main organizer of the attempt by the Gitksan to wrest control over land and resources from the provincial and federal governments. He’s been an elected leader of the Gitksan and is now their chief negotiator. _ Ryan’s regarded as a hard bargainer and as a skilled strategist. One day, in the mid-1980s, Ryan was present at a fishing site near Gitsegukla when fisheries officers showed up to seize native nets. Ready for what could have been an explosive situation, fisheries officers were met instead by a group of mar- shmallow throwing natives. Provincial negotialor Stevenson paid tribute to Ryan’s skills as a negotiator and as a politician. . ‘‘He’s a very, very good manager and he delegates well. He gives people specific tasks and follows through to see that they’re done,”* said Stevenson, When asked if he would ever play poker with Ryan, Stevenson said no, Nisga’a ready to celebrate PREPARATIONS are already underway for the biggest feast the Nass Vatley has ever seen. An agreement to settle the Nisga’a land claim is now believed to be just days away. Otice an agreement-in-principle is initialled, Nisga’a leaders will explain the deal at meetings in all four Nass villages as well as Terrace, Prince Rupert and Vancouver, After a week to consider the proposal, the Nisga’a will converge on New Alyansh in the Nass Valley to vote on the deal, followed by signing ceremonies and festivitles to mark the end of a century of waiting. Cont'd Page A2