S TANDARD TERRACE
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VOL. 27 NO. 42
www.terracestandard.com
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Chamber letter upsets director
THORNHILL KITIMATSTIKINE regional district director Ted Ramsey says he’s not happy the Terrace and District Chamber of Commerce has entered the debate on how the rural community might be governed some day. Ramsey, who is spearheading a move that could result in a referendum of Thornhill residents to decide if they wish to incorporate as a municipality, says the chamber shouldn’t be involved. “The thing they seem to miss is the democratic pro-
cess that Thornhill is entitled to do and I do not want the merchants to get in the way,” said Ramsey of the chamber during discussion at the Jan. 23 regional district meeting. The chamber’s letter, sent Jan. 12 to Coralee Oakes, the provincial minister responsible for local and regional governments, urges the province to consider all alternatives, including boundary extensions and amalgamation involving Terrace. “I see this as between the province, the community of Thornhill and the board and
I’d like to keep it there. I find this insulting,” said Ramsey of the letter which was also sent to the regional district. “We’re (Thornhill) quite capable and I do not want the chamber to be involved.” Ramsey added that he understands that the chamber looks at all economic development, which is one of the reasons Thornhill wants incorporation so it can find its own destiny and that the chamber’s involvement isn’t appropriate. Regional district chair Stacey Tyers, who is also a Terrace city councillor,
asked if Ramsey wanted to respond to the chamber letter and he said no response was maybe best. “It is our show and we do not want [the chamber] involved, we truly don’t,” said Ramsey. Regional district administrator Bob Marcellin reminded Ramsey that the chamber was not just the city but included businesses in Thornhill and the rural areas around Terrace too. Ramsey said later last week that the province hadn’t responded to the regional district’s request for
possible incorporation of Thornhill. But he did add that Oakes has told him a response would be coming early this year. When Thornhill hears back from the ministry, then it will move forward, said Ramsey. “My read on it is [the chamber] is making monetary decisions on Thornhill which they have no right to do,” he said. “One idea behind incorporation is that Thornhill will make its own decisions. It’s astonishing that
they keep missing that,” said Ramsey. The chamber’s letter also said “The combined populations of Terrace, Thornhill and surrounding communities make up what is now referred to as the Greater Terrace Area.” Ramsey said that’s part of what makes the chamber comments inappropriate. “The citizens of Thornhill will decide on whether they want to incorporate. It has nothing to do with the Greater Terrace Area,” he said.
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Man denies ‘hate’ post By ANNA KILLEN
JOSH MASSEY PHOTO
■■ Excited to learn about the world COMMUNITY FAMILY LITERACY DAY at Suwilaawks on Jan. 31. Right: UNBC student teacher Dan Hamel playing Scrabble with Wayland Dennis. Left is Lyla Dennis playing a literacy game with her other son, Precious. The day is hosted by a partnership of groups headed by the Terrace Community Literacy Council.
THE MAN accused of posting a racist comment to an online article that RCMP are investigating as a possible hate crime is denying it was he who posted it. Reached by phone Saturday, Jan. 31, Howard Boake, a Terrace resident, said he believes his Facebook account has been hacked multiple times and that he didn’t post the comment which first appeared Jan. 27 nor any of the other comments previously posted by the same account. “Somebody hacked my Facebook account somehow or another,” he said. “That’d be pretty stupid for me to do that under my own name, wouldn’t it?” Boake also confirmed he’s been in contact with Terrace RCMP officers and said he doesn’t know who could have hacked into his account and posted comments. “I don’t know who it is, or why,” Boake said. “It’s certainly giving me a bad name, unfortunately. But I did not do it, I swear to that, I did not put that on Facebook.” Boake has been on the receiving end of multiple online threats since a screenshot of the post, which makes racist comments about First Nations, went viral, and he added that he is scared. “I don’t know what to do about it,” he said. Terrace RCMP began last week investigating the comment that is being called “a hate crime” by many who have read it. The comment appeared briefly through a posting by a Facebook user called Howie Boake to an online Terrace Standard article Jan. 27 before it was removed by blocking software. Before the comment was blocked, however, a screenshot of the comment was captured and that image has been shared widely on social media.
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First-hand
Hot dreams
Terrace takes it
Young people learn about wartime life from those who were there \COMMUNITY A15
A visionary takes over the Lakelse hot springs. Part two of three. \NEWS A5
This Terrace rink beat its rivals to win the Prince Rupert bonspiel \SPORTS A21