The Chilliwack
Progress Tuesday
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They were dressed in their best as dogs and owners marked a 30th anniversary.
New program a first for Canada.
Sardis girls rolling in a league of their own.
Y O U R C O M M U N I T Y N E W S PA P E R • F O U N D E D I N 1 8 9 1 • W W W. T H E P R O G R E S S . C O M • T U E S D AY, A P R I L 2 3 , 2 0 1 3
Yale treaty approved over Sto:lo concerns Jennifer Feinberg The Progress
Chad Eros, Conservative candidate for Chilliwack, speaks during Thursday’s all-candidates meeting at the Best Western. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
Candidates square off in first debate The Progress
Chilliwack’s first major all-candidates’ meeting outlined this season’s big election issues, and pitted all the candidates against each other at a panel-style discussion. All eight Chilliwack and Chilliwack-Hope riding candidates butted heads on Thursday at the Best Western Rainbow Country Inn in a forum organized by the Chamber of Commerce. The floor opened with a two-minute statement from each candidate about why they’re running. Later, anonymous audience questions directed the debate towards Metro Vancouver’s proposed waste-toenergy incinerator, Kinder Morgan’s planned pipeline twinning, funding
for teachers and special education, the high cost of higher education, and the continuation of B.C.’s Knowledge Network. B.C. Conservative candidate Chad Eros, running in Chilliwack, spoke first. “The Liberals and NDP want you to think that this is a two-party system, where you only have to be slightly better than the other party. But when the B.C. Conservatives cause or even win a minority government, they will see that they will have to be better than us too,” said Eros. John Martin disagreed in the value of a Conservative party in Chilliwack. As a Conservative in the byelection last year, he admitted to having his “butt kicked” by Gwen O’Mahony, and is now running as
a Liberal. “When the non-NDP vote is pursued by more than one party, the NDP is very likely to win. Even in a riding that they historically wouldn’t have thought of coming their way,” Martin said. In reply, O’Mahony said she worked very hard for the people of Chilliwack in the last year, enjoyed the experience, and deserves to keep her MLA seat. “This is a job we’re applying for. I said last year...try me out for a year. Put me on probation, see what kind of representation I bring, and then you can decide if you want to renew that contract,” said O’Mahony. Sole Green Party candidate Kim Reimer was quick to speak about issues beyond water chlorination. “In the last few months, I’ve
become the leading voice for the chlorination of our water. Forcing chlorination on the most pristine water supply in Canada is an issue that’s going to have experts clashing and people talking for years to come. While this is very important to me, it’s opened my eyes to much broader issues,” said Reimer. Despite not receiving an invite to the meeting from the Chamber of Commerce, B.C. Excalibur Party leader and Chilliwack riding candidate Michael Halliday decided he deserved a seat at the table, so he just showed up. “I asked, “Where’s my seat?” said Halliday. “If I can’t stand up for myself, I can’t stand up for the province.”
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The Yale Treaty final agreement was quietly inked on April 13, becoming the third tripartite treaty agreement to come out of the B.C. treaty process The final agreement means Yale First Nation will own about 1,966 hectares of treaty lands, including 217 hectares of its former Indian reserves and 1,749 hectares of provincial Crown lands. Yale will also get $10.7 million from Canada, less any outstanding negotiation loans, and economic development funding of $2.2 million. The many stages of the treaty process proceeded over almost two decades, but did not solve specific concerns of the Sto:lo people around access to traditional fishing and sacred sites in the Fraser Canyon. Doug Kelly of the Sto:lo Tribal Council says the B.C. Liberals “declared war on the Sto:lo” by moving ahead with the Yale Treaty in this way. “This treaty is deeply flawed. Instead of achieving certainty, creating economic opportunity, and establishing a new relationship with First Nations, this treaty will result in confrontations between the Sto:lo and DFO Fisheries officers and RCMP officers.” But that’s not at all how the signees are depicting the treaty signing achievement reached by all the parties recently. “This marks an historic step towards achieving a treaty for Yale First Nation,” said Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt in the release that went online April 13. The treaty provides for Yale First Nation ownership of subsurface and forest resources, as well as fishing, gathering and harvesting rights for