A4 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, June 19, 1996 TERRACE > STANDARD ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988 ADDRESS: 3210 Clinton Street Terrace, B.C. « V8G 5R2 TELEPHONE: (604) 638-7283 » FAX: (604) 638-8432 E-MAIL: terrace.standard@sasquat.com MODEM: (604} 638-7247 A bad idea ONE ISSUE which didn’t pop up during the provincial election campaign is now being raised — the giving by governments of grants or incen- tive loans to large corporations. It probably didn’t become an issue because government financing of business activity is not something people would normally think of being done by the NDP. Instead we normally assume the NDP would help its trades union and other traditional supporters. But a $15 million loan to a large mining com- pany in partnership with a multi-billion dollar Japanese company to develop the Huckleberry copper mine south of Houston once more raises the question of why governments get into the pri- vate enterprise field at all. The $15 million is to improve roads and to run a power line to the property owned by Princeton Mining Corporation. It and Mitsubishi Minerals are spending $137 million on the Huckleberry which is due to go into production next year. *‘Not only can taxpayers ill-afford such profligacy but these loans place government in a direct conflict with its legitimate role as regulator,’’ states Troy Lanigan of the Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation, a body which views any government expenditure as potentially bad news. His comments are echoed by the Cheslatta band on whose traditional lands the mine is located. It goes further by digging up some past history on Princeton by pointing out that a Princeton sub- sidiary called Cassiar Mining Corporation walked away from a $32 million loan given it by the Socred government of the 1980s. That loan went to changing the way Cassiar Mining Corporation-mined asbestos at Cassiar to the north of us. Things didn’t go’well. In early 1992 Cassiar Mining Corporation was in deep trouble and the newly-elected NDP government denied further assistance, placing the company into receivership. The mine closed, resulting in the loss of hundreds of jobs and the death of the town of Cassiar. In 1994, the NDP officially wrote off $29 million remaining on the $32 mil- lion loan. The point being hammered home by the Cana- dian Taxpayers’ Federation and the Cheslatta is that the province has no business being involved in business, particularly when Princeton and Mit- subishi are already well financed. It’s even more telling given Princeton’s past financial history through its Cassiar subsidiary. Cabinet minister Dan Miller defends the $15 million Joan saying the province will get a piece of the action once the Huckleberry mine opens up. But is that the role of a government? Should it be in the income producing business using tax- payers money in such a fashion? It’s also said the Japanese feel better about their investment once the provincial government chipped in. Yet the very act of the province ap- proving the mine plan should be signal enough that the project has its blessing. Old-time NDPers used to live by the credo of “from those according to their ability to those according to their need.’’ That’s clearly not the case with the Huckleberry project. The last thing we need now is having our government dabble in such enterprises. PUBLISHER/EDITOR: Rod Link - ADVERTISING MANAGER: Rick Passmore PRODUCTION MANAGER: Edouard Credgeur NEWS Jcif Nagel * NEWS SPORTS: Dave Taylor COMMUNITY: Cris Leykauf OFFICE MANAGER: Laurie Ritter ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS: Sam Collier, Janet Viveiros, Karen Dietrich & Cheri Reidy ‘ADVERTISING ASSISTANT: Emma Law, Kelly Jean TYPESETTING: Sylvana Broman DARKROOM: Susan Credgeur CIRCULATION SUPERVISOR: Karen Brunctte . MEMBER OF 8.C. PRESS COUNCIL Serving Ihe Terrace and Thornhill area. Published on Wednesday of each week by Cariboo Press (1969) Ud, at 9210 Clinton Steet, Terrace, British Columbia, VaG SR2. Stories, photographs, illusirations, designs and typestyles in the Terace Standard are the property at the copyright holders, including Cariboo Press (1969) Ltd.; its istration repro services and advertising ncles, . Reproduction In whole or in part, without written permission, |s specifically prohibled. Authorized ag second-class mail pending the Pos! Office Department, for payment of postage In cash. Special thanks to all our contributors and correspondents for their time and talents ~ STEPON MY TOES 7 (AND TLL SHOVE HAT SIL WEED 7 DOWN YOUR TAROAT,... ae Yor” Swedes hear just one side VICTORIA ~~ One day last week [ had lunch with George Erasmus, co-chairman of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. Not sur- prisingly, the conversation turned to the plight of Cana- da’s aboriginal people. The next day 1 received in the mail a newsletter, called Taiga-News, published in Sweden, which contained a front-page story about the plight of Canada’s aboriginal people. The article was written by a certain Anne Janssen, co- ordinator of the Taiga Rescue Network, the environmental group that publishes the newsletter. The difference between the two was striking. I was deeply moved by the quiet passion with which Erasmus pleads the case of his people. I was in- censed by the Swedish touch Taiga-News brought to the same subject. Not that the article contained oulright lies. It was the omis- sions that made the piece so objectionable, The author of the piece was either not in- fonned about the genuine progress in Canada lo right the centuries-old wrong against her native people, or chose to ignore it. HUBERT BEYER Erasmus of the Dene Nation has been working for aboriginal causes most of his life. He’s a former National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations. He pioneered higher education and, the open univer-. sity concept for the North. He was actively involved in the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline In- quiry. And for more than two years now, aS co-chairman of the Royal Commission, Erasmus has been listening to ihe cries of anguish of his people. But he has also heard voices of hope for the future. Two years ago, at a UBC convocation address, Exasmus said, ‘‘identity is the single most important thing for an aboriginal human being, But our every institution was as- saulted, even the great mysteries, why we arc alive as human beings. We couldn’t even keep our own names, Everything was gone.” I asked Erasmus if he sees signs of hope for change? He said yes. It won't happen over- night. I may not happen next year or even in the next decade. But, yes, there is change. There is progress, he said, And here’s what the Taiga- News had to say about Cana- da’s treatment of aboriginal people: “It is the beauty and natural resources on and from which the first nations live that is being ruthlessly exploited by “trans-national companies. The beauty is fast turing into devastated landscapes of clear- cuts and mining. **The traditional livelihoods are destroyed, the natural Tesources exhausted. The wealth generated by the mas- sive natural resource utilization doesn’t benefit the original owners of the land. Democracy has not been granted to the in- digenous people.’’ There is no mention of the work of the royal commission, no mention of the progress made in treaty negotiations with British Columbia’s First Nalions, no mention of the Nisga’a treaty. While Erasmus has devoted a lifetime to the betterment of his people and actually believes that things are chang- ing for the better, the article in Taiga-News is the product of Shoddy research, — presented with cheap rhetoric. Only a fool or a bigot would deny that Canada’s past teat- ment of aboriginal people doesn’t sland up to scrutiny, but it takes a great deal of will- ful mischief or to ignore the willingness of non-aboriginal Canadians to atone for the sins of the past as well as the genu- ine progress being made. carer a bar : ““Atthe aforementioned UBC convocation address, Erasmus told the students that non- aboriginals have often said: ‘*Don’t blaine us for what hap- pened hundreds of years ago.” Scanning the audience, Erasmus added: '‘No problem at all. Let’s see what you will do in the next 25 years, the next 50 years.”’ Let’s sec, indeed. Beyer can be reached at Tel: 920-9300; Fax: 485-6783; E- mail: hubert@coolcom.com Buck passing “THE BUCK stops here,’’ U.S. president Harry S. Truman always said, Raised to respect Missouri family values, Truman believed along with the perks of office came the obligation to accept ils responsibilitics. What an old fashioned no- tion. Today it’s tough to find people with Truman's guts, In a Province article debating whether or not parents should be held legally responsible for their kids’ crimes, a 36-year- old mechanic replied, ‘‘No. IVs a matter of education, It’s ‘THROUGH BIFOCALS CLAUDETTE SANDECKI about school and media. The warking parent doesn’t have the time any more to influence his or her child,’’ So what’s a parent for? To give birth, feed the baby, and pen it in its crib Ilke a farm animal, but icave it lo teachers and television to teach it how to get along in society? To teach it civic responsibility, good mamiers, and other niceties that will make it wel- AT LAST!A HOLIDAY OUT OF THE NORTH WHERE WE'RE NOT AT EVERYBODY'S BECK ANP CALL | come in its community? It’s funny how the media is always the scapegoat. The me- chanic says media should in- fluence his children to da right, On the other hand, Preston Maaning blames the media for making his party look like re- necked radicals. Both the me- chanic and Manning sidestep personal responsibility. Another glaring lack of re- sponsibility shows up over and over i the Westray mine dis- YO! BRol You SAvvY DAMA TING BOUT DIS MUDPAH ?!! should stop aster inquiry now in its four- teenth week in Stellarton, Nova Scotia, Under Nova Scotia's policies for coal mine safety, every miner is responsible for identi- fying safety hazards in his work place and reporting them to management for correction. This the miners did; manage- ment ignored their worries, cut comers to cut costs, and failed to supply either the equipment or the plan for coal dust test- ing. Consequently coal dust buildup — a coal mine’s most coustant hazard —- went un- monitored between inspectors’ monthly visits. Though inspectors had years of coal mining experience, they themselves belicved they were inadequately qualified to inspect a mine such as Westray with its modem technology, technology with which they had no working experience. Yet when they asked to be sent to Alberta for upgrading in modern mining techniques, their request was denied by their director. June 10 the director, Jack Noonan, testified his in- spectors didn’t have to under: | stand modern mining methods in order to satisfactorily in- spect the mine for health and safety factors. Several weeks earlier Do Cameron, who was premier of Nova Scotia at the time of the May 1992 Westray explosion that entombed 26 miners, testified he would have been responsible for safety shortfalls that led to the explosion if he had known the hazards existed. Bul since no one informed him of excessive coal dust buildup, he was not responsible. So we have parents, politicians, and prestigious of- fice holders shucking responsi- bility quicker than a search and rescuer doffing his down jack- el to save a drowning toddler, Harry Truman must be spin- ning itt his grave, T'S ONLY ‘TIL SATURDAY WHEN HIS COOSIN- GETS BACK FROM THE MAINLAND!