- philanthrophist Vesta Aileen

» Club;. and former Skeena

Safe haven ~
Anew program helps -

| youngsters who have |
witnessed violence |

| cope\COMMUNITY. Bio

Who’s that?
Local society seeks help
in identifying sawmill
workers in a historical

photo\NEWS A5

Goiden game _
Petite ringette players
climb to top of medal
podium for their second

_ time\SPORTS B4_

i

‘$1.00 F PLUS 7¢ GST
($1.10 plus8eGST
- outside of the Terrace area)

ae VOL.18 NO. 47

30V’

THE PROVINCIAL government is to
‘announce this month its plan to provide

* $100 million to native peoples to better.

enable them to: take part. in Jand-and

"resource use decision making.
:The money, first announced last. fall, .

* puts some muscle to a “new relationship”

“document agreed upon by: the province :
, - and native leaders last spring in which

_the parties agreed to find ' ways to involve
" native peoples in B.C.’s economy.

~ Speaking last week: while in Terrace,
proviitcial aboriginal. affairs and recon-.
ciliation minister: Tom Christensen ‘said.
_ the government will establish -a board’.
of directors to-decide how and when’ the ;

money will be’spent.

Native board members, will, be ap-
a, pointed by native organizations to run)

_ Tribute
~ to Vesta:
~ March 5—

= RESIDENTS GET a chance -

‘this weekend to attend a:
tribute to city freeman‘and ©

Douglas who passed away

~ Feb: 8 at the age of 95. °

_.. Organizer Charlie Meek

_, hopes 'to see the Dr.R.E.M. §
‘Lee Theatre full this Sun- “§
day, March 5, as a tribute to
Douglas. -

Meek will be joined by |
United Church minister Rev.
Wally Hargrave as officials -.
for the ceremony.

The lineup of speakers
includes Mayor Jack Talstra,
the City of Terrace; Edna
Cooper, former school board
chair and trustee with the lo- _
cal school district; Mary Ann.

... Burdett, the Royal Canadian
_ Legion’s national president;
George Clark representing
the Terrace Beautification.
Society; Lynn Gascon of the ©
Terrace Curling Club; Kelly
_ Lima, the Pacific Northwest .
Music Festival; Jim Steele
-with the Terrace Rotary

MLA Roger Harris. ;
«Providing music will be.
the Terrace Pipes and Drums |
as well as a choir of Grade 4
and 5 students from Uplands J
» Elementary School. Local
pianist Keliy Lima and high
_. school flutists Leah MacKay
- and Stacy Zorn will accom-
“pany them. _. a

A contingent from the lo-
cal 747 Air Cadets wil! also
be on hand acting as ushers
and handing out programs,

- Meek said he’ would
love to have an open mike ©
for people to express their
memories of. Douglas but

to unveil $

. the First Nations New Relationship Fund
and the government will appoint its own
directors who will be a 1 miniority on the

board, he said.

_ “We're committed to closing’ the gap |
between aboriginal peoples’ and. the rest -.
of B.C. over. the: next . decade,” Chris-

tensen added. .

“First Nations will be able to. decide
-how the fund will be spent. First. Nations”
are in a.much better position to make :

these decisions.”
Christensen said legislation will bei in-

‘troduced and passed by the end of March

to establish the framework for the ‘fund. -

~ “Can we do it by the end of March?

. You bet,” he said. :
“This fund will be outside’ government .

and won’t be controlled by the. govern--

TERRACE

ment,’ ’ Christensen added.

The minister said the fund’s structure |

will be similar to that of the Northern De-

. velopment Initiative Trust set up in 2004
with. $135, million from the sale of B. C. ;

Rail.
_ That trust has regional boards through:
out: the north and a central board and of-
fice staff based in Prince George. .

Another $50 million: was added last

fall, making, for $185 million with $25

‘million set aside so thei interest from it can.

be used to run the trust’ s bureaucracy.

The ‘trust either-loans or provides
dish title to land and resources but they
_ do require governments to “consult and

grants for specific northern development
projects.

Last spring’s new | relationship docu-

‘ment and now the $100 million is a cor-

“means for native .
* economic
social progress, —

government. |
Although | all”
of this is framed:
around. provid-. .
ing ways! ‘and

and

its - foundation —
rests with © Su--

Those decisions do not clearly’ ‘estab-

accommodate” when it comes ‘to native
interests on lands containing forests and
mineral resources.

.preme Court deci- ‘Tom Christensen ;
sions concerming aboriginal rights and

~ title to land and resources.

There’ s been 1 no: ‘defined éxplaniation a!
of exactly what “consult, and’ accommo- "°°.
_ date” means and that’s. left governments, oo
_» resource companies and natives trying to. ; .-
‘.. flesh out policies and procedures.
~~” So the-new relationship document is»
“~ meant as the beginning of the attempt to.
*- establish those policies and procedures e-
:on combining: native interests, with Te-.

source dévelopments.:”

‘Some native governments have been oo
hard-pressed: to cope’ with requests by
* mining and other. companies to deal with

their proposed projects.

That’s particularly. been the case north
of here where: the Tahltan have been in-. ©
undated by more than 10 proposals to’...
develop mines in their mineral- rich tradi- eeeear

~ tional territory. rm op

nerstone of Premier Gordon Campbell's

Airfare costs crimp
medical travel plan —

“THE NORTHERN - “Health Authority | ‘is
~ struggling to find a way to help pay for'air_
. fare for people retuming to the north after ~
. receiving medical treatment down south or:
in Alberta, -

Sugar Shack snack

_An estimated 1, 800 people a year are
flown out from the north for urgent or other
care on air ambulances.

|... The challenge is once discharged after |
7 treatment, patients can find themselves in’

“a: strange city. without. the: medins. to. return -..
* ‘home. ~

But with an estimated price tag of $600

. for a flight home each time, amounting to
more than $1 million a year, the health au--.
thority can’t afford to cover the full cost, ,
_ Says the Northern Health Authority official

in charge of putting together. a comprehen-

sive medical transportation plan.
“Our budget is $4 million as it is,” said

Sean Hardiman. The figure must also cover

‘a tecently-announced bus-based medical

transporation system, plans to offer discounts
for accommodation for people who travel for

‘treatment and for a call centre which would
provide non-medical but. still. important: in--

formation related to health services.

.., . One idea was to subsidize each. person Ss.
return home by $50. |...

_. “But the feedback: that we received was-
that the problem is not something $50 would

. be able to solve. People would need more

. than that,” said Hardiman.

. The wrinkle. to all‘ of this is the health ays
authority cannot use ‘a-Means test'so-those
on fixed’ incomes or: lower. income earners. oe
receive more assistance than People earning a
; mote money. . oo

“That was a condition of receiving it from pees By
the provincial government, that it be univer-"

sal to everyone,” said Hardiman of the $4
million.

' The- Northern Health Authority. tagged
return home travel as.a particular challenge
. early on in-its investigation of ways to ease.
costs for. patients. He hopes the just-an- -
nounced long distance bus service will at).
least go part way to helping people get back . one

home after being discharged elsewhere. ..,
“I’m hoping we'll still be able to do

something with air travel,” he added. ..

. While Hardiman and others work ¢ on an

air assistance plan, they are looking for ho- ae
tels in northern centres, down south and in |
Grande Prairie, Alberta to give discounts -
_ to northern, residents traveling for medical oe
care, .
. .“We.will bei issuing a request f for propos- ope oe
als very soon,” he said. i
In southern: B:C., the. ‘health authority pe
wants to. set up. discounts. or provide’ other...
forms of financial accommodation help in. - ;

Victoria, the lower ‘mainland, Kamloops’

cand: ‘Kelowna. Grandé Prairie is on the list, “=~ .
because northeastern, B. Cc. residents travel" ee
: there for treatment. . :

"instead asks that people sub-

mit short written tributes or

“call him in advance of the .

memorial at 635-6403. The

tivities at the Sugar Shack at Heritage Park Feb: 24. Many families came out —

EIGHT-YEAR-OLDS Micheala Weiss, ‘left, and Hailey Carlick enjoyed the fes-

to celebrate French-Canadian culture by partaking in games, activities and ..
eating maple sugar on a stick in | the chilly \ weather. MARGARET SPEIRS PHOTO —

NDP MLA Robin Austin.
. Emie Sande’s rescue of Kitimat resi-,

. off of Hwy16 and into Williams Creek.
Feb. 12 was nothing short of heroic.
“Certainly jumping into Williams

in pulling Bouliane out of the water.
Though Sande modestly downplays his

courage. He read a statement in the pro-
vincial legislature yesterday, acknowledg-
ing Sande for his rescue.

~ Bravery recognized

_THE TERRACE man who rescued. the |
_ victim of an automobile accident from a
local river deserves an award, says Skeena ;

“dent Marc Bouliane after his car skidded -

Creek in February is.no small feat,” said.
- Austin of Sande’s ‘efforts which resulted °:
 Bouliane. trapped in the current, he dove |.

_ efforts, Austin says his selfless act took
and swam to shore with Bouliane i in tow.

_ “This winter, Mr. Sande, at a great risk
to his own life, dove into Williams Creek:
"to rescue a man who was trapped i in the

‘treated at hospital: for-mild. hypothermia,

service begins at 2 p.m.

‘current in the river. I’m pleased to say that. |.
‘both men survived,” Austin said. i
Around 8:30.p.m. Feb.°12, as Bouliane | ,

drove to Kitimat, his vehicle hit'a patch.

ond vehicle slid on the black ice but the

driver, Norman Hull, managed to stop.-
Hull shone a flashlight into the creek

just as Sande stopped. When. Sande saw _

into the water. Sande extended his jacket
several times before Bouliane grabbed it”

Hull drove Bouliane to Mills Memo-

, tial Hospital while Sande. drove ‘home. to |. 7

his Lakelse Lake residence. Bouliane was

and shock and released. that, same night.

_ Gas bar robber given two years in jail

_ By MARGARET SPEIRS

from a local gas bar, made his getaway
ity a. stolen truck and then tried to run
~ over two police officers after which they
fired a number of shots has been speedily
convicted and sentenced. |
Robin Wayne Rody, 36, who recently
moved to Terrace pled guilty to one count
each of robbery and flight from a-peace
officer and was sentenced to-two years in
federal prison by Judge H. E. Seidemann
in Terrace provincial court Feb. 21.
Upon his release, Rody will be banned
from owning or. possessing. all firearms
for 10 years and then from possessing or
owning restricted firearms for the rest of
his life. He’s also banned from driving

- for three years once released.
_AN ARMED robber who grabbed money -

“This was very swift justice consider-

ing the date of the arrest to the convic-
tion,” said.Terrace RCMP Const. Ro-.

chelle Patenaude of the events:

“Our members did excellent work in

apprehending this individual who was a
danger to this community.” _
‘On Jan. 25, Rody stole a pickup truck

from Ken’s Marine and held up the Safe-.

way gas bar on Lakelse Ave. by taking
$69 from an attendant shortly after 5 p.m.
before fleeing in the truck.

Police later located the stolen vehicle
at the Cedar Place Apartments at 4931
Walsh Ave. and waited for Rody to come
out.

‘In his submission to the court, Crown -

-counsel..Barry Zacharias said at about

7:35 p.m., Const. Bnice Lofroth, who

could see only the rear of the stolen pick-
‘up, Saw its brake lights and reverse lights

tumon. - ;
Lofroth drove north on ‘Kenney to-

ward: the: intersection with Davis St. as .
. the stolen pickup travelled west on n Davis
-- toward Kenney.

‘Lofroth turned on his lights and siren ~
. whereupon Rody accelerated aggressive-
’ ly, continued Zacharias. |

Lofroth attempted to disable the stolen
- truck by pushing it off the road, Zacha-

rias told the court.

The: police cruiser’s front bumper

made contact with the truck.
Rody evaded his attempts and drove

wildly out of control east on Davis, then

* southeast across the large vacant.lot that
_ once contained the highways ministry’s .

maintenance yard before turning east on ©
the 4900 block of Park Ave., , continued

Zacharias.

Lofroth hit the pickup a second time at
4919 Park in further efforts to disable it.

- Constables Colin Warwick and Lo-
froth approached the vehicle on foot in

an attempt to arrest the driver and Rody’

drove out of the ditch toward them, Zach-
arias said. 4
One officer fired his 9mm sidearm and

the other a shotgun at the tires to stop the
‘vehicle and eliminate any danger to. the

public and themselves, he said.

But the pickup went north across Park.

Ave: into the vacant lot before Warwick Sid
“and Lofroth successfully stopped it with’ 7

their vehicles, . said Zacharias.

police dog, to capture Rody. '

According to police, the knife used i in

the holdup was never found.

-Rody’s. quick trip to- court ‘and jail .
came thanks to getting caught shortly af-" *
‘ter the crime and pleading guilty immedi- ..

ately, thereby saving the court time and
money, said Zacharias late last week.

“Rody.
Cont'd Page A2-

A

nnn nt nr ane een

Rody jumped out of the truck and’ at :
tempted ‘to flee on foot whereupon War- -
-- Wick, a dogmaster, Jet loose" Nack, his

“It’s in his interest to deal with it'as - .
easily. as he, can,” | Zacharias said about

SIRES YAO ci OI IAT sa CETL Ph a SEITE DIR TVR EB he LE he SD Seay HONE ep ee PES

“of black ice south of the Williams Creek...
. bridge, and tumbled off the road into al
‘stream draining into Lakelse Lake. A sec- |