Trade office? Premier likes. city’ Ss proposed plan for Asia-Pacific office here | \NEWS A111 y Guerrilla comedy Six young men are bringing their unique humour to a TV near you \COMMUNITY Bi Proud putter. Local golfer scores herself success at inaugural tournament \SPORTS B4_ $1.00: PLUS 6¢ cst "61 40 plus 7¢ GST : outside of the Terrace area) VOL. 19 NO. 14 Proposed bul - By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN LOCAL business people are excited about the prospect:of developing a break bulk Port facility in Kitimat, because it could “mean economic spin-offs in Terrace. . ' Last week Premier, Gordon ‘Campbell : was in Kitimat to announce a provincial ~ contribution of $200,000 to help pay for , a $774,000 study on the benefits of devel- oping a break bulk port in Kitimat. A break bulk port would be responsi- ble for transporting large items that can’t be accommodated in shipping containers . via the Prince Rupert container port. ‘That includes items such as lumber, “T think this is an especially impor- . tant announcement for Terrace because it --ers joined officials from the Regional © clearly makes us the gateway te the Port _ of Kitimat and Prince Rupert in the mon-. -vement of. anything whether: it. goes in - containers or-not,” says Roger Harris, the | interim executive director of the newly formed Kitimaat Port Development Soci- . ety, which will lead the study. The society is made up of members of © ~ the Haisla Nation, Alcan Inc. and mem-: _bers of the K.T. Industrial Development a Society and it has already been research- » ing the proposal for some time and there is already significant interest from major “ corporations. : Executives ' from companiés such as ; TERRACE www.terracesta nda rd.c com po tto benefit Terr ace est’ a ‘management and _ongonizational. bridge, Encana, Greer Shipping and oth- District of Kitimat-Stikine, the City: of Terrace and members of the Haisla.and other. aboriginal g groups for the announce: . . “ment. = > ¢ “ “This isn’t a case ‘of them coming t to us and saying with our brains and your _ money we.can make beautiful music to- gether,” said Premier Gordon Campbell, adding the présence of dozens. of senior. executives shows there i is serious interest from the private'sector in seeing such a facility come to fruition. ‘“We had 45: people who don’ t live here. telling us this is a great place to in- “vest,” Harris says. “I think now what you . perspective, ‘Terrace 4 ‘is the place where trains will come in and part of the prod- uct will end up in: ‘Kitimat and part of the product will go to Prince Rupert.” Campbell says. the development ofa | break bulk port in ‘Kitimat: is ‘not just a: regional or even provincial initiative, but ‘one that affects how and where compa- * nies across the country Will ship large | "items to the Asian market. “This partnership is a major partner- ship to meet Canada’s needs here,” he- said, adding it could make Kitimat an- — other gateway to the Pacific Rim. The study will examine potential mar- kets and customers for: shipping, estab- lish a business case, look at potential site : structure. ‘Research on. the project has been go- ing on for’ months _and- “last, week’s an-- “nouncement demonstrates a will to move’ . . ’ forward.on ‘a plan that has the potential © to create jobs and establish Terrace. as something of an inland-port to feed the =: two port cities of Kitimat and Prince Ru- oa pert. ‘ That builds on the ity of Terrace’ Ss" desire to develop the airport lands for in- dustrial use. -. Developing the port: would: also. dove tail‘into creating other industry in the area, industries such as ‘wood pellet pro- . duction. - Gt Wednesday, July 12, 2006 .pulp and paper, wood pellets, steel, auto- mobiles and other bulk products. a CN, Washington Marine Group, En- are going to see from a shipper and CN’s. . TERRACE forest firefighters (left to right) Mike Talstra Philippe Grant and Adrian Griffith are on half-hour alert, with a helicopter at hand, in’ case a fire starts | in the area. The rest of their crew is helping fight fires in: other areas of the province. “SARAH ARTIS PHOTO Local forest fire crews on alert ; .. By SARAH ARTIS THERE may not be any fires raging in Terrace ~ right now, but local forest fire crews are on. standby as the fire risk in the area remains high. A ‘three-person initial attack group : and a he- licopter are on half-hour alert, meaning ready to _leave within 30 minutes of getting acall, in case a fire starts; says a forest service spokesperson. “Even though it’s cloudy and feels a bit chilly, . it’s still really windy and dry,” said fire protec-- tion officer Steve Westby who is based in Terrace. “We still haven’t had enough rainfall to make any significant difference.” The city’s 20-person unit crew was sent to help | out about 150 kilometres west of Quesnel July 6. A cluster of fires are burning there, said Cari- boo fire information officer Kim Steinbart, and ‘the Terrace team. is helping 25 other firefighters. with the largest one, which is estimated t6 be about 12,000 ha. — . . ‘That fire started July 3 and was caused. by lightning. It’s been quite volatile, Steinbart said, but the firefighters are making good progress, helped by recent rain and cooler weather i in the ‘ past week, .. Terrace’s second. three-person attack group _ was deployed to Houston July 1 in anticipation of fires starting in that area, But if a fire starts locally, everyone will come me. ~ back, Westby said. | “Firefighters are typically deployed for two” weeks,” he said. “They are allowed to work for 14 days on the fireline, up to a maximum of 19 days away | from base.” B. C. has already had more. fires this year than: all of last year and in the past two weeks, it has: been the most active Province: in terms of fires - burning. Already a total of 1 010 wildfires have burned 100,479: ha this year and 412 fires are currently. |. burning, said Northwest. fire information officer _ Karina Thygesen. “ This is due to little rain, a a dry spring and alow snowpack with little water run-off, she said, add- ing resources across the country are stretched be- .. cause of the number of. fires burning from B.C. - _east to Ontario. Areas with the most activity at the moment’ - _ are Quesnel, Williams lake and: Kamloops, she! _ added, The B. Cc Forest Service has banned all T open fire burning i in B.C. Egg farm crackdown heats up» By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN AGRICULTURE minister Pat Bell says he’s engaging the environment ministry in an effort to compel a local egg laying operation to comply with orders made by a provincial board last year. Bell was in Terrace last week and says envi- ronment ministry officials have launched an in- vestigation into possible environmental infrac- tions at Daybreak Farms located on the Bench in . Terrace. At the heart of the i issue are a number of orders ‘made by a provincial board called the Farm In-. dustry Review Board (FIRB) after hearings were held in the fall of 2004 addressing nuisance com- plaints about the farm made by neighbours.. Area residents allege excessive flies in their neighbourhood stem from the farm, but farm manager Ron Floritto is adamant his fly manage- ment program is more than adequate and refused ~ - to follow the board’s orders. Among others, those orders include replacing the floor in one of the farm’s barns and filling in lagoons. on the property. “Tt is a unique situation in that our experience . in the past has been that when FIRB comes down with a ruling there is compliance,” ter Bell. “The operator appears to have snubbed, “ FIRB.” “From my perspective, the time of volunteer compliance has come and gone.” Farmers are protected by an act called the Farm Practices Protection Act, which was designed to protect farms from frivolous lawsuits. Now that Daybreak has not complied with the order handed down by FIRB, it is no longer protected by that act leaving it open to civil litigation. But the act has no other enforcement measires 7 built into it, so Bell has called in the environment ministry to help while his own staff examine the . possibility of adding enforcement provisions to the existing legislation. ' Officials from the ministries of environment: aa and agriculture were tured away from the farm last week when they made a surprise visit. Bell would not say how the environment min- says, Minis- _-istry’s investigation will continue, but said action: oo ‘is expected to be.swift. eo Farm manager Ron Floritto says he: does not want to talk about the issue anymore and the com- » pany’s owner also refused comment. __ Area residents are at the end of their rope when — ‘it comes to'dealing with the excessive flies. Jason and Brandy Pike live adjacent to the farm and are hopeful action will be taken soon. “]T have two or three hundred flies in my car- port ~.I’m just so mad right now and there’s just ‘ nothing I can do. It’s so- frustrating,” says Pike, ‘Who collected roughly 300 flies in less than six hours on four pieces.of fly paper last week.» “Area tesidents § say: the lack of legislative: teeth... demonstrates a major pitfall in thé Fatm Practices © Protection Act and say it’s time the provincial government step up to the plate and compel the farm to comply with the order. _ “Why can’ this guy do what he’s doing : and. get. away with it just because he’s a farmer? He’s not following the rules,” says Pike. “At the very least he can run his facility properly.” locations and engineering needs and sug- Province in. talks , toelectrify | Hwy 37 North “By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN - “JASON. PIKE. ives. near Daybre vinced it is the root of the fly problem in his neighbour- - Cont'd Page A2 THE “PROVINCIAL | government. and» two’ companies ’ looking. to ‘develop mines north of here ‘are: negotiating a potential cost-sharing agreement ‘to cover. the expense of running a hydro electricity line up Hwy 37 past Meziadin | junction, a major hurdle which must be cleared in order. for _ mine development to happen i in that area. — , ‘‘Companies such as bceMetals and Nova’ Gold Resources are trying to figure out with the provincial government ‘what -acost sharing agreement on the roughly $200 million project will look like... “4 The in-depth, negotiations. have been ongoing for about a month, said mines minister Bill Bennett during a Stop _ through Terrace last week. ’ “It’s a question of negotiation, w we would’ like them to pay " as much as they can justify,” Bennett said. “Wé want these © companies to be successful...it certainly looks like these companies: are prepared to talk to us about these contribu- tions, so that is,a very good sign.” There is ‘a sense of urgency to get the: deal worked out _ because commodity prices right now are high and there is a on willingness: on behalf of industry. and government to make ‘the investment. “ : “We have a First Nation, i in the Tahitan looking for an. * opportunity,” Bennett continues. “We. need to strike: while * : _ the i iron is hot.” Pe oe "Cont'd Page A2 "Adventure Sport. series a Success. . SEVEN people emerged victorious from the fifth : ~ annual Terrace Standard Adventure Challenge. The region’s only outdoor adventure ‘sport series drew dozens of competitors over the sweltering Cana- _ da Day long weekend. The event challenges competi- — tors to take on five outdoor sports including mountain -: - biking, mountain trail running, open water swimming’. and rock climbing, over the course of just three days. : : Twelve-year-old ° ‘Sheldon. Smaha .walked away - from this year’s series. with his third straight champi- onship in the youth (12 and under) division. The men’s division title went’ to’ Matthias Muller . who tumed.17 just days before the event, forcing him * to compete in the men’s division rather than the j junior division for boys 13-16 yearsold. ; _ _ Cont'd d Page A A14 hood. He caught these flies at his home over the span of just six hours last week. SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN PHOTO