AiO - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, August 6, i i 74 CARVED BY her father, this paddle helped Raye- Chalan Stensgaard get back to Kitimat from Kiemtu after the historic voyage to Victoria was canceled. She was one of the paddlers on the Haisla canoe left behind by the Vision Quest crew. 1997 Quest for this vision _ turned out cloudy _ By SALWA FARAH AFTER A MONTH long canoe trip, the Vision Quest crew arrived in Victoria Aug. 3 for the opening of ihe Indigenous Games. But the joumey to raise money for a dmig and al- cohol rehabilitation centre sent waves of discontent over three other canoe: ex- peditions. Terrace resident Raye- Chalan Stensgaard was one of the crew members on a Haisla canoe that was also heading down to Victoria. The Haisla from Kitamaat, the Kitasoo from Princess Royal Island and the Wal- lisla from Bella Bella were taking part in a joumey to recreale a trip made hundreds of years ago. “Vision Quest is doing it for a different reason than us — for us, it’s to keep our culture alive,” said Stens- gaard. . in February by Deb Hayward, the president of the Haisla Canoe Project, to have a support boat ac- company them. © That’s the same boat that was to accompany the Vi- sion Quest crew of First Na- tions people (including well known Tsimshian artist Roy Vickers), members~ of -the RCMP and private citizens. But on July 8, after wait- ing for. several hours at Bishop Bay {south of Kitamaat Village), the Haisla paddlers realized they were not going to be met. ; . ; It was only with the aid of a private sail boat that cartied their gear, that the paddlers were able to catch up with the others in Butedale, about half way to Klemtu. - ; From there they © made their journey to Klemtu where they asked permis- Arrangements were made sion of the Kitasoo people Recallers raising money ONE GROUP backing recall of MLAs wants to raise al least $80,000 aimed at the Skcena riding and possibly four more across the province. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation last week installed a toll-free line offering recall information and to accept donations. It also began buying ads soliciting donations. Recall leading to a by-election is based on having 40 per cent of those people sign a petition who were on the voters list for last year’s election. The Skeena riding is held by NDPer Helmut Giesbrecht. Federation executive director Troy Lanigan says it won’t pour money into a local recall campaign but will offer legal and organization support. — ‘Recall has to be a local initiative. We're prepared to of- fer advice, training manuals, seminars, tapes,’’ he said. - Lanigan added that the federation wants to concentrate its efforts in a few ridings where recall has the best chance. “From aur conversations with people in Skeena, we think its winnable,’? he said, A second riding targeted is Prince George North, held by education minister Paul Ramsey. The federation’s support of recall stems from what it says is the budget deception of the NDP before the last provincial election. Jt says government documents show the NDP knew the budget was in a deficit despite public claims to the contrary leading up to last year’s election. , “The NDP win is a mandate based on fraud and that’s Merry Christmas RECALL JUST might be an early Christmas present by its organizers for Skeena NDP MLA Helmut Giesbrecht. Under recall legislation, a recall campaign can’t official- ly start until an MLA has served 18 months. Since the last election was May 28, 1996, the earliest date a recall campaign can start is late November. It begins when # registered voter submits an application stating why he or she wants to recall an MLA to the chief electoral officer. Organizers then have 60 days to gather 7 the right number of signatures. These must total 40 per cent of the voters who were reg- istered to vote in the MLA’s riding in the last election, and who are currently registered to vote in B.C. For Skeena, that works out to just under 7600 people. Organizers are also under strict spending limits, gov- eed by the number of people on the voters list. In the Skeena, the maximum spending cap is $25,000. So MLAs who are the subject of recall can mount counter- campaigns under the same spending limits. ‘Those gathering signatures must be volunteers and can't § be paid. wrong and we have an obligation to use recall to hold the government accountable,’’ said Lanigan. 0 Federation literature also points out that the NDP holds a __ slim two-seat majorily in the legislature. That means even two successful recall campaigns could affect the NDP’s ability to govern. Lanigan said the federation will continve its campaign into the fall and then evaluate its progress. Under recall legislation, the earliest a recall campaign could be mounted — is late November. : ; Other recall backers in Skeena include local Reformers, © those affected by the Skeena Cellulose shutdown and church and other groups opposing the teaching in public schools of tolerance toward homosexualily. , There’s also the possibility local provincial Liberals could be involved, but as individuals and not under the party banner. Linda Hawes, a director of the local Liberal constituency associalion, said she wouldn’t be surprised if that happens. , “There are a lot of really angry, frustrated, desperate people out there,’’ said Hawes. ‘‘Who isn’t talking about recall,” : . Liberal leader Gordon Campbell is already on record as suppotling what be terms strengthened recall J egislation. The need to get 40 per cent of the those on the voters list in the last election is considered a fairly challenging goal. James W. Radélet RADELET & COMPANY aaristers & soicitors ‘Tax Law+ Trusts» Corporate & Commercial 1330 - 1075 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, B.C. V6E 309 Phone:.604-689-0878 Fax: 604-§69-1986 to come ashore. Shortly -after the welcom- ing ceremony Hayward _in- formed her. crew .of seven that they will not be able to complete the journey. ‘They said they would take us as far-as Bella Bella — but the support boat was too full to carry any extra support. paddlers,”’ .. Stens- gaard explained. “There was a lot of crying — I was really angry — they should have told us be- fore we left and we never would. have gone,”’ she added. The only other option they were given was an offer to take two of their paddlers down to Victoria with them, one of them accepted. “Tn our First Nations way we have the concept of the circle — as soon as one thing is broken, then every- thing looses balance — just © like ‘an ecosystem,”’ said Stensgaard. 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