Land-use plan finished | | The Survival Gene No forest industry job loses oF for now, impact report eee concludes\NEWS AS | Anew initiative against diabetes | in the native community is | launched\COMMUNITY B1 Terrace teams pumped -|The 42nd annual All-Native Basketball Tournament begins this _|week\SPORTS BS bh January 31, 2001 |_www.beclassified.com | $1.00 pus 7¢ GST ($1.10 plus 8¢ GST outside of the Terraca area} TANDARD Native voters to make history By JEFF NAGEL ABORIGINAL peaple who live off re- serve will vote for the first time in local band council elections this year. The Kitsumkalum band goes to the polis March 7 and will be the first of a dozen northwest bands conducting votes under the new rules this year. A 1999 Supreme Court ruling or- dered Ottawa to open up voting to people who don’t live on reserve. The historic change delivers the ' largest expansion of aboriginal voting rights since native people got the right to vote in federal elections in 1960. It means a sea change in aboriginal politics as thousands of new voters can suddenly participate and alter the bal- ance of power in native governments. At Kitsumkalum, the 173 eligible on-reserve voters will be joined by at least 267 more off-reserve voters, says deputy electoral officer Theresa Drake. Final voter numbers aren’t yet available as the band is continuing to track down members who could be eli- gible to vote. Most live in Terrace, Prince Rupert or other north coast communities, she said. , But the band has sent “election packages out to band members, as far away as Alaska, Oregon, California _ and as far east as Toronto. so’ those people can register. , “If you’re off reserve and you hap-. pen to live ‘in China, you get a package,” Drake said. “It’s not like you have to be in Terrace for your vote to count.” “It doesn’t matter where you are in the world. If you are a member of Kit- sumkalum band and over 18, you have a vote.” In fact, officials believe there are Kitsumkalum band members in Japan, but the band doesn’t yet have their ad- dresses, Word has been put out to all current known band members and relatives to notify the. band of other potential band members. “We're relying on word-of-mouth, relatives and our web site,” Drake rl _ That’s beginning to work well, she said, noting new addresses are flowing in all the'time.. To -help distant voters mark their mail-in ballot, she said, all candidates have been asked to write up biogra- phies of themselves that are being mailed out to all off-reserve voters, “That will help off-reserve members make their choices,” Drake said. She said it’s an exciting time be- cause the whole process is helping re- vitalize many bands and reconnect them'to people who have moved away, “The people who currently live off -feserve are being brought into the cir- cle, and our circle has grown,” Drake said. “Whereas before they were on the outside looking in, now they have'’ a chance to participate in everything the on-reserve: people have been doing for years.” ne The change“has also re-energized aboriginal politics, Drake said, adding there’s much more interest in this year’s election. Kitsumkalum chief councillor Diane Collins is running for re-election but faces three challengers — former chief councillor Steve Roberts, Sue Spalding and Richard Roberts. Sixteen people were. nominated for the six seats on band council. “It’s really sparked an interest in the people who have come out and de- cided to run,” Drake said. Anyone — off-reserve members and even non-natives — can run for chief councillor. Bul band councillors must live on reserve, Cont’d Page A2 Rick Rooney, relaxes by the water at Fisherman's Bay before several anglers to the water last week. Rooney, a 30-yaar ve- taking in some fly fishing last Friday. Balmy temperatures lured teran tree faller, was fishing for steelhead. — Tests viewed with caution Student results ‘just benchmark’ By JENNIFER LANG A PROVINCE-WIDE checkup that looked at reading writing and numeracy skills is being viewed with caution by some Terrace trustees. The results of the Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA) showed the Coast Mountains School Dis- trict is lagging beliind the provin-. cial average in reading, writing . and numeracy skills. Individual school results show Terrace’s public schools fared slightly better than the district average, which was worse than the provincial average, and be- hind two independent schools here. ’ “H's just a benchmark, that’s all it is,” said Terrace trustee Diana Penner. “But it'does keep us focused on what we're there for, there are the basics and we are working on thém.” - Penner‘ said she supports this - type of. testing, but it will probab- . ly. be a decade before ‘teal progr- ~ ess.can be nieasured."- © “It gives you a.benchmark to % Grade 10 students not meeting expectations j r i ind Jr. Christian Hl Reading writing Numeracy “at,” Ce Bay ». "The ‘district's Literacy commit: “tee, in place for two: years, has start with but as the years go by, you'll have a foundation to com- pare those areas,” she said, add- ‘ing the assessment will be done on an annual basis for. Gtade 4, 7, and 10. “If you see a marked im-. provement from Grade 4:to Grade © 7, then that’s something to look now expanded to all schools, she said. In addition, there are carly reading programs at some local schools, “I think they are starting to get a real handle on it,” Penner said. Thornhill trustee Hal Stedham agrees. . “I think the school district did fteasonably well overall, and we * should probably be proud about that, but-we need to look very caréfully at the students. who didn’t do well.” He’s particularly troubled by how the district’s First Nations students fared on the assessment. On average, their scores were lower than other students tested here. the FSA because it offers a mea- sure of accountability, although he’s not sure what the schools that. performed well on the assessment are doing differently from other schools. . As well, he said, “Exam wri- ‘ting is only one part of the scheol : experience.” ‘The results, released in No- - vember, prompted Kitimat trustce ‘ Peter King to issue an ultimatum: - requiring the district superinten- dent to vastly improve reading scores by June. That motion was defeated, but - superintendent Herb Fader will be presenting a report.on literacy in the district at next month’s board meeting. “I am confident that the Coast: Mountains board-levet administra- tion and school-based administra- tion and teachers are moving in the right direction,” Stedham said. “There is an awakening,” he said. “They are making an effort. to improve the situation.” Drug zones fail to meet expecations By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN _ ONE YEAR after being set up around local high schools, drug free-zones are falling far short of the visioi otigin- ally sét out by proponents. The two-block radivs zones around Caledonia Sr. Secondary and Skeena Jr. Secondary are still marked by signs, although same have been vandalized. ‘RCMP and federal drug prosecutors say the zones * haven’t really provided them with a new tool to crack down on drug dealers, which was the primary goal and » Claim of drug free zone advocates in late 1999, Organizers of the zones had suggested people convic- + ted of dealing or possessing drugs in a drug free zone _ would be sentenced to twice to three times the normal penalty. In fact, prosecutors already had the ability under drug laws to highlight proximity to schools as being an “aggtavating factor” in asking for harsher sentences. While the zones are a creation of local people ~ and arguably an expression of the community will — they’re not recognized in law and have little or no measurable law enforcement results to date. “In terms of the drug free zones having an effect, it may be in prevention rather than enforcement,” said Cst, : Kurt Grabiasky, the local RCMP detachment’s crime - prevention officer. But even public awareness benefits aren’t what they could be. Leading proponents such as local city councillor, David Hull admit momentum to keep the zones in the’ public eye has died out. oe “What started with a great flourish at Caledonia has tapered down,” said Hull. Cont'd Page At4 Like Penner, Stedham supports | Warning: We're not over winter yet HANG ON TO your scarves, mittens and toques, Old Man Winter is just petting started — if the Farmer’s Almanac is ta be believed. The 208-year-old prognosticator of weather pat- terns warns the balmy temperatures we've been experiencing until now will be coming to an end, The Old Farmer’s Almanac's Canadian edition is predicting a cold snap for the first weck of Febr- uary, followed by snow flurries and colder than normal temperatures into March. ° So far the 2001 edition has been bang on with its forecast for this winter, predicting temperatures in the southern half of British Columbia (including Terrace) would be warmer and drier than normal into January. ; April and May will also be cooler and drier than normal, the Almanac says. June will be the wettest month; otherwise the Almanac is calling for less precipitation than normal. Its forecasts are based on an ancient formula derived by its founder, Robert B. Thomas, in 1792. The authors provide the following disclaimer: “Neither we nor anyone else has as yet gained suf- ficient insight into the mysteries of the universe to predict weather with anything resembling total ac- curacy.” a Environment Canada is also predicting wo'll soon be feeling winter’s bite. “For northern B.C. for ‘March, April and May we're predicting below nor- mal temperatures,” spokesman David Wray said from Vancouver. However, Wray cheerfully admitted long range weather forecasts are less than reliable.