The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, October 21, 1998 - Al 3

DOUBLE DOUBLE

Nisga’a treaty info

draws political fire

TERRACE STUDENTS are
already learning about the
Nisga’a treaty in advance of
a new study guide which in-
cludes the document,

The guide, called Shared
Learnings, enraged provin-
cial Liberal leader Gordon
Campbell last week, saying
students were being used as
pawus by the NDP govern-

--ment-in.its public relations
~ cainpaign

concerning the
treaty.

‘Ed Harrison, president of
the B.C. social studies asso-
ciation and a teacher at
Caledonia Secondary, said

‘he’s discussed the treaty
with his students in a cur-
Tent events context,

“We. present information

to the students — we don’t
present just one side,’ he
said. ‘‘We don’t make up
their minds.”
«Skeena Junior Secondary
social sludics teacher, Clint
Elliot, said its an individual
teacher’s choice whether to
talk abou the trealy or not.

Elliot said he was going to
look at. the guide but not
necessarily follow it.

“What we’d likely do is
get public speakers in to talk

“about both sides of the is-

suc,”” he said,
For his part, Campbell
said the treaty hasn’t even

Gordon Campbell

young, people into their
position on the Nisga’a
trealy,’’ Campbell said in an
interview Oct. 15 about the
learning guide.

And he said it was wrong
for the province to spend an
estimated $5 million on in-
formation to sell the treaty
and include the schools as a
means of dispensing the
promotional material.

Campbell said he would
be glad to have school chil-
dren read about the Nisga’a

‘treaty in newspapers and to

have open minded debates
about the pros and cons of
it,

said,

Campbell did say be bas ‘-

no trouble in talking about
the need for treaties or of

“the dismal record we have

in lerms of dealing with
aboriginal people and giving
them a sense of hope and
opportunity,”

Education minister Paul
Ramsey says the guide has

lessons designed so. kinder...

garten to Grade 12 students
can develop more of an ap-
preciation of First Nations
culture.

Ramsey says students
learning about the Nisga’a
treaty will be able to put the
event inio an educationally-
sound, historical context.

“Tthink it’s important that
issues like this be discussed
in our province’s class-
rooms,’” Ramscy said. This
kind of history is real, it’s
current, it engages our stu-
dents.”

Ramsey insisted he was
not trying to change B.C,’s
curriculum, And he’s not
telling teachers what to in-
struct since they can decide
whetber they want to teach
about the treaty or not.

“What I can do is prepare
material that presents facts,

which presents historical :

background, which provides
an opportunity for discus-

been passed yet.
‘T's wrong to use our
schools to indoctrinate

Liberals gathering here

BC. LIBERALS here are adopting
Reform-style grassroots tactics to try to
make their parly listen more to the needs of
northerners.

Local party organizer Linda Hawes said
the party is having a northwest issues forum
here on Nov, 13 where locals can help set
future policics and platforms.

She said the idea is a Reform-style solu-
-tion to deal with the probiem that ihe party
was seen in the last election as too focussed
on the south to the neglect of the north.

"Some of the policies run on last time by
the Liberals didn’t fy so well in the north,”
noted constituency president Derrick
Curtis.

“Tf you want to govern all of the people, ©

“But this is not what the
government has done,’’ he

sion of all points of view
about treaty making,’’ Ram-
scy said.

you’ve got to listen to all of the people,”
Hawes added,

Things may get of to an early start with
the visit here Oct. 27-28 of party leader
Gordon Campbell. He’s planning a series of
economic mectings and will be the speaker
ata dinner Oct. 27 in Terrace.

Hawes said the planned Nov. 13 forum
will see three Liberal MLAs from other
parts of the province come here.

Recommendations and idcas coming out
of the northwest forum will then be taken to
a bigger northern forum in Prince George in
February, Hawes said.

And what comes out of that will form the
north’s submissions for the party’s 1999
‘convention.

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635-3332,

plus tax

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