Ce eee

Jobs. Jobs. Jobs.

‘The written wo

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oop star returns

Changing the way the forest
industry gets its wood will lead to
more employment/NEWS A5

It's Young Writers Week and that
means a variety of activities i in the .
area/COMMUNITY Bi

Michelle Hendry was here passing
on the finer points of basketball
‘Strategy/SPORTS C1

Laurence Turney

A LANDSLIDE near Lakelse
Lake has partially dammed a
tribulary creek and may muddy
the waters of the Lakelse River
all summer long.

Environment ministry officials
are also worried that fish popula-

_ tions in Mink Creek could be

harmed as a resull.

An area of approximately 25ha
was affected by the slide in which
up to 200m of hillside slid down
into Mink Creek’s shallow valley.

The forest service and Skeena
Cellulose (SCI), which has a
woodlot in the area, last week
released photos of the slide which
occurred sometime between
March 8 and March 23,

“The whole area seems to have
dropped 20-25ft. and moved and
churned,’ said Skesna Cel-
Iulose’s Archie MacDonald.

As a result, the valley floor is
covered with a ‘‘soup’’ of clay,
gravel and silts, he added,

Although it was not possible to
tell exactly, MacDonald said it
appeared the slide began in the
treed area toward the bottom of
the slope.

At the top of the slope, small
portions of SCI and Crown land
cutblocks that had been logged
between 1981 and 1985 slipped
down to leave a 25ft, drop-off.

MacDonald also noted the ter-
rain was relatively flat with only

a 10 per cent slope (a 10m drop
over a distance of 100m).

The slide sent a surge of sedi-
ment into the Lakelse River, the
discoloration being clearly visible
in aerial photos taken by SCI,

Mud and debris also created a
dam, backing creek water up-
stream as far as the CN railway
trestle.

Although the Jand slippage has
halted, MacDonald said there was
a risk that water build-up would
eventually ‘‘blow out’? the dam,
causing more siliation,

Laurence Turney, an environ-
ment ministry ecosystem
specialist seconded to the Kalum
Forest District, noted rains could

» Canada’s very own

LOOK WAY up and we'll call the Snowbirds. The famed
squadron takes to the air May 3 as the main attraction of the
Terrace-Kitimat alrshow. There'll be various other aircraft in

the air and on the ground. One word of warming. Bring
sunglasses, a hat, sunscreen and a chair for full enjoyment.
For mara details, see Page BS. RICK RADELL PHOTO

UI changes to cut benefits
and reduce payout period

IT’S GOING TO take longer to
qualify and the payment period
will be shorter if proposed
changes to unemployment insur-
ance fake hold,

In this area that means people
will have to work for at least 12
weeks instead of the current 10 in
order io collect, say Canada
Employment Centre officials.

And those on claim will only be
able to collect fora maximum 24
weeks instead of the current 34,

Also coming Is a reduction in
the amount to be paid out — from
the current 57 per cent of a per-
son’s wage to 55 per cent.

Overall, there'll be fewer
people collecting unemployment
insurance here and less money
paid out in the northwest.

‘An awful lot of fishermen
qualified before with 10 weeks.
The change to 12 weeks will be
quite significant,’’ noted employ-
ment centre official Alice Ban-

“ nister,
She and centre analyst James

Gilham add that while
changes came into effect April 1 L
legislalion to make them law has
yet to be passed,

Claims filed after April 1 are
being judged according to the
Proposed changes and have been
flagged by computer so that ad-
jestments will be made If the
changes are altered in any way.

Any alterations in the proposed
changes won't put people in the
position of having to pay back
money they may have already
collected.

Gilham and Bannister said it is
too early yet to determine the ex-
act impact of the changes,

But Gilham did note that the
average number of weeks people
now collecting unemployment in-
surance has dropped over the past
several years to the level of the
proposed change, .

“Tn 1992. the average weeks On

claim-for a person in the Terrace .

area was 17,’* he said.
“Ta 1993 the average number

of weeks on claim dropped to 15
and in the first quarler of 1994,
the number of weeks was 14,”

There has also been a diop in
the average number of people
collecting over the same period
— from 2,025 in 1992 to 1,714 in
1993 and to 1,644 in the first
quarter of 1994,

In terms of dollar amounts,
$4,038 million was paid out in
work related claims In Dec, 1993
to 3,203 people in this area,

Gilham also said very few
people on work related claims
ever collect to the maximum
number of wecks,

Work related claims amounted
to a pay out of $42.076 million in
1993, a drop from 1992, he sald.

The proposed changes are the
second series in. two years {o af-
fect the unemployment insurance

program. |

Last year it became harder to -

qualify of a person ‘quit or was
fired: and the benefit rate was

dropped from 60 per cent to 57
per cent.

Gilham said the changes of last
year and this year must - be
balanced against the northwest’s
economic picture,

He noted that while there are
fewer people on work related
claims now then before, there has
been an improvement in employ-
ment opportunilies.

“The trend {swe have more
claimants on shorter benefit dura-
tion periods,” he said.

“If this was five years ago,
these changes would have a much
greater impact than now,’’ Gil-
ham said.

kKkkkk

One piece of good news in the
Proposed changes is a reduction
in the premium rate for 1995 and
1996,

This means that pedple will pay .
33 for every $100 of income

compared. to. the current tate of

$3.07...

~ STANDARD =

andslide swoops into creek

also carry more of the ‘soup’?
into the Lakelse.

That, in turn, could have an ad-
verse affect on fishing in the river
this summer.

“Tt doesn’t take much to cause
discoloration with this kind of
silt,’’ he noted.

Turney said Mink Creek itself
is 2-3 metres wide with some
ponding in parts.

Although it was known to be
home to cutthroat, dolly varden
and coho, he admitted there was
no detailed information on fish
stocks,

While the silt would certainly
have harmed fry and eggs in the
gravels downstream, there was no

~-BESTCOPY
AVAILABLE

756 | PLUS 5 GsT.
VOL. 7 NO, 2°

way to assess any changes in fish
Numbers in the creek, Turney

The dam would also prevent
fish from reaching the upstream
north and south arms of the Mink.

Turney said the environment
ministry experts will draw up
plans to repair the damage.

MacDonald said SCI has pro-
posed sowing grass seed and
planting alders as soon as_pos-
sible to stabilize the slope and
keep surface erosion to a mini-
mum.

He also suggested work could
begin next month on removal of
_log jams created by the slide.

For more on the.
slides in this area, see Page A3

Nisga’a head
into crucial

NISGACA. ‘ARE. getting. fo hear... loadersiwere Sleceuigk }

- important information on the state

of their land claims negotiations
al their 37th annual convention
this week in Prince Rupert.

““We will spell out our negotiat-
ing positions on important issues
such as compensation and land,”’
said Nisga’a Tribal Council presi-
dent Joe Gosnell. .

Those positions are being dis-
clused to delegates in closed ses-
sions which began yesterday and
continue today and tomorow. A
public session is planned Friday.

This’ll be the third year of ne-
gotiations between the Nisga’a
Tribal Council and the provincial
and federal governments.

There’s been no sign of visible
progress save for an agreement
on Nisga’a citizenship that was
released two weeks ago,

But Gosnell did say Nisga’a ne-
gotiators last month outlined their
position on land and compensa-
tion issues to federal and provin-
cial negotlators.

Also a factor, but nat a direct
one, in the negotiations is the
land claims overlap between the
Nisga’a and ithe Gitanyow
(formerly Kitwancool).

The Gitanyow say ihe Nisga’a
claim can’t be settled without
first addressing the overlap.

Gosnell and other tribal council

terms. on

Nominations for the position of
president, secretary-treasurer, ex-
ecutive chairman and representa-
tive to the Northern Native Fish-
ing Corporation took place yes-
terday.

Voting is tomorow and the
results will be announced Friday,

Among those attending sre
Ovide Mercredi. from the As-
sembly of First Nations, provin-
cial aboriginal affairs minister
John Cashore, labour minister
Dan Miller and agriculture,
fisheries and food minister Dave
Zirnhelt

Both Cashore and Zirnhelt are
expected to make announcements
affecting the Nisga’a.

Former tribal council president
Frank Calder will be given a
tribute Friday.

His name became famous in the
1970s when. the Nisga’a Tribal
Council took the federal govern-
ment to court to prove its claim.

The court action became known
as the Calder case because his
name was first on the list of those
listed as suing the government.

The Supreme Court ultimately
split on the Calder case, rendering
a no-decision, but the result did

solidify the concept of aboriginal
rights and title.

THE FUTURE of green space
around Howe Creek will be the
topic of a public meeting,

Called by the Terrace Green-
belt ‘Association, the session
will open with presentations by
five speakers,

City recreation director Steve
Scott will give an outline of
park planning.

Federal fisherles community
liason Barry Peters will ad-
dress Howe Creek enhance-
ment issues, local fishing guide
Jim Culp will talk about water
quality while birdlife wili be
Judy Chrysler's topic.

Finally, Scott MacDonald,
unsuccessful candidate in last
fall's council ‘elections will
tackle community use of the
area, . :

Afier 4 short interval, ihose
present will divide into work-
Ing groups cach of which will

Public invited
to think green

try to come up with ideas on
what should or should not hap-
pen in the Howe Creek area,

The mecting takes place in
the cafeteria building at North-
west Community College be-
ginning at6:30p.m.

Meanwhile, the owners of
Property adjacent to the creek
are suggesting the city should
buy them out.

That comes in the wake of
council’s rejection of a rezone
application that would have al-
lowed construction of luxury
condominiums at the comer of
McConnell and Munroe...

That rejection killed the sale
of the land to developer Dick
Coxford,

*"We feel that we have been
providing this greenbelt and
paying taxes on it for long
enough,” the eight owners sald
ina letter to council. :