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u Rondeau rides P. 2 u Safe hunting P. 9
u Precision riding P. 12 u CF expansionP. 3
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WEDNESDAY, September 25, 2013
NEWS BRIEFS Via Rail info session
Via Rail will be holding an information session in Vanderhoof on September 26, 2013 at 4 p.m.. The meeting will be in the Vanderhoof Friendship Centre at 219 Victoria Street E. and will offer the public a chance to meet with Via representatives on accessibility. Anyone with input into the accessibility of passenger train service in Vanderhoof is welcome.
NDIT database
A new database has been created to help connect industry, communities and government to businesses for major projects. The online procurement database was made possible through a partnership between Northern Development Initiative Trust (NDIT) and northern communities. The region-wide industry-oriented searchable database is aimed at helping procurement directors find the supplies and services they need from local businesses. “This is a one-ofa-kind tool in British Columbia,” said Renata King, Director, Business Development, Northern Development Initiative Trust.
‘Held hostage’
VOL. 36 NO. 30 $1.30 inc. GST
Dunbar rocks the Legion
Binche separation Committee asks feds to step in
Ruth Lloyd Caledonia Courier
“We are being held hostage by the Tl’azt’en Nation.” These are the words the Binche Separation Committee has written in a letter requesting third party negotiators step in to help the separation process along. In the letter to Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC), the committee asked AANDC to appoint a third party to stand in for Tl’azt’en Nation to help with Binche’s separation. Binche, which has been trying to separate from Tl’azt’en Nation for over two years, said in the letter Tl’azt’en has been trying to “stall and ignore the process.” “I don’t know what their real issue is,” said Josh Hallman, chair of the Binche Separation Committee. According to the letter, “dissension and tension” have been building between the communities, as the process continues to stall. Hallman expressed his frustration at the lack of progress, which has been very time-consuming he said for the committee members, but he said the proposal Binche put forward for Tl’azt’en to review was “straightforward stuff” but they have not yet had any response from Tl’azt’en. “They don’t want to let us go,” said Hallman. Hallman is hoping the letter, which was also sent to MP Nathan Cullen, will lead to either the appointment of a third party to negotiate for Tl’azt’en or to pressure from AANDC and the creation of deadlines for Tl’azt’en to carry out the negotiations and complete the separation. AANDC said they can only act in an advisory role in the negotiations and will not intervene. Essentially, if Tl’azt’en chooses not to come to the table, the negotiations are stalled. Binche became part of Tl’azt’en Nation back in 1959, and Hallman said the agreement was for Tl’azt’en to provide services to Binche, not to own them. “We’re not Tl’azt’en, we’ve always been Binche and we’re going to continue to be Binche,” said Hallman. “We’re not going to wait another 30 years.” Tl’azt’en did not immediately respond to interview requests.
Scott Dunbar put on a phenomenal one-man show at the Fort St. James Legion Sept. 14. Dunbar is currently working on recording an album in Fort St. James, and is staying at Lionel and Rosemarie Conant’s while he works on the new music. Ruth Lloyd/Caledonia Courier
UBCM supports four-year terms Tom Fletcher Black Press Delegates at the Union of B.C. Municipalities have endorsed having local elections every four years, to match up with provincial votes. The resolution to extend terms of office from three years to four was supported by 60 per cent of voting delegates, who want the B.C. government to make the change in time for municipal elections in November 2014. If it is enacted, B.C. would join Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec, Nova Sco-
tia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, which have four-year terms for local politicians. The issue has divided urban and rural communities for years, with some rural councillors calling for shorter terms for what they say is mainly volunteer work with minimum pay. One rural delegate said the idea comes from “professional politicians” in the Lower Mainland, where council pay is higher. Proponents argue that four-year terms reduce turnover and would increase local election participation by being timed with provin-
cial votes. The UBCM executive added another argument for the change, noting that several local mayors and councillors were elected to the B.C. legislature in May. The executive called for direction from the province “to avoid governance conflicts, expensive byelections, long absences on council and boards and the double-dipping of salaries.” The UBCM rejected the suggestion of fouryear terms at its 2010 convention. It was debated and supported in 2007. Earlier motions supported the current system of elections every three years province-wide.
ANNIVERSARY SALE Saturday the 28th September!!
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TOLL FREE: 1-888-449-4029 - 250-567-4781 1473 HWY 16 EAST, VANDERHOOF