The Chilliwack
Progress Tuesday
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Fishing
Appeal
RBC Cup?
Rule change sought to protect salmon.
Service looks for younger donors.
Chilliwack not yet ready to host.
News
Scene
Sports
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Minister rejects report of ALR demise
■ H ONOURING T HE F ALLEN
Tom Fletcher Black Press News reports suggesting the B.C. government is considering dismantling the Agricultural Land Commission are not accurate, the minister in charge of the government’s “core review” says. A plan outlined in documents leaked to the Globe and Mail this week is “so secret that I don’t even know about it myself,” Energy Minister Bill Bennett said in an interview. “We’re not even considering blowing up the ALC, or bringing it inside government.” Bennett said agricultural land commissioners will continue to decide on applications to amend the land reserve, established 40 years ago to protect farmland from development. Bennett refused to comment on the suggestion that the province could be divided into two zones with different processes. But he said he is aware of many cases outside the southwestern part of B.C. where obviously unfarmable land remains locked in the reserve. Part of the problem has been a lack of funding to the commission, Bennett said. The current budget adds $4 million to the commission’s budget over three years. “It’s not all their fault, it’s the way the legislation is written, it’s the way their policies have developed,” Bennett said. “All of those things add up to a lot of questionable decisions being made, and certainly not in areas where they have good agricultural land like Richmond and south Vancouver Island and the Fraser Valley and the Okanagan.” Bennett also rejected the suggestion that the Oil and Gas Commission would overrule the ALC on decisions in B.C.’s northeast. The OGC already has some Continued: ALR/ p4
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Faron Giltaca plays Patrick in G.W. Graham’s production of The Boys of the Blue Puttees, a tragic story of the Newfoundland Regiment set in 1914. The play is an original piece written by teacher Damon Fultz and is the eighth production in his Remembrance Project series. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
Local aboriginal business in provincial spotlight Jennifer Feinberg The Progress A Chilliwack venture has been named ‘Joint Venture Business of the Year’ by the B.C. Aboriginal Business Awards next month in Vancouver. Ts’elxweyeqw T ribe Management Ltd. has evolved from its roots as mainly forestry-based business a decade ago, into a multi-faceted management services provider representing seven First Nations communities in Chilliwack.
“We’re flattered to have won this award,” said Matt Wealick, chief operating officer for Ts’elxweyeqw Tribe Management. Ts’elxweyeqw T ribe Management offers a range of management services to their seven member communities, as well as others, with an eye to protecting rights and title in the Chilliwack River Valley. They actively protect and advance cultural values, and conduct land-use planning for their member communities which include: Aitchelitz, Skowkale,
Skway, Soowahlie, Squiala, Tzeachten and Yakweakwioose. “And out of that comes economic development opportunities,” he said. They seek out joint ventures and partnerships, to work toward common goals. “That’s the way we operate,” Wealick said. They own and manage properties, and have worked on setting up a First Nations woodlot licence to manage timber resources. The business has worked with both industry and government clients,
submitted independent power project proposals, and developed a renewable energy plan, as examples. “We’re delighted to be honouring them in this way,” said Nora Newlands, executive director of B.C. Achievement Foundation. The selection panel recognized the Chilliwack business for the “breadth” and variety of its ventures. “The joint venture is becoming increasingly important to British Columbia,” she said. Continued: BUSINESS/ p6
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