A8 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, February 5, 2003

‘Show us the money,’ gov't
body here urges Victoria

By JENNIFER LANG
THEY WANT it all.

The Kitimat Stikine re-
gional district board is of-
fering to take over a range
of provincial government
services.

But there’s a catch.

In return for taking over
parks, forest service re-
creation sites, schools,
transit, mines, petroleum,
fisheries and wildlife man-
agement, the regional dis-
trict also wants the power
to set taxes, royalties,
fines and fees — and issue
Tegulations.

“We feel that since this
government is negligent in
the management of our re-
sources, we will do it for
them as long as we can
have it all,” reads a mo-
tion that “passed with en-
thusiasm” at the Jan. 24
board meeting in Terrace.

Thornhill director Les
Watmough said highways
and hospitals would re-
main under the jurisdiction
of the provincial govern-
meat.

“They’re trying to give
us all the losers,” said
Watmough, who intro-
duced the motion. “Well,
We want some of the
winners.”

He wants the regional
district to ask its neigh-
bours in Bulkley-Nechako
and the Skeena-Queen
Charlotte districts if they
want to join in the offer to
take over these services
“since the province does
not want to be responsible
for Aything.”

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The board has grown in-
creasingly frustrated with
what directors complain is
forced downloading.

That turned to anger
last spring when the board
refused to step in to keep
Exchamsiks Provincial
Park open next year, after
a confrontational meeting
with Ministry of Water,
Land and Air Protection
official Hugh Markides.

“Make us an offer,’ is
the term he used,” Wat-
mough ‘said. “Well, here’s
our offer.”

Learning of impending
cuts to transit budgets was
the last straw.

Watmaough said the
transit authority recently
presented four options.
“The option they gat exci-
ted about was that the
three regional districts
take over transit. 100 per

cent with a little help from
Victoria but no funding,”
he said,

Revenues would come
from rider fares and a fuel
tax. “I immediately said,
“No way.’”

Skeena MLA Roger
Harris meets with the re-
gional district board this
month.

He finds these face-to-
face meetings useful, be-
cause it’s a chance to set
the record straight on
what’s actually happening.

“Part of my job is also
providing information,”
Harris said. “I think it’s
important to talk about the
facts — although some-
times they get in the way
of the discussion.”

He pointed to a debate
that raged over rumoured
closures of highway rest
stops in the. region — which

Les Watmough

turned out to be unfounded.

“That’s why it’s impor-
tant to go to these things
and talk about the facts,”
Harris said. “Some things
we may not agree upon,
but that’s OK.”

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