Drinking drivers targeted RCMP are out enforcing the Christmas CounterAttack Pioneer Legacy Hazelton powerhouse In time for Christmas, a new book reveals the history of this - Local wrestlers ran into strong opposition Dec. 6 at a regional campaign\NEWS A14 area\COMMUNITY B1 tournament\SPORTS B7 WEDNESDAY ~ December 17, 1997 Lights contest deadline nears THERE’S BARELY 24 hours left to enter the 9th an- nual Christmas Decorating Contest. The deadline is Dec. 18 at S p.m., giving organizers time to organize the entries and give them to the judges. They'll be out Friday night, Dec, 19. Judges are to award winners in five categories — best home, best apartment/mobile, best street, best commer- cial display and best ¢ffort overall. Those doing the judging come from the ranks of local realtors, the Terrace Beautfication Society and city council, says organizer Derick Kennedy on behalf of contest sponsor the Northwest Real Estate Board. Also sponsoring the event is The Terrace Standard, Winners in the categories will receive plaques and a variety of prizes donated by local merchants. Entries can be submitted to any real estate agency or to the Northwest Real Estate Board office. That fax manber is 638-1837. Kennedy asks that entrants make sure their lights are TANDARD = 93¢ PLUS 7¢ GST VOL. 10 NO. 36 Majority won't sign, poll finds Recall support softer here than Prince George JUST OVER half of Skeena voters say they will not sign a petition to recall MLA Helmut Giesbrecht, according to a poll paid for by the Vancouver Province newspaper. The poll of 204 people in Skeena by McIntyre- Mustel Research Associates Dec. 10-11 found 51 per cent don’t plan to sign the recall petition. It found 29.9 per cent of voters here plan to sign the petition or already have. And 18.6 per cent are undecided. The margin of error is plus or minus seven per cent, 19 times out of 20. In order to force a byelection, the recall forces _ here must sign up 40 per cent of people who were eligible to vote here in the last election. If the poll is correct, Prince George-North MLA Paul Ramsey is in greater danger of being recalled Of those polled in Prince George-North, 39.3 per cent say they'll sign the petition to recall Ramsey. Another 46.1 per cent say they won’t sign, and 10.7 per cent are undecided. The poll shows the number of undecided voters in Skeena is significantly higher in every age cate- gory than in Prince George-North. Women here are twice as likely as men to be undecided about recall, with 24.5 per cent saying they’re unsure compared to 12.7 per cent of men. Of decided women voters, twice as many say they'll reject the petition than will sign. The leading reason for signing the petition against Giesbrecht given by poll respondents was “generally poor representation of voters in riding.” Other leading responses were “miscellaneous” and “general dislike of NDP party.” OF those who are refusing to sign, the main rea- sons given were “like MLA/doing a good job in general” and “disagree with recall legislation.” Of those contacted, 0.5 per cent in Skeena refused to participate with pollsters, and 3.8 per cent refused to answer questions in Prince George- North. Respondents were asked: “As you may or may not be aware, a petition is being circulated in this riding to recall the New Democrat MLAs Paul Ramsey/Helmut Giesbrecht. If the petition is signed by at least 40 per cent of registered voters a byelection will be called to elect a new MLA, Have you already or do you plan to sign the recall petition?” Those who answered yes or no were. asked “Why is that?” For more information on the poll, call 604-605- 2063. Local recall campaign organizer Lome Sexton said he believes the poll understales the level of support for recall in Skeena. Sexton said people are cautious about giving information on the subject over the phone to strangers. “J don’t think a telephone poll on this issue is going to give them an accurate counl,” Sexton said. on early Friday night for viewing by judges. & Kermode spirit CALEDONIA FANS tured out in droves for the annual Kermode Classic basketball tournamant held here over the weekend. This game saw more than 200 fans cheer the home team on to a 76- than Giesbrecht. 48 victory over the visiting College Heights Cougars. The Caledonia boys team continued their success as the weekend progressed. For more on the toumament see Page B7. West Fraser shutting down for six weeks | NEARLY 200 West Fraser sawmill workers will be out of work for at least six weeks starting Friday. Skeena Sawmills had planned just a two-week Christmas shutdown from Dec. 19 to Jan. 5. But company officials now say the shutdown that begins on Friday will continue until at least Feb. 2, Trevor Fourmeaux, West Fraser’s new genexal manager of northwest operations, said even that date is tentative, ad- ding the decision to restart will depend on market condi- tions at the time. “Basically we’ve just got really, really soft lumber markets,’’ Fourmeaux said, ‘“‘The green and ary hemlock” market has slid off considerably since about July.”’ i The problem of high logging costs is also continuing, he said. “We are losing significant amounts of money at this time,’” Fourmeaux said, ‘‘We sce it simply as a combina- tion of high log costs, low quality fibre to work with and sagging lumber prices ‘right now,’’ he said. Provincial government officials say they’re still working towards an overhaul of the stumpage system, possibly by carly in 1998, But that effort is complicated by differences of opinion ‘ between interior and coastal producers, as well as the larger problem of changing the stumpage System without sparking American objections that B.C. is unfairly sub- ’ sidizing the industry. Skeena Sawmills’ 165 hourly employees are being issued layoffs, while some managers are being asked to use up some vacation time during the shutdown. Some maintenance will continue during the shutdown, - Fourmeaux said, and there will be some log yard activity to handle small amounts of wood coming out of the Douglas Channel, All logging near here has already halted. The shutdown mirrors the extended shutdown of West Fraser last winter, which stretched on for 74 days before operations restarted on March 4. Loggers remained out of . work for another mouth and a half until mid-April when | Gitxsan leader says Nisga’a could achieve a better deal THE NISGA’A are settling for too litle and may want to scrap their treaty agreement in principle in light of a major land claims Supreme Court ruling last week, says a promi- nent noxthwest native leader, Gitxsan chief negotiator says the ruling on the Gitxsan and Wet’suwet’en claim to a huge area of the northwest supports the longstanding Gitxsan view that a treaty should lead to co-management of all 30,000 square kilometres of Gitxsan traditional territory, centred on the Hazeltons. The Nisga’a have pursued a different course, agreeing to retain just eight per cent of their traditional territory in the Nass Valley as ‘‘core lands” to which they'll have title, jurisdiction and resource rights. While the province refused to negotiate further with the Gitxsan — forcing the Delgamuukw case to the highest court — it signed an agreement in principle with the Nisga’a and is close to signing a final treaty. The Supreme Court's ruling on the Gitxsan and Wet- suwet’en claim recognizes aboriginal title to all Jand that’s been occupied and used since the Crown asserted sovereignty, _ Ryan sald the Nisga’s could miss out on further advances if they sign the treaty presently on the table, “They (Nisga’a) would have to reject the agreement in principle,’’ Ryan said. ‘1 think that there! s elements in the agreement in principole that are prejudicial to the interests of the Nisga’a in the long run.”’ Nisga’a Tribal Council president Joe Gosnell had little reactlon to Ryan’s comments, *Everyone’s entitled to their opinion,’’ Gosnell said. “'The courts have certainly encouraged negotiations to take place and that is precisely what we are doing. As far as [’m concerned we're on track.” He called the Supreme Court decision another strongly worded affirmation of aboriginal interests in B.C, “Once again the highest court in this country has articu- lated that we have title and rights to the land,’”’ he said. Gosnell said the ruling deals a blow to opponents of a Nisga’a treaty, “The judgement represents in ovr view a defeat of the forces bent on destroying the negotiation process,”’ he said. The Nisga’a and the Gitxsan village of Gitanyow have an ownership and jurisdiction issue of their own. The federal and provincial governments have said they won't finalize treaties without overlaps first being settled, For more on last week's Supreme Court ease, please | turn fo Page Al3. — Joe Gosnall the company received assurances from the province that efforts were being made to reduce logging costs. 4 Highway a mess THE REGIONAL district board wants to take a leading . role in pressuring the province to improve Hwy37 north of Kitwanga. Directors complain that their repeated requesis for improvements to the deteriorating highway have gone unanswered. And many argued that poor road condi- tions were driving tourists away. “T think it’s very important the this regional district to take the initiative,’’ sald Hazelton director Alice Maitland. ‘‘We should grab this and hammer at it. They (the provincial government) get on their hobby horse and ignore stuff that’s failing apart around them,”’ The board discussed information from Smithers reai- | dent Fred Shortreid, who pointed out that a 1991 minis- try of small business document bad recognized the im- portance of Highway 37 to the northwest. Shortreid wrote to the board that he had chaired a task force on tourism development in the region for the ministry. “The lack of a suitable link from our region to the northern part of the province has a detrimental effect on the economy and could put some businesses depending on it in jeopardy,’’ he wrote. Shortreld asked the board, and any other group con- nected to touriam, to work with the highways ministry to reactivate the 1991 recommendations. ‘|