CELEBRATE BC FAMILY DAY
A6
$1.30
FEBRUARY 5, 2015
ST
Includes G
Two sections, 36 pages
Missing, murdered women report reviewed
PLAYTIME WITH PLAY-DOH
Carole Rooney
LOCAL RANCHER GETS "TOP SECRET" VISIT
Free Press
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LOCAL GIRLS ON TOP HOCKEY TEAM A19
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The voice of the South Cariboo since 1960 How to reach us: Ph: 250-395-2219 Fax: 250-395-3939 www.100milefreepress.net mail@100milefreepress.net
Gaven Crites photo
Johanna Springmann, 4, had some fun with Play-Doh at the Ready, Set, Learn Service Provider Fun Fair at 100 Mile House Elementary School on Jan. 30. A number of child-friendly stations were set up at the event, giving families an opportunity to meet and connect with community service providers, local schools, kindergarten teachers and other families.
Barnett: I represent all of my constituents
Ken Alexander Free Press
There is a growing uproar about the new Wildlife Allocation Policy that was announced by the Ministry of Lands, Forest and Natural Resource Operations (MLFNRO) on Dec. 14, 2014. Resident hunters are upset the allocation percentages are tilting in favour of the guide-outfitters, and the guide-outfitters are miffed the recent increase doesn't nearly make up for the permits that have been reduced
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during the past decade. Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Donna Barnett has found herself in the middle of the fray regionally and she has been fielding some complaints. "I support the [resident] hunters and I support the guideoutfitters, and I am not the decision-maker." Noting she supports guideoutfitting, Barnett says she has spent many years going to meetings with guide-outfitters. The MLA adds she has not sat in on any negotiation sessions. "For many years, they have
been asking to get a decision on [allocation permits] one way or the other, so they can make their business plans. "If you look at the estimated impact of the 2015 resident harvest allocation in British Columbia – numbers and not percentages – there is a difference on some [species], but on others, there is not." In Region 5 (Cariboo), Barnett says there used to be more than 50 guide-outfitters, but now there's around 22-25, and there used to be more than 400 moose Continued on A7
The results of an independent study into missing and murdered women has led to numerous calls for more government emphasis and effort to protect women, particularly aboriginal women. Canim Lake Band health administrator Sheila Dick says she sees systemic societal issues that create significant, or even preclusive barriers to bringing about some crucial recommendations in the report – such as incorporating the voices of aboriginal women in making the changes. The Inter-American Commission of Human Rights recently released its findings along with a series of recommendations for the government of Canada to implement to address the growing and tragic situation in British Columbia. However, Dick explains it is going to be “extremely difficult” to address the historical and structural discrimination that the report points to as being at the root of this tragic and growing problem. “I think, as a broader society, we don’t value women in general, let alone marginalized or indigenous women. “We are talking generations of patriarchal rule and hierarchical structures. We have always been ... very much a man’s world.” A solution is not just about making recom-
mendations, but about watching them unfold in the years to come, and she questions “in what world” this will happen. She says the systemic problems include a lack of concern and protection for women, both at the government level and in society as a whole. Once women are seen as lesser beings, that is also where a lot of the violence starts, she notes. Dick explains she witnessed domestic violence as a child and so grew up thinking “this is what it means to be female.” This also leads to both men and women becoming apathetic – believing violence is “going to happen anyway” regardless of any measures taken to prevent it, Dick says. She adds reading the findings and conclusions in the report stirs up sad emotions for her. “It brings out a lot of losses that we know of; it is personal to me.” For centuries, women have been held back from holding roles of importance, but particularly aboriginal women, Dick adds. “We, as girls, were the very lowest of the low in [Indian Residential Schools] because they could do what they wanted to us and we were never going to report it, or if we did, we were not believed.” In a society where women are devalued, Continued on A7