GAZETTE NORTH ISLAND
Publications Mail Agreement No. 391275
49th Year No. 03
January 16, 2014
• CORNERED
Speaker’s Corner series unveils 2014 lineup. Page 11
• SPLITTING ATOMS
Port Hardy claims runner-up finish in Port McNeill tourney. Page 11
• CLOSE SHAVES
Down-to-wire finals mark Port Hardy peewee tourney. Page 12 OPINION Page 6 LETTERS Page 7 SPORTS Page 11 CLASSIFIEDS Page 13-15
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Kwakiutl protest logging Gazette staff PORT HARDY—With the blessing of the Kwakiutl Hereditary Chief, the Kwakiutl Indian Band held a peaceful protest last Thursday, January 9, at an Island Timberlands logging operations in Port Hardy. Band members carried signs proclaiming the area as Kwakiutl traditional territory and gathered at the entrance of the site.
Fallers in the area reportedly ceased operations and left the site, as the protesters drummed and sang. In a release, the band said that, “This logging is symptomatic of the long-standing disregard by Canada and B.C. to act honourably to meet their commitments and obligations of the ‘Treaty of 1851’.” A B.C. Supreme Court deci-
sion on June 17, 2013, upheld the Kwakiutl’s Douglas Treaty and “encouraged and challenged” both the federal and provincial governments to begin honourable negotiations with the First Nation “without any further litigation, expense or delay.” Band representatives explained that logging operation along Byng Road is in the area of a cultural use trail and said they
had not been consulted before falling began in the area. “The Kwakiutl people have never ceded, surrendered, or in any way relinquished aboriginal title and rights to our traditional territories,” explained the release.
Animal cruelty charges laid Gazette staff PORT HARDY—A pair of local residents have been charged with animal cruelty in a case that drew provincewide attention late in 2013. Rupert Wilson Jr. and Crystal Bee of Fort Rupert face charges under the criminal code of Canada following an investigation by the BCSPCA. The case involves an 18-month-old German shepherd cross, named Molly, who was taken from a Fort Rupert residence Nov. 25, 2013 by Port Hardy RCMP. The animal was found tied on a deck, emaciated and with her collar embedded in her neck. Molly was taken to Port Hardy veterinary hospital for immediate treatment, and has since been recovering in an SPCA foster home. No date has been announced for the preliminary court hearing.
See page 4 ‘Honour of the Crown’
Sporty suffers repeat break-in Gazette staff PORT HARDY—Local RCMP are asking the public for help in solving a series of recent break-ins at Sporty Bar & Grill. The establishment was hit sometime in the early morning hours Tuesday, the second time in less than a week and fourth in the last two months, owner Cory Klassen said. Staff sergeant Gord Brownridge of Port Hardy’s RCMP detachment declined to share details of the breakins while the investigation is ongoing. “We did have an FIS investigator in from Campbell River last week processing the scene,” Brownridge said of a Jan. 8 break-in at Sporty. RCMP forensic investigator Trish LaFrance of Campbell River examines the broken window a perpetrator used to gain entrance into J.R. Rardon Sporty Bar & Grill in Port Hardy last Wednesday.
See page 5 ‘Investigation ongoing’
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