NEWS: Buck Flats Road work
NEWS: Babine Sockeye Salmon
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Wednesday, July 31, 2013
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Huckleberry issues settled By Walter Strong Black Press
CELEBRATING Seventy-five
Jackie Lieuwen/Houston Today
Canfor’s Western General Manager Luke Drapeau cuts into the Canfor 75th Anniversary cake at the celebration barbeque last Saturday. Glen Gardener, Maintenance Superintendant, Robin Emberly, Division Accountant, Shannon Scott, Continuous Improvement, and Charlie Freeman, Finishing Superintendant, all attended to mark Canfor’s 75th Anniversary. Drapeau says that when they chose to mark the 75th anniversary, Canfor wanted to bring celebrations to every community with Canfor sawmills to thank all their employees, communities, families, contractors and stakeholders. For more photos see page 8.
Wet’suwet’en First Nation (WFN) and Huckleberry Mines Ltd. have reached an amicable conclusion to adversarial negotiations which included threats of road blockades and the issuance of a ‘stop work order’ made by WFN to Huckleberry Mines. The July 24 community investment agreement was described as a ‘win/win’ resolution of difficulties that successfully resolves disputes, including power line right-of-ways and road use. The mine is located southwest of the WFN reserve near Burns Lake. Road access to the mine and a power line right-of-way also cross through the Felix George Indian Reserve #7. Five members of the Wet’suwet’en are now employed at the mine, and a WFN economic development arm - the Yinka Dene Economic
Development Limited Partnership (YLP) has since won a competitive bid for a contract at the mine. A previous agreement reached between Huckleberry Mines and the WFN was considered to no longer reflect an equitable arrangement of prosperity-sharing since the $455 million expansion of Huckleberry Mines was announced in January, 2012. At the time of the 2012 announcement of the mine expansion, stable employment for the mines 230 employees was lauded as well as the potential for 70 new jobs. This proved to be a contentious issue for WFN, who at the start of 2013, still had no band members employed at the mine. A large part of WFN discontent was with the lack of employment benefits to the band within whose traditional territories the mine operated. See TALKS on Page 3
Enbridge preliminary work at Morice: Buck: Owen: By Walter Strong Black Press
Summer field work across Northern B.C. is underway as part of Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline’s (ENGP) application to build a pipeline connecting Northern Alberta’s oil industry 2009 FORD F150 XLT CREW 4X4
to proposed shipping facilities in Kitimat, B.C. Michele Perret, senior manager, community and aboriginal relations for ENGP, presented an update to the board of the Regional District of Bulkley Nechako (RDBN) on July 18, 2009 DODGE GRAND CARAVAN SE
2013. The conclusion of the federal Enbridge Northern Gateway Project Joint Review Panel (JRP) does not mean that preliminary geotechnical and environmental work will come to a halt until the JRP announces its decision early in 2014. 2008 TOYOTA CAMRY HYBRID
The field work is required to satisfy issues or concerns raised during the JRP, and to satisfy the kind of detailed planning that will be required should the National Energy Board eventually award project approval. The work, as 2010 TOYOTA RAV4 4 CYL
Perret explained to the RDBN board of directors, is not meant to preempt the conclusions of the JRP. “The purpose of the fieldwork activities is to provide Northern Gateway with valuable information in respect of safety,
environmental engineering, and potential cultural aspects as part of our commitments during the regulatory review process,” Perret said in an email. “This is not construction work as we do not have approval for the project from the
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JRP and the federal government.” The ‘phase-three’ geotechnical field work will happen over the course of this summer in approximately 35 B.C. locations, including two in the Burns Lake Area. See PIPE on Page 7