106th Year - Week 27
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
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CUP WINNERS Smithers Men win Smithers Cup.
SPORTS/A9
TURNING 30 The Midsummer Music Festival celebrates 30 years.
COMMUNITY/A14
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CANADA Young and old made their way to Heritage Park on Canada Day for some face painting and a number of other activities. Left: Olivia Howard, 2, and Ryan Britton, 8, took advantage of the face-painting activity. Percy N. Hébert and Ryan Jensen photos
SELFLESS GIVING Earnie Harding quietly gives back to valley.
OUR TOWN/A17
Cullen seeks protection for Sacred rivers Private Member’s Bill first step in nation-wide campaign By Percy N. Hébert
INSIDE
Smithers/Interior News
LETTERS A7 SPORTS A9 COMMUNITY A14 OUR TOWN A17 THREE RIVERS B1 CLASSIFIEDS B5
If Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen gets his way, the Skeena, Nass and Stikine rivers will once again find themselves protected under the Navigable Waters Protection Act. Last week, Cullen, NDP House Leader, introduced a Private Member’s Bill in the House of Commons
proposing the protection of the full lengths of the Skeena, Nass and Stikine rivers. “I have submitted a bill demanding these internationally significant salmonbearing rivers in our riding be fully protected under the NWPA,” Cullen said last Tuesday at a press conference in Prince Rupert’s Rotary Waterfront Park. “These rivers
are incredibly important, they’re a big part of our history, but also a big part of our future,” Cullen said. “Our rivers, lakes and ocean are key to who we are as people of the Northwest. “They define us culturally and economically.” Currently, only portions of the three rivers, originating in the area known as The
Sacred Headwaters in north-central B.C., are protected under the NWPA. “We will not allow a misguided Conservative government to destroy our lives and livelihoods by turning a water protection act into a pipeline protection act.” Cullen’s initiative is seen as a positive step by local conservation groups. “Way to go
Nathan,” was Skeena Watershed Conservation executive director, Shannon McPhail’s, initial reaction to the news. “It just doesn’t make sense that these incredibly important rivers that bring tens of millions of dollars to our economy should have ever been excluded from the Act.” Cullen said the idea for the Private
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Member’s Bill had been in the works since the Conservative government stripped protection from 99 per cent of lakes, rivers and streams when it introduced Omnibus Bill C45 last October. Discussions with voters and MPs of all stripes convinced Cullen he was not alone in his opposition to the NWPA. See RIVERS on p. A2
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