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VOL. 27 NO. 15
www.terracestandard.com
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Northwest leaders forge alliance By JOSH MASSEY YESTERDAY SAW the signing of what is being heralded as a “monumental agreement” between municipal leaders throughout the northwest. The Northwest BC Resource Benefits Alliance (RBA) brings together mayors and other municipal leaders in a unified front to negotiate a deal with the province that would see provincial dollars allocated for infrastructure and services needed due to pressures of industrial expansion. Revenue sharing is the term used for these arrangements. Similar alliances have been forged between municipalities and government in the Northern Rockies, Peace and Columbia Basin districts. “I think virtually every director from the Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine is com-
ing to that signing. That’s how important this is,” said Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine board chair Bruce Bidgood prior to yesterday’s RBA signing ceremony. “It’s like signing a northwest Magna Carta, it’s of that kind of import for us who have lived through boom and bust for such a long period of time,” he said. The list of signatories who attended the ceremony at the Best Western yesterday afternoon included mayors from Terrace, Kitimat, New Hazelton, Stewart, and directors from areas around the regional district, including the Nass. The first order of business for the alliance is to present the provincial government with a detailed plan for how revenue sharing could work, including formulas and timelines. The ongoing development surrounding pipelines, LNG plants, numerous mines, the Rio Tinto Modernization Project and the expansion of
the port in Prince Rupert are cited as industries driving growth that threatens to outpace the regional infrastructure’s capacity. A document released as a backgrounder for the negotiations states that the agreement would apply to communities with a 100,000 square kilometre area of the northwest and provide “(a) for good government of their communities, (b) for services, laws and other matters of community benefit, (c) for stewardship of the public assets of their communities, (d) fostering the economic, social and environmental well-being of their communities, and (e) ensuring that major resource development does not put the longterm sustainability of communities at risk.” “In order to obtain social licence for major resource development, the provincial government, federal government and major resource companies must share the benefits
of major resource development with RBA communities,” the document continues. Bidgood said the RBA is gunning for a deal to land $500 million to $1 billion in revenue over several years, similar to long-term deals forged in other districts. The alliance says that the partnership needs to happen soon to build on the $1 million already provided this year by the provincial government for planning through the Northwest Readiness Project. The money would go towards “things like repairs for the airport or sewer systems,” said Bidgood, items that could “prove an impediment to these new initiatives such as LNG and mines. What we want to do is become partners with the provincial government in helping grow the local economy to the benefit of all.”
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High rate of illegal butts found here By CAITLIN CLOW
MARGARET SPEIRS PHOTO
■ Memorial tree A MEMORIAL to Prince Rupert’s Ashley Coveyduck remains behind the plywood on this tree after the top of the tree, laying next to it above, was chopped down because it had been damaged by a fire and died, making it a hazard to vehicles passing by on Hwy 16, about 55 km west of Terrace near Kasiks Wildnerness Resort. Coveyduck died when the vehicle she was riding in went off the highway and entered the Skeena River in June 2009. A memorial cross with photos was erected at the base of the spruce tree by family and friends.
Music and Murals Teenage girls learn more and add a wall full of colour to the city \COMMUNITY B1
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TERRACE HAS some of the highest rates of illegal tobacco in B.C. with only Vancouver and Kamloops higher, according to a study commissioned by the Western Convenience Store Association. The city has an overall rate of 19.1 per cent of illegal tobacco usage. The researchers looked at 48 sites across the province, three of them were in Terrace—the Dairy Queen, Boston Pizza and the Mills Memorial Hospital. The Mills Memorial Hospital was particularly high: 23 per cent of butts collected at the hospital were found to be contraband. The Boston Pizza had a rate of 18.4 per cent and Dairy Queen 15.6 per cent. The sites chosen for the study were based on the likelihood that a diverse sample of the population would gather to smoke there. According to the president of the WCSA Andrew Klukas, researchers would collect approximately 150 cigarette butts from receptacles and off of the ground and they were taken back to Montreal to be analyzed. This is a great cause for concern, Klukas explained, because it means that tobacco products are being sold without mandated health warnings and without age-verification checks. It also means that this proves there are channels open and alive for the trafficking of illegal goods.
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Go the distance Tyler Dozzi takes gold at the 2015 BC Summer Games in Nanaimo \SPORTS A23