The Prince George Citizen WEDNESDAY, JULY 14,1993 51 CENTS (Plus GST) Low tonight: 7 High tomorrow: 19 Grab the sunblock Ireland takes fourth 8 Hopes fade in Japan 11 Tides uncover rich past 28 Phone: 562-2441 Classified: 562-6666 Circulation: 562-3301 NATIVES GIVE TERMS FOR PARTICIPATION Kemano inquiry promise sought by MARILYN STORIE Citizen Staff Tribal Chief Justa Monk says the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council will not take part in the public review of Alcan’s Kemano completion project unless B.C. Premier Mike Harcourt makes some solid guarantees. Alcan announced last week it would take part in B.C. Utilities Commission hearings. But native leaders in the area have yet to agree to participate in the public meetings scheduled for September. “Without our participation the review process will not be complete,” Monk announced this week. “We remain willing to participate only if the premier can assure us our participation will not be used against us.” The Carrier Sekani Tribal Council, representing 10 area native bands, wants guarantees that such participation will not jeopardize rights or the fiduciary duty owed to them by the provincial government. Over two years ago, work on the $1-billion water diversion project near Kitimat was suspended amid public protest and court challenges to the 1987 Settlement Agreement between Alcan, Ottawa and Victoria. Monk said he took exception to Alcan publicly referring this week to the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council’s recent lawsuit as “a hostile court action.” Area chiefs believe the project threatens traditional native lifestyles by reducing the flow of water through the Nechako River system of northwestern B.C. “We have been subjected to a hostile assault on our people, our lands, our resources and our way of life by Alcan’s Kemano I since the 1950s,” Monk said. “Kemano II poses nothing less than a further hostile assault on us.” Monk was one of numerous Indian leaders who witnessed a ceremony at Bel-ga-tse, about 225 kilometres west of Prince George, this month. A reconstructed cemetery at the former village site, one of three Cheslatta Carrier burial grounds flooded after 1952 when Alcan constructed a temporary dam at the outlet of Cheslatta and Murray Lakes, was reconsecrated by Bishop Fergus O’Grady. “It brings tears to my eyes,” Monk said, when speaking of past injustices suffered by the Cheslatta people. Last week’s news release by Alcan Aluminum Limited made no mention of the considerable public outcry against the Kemano completion project. “I am hopeful that Alcan and the government, working together, can agree on the best course for the future of Kemano Completion for both Alcan and British Columbia, ” said Bill Rich, Alcan vice-president for B.C. Alcan, which has already spent more than half a billion dollars on the Kemano Completion project, continues to maintain that the deal struck between the company and the government must be honored. Although native Indians were the first to question Kemano I and later, the Kemano II completion stage, their potential for input into the hearings appears limited. The B.C. Utilities Commission lost its only native representative, commissioner Alfred Scow, in May. He has not been replaced. CHECKING OUT THE FOREST OF TOMORROW Farcus Fish estimate hiked VANCOUVER (CP) — Shortly after warning there may be no commercial fishery, Fish estimates have been revised upwards during the early Stuart River salmon run. The Pacific Salmon Commission initially pegged the run at 400,000 sockeye. But after meeting with various groups, the commission has bumped up the figure to 500,000. Commission executive director Ian Todd said that could result in another aboriginal opening on the Fraser River this weekend and possibly a commercial fishery. BOULEVARD TO BE CLOSED If it’s summer it must be road construction time. Commuters still recovering from re-surfacing work on The Bypass have another road work detour to cope with. Beginning Monday there’s a five-week closure of Patricia Boulevard between Victoria Street and 10th Avenue. Reconstruction of the stretch between Victoria and the Coliseum will force commuters and pedestrians to find an alternate route. Some maps show Patricia as 15th Avenue between Victoria and Queensway. The road should reopen in late August. A tour group stops on a bridge in Forests For The World atop Cranbrook Hill during a nature walk sponsored by the Northern Interior Nature Centre. The tours, which go to various sites, are conducted each Tuesday for nature day camp children whose ages range from 7 to 10. Citizen photo by Brent Braaten NEWACCESS LAW Information, privacy watchdog selected by Canadian Press VICTORIA — An all-party committee of the British Columbia legislature selected an Ontario law professor Tuesday as the province’s first information and privacy commissioner. David Flaherty will oversee the province’s freedom-of-information laws, designed to give British Columbians access to government records and documents that had previously been kept secret. The government passed legislation last year that would require the disclosure of any record that’s clearly in the public interest, although it contains a long list of exemptions. Most of the exemptions are designed to protect the personal privacy of individual citizens. Flaherty, who will have considerable power to interpret the regulations and order the disclosure of information, said his first priority will be to run a fair operation. “I’ll act independently and I hope to give people quick decisions and act in an unbureaucratic way,” he said. Flaherty is leaving his post as a law and history professor at the University of Western Ontario in London to take over the position, which attracted 222 applicants. Flaherty will be paid $128,000 a year over a six-year term of office. The freedom of information legislation takes effect this fall. It is to be extended to municipalities, police forces, hospital boards and other public bodies next year. Supermarket talks ‘critical’ VANCOUVER (CP) — Negotiators for Jim Pattison’s Overwailea and Save-On supermarkets throughout British Columbia were in make-or-brcak bargaining with United Food and Commercial Workers local 1518 late Tuesday. “Things arc at quite a critical stage in the negotiations,” said Cheryl Gerhardt, company communications director. “We have tabled an offer that is essentially the same as Safeway’s offer, plus some other items that are unique to Overwaitea, and we are having some difficulties.” The contract would cover about 4,500 employees in 39 Overwaitea and 10 Save-On stores. Another 10 Save-On stores are not unionized. Safeway and Overwaitea Save-On are the biggest unionized supermarket chains in the province, with 21 and 32 per cent of total B.C. grocery sales respectively. ^ Ozone used to treat pool The Four Seasons Pool is in the process of getting its latest upgrade this week. The long-awaited ozone water treatment system is being installed. The ozone system will allow the pool to use less chlorine than it does now, which the Prince George Leisure Services Department predicts will improve water and air quality. Ozone water sanitization is used at a number of pools around the province. Ozone cleans a large portion of impurites out of the water, leading to reduced use of chlorine, which is added to the water to kill germs and bacteria. The installation means portions of the pool will be closed over the next three days. Earlier today, the leisure pool and main pool were closed, while the teach pool where children get their lessons will be closed until Friday at noon. Province’s ombudsman gets 10,000 complaints VICTORIA (CP) — Complaints to the British Columbia ombudsman last year included gripes over bad prison food, hard-to-read bus signs and delays in processing student loans. In total, the office received almost 10,000 new complaints from people upset at the provincial government and its agencies in 1992, Ombudsman Dulcie McCallum said in her annual report released Tuesday. “Helping people to find meaningful solutions within and outside of government is a priority for our office,” McCallum said. The office is often a last resort for British Columbians who have a complaint against the government. McCallum, an independent officer appointed by the government, is charged with helping them find a solution. Some of the complaints and the results outlined in the report include: ■ Complaints from inmates over the quality of prison food. McCallum said most of the complaints were referred to prisoners’ committees. ■ A visually-impaired woman complained she had difficulty reading destination signs on buses late at night. B.C. Transit is reviewing her request for better lighting and larger lettering. ■ Many university and college students complained about delays in processing student loans. The Advanced Education Ministry is reviewing the complaints. McCallum, meanwhile, suggested that her title may have to be changed to make it “gender-inclusive.” “The use of gender-inappropriate language must be eliminated while at the same time minimizing public confusion about the office during any transition period,” McCallum said. Government house leader Moe Sihota said he had no problem with changing the McCallum’s title. “If she believes the name should be changed to ‘ombudsperson’ or something like that, I’ve got no great difficulty with that,” Sihota said. Ann Landers .... 22 Bridge..................18 Business 14,15 City, B.C..............2,3 Classified .... 16-19 Comics..................26 Commentary 5 Crossword...............17 Editorial ..............4 Entertainment ... 26 Family...............22,23 Horoscope...............18 International . . . 9,10 Movies..................26 National...............6,8 Sports...............11-13 5830?I!i 1 "It’s not embezzlement! It’s a career move.”