S TANDARD TERRACE
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VOL. 25 NO. 42
www.terracestandard.com
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Initials put to treaty deals NEGOTIATORS for the federal and provincial governments and the Kitselas and Kitsumkalum have initialed land claims agreements in principle which, if approved, will form the basis for final treaties. The initialing took place in Vancouver Jan. 22, setting the stage for both First Nations to eventually receive cash, land, resource control
and self-governing powers. Kitselas members are to vote on their agreement in principle Feb. 20 while a firm date for a Kitsumkalum vote has yet to be set. A simple majority of 50 per cent plus one voter of those who to turn out to vote is required for approval for each agreement in principle. Approval on the part of the provincial government
and approval from the federal side come from within their respective cabinets. Gerald Wesley, the chief negotiator for the Kitsumkalum and the Kitselas, said there were no substantive changes from details released last fall when a letter of understanding was signed. The land, 45,406.3 hectares or 454 square miles for
Kitsumkalum and 36,158.7 hectares or 362 square miles for Kitselas, comes from the provincial Crown and does not involve private land holdings. Under treaty negotiations principles in B.C., the province is responsible for land and resource elements while the federal government provides the cash which works out to $44.2 million for Kit-
sumkalum and $34.7 million for Kitselas. “But there will be an opportunity in the final treaty negotiations to make changes,” said Wesley. Agreements in principle aren’t considered binding. What is lacking in the initialed agreement in principle, just as was the case last fall when information was first released, are details
of fishery and marine allotments for the Kitsumkalum and the Kitselas. That stems from a federal government decision not to negotiate fishery components within treaties pending the release and consideration of the Cohen commission inquiry into the collapse of the Fraser River fishery.
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BC Wildlife Fed opposes blanket fish ban proposal By Anna Killen
MARGARET SPEIRS PHOTO
■■ Auto crime prevention terrace rcmp Const. Devon Gerrits puts a crime prevention notice on a windshield, part of a four-week campaign to cut down on auto crime. Officers will be checking vehicles to ensure they are properly locked and have no personal objects inside in plain view, among other things, to make sure they aren’t easy targets for thieves. The notice will let drivers know what they need to improve on, if anything.
The British Columbia Wildlife Federation (BCWF) has come out against the proposal to move trout and char to catch and release only in Skeena-region rivers and streams, citing the blanket nature of the proposal and the lack of money to properly manage the system. “Part of our position is that this is a blanket prohibition and the system lacks funding for the good management of the resource,” said Bill Bosch, president of the body which says it represents roughly 40,000 British Columbians. “Funding’s been cut all across the province for all kinds of wildlife management issues. It is a provincial issue – you can’t do more of the same with less money.” The proposal as posted on the forests, lands and natural resource operations website, states that the “Skeena Region requires a more precautionary approach to management of trout/char. The proposal change is to set regional angling harvest quotas of trout/char to zero. From this baseline, water-specific risks associated with harvest will be evaluated, with retention quotas reapplied where appropriate.” If the proposal goes through, the changes would apply to the Kitimat, Skeena, Nass, Stikine, and Dease River drainages. Lakes in the region
with wild trout and char populations would not be affected and keeping fish would still be allowed in those waters. Similar regulations are in effect in other regions of the province. A decision is set to be made on the regulation change by the end of March. A petition opposed to the change has been circulating around Terrace since early this year. BCWF also takes issue with how the proposal came to fruition. Critics of the proposal say a small amount of anglers have an unfair proportion of the say on how these proposals are written. “It’s very important to work with all of the stakeholders in a process that is fair, equitable and transparent,” Bosch said. “We’ll work with all stakeholders but the process has got to be fair.” In its formal submission to the government, the regional branch of the BCWF, the Northwest Fish and Wildlife Conservation Association (NWF&WCA), said the proposal was a “heavy-handed approach” that lacked scientific proof. “The proposal in question lacks stream and regionally specific science foundation to justify its application,” states the letter, addressed to Steve Thomson, the minister responsible for Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations.
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Sexy Laundry
No shows
Girl power
Terrace Little Theatre gets ‘sexy’ with its dinner theatre \COMMUNITY A11
City effort to probe opinion on budget draws sparse response \NEWS A4
Seven female hockey players will represent the north at the U16 BC Cup \SPORTS A17