A6 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, August 12, 1998

CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD

The Mail Bag

MP Scott’s absence
an insult to Nisga’a

Dear Sir:

Aug, 4, 1998 was a day of
celebration, as the represen-
tatives of the Nisga’a Na-
tion, the government of
British Columbia and the
government of Canada con-
cluded Canada’s first con-
temporary treaty.

Among the witnesses at
the signing ceremony in
New Aiyansh, I saw the
premier of British Colum-
bia, Glen Clark; the federal
minister. for Indian Affairs
and Northern Development,
the Hon. Jane Stewart; the
Hon. David Andersan, MP;
the Hon. Hedy Fry, MP;
Svend Robinson, MP; Mike
Harcourt, former premier of
B.C. two former Skeena
MPs - Jim Fulton and Iona
Campagnola - and all of the
current MLAs from north-
west B.C. - Dan Miller, Hel-
mut Giesbrecht and Bill
Goodacre.

I looked for and did not
see Mike Scott, MP for
Skeena and the federal
Reform critic for aboriginal
affairs.

Your readers may recall

Isaac Sobol
the earlier signing of the
Agreement-in-Principle for
the trealy. At the time, his
reply was, “‘E was not in-
vited.””
He also indicated that he

would be prepared to
represent all of the people in
Skeena if be were re-
elected.

Today I read in the news-
paper that Mr. Scott was in-
viied to the treaty signing
ceremony, but declined the
invitalion. One report even
states he returned the invita-
tion to the Nisga’a.

that Mr. Scott had been
asked, during last year’s
federal election campaign,
why he was not present at

Ksan views all

Dear Sir:

We believe Terrace Women’s Resource
Centre co-ordinator Sarah de Leeuw’s
views (July 29, 1998 letter to the editor)
conceming the Ksan House are ill-
informed, lopsided and negative.

As Ksan House employees, we have
never been threatened with roll backs of our ~
benefilé‘or ‘wages, Our input. has always
been sought on spending within our lirnited
budget and our ideas have always been sup-
ported and respected by management.

Throughout these extended BCGEU ne-
gotiations, Ksan management has repeated-
ly requested suggestions for innovative
ways to cut the society’s expenses fron all
unionized employees.

Ms. de Lecuw’s sugggestion that -staff
have been frustrated in their efforts to offer
possible solutions is false, and we wonder
how she could be so confident that her

Still fighting

Dear Sir:

Since 1992 I’ve been fighting for a decent place to cut
firewood and for full watershed protection in the Nass Val-
ley. The most important of all is the watershed protection,
and it was taken to the table by the provincial Nisga’a ne-
gotiators some time ago but not negotiated.

The issue was again promised to be taken to the table on
June 2, 1998 but, if it ever was, we never heard the final
results and assume it was another smoke screen,

For the people that think water in. the well is not impor-
lant, put yourself in these shoes — breaking-up ice with a
sledge and melting it down for enough water to take a bath
aud wash clothes and dishes and have drinking water.

Thea, since there’s no water to flush the toilet with, you
‘have to either use a bucket or an outhouse al minus 35 ‘with
the wind biowing.

Couple that with one amputated leg (mine is above the
left knee) so that it’s impossible to get up or down an icy
creek bank, and you have a realistic picture of my position.
This is why I’m whining. I want my waler back.

I wrote many letters to various officials, including all top
forestry offices, the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, the of-
fice of Dan Miller, the office of the premier and direct to
Chicf Joc Gosnell, telling them of the need to implement a

He is quoted as saying, “‘I
find it very regrettable that I
can't be there, but I would
not want my presence there

no-logging plan. But they turned a blind cye to this request

to preserve only about one square mile of our watershed.

I thought the Nisga’a chief would understand, as he
probably had to pack water when he was a kid. After wait-
ing an aiple amount of timc, and no reply from Mr. Gos-
nell, I wrote a letter to the Nisga’a negotiating team and in-
formed them that if they threatened our water supply they
would be forcing me to fight against them for the first
time.

In the beginning, the previous chief, Alvin McKay, wit-
derstood cur concern and gave us his support. I informed
the Nisga’a team that the only tool we had was the
referendum and I’d do my best to make the people of B.C.
aware that if this agreement was signed they could expect
the same treatment.

This is my betief and this is what [’m fighting for.

Lloyd Brinson, Nass Camp, B.C,

| Tous...

to be construed as support
for this agreement”?

It would appear that Mr.
Scott not only does not
represent, or wish to
represent, the Nisga‘a or

other First Nations com- -

munities in his riding, but
thinks that they, and the rest
of us must be really dumb.
Given his constant negative
comments about the treaty,

who does he think would _

misconstrue his presence at
the signing to indicate that
he supports it?

Mike Scott, I believe you
have not been tme to your
campaign promise. Your
denial of Canadian history,
and your continuing re-
jection of the principles of
justice which are at the basis
of the. Nisga’a treaty, cannot
and do not allow you to tru-
ly represent all the people of
Skeena.

You continue to sew the
seeds of divisiveness, of in-
tolerance and of disrespect
for both our goverament and
our judicial system, You
continue to refuse to atiend
events of monumental im-
portance in your riding, and
insult your Nisga’a con-
stituents in the process.

Isaac Sobol, Vancouver

wrong

sources are teliable, not just self-motivated,

In these times of fiscal restraint and con-
tract reforms, non-profit societies like Ksan
House actively seek ways in which they can
be more fiscally responsible, while insuring |
and maintaining continuity of services.

We believe that Ms. de Leeuw’s com-
ments are mean-spirited and wonder: what"
would:motivate her to be so critical about
something she knows: so. ‘litde‘about..- “Why
did slié so blatantly disregard the fact that
people must place their trust in our services
in order to utilize them?

What did she hope to gain from discredit-
ing the Ksan House society? We hope that
in the future ‘she concentrates her efforts in
working with us and not against us,

Afier all, we are all working toward the
same goals. Aren't we?

Gisele Lewis, Irlanda Gonzalez, and

Bea Richard, Terrace, B.C,

~ Active
Living

Exercise Yorw Options

ASSOCIATICH
CANADIENNE
BU OMBSETE

CANADIAN
DIABETES
ASSOCIATION

Where do you tin '
with a complaint
against the press?

The British Columbia Press
Council is an independent
review beard which considers _
unresolved complaints about
newspapers, To lodge a
complaint, all it takes is the
cost of a letter,

B.C. Press Council

900 - 1281 W. Georgia St.
Vancouver B.C. VGE 3J7
Tel/Fax: (604) 683-2571

fax

Mallory Glustien and Lori Janzen,

Registered Physiotherapists,
are pleased to announce the opening of the

Cedar River Physiotherapy

& Rehabilitation Centre Inc.

Suite 100, 4619 Park Avenue, Terrace, B.C.
For further information or to arrange an appointment, please

phone (250) 638-1010
(250) 638-6360

No law and order —
left in the land

‘Dear Sir:

Do we have law and order? It doesn’t seem like it
anymore! We have no justice as well. We have a dou-
ble standard when it comes to iaw and order. ~

There is one set of laws for the people, and one for
government officials who can operate above the law
and get away with it, If we were to do thé same things,
we would be locked up.

This system is unfair, and it needs te be fair for
everyone. The government had better start clamping
down on this issue and not ignore the safety of the
everyday citizens on the streels.

It’s really a shame how many people we have in this
country that are scared to stand up and fight back
against our justice officials conceming this issue. They
don’t even read our letters, they just throw our letters in
the garbage.

Our government has let crime get out of control to a
terrifying degree, Also, law and order is never properly
enforced when it comes to jail sentences and parole.

It seems that the government has swept law and order
under the rug to be forgotten,

Mark Bain, Terrace, B.C.

Young soccer players.
are not losers

Dear Sir:

My son has been in soccer since he was 5 years old,
and almost always a goalkeeper, and fairly good one at
that, but for the past three years is never on a winning
team.

What I'd like to know is, how do the coaches select
players for his/her team?

All the so-called great players cnd up on one team,
only to play against maybe some fi rst-time players and
not-so-great players.

Recently my son’s team was defeated by a score of
15-2. What does this do for his sclf-esleem when his
feammates call him a loser?

Is it his fault he has no defence? Is it his fault he has
a not-so great-coach? No, it is not.

TYSA must have a system as to how teams ate
formed. Players have no choice but to go with the
teams which they are designated,

I don’t exactly think this is fair. Being in the Under
14 Division should account for his experience.

What kind of soccer league do we have when we can
let a team lose four or five games in a row by a score of
15-2, 8-2, 10-2, and think that these children should
still keep playing to win?

But at the end of the night come home and say,
“‘Mom, we lost again.”’

N. Bright, Terrace, B.C.

If she was young again
she'd be on the ramp

Dear Sir
It has come to my attention that there have been com-
plaints about the young people on the skate ramp that’s
up by the arena. Id like to know why.
I was young ance, too. If 1 was s young I'd be up there
tao, enjoying. myself.
Ym a 86 year old senior tady and my ‘apartment patio
° glass doors face cast. I enjoy walching the fun they all
“have. The ones who are complaining should feel
fortunate that these youngsters are not out on the streets
or committing crimes against seniors.
] got to bed at 10:30 — 11 p.m. and I am not being
kept awake.
Edwina Morin, Terrace, B.C.

Alitle «
exercise caf
go a long way!

Walking 3 km in 35 minutes 7c
can de wonders for your health. - 9
Ws that simple C ea ;

Sharing a Heathier Future" 2
a PERT ACTON OD

“Terrace

NOTICE

All playing fields at the Terrace, Thornhill & Kitimat
area schools will be fertilized monthly. This

_ if you've got EMAIL, you can rea

|) electronically, We. weicome latter:
news tips, sports and camimunity
_ contributions, and feedback of al
“... standard@kermode.ne

program will run from May through October 1998,

the terrace little theatre |
j 's holving auditions for

their. season opener

seven
stories

QUguUst
93 Cl 24

at the meccoll playhouse
3625 kaluar st.
for further tnformation

contact nancy stone ancher
at 635-1329

Terrace Rod & Gun

Club Raffle

Attached Are Names Of
Winners For Our Clubhouse
Renovation Project.

Ist Prize Ticket #0378 - Magellan G.P.S.
Buck Dvorak - Hamer St., Terrace, B.C.
2nd Prize Ticket #0464 - $300 Gift Cert.

Murray Kuemper - Walsh Ave, Terrace, B.C.
3rd Prize Ticket #0622 - Binoculars

Sandy Marshall - Churchill Dr., Terrace, B.C.

| would like to thank all persons that —
supported our raffle. Proceeds will go
to upgrading the clubhouse.
Yours truly

Brian McCoy

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