Burns Lake Lakes District News, January 23, 2013

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Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Volume 93 - No. 04

Hello friends I am back in the saddle or so to speak; Hugh Neave. p6

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Getting for the Cold Smoke sled races, Feb. 8 and Feb. 9. p13

Remembrance Provincial Memorial meeting of all chiefs planned

Local chiefs not idle WALTER STRONG

Walter Strong photo

Family and friends gathered a the Lakes District Secondary School in Burns Lake on Jan. 20, 2013 to remember the tragic events of Jan. 20, 2012 when the Babine Forest Products mill was destroyed in an explosion that injured 19 workers and killed two.

Broken hearts are slow to mend Hampton Affiliates hold a remembrance memorial service WALTER STRONG On the one year anniversary of the explosion and destruction of the Babine Forest Products Mill, hundreds gathered in Burns Lake at the Lakes District Secondary School for a memorial service in honour of fallen and injured mill workers. Nineteen workers were injured in the Jan. 20, 2012,

explosion. Two were killed; Carl Charlie and Robert Luggi never returned home from their shift. Speakers included Burns Lake Mayor Luke Strimbold, Hampton Affiliates chief executive officer Steve Zika, members of ‘Sawmill B-Crew’, members of the Charlie and Luggi families, Carmen Williams, and Hampton Affiliates owner, David Hampton. “Carl and Robert did not die

in vain,” said Zika. He was speaking of the increased awareness of special safety measures that need to be implemented in light of evidence that the dust of pinebeetle killed wood is uniquely hazardous. He said that thanks to what has been learned, and at the cost of lives lost, the new Babine sawmill would be built to the highest modern safety standards. Mills across the

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continent, he added, have taken into account the increased risk of pine-beetle killed wood. Zika did not gloss over the pain and loss brought about on Jan. 20, 2012. “Not a day goes by where I don’t wake up in the morning, or in the middle of the night, and wonder if there was something that I could have done differently,” he said. “I am truly sorry for not More on page 2...

As protests and Idle No More rallies continued across the country, with some escalating to temporary blockades of roads and railways, Lake Babine Nation Chief Wilf Adam described his take on events of the past few weeks. Adam credits Chief Theresa Spence and her hunger protest with playing a large part in why Prime Minister Stephan Harper agreed to meet with chiefs of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) at a mini-summit in Ottawa on Jan. 11, 2013. For Adam, who was in Ottawa at the time but not at the event, it was a productive meeting. Chief Shawn Atleo, AFN National Chief, told Adam that it was his intention was to ‘set the table for First Nations to negotiate with the federal government on a high level.’ “I think he achieved that,” said Adam.

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Atleo’s achievements aside, Adam expressed some frustration with what he called the ‘moving goalpost’ of demands that Chief Spence iterated regarding conditions that would end her fast from solid food. “Originally, when Chief Atleo went to see her [Spence], she said that she wanted a meeting with the prime minister and then she would end her fast,” said Adam. When it became clear that the Harper would have a meeting with Spence and representatives of the AFN, the chiefs worked together to develop a framework for discussions. “All the executives of the 10 provinces [provincial assemblies of First Nations] and of the two territories unanimously agreed to an eight-point plan to present to the prime minister,” said Adam. “You can’t just ask for a meeting with the prime minister without having something in place.” The eight-point agenda calls for a renewal of high-level ‘nation-toMore on page 5...

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Phone: 250.692.1700 • Fax: 250.692.1750 • Toll Free: 1.866.692.1943 545 Highway 16 West • PO Box 5000, Burns Lake, BC • V0J 1E0 Email: lksdist@cnc.bc.ca • Website: www.cnc.bc.ca/lakesdistrict


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