Ad - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 20, 2002 TERRACE STANDARD ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988 PUBLISHER: ROD LINK ADDRESS: 3210 Clinton Street Terrace, B.C. * V8G 5R2 TELEPHONE: (250) 638-7283 * FAX: (250) 638-8432 WEB: www.terracestandard.com EMAIL: standard@kermode.net About taxes A FEDERAL court decision nearly two weeks ago is bound to become an emotional trigger point as the provincial government readies for its referendum on land claims. The decision puts a modern-day interpretation on Treaty 8, signed in 1899, affecting approxima- tely 15,000 native people in northeastern B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Terri- tories. It found that promises made by federal negotia- tors in 1899 give absolute tax-free status to native people today who are part of Treaty 8. In other words, no matter where a Treaty 8 native lives, he or she does not have to pay taxes on income earned or on goods or services purchased. That’s much different from the majority of na- tive people in B.C. who are not governed by trea- ties but come under the Indian Act. It provides tax-free status only on income earned and ser- vices and goods purchased on a reserve. Whether the Treaty 8 decision will hold re- mains to be seen. It is subject to appeal. But what this Treaty 8 decision does is reinforce the age- old feeling that somehow natives are privileged because of that tax-free provision of the Indian Act. It is quickly seized on by those critical of na- tives and of native aspirations for a better way of life. . To be sure, the Indian Act provisions go against the premise that taxes are part of the re- sponsibilities a person has in order to be a citizen in the country in which they live. What a lot of people forget, however, is that the tax-free provisions are not something the natives decided all by themselves, Don’t blame them. It "is part of a piece of federal legislation. And that’s where modern-day treaties come into play. They are meant to change the relation- ship between native people and the rest of Canada for the better. Resolving the tax issue is one of those necessary changes One of the proposed questions in the provincial referendum speaks to this bluntly, asking for a “yes’ or ‘no’ to: “The existing tax exemptions for aboriginal people will be phased out.” That’s an easy question for both supporters and detractors of modern-day treaties. Both can say ‘yes’ in the equal certainty that it is proper and just. We only have to look just to the north, to the Nass Valley, for what is possible. In Chapter 16 of the Nisga’a Final Agreement, the Nisga’a ne- gotiated an end to taxation exemptions. It’s eight years after the treaty was signed for sales and other taxes and 12 years for income taxes. While some might quibble about the time per- iod, the point is that the Nisga’a are doing away with exemptions. It recognizes the role they wish to play in Canada. It is a good example for other native groups of what is possible and what is nee- ded when it comes to treaty making. PUBLISHER/EDITOR: Rod Link ADVERTISING MANAGER: Brian Lindenbach PRODUCTION MANAGER: Edouard Credgeur NEWS: Jeif Nagel 7001 WINNER, NEWS/SPORTS Sarah Zimmerman peu meres NEWS/COMMUNITY: Jennifer Lang COMPETITION FRONT OFFICE: Darlene Keeping & Carol McKay CIRCULATION SUPERVISOR: Terri Gordon ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS: Bert Husband & Stacy Gyger TELEMARKETER: Stacy Gyger COMPOSING: Susan Credgeur AD ASSISTANT: Sandra Stefanik SUBSCRIPTION RATES BY MAIL: $56,25(+$3.94 GST)=60.19 per year; Seniors $49.50 (+$3.47 GST)=52.973 Out of Province $63.22 (+$4.43 GST)=67.65 Outside of Canada (6 months) $152.34 (+$10.66 GST)=163.00 MEMBER OF B.C, AND YUKON COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION, CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION @ CNA 8.0. PRESS COUNCIL (www.bepresacouncll.org) Serving lhe Tetrace and Thombill area, Published on Wadnosday of each weak al 3210 Clinton Street, Tartaca, Grilish Columbia, VEG 5R2, Stories, photographs, illustrations, dasigns and typestyles in the Terrace Standard are the properly of the copytighl holders, including Cariboo Press (1969) Ltd., its illustration rapro services and advertising agencies. . Reproduction In whole or In part, without written permission, is spectically prohibited, Aulhorized as second-class mail panding the Post Olfice Departmenl, for paymant of postage in cash. Special thanks to all our contributors and correspondents for their time and talents - y wwe #24 AIRLINE fo security SURCHARGE IS ABSOLUTE NECESSARY To DEFEAT “TOURISM..- ER, TERRORISM @mRICEo2 We need To be like Americans VICTORIA — Via a recent e- mail came an interesting ob- servation from Blake Mac- Kenzie of Victoria. The seeds to British Colum- bia’s economic malaise were sown long ago by the Hudson Bay Company's chief factor, James Douglas, he writes. Mackenzie quotes from Professor Ray Billington’s New American Series book The Far Western Frontier 1830-1860: “That such a potentially rich country should prove so disappointing was due, the mi- ners agreed, to the dictatorial tule of the Hudson's Bay Com- pany’s chief factor, James Douglas. “A giant of a man physical- ly, with a masterful self-assur- ance, Douglas was determined that the turbulent disorder of the California mining camps should not be duplicated in his domain. “In January, 1858, he ruled that every miner. was to pay-a- monthly tax of twenty-one shillings, about five dollars, and that all who refused or whose conduct was reproach-~ able should not be allowed to mine. “Every effort was made to enforce this licensing law: a ship at the mouth of the Fraser River turned back all who had not complied, and revenue agents regularly visited each camp. “When, on August 2, 1858, Parliament (England) created FROM THE CAPITAL HUBERT BEYER the colony of British Columbia with Douglas as its first gov- ernor, he acted at once to tighten his authority. An ela- borate legal code, based on Australia, was proclaimed, calling for a “gold cammissio- ner” in each camp who not only would enforce the twenty- one shilling tax law but had absolute power over the ad- ministration of justice. on any frontier, and that the process cannot be markedly accelerated, “The miners, whether Brit- ish or American, agreed to a man that the licence fees, trade regulations, and moral codes stifled progress; without them, they insisted, more men would flock in to share the work, prices would fall as competition increased, and carriers would vie for profits until transportation costs were lowered,” MacKenzie sees a direct correlation between the rigidly bureaucratic rule of Douglas and the problems British Co- ‘lumbia faces today. “British Columbia has never shaken government in- terference in the economy. 1 truly believe had Douglas stayed out of the way of the gold rushes, British Columbia would have become a prosper- ous California of the north built on the foundation of a ASE OF ¢ judged. guilty of-any--offence -~.Kenzie-says. by the commissioner could have his licence revoked; when this was done anyone could jump his claim without punishment. “That these measures ended disorder in the Fraser River camps there can be no question. Yet they also doomed the Fraser mines. His- torians who have praised Dou- glas' orderly regime have ig- nored the fact that civilization must evolve at its own pace . “History has ‘shaped Cana- | dians to tolerate this kind of government manipulation and intrusion into the economy, As mentioned in Professor Bil- lington's book, he clearly showed how western US states benefited from British Colum- bia stifling its own, potential- ly prosperous, economy. “What was British Colum- bia left with? A few benevo- lent dictators through its his- tory who helped us keep more of our hewn wood and drawn water profits and that’s about it,” he says. “We live in the 21st century with a 19th century licensed (from the English Parliament) Hudson Bay Company govern- ment model. The seeds they have sown have caused our long-term prosperity to be se- verely retarded if not snuffed out.” MacKenzie says Canadians need rights which are inalien- able, not granted, Canadians need freedom to express them- selves in the economy and freedom to own real private property. Most of all, he says, Canadians need a constitution which limits government, pre- vents the tyranny of the major- ity, equalizes all people and all regions. “We need a party that is willing to end the systemic problems Canada currently en- dures, We haven't had a new idea since the Trudeau “From that ‘date:-arminer’ ntultifaceted economy,” Mage 5, banged Canada, into a hybrid tii TES Ociatist’ state.’ The party’ that ~ predches' new ideas and ‘rids the old problems, and moves away from protecting the status quo, will be the party who can unite all Canadians.” No anced to elaborate which side of the political spectrum MacKenzie cames from. No need cither to agree with him. I just thought that his ideas deserved airing. Beyer can be reached at: E-mail: hubert@coelcom.com; Tel (250) 381-6900, Hey, you. Move that ladder WITHOUT A ladder we couldn’t reach high places to tar a leaking roof, clean a chimney, or string Christmas lights. But once the job is done, for safety sake, the lad- der ought to be returned im- mediately to its storage space, or at least laid full length on the ground. Our neighbourhood admires ladders. We display them from season to season, months after their duty is done. A 20-foot aluminum ladder leans against the roof of a two-storey build- ing teady to fight a chimney fire. A 12-foot wooden ladder juts above the roof of a joey shack, Both dwellings have been unoccupied since Octo- ber. With spring weather ap- proaching these ladders invite adventurous kids to clamber skyward and have a look around, Now I know these lots are private property, and kids have no right te trespass, fence or no fence. But kids are . notorious for ignoring rules and risking limbs. My fear is some little kid will be injured or killed either UH-Ou! THERE'S AXEL THE KILLER DOG ON SHORE!!! THROUGH BIFOCALS: CLAUDETTE SANDECKI by tumbling off the ladder or being crushed by a falling lad- der. I've been told I’m worrying needlessly. And it wouldn't be my kid. Still, I remember vi- vidly when I was a teenager and the storekeeper in our prairie town hired a carpenter to help him renovate the out- side stairs leading to the fami- ly’s living quarters over the store. While they went inside for a mid-morning coffee break, Ae —_ ce ie NORMALLY I'D RAISE MY HACKLES , SWELL MY CHEST AND STALK YP To HIM BIG AS LCAN BE! BoTitS A —— ee 7 Op. vequ4kt the two men left their wooden ladder propped against the second story wall. When they returned to the job 20 minutes later, the ladder lay flat on the ground. So did the store- keeper’s 3-year-old daughter, dead, her back broken. What happened? She had no reason to climb the ladder. Undoubtedly she had been warned over and over not to touch it and to stay away from it. Her father castigated him- self for leaving the ladder up- right where it could pose a risk to his little blond angel. The time and trouble he saved himself by leaving the ladder up was lost many times over by the coroner’s inquest and the funeral. Besides being a magnet for children, ladders are an open sesame to burglars, A second storey window with the cur- tains blowing about is an easy entry over a locked downstairs window when a ladder is parked nearby, Crimestoppers advise us to deter crime by locking ladders in storage sheds or garages. ) | YourRE ALL WET! gk? To leave a ladder propped up once its task is completed hints at someone who doesn’t tidy up after himself, who doesn’t put away his tools, who can’t find his equipment when he needs it because he doesn’t have a place for everything and doesn’t keep everything in its place. I view an upright ladder as a calamity waiting to happen. You break no law when you leave a ladder where you last climbed it, even if that was six | months ago. So police won't haul you into criminal court for endangering the life of a minor. But if your ladder contribu- ted to the injury or death of a child, or aided a burglar, you could be sued in civil court. A waste of court time, perhaps. People careless about their possessions are unlikely to have millions to lose in a civil suit. Neighbours who prize their property and care about the local children stow their ‘lad- ders flat on the ground as soon as they step off the bottom rung, ge G y |