% ri Ready to go “FIXED | DATE elections may. take a little fun out of politics but it gives the par- _ tles a leg. ‘up on planning. The provincial Skeena Liberals have now joined the NDP in opening a campaign office for the May"17 vote in support of their candidate, Roger Harris. That’s campaign manager Mona Nester on the left 4 ‘with constituency association president Lael McKeown. The office is located on. the corner of. Greig and Kalum. eer tea ~ SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN PHOTO — : Elections invalid | after review board finds big problems | A LOST BALLOT box, con- _ : fusion at the, polls and dis: — - ¢repancies over the number ~ ~ “of people who voted have been listed as reasons for: - overturning last. fall’s coun- _~ cil elections in the Nass Val-: - Jey village of - Laxgalts’ ap “ (Greenville). 7 - The ‘decision * of’ the ~ Nisga’a ‘Administrative De- ‘ cisions: Review’. Board has 7 released’ after fusion. But 16 people had . resulted in new chief.coin- . © cillor and’ council elections” ~. to be held March 21: ‘Ina sevéen-page decision reviewing’ written submissions and oral . testimony, the board found ‘the Nisga’a Elections Office failed to meet standards and “ expectations called for in - legislation..setting out how . the Oct. 27,. 2004. vote was to be conducted. : The review board keyed on discrepancies in the ‘re- -\porting at different times by ~ the elections office astohow __ ‘many. people actually voted. -The official declaration. of results listed 261 people as voting but later testimony “before. the review board by ‘chief Nisga’a Elections Of- ’. ficer Rhonda Peal and her le- .. gal counsel placed that num- , ber at 268 and then 287. ‘In part that was driven by the discovery during the vote itself of a. ballot _misprint which caused «some con- voted by that time, meaning they needed to be contacted . | _ and asked to vote’ again on : hand- corrected ballots. Prince George Home © . Builders Association board. | » Attempts to réconcile the | voting number ‘discrepan- cies by examining the logs . ~of signatures of:people who voted weré made under the supervision of the review “This. . aforementioned search to. reconcile signa- tures to the number of bal- lots counted as reported, by. . ‘the Nisga’a Elections Offi- . ‘cer and repeated by her legal counsel | revealed that con- - - trary to her earlier testimo- ny, only 14 of the-16 people who she claimed recast their vote appeared to have done | so, tainting the credibility - of her entire testimony and casting further doubt on the - results of the election,” the board stated. . The discrepancy in vot- ‘-ing numbers proved -impor- tant for the review board be- cause of the closeness of the . balloting. The breaches of how the balloting was “were significant enough to have had a material effect on the results of the election be- cause the narrow margin of | victory for Chief Council- lor (six) votes and the mere | seven votes..separating the Closest unsuccessful coun- - cillor. candidate cannot. be ~ trivialized when considering, “ the cumulative effect of the unreconciled ballots, the lost ‘ ballot box and ‘confusion * in. the polling station,” the. conducted. ‘of an RCMP. investigation, _ was the one containing: Votes for national Nisga’a Lisims Government elections. held © at the same time as the vil- * _ lage council elections. There was debate during the hearings. over whether or not it could also have con- tained village, council bal- Jots. ‘But because of discrep- “ancies over overall voting _ numbers, the board ruled. | "there. was’ the. possibility it could contain village coun-. ’ cil ballots. . ; Willard Martin. defeated challenger Henry Moore for. the chief councillor position in the now-overturned Oct. 2004 elections by 127 to 121 votes. They face each other again on March 21. Moore was also one of three people to file com- plaints with the review ’ board over how the Oct. 2004 elections were held.. Also filing complaints were Wanda Stevens, who was a scrutineer on election day, ‘and Sylvia Stephens. Sylvia Stephens was also an unsuc- cessful candidate for a coun-. cil position in the Oct. 2004 elections. The Nisga’a ‘Adminis: trative Decisions Review Board is an independent entity established as part of the Nisga’a treaty provisions to examine actions and con- sequences of Nisga’a agen- - board stated. cies. Its three members in- . The missing ballot box, | clude chair Larry Guno who which became the subject is a lawyer. © Presents. # 65% own their own homes “Call Rebekah ™ Or Sharon to | Wh ry become - © Qualified Visitors Attend our show . e 75% attend with both decision makers *® 70% have household incomes >.$50,000 an Exhibitor © 50% are in the 25-54 age bracket. Thousands of Northern BC residents attend . . © Consumer Shows are a tried and true method of creating maximum exposure * Consumer shows are.a cost effective direct marketing tool *The Prince George Home Builders Spring Show is a great place to market your product or service with 20,000 plus visitors and over 200 booths. Fax: 250-563-3815 300-1705 3rd Ave. Prince George _ Sharon.pghba@shawcable.com 250-563-3306 ‘Largest Show. in BCL PRINCE. © ‘GEO HOME BUILDERS: ASSOCIATION ; CHIROPRACTIC SERVICES GREENWOOD e Emergency Care & X-Ray e Auto & Work Injury © Sports Injury’ ¢ Footmaxx Orthotics » NO REFERRAL NECESSARY Dr. R.D: Greenwood | 4635 Lazelle Ave., ; Terrace, B. C. 4 638- 8165 , OPEN MONDAY 0 SATURDAY. PRICED AT ne $177,900 Bus: (877) 635-2404 LEY. - a= ‘Res: (866) 798-9565 m Cell: (250) 615-9169 ‘Email: vance@royallepage.ca . = im Royal LePage Terrace ROYAL LEPAGE | 4741 Park Avenue Ph 615-5578/1-800-697-7388 _ #102-4644 Lazelle Ave., Terrace, B.C. gummmmmmmmmmmmttittsirisititiit UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA ia Are you considering a career in ‘teaching? : The University of Northern British Columbia is now accepting. applications for the Aboriginal Teacher Education Bridging Program. This program is a transition to post secondary studies and provides a culturally supportive learning environment drawing on Aboriginal perspectives. It is a two- semester program at the first year level, leading towards further undergraduate studies and a. Teacher Education Program. The courses will begin in May 2005. We encourage all those interested to contact the Northwest.Regional Office | in Terrace. Mature and special entry students are encouraged to apply. The deadline for application is March 25th, 2005. Late applications will be considered as space allows. For more information, please contact Laura Gosnell or Lisa McLeod at the Northwest Regional Office. Terrace, BC.V8G 2W1 - Email gosnelll@unbe. ca or mcleodi@unbe. ca, On March 25th, ‘we will take used bikes on consignment: fora. huge 1 day sale on March 26th. Bikes must be in working order.* *Details at McBike. Consignment bikes will only be accepted on March 25th. dn the Lazeile Mini Malt e 250-635-5225 e. www-teammebike. com NOTICE: Responsibility for the operation of ‘outpost’ hospitals in Blue River, Edgewood, Kyuquot, Alexis Creek, Atlin and Bamfield will transfer from the Canadian Red Cross to in 1 August, 2005. . The process will see Red Cross first __ transfer hospital operations to the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) on April 1. PHSA will maintain operation of the hospitals _ while completing transitional details, then turn facility operations over to Regional Health Authorities i in August. _ . 4 Regional Health Authorities to assume operation | of Outpost Hospitals Regional Health Authorities (RHAs) . PHSA and f Regional Health. . Authorities recognize the important. ( a x t PROVINCIAL Health Services AUTHORITY Province-wide solutions. Better health, - Should you have questions regarding this announcement, please contact: Charlotte Wardell, 604.675. 1429 ne Canadian Red Cross a the! The transfer aligns operation of the facilities with the province’s fully- integrated health care system, introduced in 2002. It also: completes Red Cross’ gradual “withdrawal from operating outpost hospitals, which once numbered 90 across Canada. " role that these hospitals have played — and will continue to play — in providing primary and emergency care in these remote communities in B.C. Residents should not anticipate ‘any immediate changes to services provided. | .S