471 amendments Reformers make last stand against treaty REFORM MPs, bleary eyed and fuelled by a steady flow of coffee, sat for 43 hours straight last week to delay Parliamen- tary business in a final act of defiance against the Nisga’a treaty. Reformers forced the record marathon sitting by insisting on formal votes on all 471° amendments they'd proposed to the treaty. Most of the amend- ments were characterized by other parties trivial, in- volving minor changes to wording or punctuation, Reform leader Preston Manning offered to aban- don the amendments if the governing Liberals either agreed to hold a referen- dum in B.C. on the treaty or if they remove the Con- stitutional protection given Nisga’a self-government under the treaty. Both ideas were reject- ed and Reformers carried out their threat to stage the voling delay, which Liber- als estimate cost as much as $1 million in overtime costs. Reformers, who were the only ones opposing the treaty and veting for the Mike Scott amendments, took turns Sleeping two hours at a time to carry out the mara- thon. All the amendments were defeated: by the Lib- erals, Conservatives and NDP. Skeena MP Mike Scott, Reform’s aboriginal affairs critic, said if was an im- portant gesture. “What we needed to do was take an issue that a lot of Canadians had been viewing as mainly a B.C. issue and bring it onto the national stage and rein- force that it’s not just about the future of B.C. but about the future of Cana- Al4- The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, December 15, 1999 da,” Scott said. He denied the amend- ments were spurious, ad- ding many aimed at ensur- ing accountability ta Par- liament once the treaty. ise enacted, “We would have walked away from them if we had been. given -a-cou- ple of amendments,” Scott said. He said it was also im- portant to make a final sland against the treaty to reinforce that Reformers stood alone in opposing it. “[ am convinced beyond any shadow of a doubt that the position the Reform ‘Party ‘has taken is the correct one and ‘that it Will ‘be shown over time that we were right,” he said, The treaty was expect- ed to receive third reading in the House of Commons by carly this week and then go to the Senate, Final passage and pro- clamation ‘isn’t expected to happen until the new year, Scott said he fears fed- eral Indian Affairs minister Robert Nault will move quickly lo table more trea- tics carly in the new year. Man got jail for making threats A TERRACE MAN was sentenced Dec. 9 to three wecks in jail for uttering threats and breaching a no- contact order last summer. The man was arrested in August on six charges including contacting and communicating with his spouse after he had been ordered not to. He was also charged with two counts of uttering threats to harm his ex-wife and her property between Aug. 19-22, 1999, Three of those charges ~ for attending and threa- tening to harm the wom- an’s Thornhill home — were stayed by the Crown, He received a’ concur- Tant sentence of 21 days in jail, an 18-month probation and no contact order as well as being prohibited from owning any: firearms. But because, a large por- tion of his sentence has al- ready been served while awaiting trial, the man is scheduled to be released shortly. House Maxwell Coffee 4.0kg Tin 49° Bo . Black & Decker “CPS Artfaire” . All-In-One Christmas Giftwrap, 5Q% Breadmaker _ Tissue, Gift Bows ; tall 2ib taal & Ribbons reguiar retal $ 99 penal — 149 yee FRIDAY, DECEMBER 17 6pm to 1ipm SKEENA MALL Hors ONLY Chocolates 400g $6°9 _ All Household Appliances, : from‘companies such as + Braun, Black & Decker, - Phillips, and Proctor-Silex ; 25% off” regular price COTY LADY’S & MEN’S Fragrance Gift Sets, Come see Joanne, Lisa and Jessica for all your cosmetic gift needs 20% off regular price | . "NOMA/ALDERBROOK Christmas Hours: Monday to Saturday 9am-9pm SKEENA Sundays & Holidays 11am-6pm MALL Christmas Eve gam-5pm TERRACE, B.C, | Christmas Day closed Boxing Day 1lam-6pm { Mote channels.for; less? This is not a test. ) BM awe With Bell ExpressVu satellite TV, you'l get m more sports, more movies and more @ selection. All without having to pay more. And if there are types of channels you never watch, yoti don’t have to get them. So you don’t pay for them either: Hey, isn’t it time you got a better er picture from your a vi Complete digital systems are $399 (before Programming credit). Bell | ExpressVu *ExpeensMu" is’ tegistered wademnark held by Bei! Exprenvu Ing. “Boll” is 4 regittered wadernatk cl Bell Canady and (user arvilte fiedtise: * : Boke ge soa