The Nisga’a took 10 cents on the dollar Not unlike SCI creditors. Dear Sir: During the wheeling and dealing attending the near demise of Skeena Cellulose recently, North- westerners were shocked and angered by the legal {yet reprehensible) manoeuvers resorted to by the provincial government and eastern money masters to defraud Skeena’s un-secured creditors of their ~~ rightful recompense. -In the end, those claimants were reduced to ac- cepting less than 10 cents on the dollar. Even MP Mike Scott felt obliged ta journey to corporate headquarters to give voice to our callec- tive dismay. (Of course, being Mikey, he arrived ei- ther a day late or a brick short, and the captains of commerce Were spared his whining.) There is a parallel here — it seems to me — with the Nisga’a treaty now wending its way through our - provincial and federal legislative labyrinths. ‘According to the Supreme Court of Canada, something called aboriginal title exists. : According lo the Constitution and the Charter of ~ . Rights and Freedoms, those rights are entrenched ‘and may only be amended or abridged by mutual : consent of the national, provincial, and First Na- “tions governments involved, - The current treaty retums to Nisga’a control less ‘than 10 per cent of their claimed traditional terti- tories, aud that rankles many Nisga’a whose lands “have in effect been expropriated to secure a lasting settlement, ‘A Few years back, an unimpeachable national ac- counting firm performed an audit on the various resources removed (i.e, confiscated) from Nisga’a ‘lands in the past dozen decades, They set the value of those resources at up to $4,500 million. Once again, when you tote up all the cash trade- offs in the treaty, you”ll find the Nisga’a settling this ‘‘reparations’’ account for less than 10 cents on the dollar. And that rankles many Nisga’a who still cling (with some apparent legitimacy) to the notion. that the Nass is theirs ‘lock, stock, and barrel’’. The fact that the Nisga’a Nation — with open and vocal dissent within their ranks — has chosen to _. Settle these outstanding accounts for fess than 10 cents on the dollar, less than 10 per cent of their ter- ritarial claim, bespeaks their recognition that, like -. the Skeena creditors before them, they're dealing with a corporate body corrupt, bankrupt, and claim- - ing limited liability protection from its creditors. Meanwhile, we the creditors continue to benefit ‘from the pilferages and peculations of our an- . cestors, ’ “Had the popular remedy for dealing with claim- jumpers in the gold-rush days been applied not just to those who jumped white men’s claims but THE CHIPPER in Skeena Cellulose's Poirier log y produce noise and continues to keep residents on the bench and The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, January 27, 1999 - AS CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD ‘The al Bag aboriginal claims as well, [ reckon there’d be darmnsight fewer of us ‘‘descendants’’ around today - to square these long overdue accounts. And those accounts really should be squared, be-' cause we can’t expect to continue supplementing our standard of living by keeping a firm and grasp- ing hand deep in Nisga’a pockets. It’s unseemly, It runs contrary to family values — unless your fam- ily is the Cosa Nostra. Soa | call on MLA Giesbrecht to vote in support of the trealy in the legislature. And I'm sure MP Mike Scott (who is broad- minded enough to hold two mutually exclusive no- tions in his mind at once and still leave enough vacant space for the Minnesota Mililia to run their patriotic manoeuvers) can find il in his bearl to stand up for another group of his constituents who have been abused by morally bankrupt, grasping avarice, and that he can find consolation in the fact that he can still keep his clutches on 90 per cent of another man’s inheritance (if that’s really his idea of a good time). . John How . Victoria B.C, Two months too long _ to wait for operation An open letter to: Larisa Tarwick, chairperson Terrace Community Health Council It has recently been brought to my attention that the cutbacks on health care funding in this area has resulted in my delay of a much needed operation, Two months waiting is too long for such an oper- ation which should be only two weeks. I want to voice my absolute displeasure at this long waiting period, This also delays my retum to ‘the workforce as my employer would like my return to work as soon as possible. I was recently a patient of both Dr. Dunfield and ‘Dr. Evans. They‘cut a portion of my colon and suc- cessfully removed a cancerous tumour. If these surgeons were not available to perform my surgery here in Terrace, I would have likely been on at least another tvo month waiting list to have this much needed operation. People like myself would be shipped off to Van- couver just to be told there is a Jong waiting period. The Terrace hospital provides services for a vast area of the northwest and Terrace is the logical cen- NR: ae ard continues to dave tral location, These two extraordinary surgeons pro- vide the much needed expertise for the growing area, and area that has become a community that welcomes the retired and elderly. Dr, Duntield and Dr. Evans have built a rapport, not only with each other as surgeons, but with the community and surrounding areas as well. Funding is much needed in this area to provide better health care for our people of the northwest, Please think long and hard about a decision that affects the welfare of so many people who are tired of long waiting lists. Imagine yourself diagnosed with a treatable but fast growing cancer. Would you want to wait to have it removed? Let’s not take a step backwards: stride only ahead to provide better and quicker health care for our people here in the northwest, Thank you for your time-and-I look forward to your reply as soon as possible, William Lamb Terrace B.C. Pot story misconstrued Dear Sir: This is in response to your front page story of Jan. 13, 1999 concerning the pot raid at Bob Erb’s residence. : I was al Erb’s house at the time of this raid. I was appalled at the RCMP and the way they ran through the home pointing guns everywhere. I had no criminal record and this was my first and only in- volvement with the RCMP. This was the main rea- son for the complaint I filed. . I was also present when Mr. Erb spoke to your reporter. Thal whole story was misconstrued by your newspaper. The purpose of the story was to report on the stay of proceedings from the court case, excessive force used in the raid and that resulting complaints had been filed with the RCMP Public Complaints Com- mmission. End of story! Although the reporter asked about other particu- lars concerning the search warrant, lyydro consump- tion etc. Mr. Erb responded that after the com- plaints commission had run its course, if any further information arose from the investigation it could be another story in the future. _ Allan Kent Terrace B.C. "Rad Ramat reste SM * eens western parts of the southside awake at night. It's operated by Don Hull and Sons Contracting Ltd. Chipper noise is unacceptable . Dear Sir: We definitely have a chipper problem in Terrace. Some claim the noise has subsided. Not true, Wait - till the wind shifts around and blows from the south again in the spring. Get my drifi? This is far beyond an annoyance. It is a health hazard for many, some people in business here are -wondering if they will be able to continue and you _ Should try and sell a home on Mountain Vista Drive. The forest industry participants claim they are irying to repair the situation. All smoke and mirrors in the form of stacked logs and hay bales, when they knew right from the manufacturer before set- up, that the de-barker in particular would be a noise problem. ' A pitiful waste of money which could have been pul lo use on at least two apparent solutions. Better machine would let town sleep Dear Sir: It’s good Huli’s chipper through SCI supplies ‘jobs, But the olher chipper was quiet. No com- plaints, because it was new and up to date — one _ ‘designed to operate quietly. ': This old piece of outdated tunnel junk was pur- chased real cheap, is banned in the United States, as they should be in B.C. But this way SCI gets a * cheaper rate for their chips. SCI, the Hulls and city council don’t care about tax payers living half a mile or three miles away. Solve the problem. Get the other quiet running chipper back. I believe it is still sitting behind Fin- ning Tractor on Keith next to Totem Ford. The Hulls won’t make as much money. But the town will be able to sicep again, Benjamin Dover Terrace, B.C. Chipper victims unite — you have nothing to lose but your earplugs Dear Sir: In response to your Jan. 20 article, please allaw me fo point out an obvious, easy solution to the late night chipper noise problem, for concerned resi- dents to consider. A long-time Terrace resident, Mr. Joseph Hill, stimmued it up in one single word: “Organize!” _*. Politicians and elected officials typically gravitate - .or cave-in in the direction of those who have ceased complaining arid slartacting. Surely the: fiasco around efforts.to eject (move) the Farmers Market teaches us this much, Farmers Market proponents gathered many signatures of support, and like magic city council backed off, It is logical to suggest that if those distressed by continuing late night noise pollution started a similar petition, city councillors nervans about losing votes in the next clection would suddenly fee] motivated to once again take constructive ac- tion. . moe . 4 Jerry Reitman - Terrace B.C, In actuality, the two old chippers used in the Poirier yard received similar complaints as carly as 1996 with their sawdust storms and noise pollution, The company and the contractor did nothing about it then, and it’s more unacceplable now than it ever was, Hey, dan’t get me wrong, we need the forest in- dustry here. It will probably be the mainstay of the area forever, but what are the trade-offs in this situation? » The company wants paticaice from Terracites and requested yet another tax deferral. It looks like the co-operation factor is pretty lop-sided and the term “Feeling chipper’’ is not the best terminology to use in dialogue these days, I guess what really capped it off was the pos- sibility of a bigger, better chipper unit soon coming to town. Tf this turns out to be true, what a final slap in the head by industry after what 1 perceive as incredible patience by the citizens of Terrace. Just because an area is zoned indusirial, gives no one the right to in- terfere with the lives of so many others. Having said this, guess what? There were five persons at the Jan. 11 council meeting to inquire about the rumour and three addressed council about their concerns. Hardly a challenging majority after all the previous whining by many individuals. This brings us back to the old adage ‘No Guts No Glory’’. If we can’t support and encourage our council and cach other in the crunch, then maybe we deserve every bump and bang (hal keeps us awake in the middle of the night. We can then take pride in explaining to the next generation how little we did to control existing and future corporate bullles who come to lown. Enjoy the New Millennium folks, it could be a noisy one: ae | . , Jim Laird Terrace B.C. Drug raid tactics a serious matter Dear Sir; It is a sad day when Jan. 13, 1999 coverage of a drug raid that took place over 16 months ago takes precedence over the fact that this community lost twa fine men who lost their lives in the line of duty making our roads a safe place for winter travel through avalanche territory, In regards to the story on the marijuana raid at Mr. Erb’s residence in August of 1997, Mr. Erb was totally misrepresented by The Terrace Stan- dard in this slory. I happened lo be one of the friends that was at the Erb residence on the day of this incident. I was at the residence cleaning Mr. Erb’s house in repay- ment for help he gave me in clearing my property. I have’ uo criminal’ record; and“ have never been charged with so much as jaywalking until this inci- deat, I was horrified and terrified when seven members of the Terrace detachment of the RCMP flew through Mr. Erb’s open front doors with loaded Weapons, some dressed as a swat team in combat gear. Unlike the Abbotsford birthday party blitz, this raid did not involve murdering the family pet, but if I had not grabbed the toy poodle the outcome would likely have been the same. This is the sole basis for each of our complaints to the RCMP Public Complainis Commission. When we each filed these complaints it was not our inten- tion to teach the police a lesson, Jt was our intention to have this matter thoroughly investigated by some governing body other than the RCMP. When RCMP enter a residence with loaded weapons drawn, aim them at the occupants heads and chests, and then run down hails aiming these weapons in children’s bedrooms in my estimation it is a serious matter and they should be held accoun- table. This is the point Mr. Erb was trying to get across. We all know accidents happen, and innocent people and dogs end up dead. An elderly 78-year-old Ter- race woman diced just this past year after being in- volved in a marijuana raid. Something is drastically wrong when au old sick woman is frightened to death. There should have to be a justifiable reason for having drawn, loaded firearms and in my estima- lion marijuana is not a justifiable reason. We are not talking heroin, crack or cocaine. We are talking marijuana, Marijuana is only a soft drug and its use is wide | spread everywhere. For us that grew up in the 60s and. 70s smoking a joint is as common as having a glass of wine or a bottle of beer. The only dif- ference is I have yet to see people become potaholics. Alcohol abuse brings with it all sorts of social problems like domestic violence and assault. ] have yet to sce pot smokers instigate brawls or beat their partner, For the most part pot smokers are ordinary, hard working taxpayers whose only vice or criminal activity is smoking pet. Yet the court system is plugged with marijuana related offences. When we have murderers on the} Joose, people’s homes: being broken, into, Maily;; pedophiles and rapists committing crimes il is beyond me why they expend so much energy on ar- resting and harassing people whose only crime in society is possession of marijuana. It’s no wonder the RCMP are experiencing finan- cial problems when they waste so much money fighting a battle that a) they’re never going to win’ and b) is so insignificant it doesn’t warrant the money they are laying out fighting it. From a financial viewpoint marijuana should be decriminalized if not legalized. Politicians seem to feel it is political suicide to fight this issue but something has to be done about our archaic laws. We should all be asking ourselves is this type of force justifiable for this type of crime. ; Jill Watson Terrace, B.C, Condition critical | for province’s miners Dear Sir: Regarding the carcinogenesis of B.C.mining ven- tures in the North, the Kemess mine is really going subterranean. Now defaulting and not able to pay principal-or interest ou its heavy loans, delaying all payments until after mid-Feb’99. Analysts fee] that Royal Oak may not survive an, allempted restructuring of its debts and the mine isn’t operating at design capacity. Earlier, Gibraltar’s long standing mine near Wil- liams Lake shutdown despite some last minute repricves from government and labour. Equity's moly mine at Endako is also rumored to be on the edge of the precipice. For some time now the Huck- Jeberry mine near Houston bas only been operating owing to big concessions granted under the Job Protection Commissioner. Certainly some of these down-spirals are caused by metal prices but not all of il, as copper, gold, sil- ver, lead, zinc and moly mines continue al, or near, | or greater than break-even in several other Cana- dian, North American and international jurisdic tions. It’s high time Dan Miller and his NDP ideologues gel out of their state of denial and suspended dis- belief and immediately take some honest concerted Steps, not ‘baby steps’ to remedy their high falutin’ ways. Other provinces have rationlized costs to their in- dustries’ overheads. Miller et al could start by privatizing B.C, Hydro, allowing 1.P.P,s’ to com- pete on a level playing field, deregulating the false power price structures and giving B.C.'s beleaguered mines a fighting chance! Otherwise spelunkers are going to discover Miller deep down a nine seam full of taillngs in '99 with Clementine! eo Gerry Bloomer Lakelse Lake B.C. About the Mail Bag Letters to the editor can be mailed to the Terrace Standard at 3210 Clinton St. Ter- race, B.C., V8G 5R2. You can also fax let- ters to us at 250-638-8432. Or you can emall your letter to us at standard@kermode.net Name, address and phone number fs re- quired for verification, :