Vote will wait. _ City council decides to. put off a referendum on water fluoridation Making contact Find out Who may as well be called Terrace’s - . Fully booked | The next four weekends are jam packed with live music \COMMUNITY Bi here\NEWS A3 ambassador of sport to China\SPORTS B5 $1.00 ptus 7¢ GST ($1.10 plus 8¢ GST outside of the Terrace area} ANNIVERSARY 2003 ad ABOUT TO TAKE THE PLUNGE: Jim Harris and Howard Boake plan to get married next month. Gay wedding will be Terrace’ Ss first By JENNIFER LANG JIM HARRIS and: Howard Boake - are getting married a lot sooner than they'd planned. On Aug. 9, they will be legally joined as marriage partners at a special ceremony taking place before a community gathering ce- lebrating Gay Pride Day. It will be Terrace’s first same sex wedding —- ever, Harris, a 53-year-old waiter, and his fiance, Boake, a 65-year- old retired truck driver, have been together for 15 years. “It’s going to be a bigger event “than I planned on,” Boake says, adding he’s a litte nervous about all the attention their impending nuptials are getting, The two men already wear gold wedding bands. They were joined in a commitment ceremony offi- ciated by marriage commissioner White bear has inside track in mascot race While the grizzly bear or wolf might also be contenders, Jackson predicts a unique land. mammal By JEFF NAGEL THE KERMODE bear is the front- runner to become the 2010 Olympic mascol — at least on land. That's the sense of Simon Jack- son, head of the Spirit Bear Youth Coalition and one of the main advo- cates of the idea. “The spirit bear has been the only animal that has been officially put forward and officially considered,” Jackson said. “From my understand- ing there have been no other animals put forward,” Northwest politicians are also lobbying for the white bear that is Terrace’s symbol, Jackson has discussed the idea with Olympic bid organizers. Now that Vancouver-Whistler has and friend (Marylin Davies two YeATS ABO. ot - Davies, an elementary. school chum of Boake's and a current city councillor, will perform the wedding ceremony next’ month. “We're not just. doing it be- cause we can,” Boake said, add- ing the location —.the Pride Day gathering — isn’t a political state- ment. “We're doing it because we want to.” The couple planned to marry next year. That’s when the federal government’s plans to legalize same sex marriages will be put into effect. But two weeks ago, the B.C, Court of Appeal made same sex marriages in the province legal, following a similar Ontario deci- sion. The wedding date marks the one-year anniversary of the first been awarded the games, the bid committee is being dismantled and a new Olympic committee to run the games is forming. Once that body is in place, Jack- gon says, he'll push for an early mascot decision, If the B.C. winter olympics fol- lows the lead of Australia’s Sydney summer games; he said, it would se- - blems” official Gay Pride day in Terrace. - -- City. éouncil-proclaimed-Aug.-- . “10, 2002,as Pride, Day as part of a _ Human: Rights ‘ribunal ruling last . suminer. The tribunal stemmed from the fact that city council had refused to issue a proclamation over gay pride following a request from the ‘Rainbow Coimmittee. The framed proclamation ‘now hangs on the couple’s wall. Boake, who is openly gay, said he has “never really had any pro- with discrimination , in Terrace apart from the occasional crank call. But he concedes homosexual . teenagers still face hostility and abuse from their peers, despite growing awareness and accep- tance in the mainstream. Boake and Harris had planned to exchange vows at home over ‘would have the inside track. lumbia,” he said, © Olympics used the polar bear. “The spirit bear and the Vancou- yer Island marmot. would be obvious because they live only in British Co- Larger animals’ tend to be pre- ferred, he added, noting the Calgary JENNIFER LANG PHOTO the B.C. Day long weekend. That --way, family: and-friends: from-out--- of town would be able to attend. _. But-then they realized they. might need a little bit more room. ” “We thought, wait a minute ~ let's have it al the Pride thing!” Boake recalled, adding the third annual event is once again taking place at the home of Alisa and Simon Thompson, They were going anyway, and there’s lots of room in the Thompson’s yard. ‘Another plus? It’s potluck, so all the guests are bringing their own food. | Both men have been married before. Each has an adult son who will be standing up for them at the wedding next month, “We're the same as a hetero- sexual couple,” Boake said. “We have just as much love for each other as a man and a woman.” Forest fix delays must end — Finish reforms, Harris says By JEFF NAGEL ROGER HARRIS is bluntly calling on his own govern- ment to stop delaying and get on with radical reforms to the forest industry. Crucial changes to open up the supply of timber to. = other users are taking too jong, Skeena’s MLA said last © ~~~ week, “Get on with it,” Harris said. “Don’t piss around any, more.’ He said he’s pressing the issue with forests minister «: . Mike de Jong, other cabinet ministers and officials at all © levels in the forests ministry. “This ministry needs to be pushed as hard as possible . to get started,” he said. New forests legislation passed in the spring empowers Victoria to take back 20 per cent of timber from major forest companies. But the move to make that wood — as well as uncut — timber Skeena Cellulose : didn’t use in recent years — available to other processors has bogged down. The job of selecting a re- presentative slice-of the tim- ggwnturn: in. de- ber on each licence to take cades. AQ... = “back is proving “Very core eae plex. — Other. complications are @ Double shut- . we downs make this: the worst forest ‘ the-softwood lumber talks with the U.S. Harris says it’s time to cut through those issues —and >: distractions such as when and whether New Skeena will | wo pet started — and get on with the job. “This has to be an aggressive move,” he said. “We have to take back the fibre and do it quickly.” a “Put the teams in place to start identifying the areas.’ Harris says opening up the fibre basket to other users is the key to creating a new industry that’s less reliant _ on big mills and big companies. 7 “Who knows how long Eurocan is going.to be down, Who knows if New Skeena is going to be successful, mo he said. “If they both are running it’s all bonus,” Harris argues the northwest is the best place to start reforms if the forests ministry isn’t ready to proceed pro- vince-wide. . He says providing timber would put loggers back to work, and the supply of wood available through log — Continued Page A2 lect three mascots representing air, sea, and. land. That would fit the “Sea to Sky” theme of B.C,’s games. He said the three-mascot strategy ¢ would also make room for competi- tors like the killer whale and eagle in the sea and air categories, im- proving the Kermode’s chances of winning on land. City is a hotbed for By JEFF NAGEL TERRACE is one of Canada’s lead- ing hotspots for small business activ- ity, according to a new study. The city ranks sixth cut of 136 centres across the country based on the number of small businesses per capita. The findings are contained in. the. new BMO Financial Group report ti- tled “In Search. of Canada’ 5: ‘Simalt: oe Business Hotbeds.” Terrace racks up 41.9 payroll en- terprises — small businesses with at least one employee - per 1,000 po- pulation. That's well ahead of Calgary, Ed- monton and Vancouver. In fact the only B.C. city ahead of Terrace is Fort St. John, which holds down the number three spot with 458 payroll businesses per thousand. ‘ly; with 49,8 businesses per thou- Whitehorse is the leader national: He said the Kermode - with its white coat evoking snow and winter = is the logical choice. “The spirit bear represents both British Columbia as well as winter,” Jackson said. “I can't see how much more perfect you could get.” He wants a quick decision sa the Continued Page A11 business sand, followed by Grande Prairie, Alberta. Swift Current, Saskatche- wan and Lioydminster, Alberta are fourth and fifth. Williams Lake is se- venth behind Terrace. Lloydminster and Grande Prairie were also on a separate list of the cities with the fastest growing small business sectors. Terrace’s-tigh ranking in small businesses per capita fits a pattern Continued Page A11 M@ Race on AMY PELTIER, 13, races to the finish line after swimming 600 metres at ihe Ruins open water swim race July 13 at Lakelse Lake. She nabbed first place in the junior division. More than 30 competitors braved the chilly water as the first event of the Terrace Standard Adventure Challenge kicked off. For more details sea page B5, SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN PHOTO