inane eT aaa ee eal eT ee : SU RVEY SAYS: 91 in favour.” % i in favour. p the | process: to the ‘public 7 + Put proposed treaties out to refer- endum in affected areas: 86 %in favour. «EH Let natives decide whether treaty land and benefits should go to native government or directly to individuals: 57 - B- Treaties should include phasing out and eventual elimination of govern- ment-funded aboriginal Programs. This tem: 95 %agreed. in no way would eliminate government » funded programs Canadians: 94% agreed. mi Through treaty agreements, all cit- : izens should be taxed using the same sys- im Aboriginal treaties should d provide ° hasis for native peoples to. gain full: equality. with all Canadians, with: the - same righis, opportunities and responsi- bilities ; as every citizen: 96 % agreed. TPE tte ita eed ed adem myer tnt available , to all / Charter of Rights ‘an F jedoms must apply. to any: “aboriginal: self. -BOv- ~ ernment agreement: ! a1 Toagreed. eo m@ Canadian” sovereignty must . be maintained as a priority i in any s ‘sell “BOv- ernment agreement : and self- -povernment should be by delegated: authority (muni ‘cipal style): 89. Toagreed. Poa “EDo governments | have the mandate to: ‘negotiate ‘native’ land; claims?: dl. 7 . 1 OVS, 40.8 % No,; 17. 4 % unde a 4 By JEFF NAGEL QUALITY finality. Those are the two prin- ciples that come through overwhelmingly in the more than 1,700 responses Skeena MP Mike Scott has received to his questionnaire on native land claims. — The survey form was distrib- uted to constituents across the Skeena riding in Scott’s MP Householder repart late last year. Of the responses that were returned, the vast-majarity-agreed that, Jang: claim negotiations now AND underway are’ tao secretive and - that proposed settlements should be, e pul out to referendum, * Scat! says-he found the survey results “a little lopsided” but says - the responses fit closely with his own reading of northwest public opinion from talking to constitu- ents and reading their letters. ’ Many northwesterners, he said, are prepared to reach agree- ~- ments to settle native land claims. But they want agreements that will settle the question once and for ail. _And they don’t want to see any separate or different sets of rights or privileges for natives. “Some of the key things that people are Iooking for in the reso- lution of the land treaty question is finality and equality,” Scotl said, ~ “And the government of B.C. and the government of Candida have never said that is part of their overall strategy in dealing with ber THE TT all PE ~ SPEAK © MP asked for opinions on native land claims and got z an earful SKEENA MP Mike Scott holds an armioad of fust some of the responses to his survey on land claims. a historical wrong to be righted, he said, “and they want to discharge - that responsibility in a way that makes us all Canadians.” | “A preat many people want to see this settled and a great many- people feel badly for the plight of native people and the historical injustices,” Scott said, . “Canadians by and large are decent people and they want to see the decent thing done. “They-also don’t want to see process. Nobody has bothered to ask them how they feel.” So far, Scott added, the tactics of federal Indian affairs minister Ron Irwin and provincial aborigi- nal affairs minister John Cashore _ have been to tell people they must accept the government line or else they’re being uncaring and unsym- pathetic to native people... “Thal’s a slap in the face to Canadians,” he said. “They're say- ing you either have to agree with land claims.” what they're The issue doing or -of equality, in £ G you're wrong, particular, ©. I think what a Scott. said, Canadians by and large are decent people '°tof people in seems lo ‘cut: B.C. are say- deep to the and they want to see the decent thing done. ing is that the idea of: the They also don't want to see the economic struc- government is kind. °° of t ith : tak t or the inciol wrong and had Canada people ture of the province taken apart or the principles jeter change want, of our democracy undermined. its direction.” “There is . Scott’s a great deal of ‘passion and deep feeling on the issue. There is a lot of patriotism coming through _, In what people are saying.” ~." He said the most consistent | theme in comments people wrote on their forms is the idea thal we -. shouldall be equal. : ~ “This is not'a knee-jerk, radi- ; cal, anti-Indian kind of asentiment . "that we’re seeing expressed here,” Seat explained. People understand that there is survey, _ ~~ Selentific potling involves the pollsters selecting a. random sample of people and getting responses from the people selected. a “What you have here is a sell-selecied sample,” umbo said. “To a certain extent, only people interesl- ved in ‘this are going to respond toil. These results are - ‘really of limiled use: “And ‘thaticould ensily ‘skew. the, ‘esis possibly : towards a more anti-land claim response. * Approximately 1,730 survey. forms out of the 30,000 mailed out — or about 5.7 per cent — were. . Feta ein Peo tec i Sbzanert': noe the economic structure of the pro- vince taken apart or the principles of our democracy undermined, and they*ve put thase things forward as being fundamental issues in resolv- ing it.” ~ Government’s behaviour. in negotiating treatles so far haven’ inspired confidence, he said. . “People feel very apprehen- sive aboul the current state of: alfairs,” he said. “They do not feel thal they ore represented in this opinion. advice to Cashore and Irwin? Figure out how people really feel and take a strong hint from that in negotialing agreements. “IT would say to Mr. Cashore and Mr. {rwin you really better pay attention io what people are saying and what people are thinking.” In particular, he said, creating or maintaining divisions between different groups of people will create more divisiveness and con- frentalion in society. Survey results suspect at best, UNBC prof says 7 THE RESULTS of Skeena MP Mike Scott’s land claims survey aren’! terribly credible, says a University of Northern B.C, professor. "The main problem, says statistician and survey - methodologist Dr, Bruno Zumbo, is that the survey ‘depended on people filling in and mailing back the “It's not a case of numbers of individuals,” Zumbo said. “It’s a case of whether individuals who responded represented people of only one lype of ~ “Basically, he sent outa bunch of stuff and here’s some people who responded,’ ” Zumbo said he would be very cautious in any sitrvey.” interpretation of the results, and suggested Scotl may have: gone too far in drawing conclusions. “His conclusions -may be very valid but we can't : say ‘from: this,” he said. . Scott says he makes no olaitns as to the slatistical validity of the survey: “Ie s ‘nol a referendum ora pol * Scott said. sty Sa - “Admittedly people wha feel strongly. ‘about the issue are poing to be the ones. Who fake the. ime to fill ‘in the ‘survey. ‘But'l think it’s fair to say we have a OPLE TALKING BACK The Standard reviewed about a third of the responses. Here’s a sample of some of the comments that came back: “There are two sets of rules — one for natives, one for the rest of us.” “Government shauld be negotiating land claims, but not without public input and not with- out keeping the public informed about their progress or lack thereof." “| cannot see how making a group of people more separate from each other will help breed more tolerance.” "Tha issue is minority rights. A majority vote is no more appropriate in this than in. Bosnia re: Moslems,” “| would be willing to settle with the natives for a fair amount if it meant their self-sufficiency and the end of DIA and the inclusion of natives as full Canadian citizens— ie, taxable and no special privileges.” “The sooner the land claims are settled the better for everybody.” “Populist democracy run by refarendum will destroy any semblance of civil democracy we might have, | find this all rath- et objectionable.” “Mr. Scott you are a racist and will be removed from office.” “How can the government afford to spend what it does not have? We simply cannot afford this.” “A time limit is required, since many people Involved are prolonging proceedings for per- sonal profit.” “Whatever is negotiated, it Ahad better be the end of it.” “Land claims is the greatest con-game in Canada. The way it is being handled guarantees strife, .discontentment and maybe. aven bloodshed for the next 100 years,” . ; “nt they (Indians) betleve feu- dalism will work, we shouldn't ‘deny them the chance to try it. just. because it didn’t work in Europe. Let them choose.” “| would Uke to sea a Canada where all people are equal. Inequality creates racism. "Selt -government will give natives the opportunity to become equal, because. our society bases equality on money and: income, through self- - management of resources." "| think we should consider ‘carefully the request for a vote on such a matter, As individuals, we tend to only care about what 7 affects us personally, and forget. . about what Is fair for others,” . The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, Apri ‘42, 1995 - AS EE ee eee CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD The Mail I Bag Pet owners s taken to task Dear Sir: | Where were the responsible pet owners, when my: defonceless, french Jop (rabbit) was : torn from its cage and brutally murdered in my backyard? ; A couple of big black dogs, German Shepherd in nature and a — small black and white dog, were part of the brutal crime. Does the crime fall on the part of the dogs or does the crime fall - upon the pet owner? As a parcnt we would be held responsible if our kids were running wild and creating crimes in the middle of the night. Why aren’t the pet owners held responsible if their pet is creating crimes in the middle of the night? Can you, as a pet owner, with a clear conscience tell me where your animal is all times? If your animal was confined to your home- late Saturday night, I thank you. To those of you who can’t answer to your pet, late Saturday night, T think it is time for you to reconsider being a pet owner. Jodi Belanger, Thornhill, B.C. inn employees defended Dear Sir: . I take exception to the remarks made about the staff of the Terrace Inn, by Mr, Amarjit Sidhu, the owner of the Terrace Inn. I go to the Terrace Inn for coffee and meals quite often, I always found the staff friendly and courteous, good service and. good meals. Lindesay Burnette, Terrace, B.C. Licence loss will hurt rien An open letter to: Andrew Petter Forests Minister Dear Sir: . Bo I’m the wife of an owner-operator trucker wh Elsworth Camp for five years. We sold our ‘home’ Htince: George to move here so we could have more ofa family fife: Life here is not the easiest to bear. We don’t have telephones and two years ago we were blessed with a transformer to,-have a steady and reliable power supply. Before that we had power ‘fOr a a pencra- tor that moaned and quit frequently. Our winters are long with tons of snow but we've compensated for that now. We have about 20 snowmobiles here and camp buzzes all winter long, This is enjoyed by alot of people here, In’ fact ' we've started having winter carnivals mostly for the snowmobilers, In the summer we have other pests-to deal with, great hordes of black files and mosquitoes. I can’t secm to make up my mind which season is my, favourite, but as summer is nearing Pil prepare for the bug bites. * If Orenda’s liceice is pulled we will not only:lose our Wvelnoo4s but a way of life that cannot be compensated for... 32, ..j.00h There are approximately 200 people living in trailers here, bunk houses that hold 70 men and lots of men commute to work from Stewart and Terrace, Think of ail these people who will be unem- ployed for who knows how long: Millions of dollars worth of equipment will be owned by the banks because of people failing to make their payments, We support the Stewart, Terrace and Smithers, areas. They would also lose because-we spend a lot of money in those places such as banking, groceries, clothing. Everything we've all worked for for the last 9 or 10 years would be wiped ont with the stroke of a pen. Donna Hebert, ~ Esworth campy B.C, Use this word co orreetly An open letter to: Clarence Nyce Dear Sir: As a person with some knowledge’ of the iain disease known as schizophrenia, Iam. writing to protest the i inappropriate. usage of the word ‘schizophrenic’ in your article “Democracy on - Reserves,” ” The Terrace Standard, March 22. Schizophrenia is a disease of the brain which alters one’s s percep- tion of reality. It is marked by disconnection between thoughts, feelings and actions. Those afflicted may experlence one of, or a combination of, hallucinations, delusions, or disordered thinking, It is an illness which destroys their lives, leading many to commit suicide rather than struggle with the hopelessness of the illness. Schizophrenia is youth’s greatest disabler, affecting one in one hundred Canadians. This means that 270, 000 Canadians will be diagnosed with schizophrenia at one point in their lives. 'Thosé with chronic schizophrenia are usually unable to complete their schoo]- ing or hold a steady job. It is not a popular disease and the stigma associated with it is a major problem in trying to achieve public understanding, and gain sympathy for it as one of this country’ Ss: major health problems, The annual cost of this illness in Canada is over four billion. dol- lars and those suffering from it occupy ‘elght per cent of all hospital. : beds. The country pays a high price i in terms of supporting these people. Ia consideration of those with schizophrenia ‘and their family members and friends we would ask for. understanding of the disease and your sensitivity: in the use of f the word. Eileen Callanan, a THE START IS FOR PEOPLE LEARNING TO’ READ . "about Crimestoppers each week in. the newspa The Start — Stop Crime! “THERE IS a new way to stop crime. Iti is called Crimestop- pers, If you know about.a crime, call hiscnumby ai ‘Your name will be kept a secret, 00 "8 If the crime is solved, you can get a reward. You can read, 635.8471 be on TV and the radio.