The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 24, 1993 - Page A& Into the sunset . Comments poured in last week as veteran “NDP MP Jim Fulton an- nounced he would not seek re-election. He was praised by caol- leagues and co- workers past and pres- ent for his work in Ot- tawa and for his work j in the riding. MP Jim Fulton draws p for his ability to do tough job — reppdce:- Skeena NDP Jim Fullon was called a man of prin- ciple and an able representative following last -week’s announce- ment “he won't run again for Par- Hamient: _ First. elecled in 1979 and _Tetumed in 1980, 1984 and 1988, ~ Fulton: said he ‘wanted to spend _more time with his wife and iwo children.. -Théannouncement came as a surprise ‘for just a month ago, . Fulton iridicated he would run for ~afifth terms. .- ~ Federal, NDP leader Audrey McLaughlin’ said Fulton will be hard to replace. “Jim, is certainly one of rf me midi’ directive! MPs" Front” ahiy. _ party "His' ‘Knowledg¢ ‘and: com mitment: to ‘the’ environment will . be'filissed,’” she said. oS ¥et™ McLaughlin understood > that;years of politics can take its ~ toll on family life. =} know. Jim and his family -agonized over the decision. He had such a commitment to the riding, He flung his heart and soul into it,’’ she said. Co-workers and former col- leagues pointed to Fulton’s in- crease in the popular vote at each election as evidence of his caper bility. “He demonstrated to people you can have a backbone in politics and still win,’’ said Gerry Scott, manager of Fulton’s firt three election campaigns and who now works for the provincial government. | “In a very personal way he _ demonstrated principles to people who are increasingly cynical about politicians that backbone critic on the environment, energy, forestry, constitution, mining, small business and aboriginal af- fairs during his years in office. Now 43 years old, Fulton was a probation officer living on the called Fulton unique. “*We improved every election,’’ said Randle. “There were Con- servatives, Liberals, the Christian Heritage Party and Independents. It didn’t matter.”’ “The Skeena riding is a tough one to represent. Asa lead- ing advocate for environmental quality in a riding that depends heavily on natural resource jobs, he showed you can take principled stands.’ Queen Charlotte Islands before defeating Liberal cabinet minister Iona Campagnolo in 1979. docs pay off,”” Scoitadded.vigeur ts til} has been the mast difficult ~The. ‘Skeena: iiding. is a tough’ one to. represent, Asa leading ad- vocate for ‘cavironmental quality in a riding that depends heavily on natural resource jobs, he showed you can take principled stands,’’ said Scott. ‘He avoided playing off one group agains! another.”’ Fulion acted as federal NDP ‘Huggy bear’ SOU rce for much colour TERRACE — He’s had a tire - blow. outon a jet upon landing. 2 And he once hid from roaming gunmen ina bath house in Cen- - tral, America. “Bui, most of alt Skeena NDP «Fallon is: known for his “colourful quotes, verbal ex- ews, | +) Rullon generated headlines in -1985,when he ‘smuggled in and °-then:.flung: a:dead salmon on rime Minister Brian Mulroney’s use of Commons, _ The. fish was, frozen and flown “Gn from northem B.C. It was used -by:Fulton to protest the federal “povemimient’s refusal’ to ‘release 1¢'Babine River. - Mulroney \was- absent ‘that day S changes. and ability to make the. esk, during question period in the — thousarids of salmon spawning in Fulton: found” himself. sur-. rounded by cameras and reporters . afterward. He got the message across. More publicity was garnered in 1987 when NDP and Liberal MPs during question period criticized Mulroney and the government for giving a grant to the owners of the West Edmonton Mall. Fulton was one of several MBPs to jumpin when Mulroney said their criticism meant they were - opposed to the interests of West- ern Canada. “You're scum, You're lying scum,’” responded Fulton to Mul- roney’s statements. , .The spring 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska caused the MP to worry about its effects on wild- life and marine animals. . "Ivll-be a bird Auschwitz,” said Fulton. And just last fall, during a pub- sdecision' of Thy life to step away from Parliament,’’ said. Fulton in a press release last week. ‘“The northwest faces. many difficult choices in the. years ahead and I will do everything possible to help when I can.’’ Norma Randle, who worked for Fulton from 1979 to 1989 and now lives on Vancouver Island, Among ~ those defeated by Fulton over the years ate current Terrace mayor Jack Talstra who rains A Liberals past’ Port Edward ©: raise 2 fone” -: Pounkhouse, recreation facility - and cookhouse. -More like a : large motel than a “small . city.” NDP MP Brian Gardiner. said Fulton’s colourful manner always contained a message. | ‘*He’s a burr. under. ihe saddle of the government when it comes to the environment. He keeps them honest. He made a real con- tribution,’ said Gardiner who worked for Fulton in the carly 1980s. , **And he’s an excellent riding representative. ] learned some of the tricks of the trade from Jim Fulton,” Gardiner. added. Fulton has spent enough time in Parliament to earn a pension, It'll amount to more than $2.4 million by the time he’s 75 and assuming ‘there’s a five’ per cent annual in- mayor Al: Shepherd who" Tan as a’! flation rate." s an Progressive Conservative and Gitanyow chief councillor Elmer Derrick who ran as a Liberal. **T think he'll be sorely missed. He had a good handle on all sec- tors of the riding and that riding is huge and very diverse,’ she said. , Prince George-Bulklcy Valley : Born. in 1950 in Vancouver, Fulton grew up in that city and on the Queen Charlotte Istands. Fulton’s family comes from the Maritimes. His “paternal great grandfather was premier of Prince Edward Island and his maternal great grandfather was premier of New Brunswick. GOING AWAY party in Apt 1989 for long time aim Elton workers Norma and Croft Randle drew a farge crowd to the carpenters hall. Norma was Fulton’s constituency representative in Terrace be- tween 1979 and 1989 while Croft was involved in the party’s riding work. On the far left is their son, Brooks. The family now lives on Vancouver Island. lic meeting in Terrace on the pro- posed constitutional changes, Fulton took on those who said na- tives receive extra benefits. “People think there’s some kind of 24-hour boog-a-rama _going on in their communities. Free cash, free houses, free cars — that they’re having a whale of & time down there. It just ain’t s0,’’ he said, Former constituency assistant Norma Randle described the. MP as a ‘big huggy bear.’’ “He was a hands on kind of a guy. He could walk into a room and light it up,’’ she said, Former campaign manager Gerry Scott remembered a time in the Hazeltons when Fulton was going door to door. **He knocked on a door and they sat him down for quile a dis- cussion,’’ said Scott. “A big dog had also wandered in and at one point, the dog geis up and pees on the carpel. No- body said anything.”’ **When Jim got up to leave, the people said, ‘Mr. Fullon, aren’t you going to take your dog with you?’ And Jim said, ‘I thought it was your dog.’ ’’ -“[iceten and: Endako mines in IBC _| Craggy is its ore grade. At 1.4 [five times that of most B.C. {copper mines and is’ thereby 4 Tk TO THE TERRACE STANDARD “a Jproven. copper ore bodies in "<< fithe world. - “| built -in -the - wilderness,. nat ] the wilderness from poachers. Mining defence Dear Sir: Hubert Beyer’s Feb 3, 1993 column about the proposed Tatshenshini mine seems to be viclimized by a lack of per- spective and some wrong facts. To begin with, he describes the Windy Craggy project, pro- poscd by Geddes Resources, as “a mine of massive propor- tions. ”’ Others have described it as ‘one of the largest copper mines in the world.”’ Neither is accurate. — Al a_ milling. capacity of 20,000 to 30,000 tonnes a day, it would be about the same size as the existing Gibraltar, Prin- “What does distinguish Windy percent copper, it is three to one of the: best dozen or so As to-a ‘small city”? being truc.. This being a fly-in, fly- out operations, here would be lage — building —- "“‘Roads?’’, plural? There will be one single-lane, private road from the Haines. Highway lo ‘the site. We don’t want to open the road to the public be- cause we, loo, want to protect Traffic would consist of four supply trucks per day during operations. The concenitrale would move out in a six-inch pipeline: buried in. the shoulder of the road. Beyer quotes: Mark Hume’ 8 book. at length on the Tat- shenshini, and-I expect what he says about the river, ihe eagle, fish and bears.is accurate. He describes in glowing terms the. confluence of the Alsck and Tatshenshint Rivers:"But' thal “ area:is' about'75: skilometres| oF: 45 miles from the mine, down: Tats Creek and west along the Tatshenshini River. . The mine will not affect the scencry, the bears, the glaciers, the mountains or anything else in lhe picture painted by- Hume. Why? Because if this . mine is going to have sig- nificant effect on the environ- ment, it won’t be able to get permits to operate. In fairness, Beyer mentions the direct economic benefits. However, the bencfits from in- direct employment through suppliers and so on is at least equal to those generated direct- ly. About 1,500 jobs will be cre- ated off-site by the 500 on-site jobs. Total revenues to govern- ment created by this ore body is likely to exceed $2 billion, The unfairness, however, lies in thc assumption in the minds of ifs critics thal this mine can- not be operated in an environ- mentally safe way. Geddes has spent $50 million and began the fequired approval process four years ago. Tex Enemark Vancouver, B.C. Edlitor’s notc:- Enemark, a former president of the Mining Assaciation of B.C., is an ad- visor to Geddes Resources. More on Page A7 the’ ‘Start is 5 for. people _ fedening how to read. Democratic Party spokes- man on native issues. He also spent a lot of time on the environment. Many people said they ‘will miss Fulton. They said he is a good Member of Parliament. There is no word yet on. what Fulton will do. now. The Reform party now Jim Fulton will not run again for parliament. He says he wants to. spend more. time with his family. Fulton was first elected - in’ the Skeena ; :tiding in: 1979, a He’ was re-elected in 1980, in 1984° and i in 1988. ‘Fulton “was- the. ‘New - says it is in the lead. quits Rapist sought Police are Jooking for a _man, He is suspected of as- - Saulting a 15-year-old girl , near the Sande Overpass on March 12. The assault took place around 10:30 p.m. that night. Two witnesses saw a man running along the railway iracks toward the Skeena Cellulose mill. RCMP say the man is about 25 years old. They say he is a native man and has black hair down to his shoulders. They say he is six feet and {wo inches high and weighs about 180 pounds. The police welcome any information, People can call the RCMP. at 638-0333 if they have information.