Ad The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, June 28, 2000 see tee ey TERRACE TANDARD ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988 PUBLISHER: ROD LINK ADDRESS: 321() Clinton Street Terrace, B.C. * V8G 5R2 TELEPHONE: (250) 638-7283 « FAX: (250) 638-8432 EMAIL: standard@kermode.net Last stand THE STAGNATION and impending collapse of the treaty process has profound consequences. NDP cabinet ministers and even the premier have said natives should work quickly with them to conclude treaties. The sands of time are running out for the New Democrats, and their expected successors, the B.C. Liberals, will take a much harder line on set- tlement of aboriginal land claims. Some aboriginal leaders scoff at the sugges- tion, saying they’ll deal with whichever politi- cians the voters throw at them. But the fact that the clock is winding down on this new era of treaty-making poses problems. If native leaders do soften their demands and the NDP shovels out numerous treaties in the dying days of their mandate, people already con- cerned about effects of treaties will be outraged. On the other hand, if more treaties aren’t signed within the next year, how long will it take to resolve the uncertainty that grips the province and to improve the lot of aboriginal people? We in the northwest are still part of that pro- blem, despite the now in-effect Nisga’a treaty. The treaty is good for the Nisga’a, of course, and for the local and regional economy. But without treaties as well for the Tsimshian, Gitksan, Gitanyow and Haisla peoples, we face the prospect of a northwest populated by prosper- ous Nisga’a, and by less prosperous, angrier, second-class non-treaty natives. Park takes:root. A WINDING band of asphalt has been laid alongside Hwy 16 West. Soon grass will grow on either side of it and now-modest trees will rise into majestic giants. The linear park, now beginning to take shape before our eyes every week, is something of a coming of age for Terrace. It’s a demonstration of pride, environmental awareness, future vision and commitment to quality of life — all at once, Some would say it’s a poor use of the money. They would be wrong. The park, to be called the Grand Trunk Path- way, has been crafted by many hands: the work- ers, city planner, city council and our MLA. The $600,000-plus is being split between the city, Victoria and Ottawa. But the trail was really blazed by hundreds of people who simply want green space in their city. Greenbelt supporters urged council a few years ago to preserve the Howe Creek area. Volunteers with the Beautification Society are an inspiration to us all, emanating pride in our city and creating the supportive climate for this kind of vision. It is your park, Terrace, Enjoy it. You deserve it. PUBLISHER/EDITOR: Rod Link ADVERTISING MANAGER: Brian Lindenbach PRODUCTION MANAGER: Edouard Credgeur NEWS Jeff Nagel « NEWS/SPORTS: Christiana Wiens NEWS/COMMUNITY: FRONT OFFICE: Darlene Keeping CIRCULATION SUPERVISOR: Carole Kirkaldy ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS: Sam Bedford, Mark Beaupre & Stacy Swetlikoff TELEMARKETER: Stacy Swetlikolf DARKROOM/COMPOSING: Susan Credgeur AD ASSISTANT: Sandra Stefanik & Clare Hailock SUBSCRIPTION RATES BY MAIL: $54.88(+$3.85GST) per year; Seniors $48.62 (+$3.40GST); Out of Province $61.69 (+$4.32GST) Outside of Canada (6 months) $151.60 (+$10.61GST) MEMBER OF 8,C. AND YUKON COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION, CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION AND B.C. PRESS COUNCIL 2000 “BLUE RIBBON ‘ WCNA oo Serving the Tarrace and Thornhill area. Published on Wednesday of each week al 3210 Clinion Straal, Terrace, British Columbia, V8G &R2. Stories, photograplis, Illustrations, designs and typestyles in the Terrace Standard are the property ol the copyright holders, including Cariboo Press (1368) Ltd., its illustration repro services and acVertising agencies. Renraduction in whola or in part, without witlen permission, Is specifically prohibitad. Authorized as second-class mail pending the Pest Ctfica Dapartment, for payment of postage in cash. Special thanks to all our coniributors and correspondents for thelr time and talents (pony EMPLOY MENT MEDICARE . HOSPITALS al OUSIN G LOGGING FISHING E ———e FERRIES SS rincaTion “Wet FARE ZN reise’ e ft We treat our politicians badly VICTORIA — The recent re- signation of Edward Byrne from his job as leader of New- foundland’s Tory opposition should give al] Canadians rea- son to examine what we ex- pect of our politicians and how we treat them. The 37-year-old Byrne was he consummate politician who, in his own words, can’t imagine a career outside of politics. And then, one evening, on seeing his father enter the room, his little boy asked if he’d come to babysit. “It was the final straw,” Byrne told a press conference. “I knew at that point hat I had to take a look at what was happening to my family.” Byrne is not the first high- profile politician to suddenly call it quits. Last February, Pam Barrett, ” ‘Alberta’ former NDP leader, resigned after what she de- scribed as a “near-death ex- perience” in a dentist’s chair. “I need a new path,” she said at the time. “I need to do something and ] can’t tell you what it is and [ cannot explain the spiritual connection.” Sharon Southerland, a poli- tical scientist who studies re- signations, says such sudden _FROM THE CAPITAL HUBERT BEYER departures should nat surprise us. Few other countries impose on their leaders such grueling travel schedules and electoral volatility. “We have a unfaithful electorate, compared with other democracies. The amount of turnover in Parlia- ment is much higher. They burn out from the futility of it all, 1 think. [t must be quite discouraging.” Having observed politicians at close range for nearly 40 years, I know the toll politics takes on its practitioners. With exceptions [ can count in one hand, politicians I have known, and they count in the hundreds, get into poli- tics for one reason — idealism, They believe they have some- thing to offer their fellow Ca- nadians. Many have done well in life and want to repay the community for some of the good fortune bestowed on them. And how do we repay them? With contempt. With derision. “Politicians are all the same, They're all crooks. They’re in for themselves.” So goes what Leonard Cohen called Johnnie Walker wis- dom. Well, the vast majority of politicians I have known were not crooks, they weren’t in it for themselves. They served their town, their province, their country with distinction. They burned themselves out with 60- and 70-hour jwork weeks, more ™ often thar not trying 'lé control!” events beyond their control. Let me just single out one of the finest politicians and human beings I have had the privilege of knowing. His name was Emery Barnes. Emery or Big Em, as his friends called him, represented the most noble in the pursuit of politics. He approached every political decision the same way - with his heart. If it soun- ded just to Big Em, he would go to the wall for a cause or an individual. But then, Emery knew what poverty as like. And he had ex- perienced, first-hand, the ugly face of racism and bigotry. Emery was black and born in the U.S, And being a good foot- ball player didn’t protect him. When he played for the Green Bay Packers, he wasn’t allowed to stay in the same ho- tels as his white teammates, He decided to come to Ca- nada and played for the B.C. Lions before turning to politics. Emery and I occasionally talked about the contempt in which Canadians hold their elected representatives. I told him I didn’t have a clue, He didn’t have an answer either: hn ”""More'inysteriots’ still is why given the hostile attitude of Canadians towards politicians, so many good people still want the job. I know I wouldn’t touch it with a ten-foot pole, but I can at least lend a little moral sup- port to those who take all the abuse we heap on them for the dubious privilege of serving us. But then, I’m not Big Em. Wrong LET’S SAY you’re an entre- preneur. You've jumped all the government hoops, filed all the applications, paid all the licence fees, Yet one day government says “Whoa! Your licence gives you no right to do that!” and hauls you into court. You're dumbfounded. Summoned to appear, you sit in court during a recess watching your $200 per hour lawyer pace with his hands in his pockets and his eye on the clock while everyone waits for court to resume. That’s where a man who cuts shake shingles found him- self June 20 as the Crown launched its case against him for allegedly taking “culturally modified” trees ~ trees the Crown contends his cutting li- cence didn’t authorize him to take. In this test case, the Crown secks lo determine if the de- fendant was authorized to take ZEE GERMAN Buy 2Iss ARCTIC HEROES FILM! NETWORKS, won'T \ THROUGH BIFOCALS CLAUDETTE SANDECKI the trees he took, and whether the “culturally modified” cedar, when he cut it, was a “living conifer” or a dead tree. The Crown will call seven witnesses, and expects their presentation to last two days. Until a witness blew the whistle, the cedar Crown con- siders ta be “culturally mod- ified” was just another .cedar © vestéenny ZAY PLAY HOCKEY MIT CANOE. PADDLES uNT FROZEN with strips of bark missing. Cedars stripped of the bark are common hereabout where they lose their bark to wind, storras or even bear scratch- ings, In our culturally sensitive world of native land claims, however, any cedar modified through native behaviour be- fore 1846 - whether to gain bark for weaving or cedar planks for canoe building ~- a special, protected specimen. I see it as similar to finding a human bone in the bush lead- ing to claims of a cultural her- itage site. Small cut licences are Meant to remove only “logging residue”, timber left from ear- lier logging, or blown-down, damaged by flood, fire or bee- tles, or too small a supply to interest major logging compa- nies. These residue blocks, while . they provide jobs to the area, are of. little financial value to ow 2Ay ARE FLAKES MIT vido TONGUE! 7] zAYARE Nor CATCHING SNOW i tree lands you in court the Forest Service. Each licensee is briefed on the rules governing smali cut blacks. It appears this case will hinge on how difficult it is to identify a culturally modified tree in the bush, and whose job that is, Like all small timber sales licensees, this shake-maker has at least one year’s logging ex- perience and paid his $250 li- cence fee for the right to bid on small timber sales over two years. For this four or five-day trial to be shoeherned into a Youth Court day is bizarre. When J] left court al 11:30 lawyers were talking of the case being post- poned to September, the ear- liest day open to all partici- pants. If, as [ suspect, the Crawn is trying to establish the dollar value- of culturally modified trees, government should pay the defendant’s court costs: .