The regional development in-.
itiative was introduced by
Premier Bill Vander Zalm in
October, 1987. According to
Vander Zalm, the initiative dem-
onstrated the government’s
commitment towards building a
strong, diversified economy that
would provide increased oppor-
tunity to all regions of the prov-
ince. Some quarters criticized
the proposal... some slam-
dunked it. The NDP described
the eight development regions as
“principalities” whose royalty
‘(Ministers of State) had seem-
ingly unlimited powers. |

by Tod Strachan

_ When first introduced, the
North Coast Regional Advisory
Group, one of eight in the pro-
vince, consisted of something

like 70 individuals. Six separate-

committees or task forces were
formed to ‘investigate various
aspects of the region and report

periodically to the group. Last:

July, Skeena MLA Dave Parker
was replaced with a southern
Vancouver Island MLA, Terry
Huberts as Minister of State for
the Northcoast Region. This, it
was said, would enhance the in-
itiative.

Huberts reduced the task
force liason group from 70 peo-
ple to 10 for greater efficiency.

The task forces would recom-
mend to the advisory group;::

who would recommend to Hu-
berts, who would recommend to
the Minister of Regional and
Economic Development, who
would recommend to Cabinet,
who would tell the minister
responsible for the particular
topic at hand what to do.

Last November, the initiative
was changed again. In a Cabinet
shuffle Vancouver Island MLA
Stan Hagen was moved from
Advanced Education and Job
Training to the Ministry of
Regional and Economic
Development, and the position
was given greater responsibility.
He would be assisted by a
Regional Development Board of
which he was to be the chair-
man. Named to the board were
MLAs Jack Weisgerber, Harry
De Jong, Larry Chalmers, Dan
Peterson, Howard Dirks, Dave
Parker and Bruce Strachan.
Parker was given the job of
. spearheading projects of top
priority to northern develop:
ment. The task forces now
recommend to a Regional Ad-
visory Council, who recom-
mends to the Regional Develop-
ment Board, who recommends
to Cabinet, who tells the
minister responsible for the par-
ticular topic at hand what to do.

When the regional initiative
was announced two years ago, al
least some board members of the
Regional District of Kitimat-
Stikine tried to explain to the
Vander Zalm government that
they had been filling the
economic development role for

years. They had file drawers full -

of studies to prove it, they said.
For better or worse, though, the
regional intiative has plodded
ahead, for the most part behind
closed doors, and there are now
six or more task forces probing
the inner workings of our
region. Mining, forestry, ports,
fisheries and aquaculture, native

‘drug abuse

affairs, tourism, transportation,
adult education and training
head the list of topics. Following
is a brief summary of their work

‘to date.

Forestry
Heading the discussion at the

November Forestry Task Force

meeting was the Cabinet shuffle
and what it meant to Region 6
(Northcoast) task forces. It was

decided the new arrangement of- .

fered a more centralized ad-
ministration unit and the
meeting turned to talk on clear-
cutting, herbicide use, slash bur-
ning, silviculture, reforestation,
wildlife habitat, value-added
products and range land. It.was
decided our strengths lie in our
port potential, rail links, labor
force and product development.
Our weaknesses were listed as
transportation costs, weather,
overmature timber supply, lack
of investors and Native land
claims. If even one of these
weaknesses could be overcome it
would be a great benefit to all,
but, like controlling the weather,
there are some things mankind
may never achieve- The meeting
closed with a decision to make a
list of. regional priorities and
there’s even a hint of public
hearings on forestry-related
issues,

Fisheries and Aquaculture

The Fisheries and Aqua- £8 ~ Tourism

cultiire Task Force met last a
month-to talk about the age old *

‘AB' line problem with Alaska.
There was also a proposal for an
aquaculture study of the north
coast region funded 60 percent
by the Ministry of Regional and
Economic Development and 40
percent by the Ministry of
Agriculture and Fisheries. The
Regional Advisory Council has
recommended $60,000 as the

regional and economic develop-

ment share. This study, though,
may be too late for many B.C.
entrepreneurs. Also discussed
was the fact that many major
aquaculture ventures have
already fallen into receivership
and the problem for the 90’s will
be to protect Canadian interests
when foreign investors decide to
buy up the remains. Another
problem facing the aquaculture
industry is the use of drugs, It
seems there are no controls on
the use of antibiotics and other
substances such as steroids and
could further
damage the industry. Problems
facing the fishing industry are
the offshore driftnet fishery and
a lack of adequate marine repair
facilities on the B.C. coast.

Native affairs

‘The Native Affairs Task force
has decided that the province
must ‘“‘come on board’? land
claims negotiations if there is to
be any chance of success. We
must begin creating the perspec-
tive of ‘‘we’’ the people, recon-
ciling ourselves to being one
people rather than Native and
non-Native, states a report of
their last mecting. To begin this
process, the task force plans to
kick off an awareness campaign
next month leading to a ‘‘Sum-
mit Meeting’? with Minister of
Native Affairs Jack Weisgerber,
the Regional Advisory Council
and all Native bands and tribal
councils in the area. The sug-

Terrace Review — Wednesday, January 10, 1990 A7

- Task forces regroup, rumble onward

gested meeting place is R.E.M.
Lee Theatre, and included on
the agenda could bean All Native

Cultural Festival. The task force |
-has requested $15,000 to put the

meeting and festival together.

The ¢ Toprism Task Force has
Set itself ldfg-term goals of in-
creasing théyolume of tourists,
the amount. of money they
spend, their, length of stay,
marketing of the area and
educating both the local public
and service sector to help. They
plan to. start the process by
determining the benefit of the
industry to the area and to pro-
mote awareness and apprecia-
tion for tourists. This will be
followed by an inventory of ex-
isting assets and liabilities such
as attractions, access, land
claims, resource management
and marketing. Rather than hir-
ing a consultant, the task force
will be seeking input from the
North by Northwest Tourism
Association and other simlilar
groups as well as holding a series
of public meetings.

Transportation

The Transportation Planning
Task Force have listed some of
the more important issues such as
Bob Quinn airstrip, the Nass
road, Hwy. 37 north, the
Hagwilget Bridge, completion of
the Shames Mountain road, the
Iskut Valley road and level
crossings at Carnaby, Dumont
and Esker. This task force also
plans to meet with the federal
Ministry of Transport to discuss
upgrading plans for the Ter-
race/Kitimat Airport, discuss at
some point an access route from
Stewart to Alaska, look at the
present ports policy, and talk to
the government about the ship-
ment of dangerous goods to the
Queen Charlottes via the B.C.
ferry system.

Adult education

Finally, the Adult Education
and Training Task Force has
decided that a detailed assess-
ment of the state of affairs and
deficiencies of post-secondary
education and training in the

region requires research beyond
the scope of their resources. For
this reason, they have asked the
Regional Advisory Concil to
come up with some funding to
have such a study done before
next fall. While the task force
recognizes that Northwest Com-
munity College provides
‘‘substantial’’ post-secondary
programs, they list at the same
time a number of concerns, the
primary one being that the col-
lege, high schools. Canada Em-
ployment Cent. Skeena La-
bour Managemc*. ‘tevelopment
Committee, ind... al employ-
ers and social a: ies attempt
to establish need, -ccure funding
and design progr-ins in relative
isolation. Challe: .= to be faced
by amore coops: ‘ve approach
are the low base cication level
in the region, the s:owing com-
plexity of job skit] requirements
and education : prerequisites,
and the unavailability of higher
education an: professional
training in the region.

The job of the Regional Ad-
visory Council is to take the fin-
dings and recommendations of
these task forces and pass them
on to Victoria. Some.of their
conclusions to date are that the
settlement of the land claims

issue is necessary if the mining,
forestry and tourism industries
are to prosper; settlement of the
AB Line issue is necessary to
protect Canadian sovereignty;
and the Canadian Port Authori-
ty has too much autonomy
within municipalities. This latter
situation, they: say, resticts
private development because the

Port Authority gets first option

on any property. They plan to
take their examination on this
issue a little farther.

They have also set six regional
and economic development
priorities: The establishment of
a coastal ferry system, land
claims settlement, the develop-
ment of a value-added sector in
the fishing, forestry and mining
industries, the development of

transportation routes to mining

areas, the creation of a
*‘Tourism Network”? to make
Region 6 a tourist destination,
and to attract more people to the
area. In order to attract more
people, the council says, Region
9 should become a special
econimic development zone with
appropriate tax advantages. Bet-
ter cultural opportunities have
to be developed and _ better
health care, educational and
recreational facilities need to be
built. m

Letter io the Editor

Transition House thanks

An open letter to the
community of Terrace;

I would like to take this op-
portunity on behalf of the Ter-
race Transition House staff,
residents and children to express
our appreciation to the groups
and individuals in our communi-
ty that helped us over the Christ-
mas period. ,

Special thanks go to Juanita
Hatton and the Golden Rule for
‘food paks” and other food
donations, Salvation Army Cap-
tain J. Harker who brought over

many gifts for women and chil-
dren, Telecommunications
Workers’ Union Local 33 for
$50, the Lacics’ Auxiliary of the
Legion for their donation of
$100, and the many others, too
many to mention.

Once again we thank you for
your support and thoughtful-
ness.

Leslie McCauley,
Program Coordinator/
Administrator Terrace

Transition House.