3

is hiring an outside

contractor to administer the.

Telegraph Creek Tahltan

‘band’s education and social
mS services affairs. :
_That’s ‘because a contin-

- ued occupation of the band’s °

offices in the village north of

here have made it impos-
sible for the band to conduct

business. a
The occupation, primar-
ily by a group of Tahitan el-

.. ders who believe band chief

councillor Jerry Asp is in a

_ conflict: of interest between

his band work and a position
with a development compa-

“ny, has been: going on since
mid-January.

The group is upset ‘over
Asp’s executive role. with

the Tahltan Nation Devel-

-” From front. ne ee
“Stewart C Omineca Resource
Road study under way

“The ministry is. now in

. the process of completing

7 digitized: maps. The infor-

mation collected will enable
the .ministry to refine cost
estimates and. support plan-
ning, preliminary design, en-

"gineering and environmental

'. assessment work,
Official Jeff Knight said last:

” ministry

week. -
Northgate. now : tracks

processed ore from its Ke-
‘mess South mine ‘east to
, Mackenzie where. it is S put on.
_ rail cars. ;
_— But ‘a ‘route connecting _
to. Hwy37 would: make for

a shorter, hauling and more
convenient hauling route to
the port at Stewart.

It would also make

coming

By DUSTIN QUEZADA |

TWO DRAINS at the back

‘ of Skeena Junior Secondary

School that have overflowed
with heavy rains ever since

the school opened in 2003 ©

are about to be fixed.
“While the drier summer

conditions have meant a re-_
. lief for the drains, the school

district’s director of facility

__.services says it’s time to ad-
~ dress the problem.

“We’re going to do this
before the rains come,” said
Chuck Morris. of School
District 82.

Morris said the two prob-
lem drains have been identi-
fied and that the district has
contracted Wiebe Contract-
ing. Wade Wiebe said the
two existing wells are too

’ shallow.

. “We'll” use deep soak-

| aways — dry wells that elimi-

nate water into the ground, .”
said Wiebe.

He said 12-foot holes
would be excavated next
to the existing drains into
which three-foot wide per-

forated culverts. would be —

inserted.

“The water goes through
(the culverts) and into the
surrounding gravel,”
Wiebe. “It’s not tied to the
storm system. It’s the poor
man’s drain,” added Wiebe.

The district could have -

opted to tie the drainage
into the.storm system at a
greater cost, but Wiebe said
the solution it has chosen is

very effective. Work begins .

sometime this week.

From front

El rates

*“T know those new min-

ing jobs aren’t in Vancouver —

and a good chunk of those
primary industry jobs are
mining ones,” he said. —

In B.C. overall the unem-
ployment rate was six per

- cent, up slightly from 5.9 per

cent in July but down from
August 2004’s rate of 7.4
per cent.

said -

— A2- The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, September 14, 2005

_ Turmoil continues to plague
~ northern T ahitan groups

-THEFEDERAL government

‘opment Corporation and its”
business arrangements with
several resource companies
exploring Tahltan territory

for. gold, coal and coalbed

methane natural gas.
Asp has since left his job
as president of the corpora-

_ tion but the occupation con-

tinues.

'“The chief -made_ that
request to us Aug. 9,” says
federal Indian and Northern

‘Affairs official Lisa Barrett.

“Our regional audit review
committee then agreed that
it was the best way to go un-
less this issue is resolved.”
Barrett said band em-
ployees cannot work in the
conditions that exist because
of the occupation. _
The. third-party adminis-
tration could last until next

Northgate’ S plan to develop .

its Kemess North gold and
copper property. that much
more viable.

Provincial officials -esti-
mate the work will cost $40
million but Premier Gordon

Campbell, who announced |

the road study during the
May provincial election,

Said it will likely cost more. ”
Northwestern ° municipal ,
governments have long. lob- «
‘bied for the road, Saying ‘it.
would open up the way, for

‘June when band council
elections are scheduled to be
held, she added.

There was some dis-
cussion about moving the
band’s affairs to another lo-
cation in Telegraph Creek,

but there was no guarantee.

that an occupation wouldn’t

take place in the new quar-—

ters, Barrett said. The third-
party contractor will do the

- paperwork and issue checks

to band members or on be-
half of band members who

are on.education courses or

who receive various levels
of social services.

Having a third party i in-
volved with the Telegraph

Creek band is the latest in a
_ Series of events embroiling |

the Tahltan over the scope

and pace of resource devel-

&

work on other ‘promising
mineral properties, lead to

more logging and spur tour-

ism development.

Others also say the road,
when joined to the one from
the Kemess property leading
to Mackenzie, would create

another east-west connector _
_ gineering work will be fin-

comparable to Hwyl6.

_ While the engineering
study i is underway, the pro-
yincial government must
also grapple with how to fi-.

. nance construction.

opment on their traditional
territory. A blockade pre-

venting resource companies.

from moving into the Klap-
pan area where there are de-
_posits of anthracite coal and
potential for coalbed’ meth-
ane natural gas has been in
place since mid-July.

Last week, Ontario-based
Fortune Minerals was grant-
ed a B.C. Supreme Court in-
, Junction to lift the blockade.

The blockade is manned

“,by people allied: with the
occupiers of the Telegraph.

Creek office.
The second ' Tahltan
band which is located at Is-

kut south of Dease Lake on -

_ Hwy37, has now postponed
its elections for chief coun-
cillor because of the overall
disputes concerning resource

Provincial
mines . minister - Richard
Neufeld is already on the re-
cord as saying it should be a

government-only enterprise.

That lays out the possi-

“bility of resource companies

paying to use it.
Knight anticipates the en-

ished by late next year.

Northgate has already. *
_ Said it can’t afford to shoul-
der the entire cost of the .
‘Toad. 2

energy and ;

:Ge

development.

Chief Louis Louie’s cur-
rent five-year term is up -
the end of this week but an
election won’t be held until
sometime next month.

“It’s the ‘mining compa-.
nies, the road blockade, ev-
erything,” he said of the de-
cision to delay the election.

' Louie, who has visited ~
the blockade, said he neither
supports nor opposes it.

“T just told them that it is
keeping people from work-
ing, Tahitan and everybody."
he said.

www. shawkair.ca

Call your local travel agent

SocksHo Hop Dance

Friday, September 16"
“ from 9: 00 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.

- ROYAL CANADIAN LEGION:
” BRANCH 13 TERRACE »

—50’s Band featuring »

Johnny Campbell and Friends

Prizes for best costume and for
Hoola Hoop...Limbo....
Jive...and spot dances!

D Max - Min

A Temp Temp.
yY °C °C.

2. 14.4 9.0
3. 16.5 8.8.
4 162° 8.4
§ °19.0 92
6 135 9.9
7.14.7 11.7
8 14.9 8.5

Total

Precip ie

mm
2.4
0.8
“0.0
0.0
4.0
2.2
44

D- Max-

20.1
18.5
15.7
16.2
17.2
13.2
10.6

mm
96 0.0
125° 15
11.7 8.0
8.8 0.4
106 0.2
8.6. 12.2
6.7 11.3

Min: - pata

LELLELEBALLEDLRERERERARELER RARER REBEL ELE TS

_Alertness/Distraction .

Long days of travel can cause fatigue
and drowsiness. Take frequent breaks to
stretch and rest to remain alert and safe.
The use of cell phones can cause a
\ significant lack of attention to. the
iW highway when used while driving.
Please pull over and complete your
4’ communications, or to deal with other
¥ distractions before. resuming driving.

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