Teen fiddler off to nationals /13

Canadian soldier killed in Afghan suicide attack /7

Lawyers take Smoking aim at trial banned in reform /5 cartoons /17
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2006 $1.00 (HOME DELIVERED: 59 CENTS A DAY)

MPs to decide softwood deal
OTTAWA (CP) -- The federal Tory government plans to bring in a bill to implement the Canada-U.S. softwood lumber deal and warned Tuesday that a parliamentary defeat of the measure would force an election. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the government decided to go ahead with the agreement after getting a "clear majority" of support from all parts of the country. Harper said the government will go ahead with legislation this fall but he didn't specify what percentage of lumber companies backed the agreement, which would put to rest a four-year trade dispute that has devastated Canada's lumber industry. -- See NDP on page 5;

Reserve furious over accident
by FRANK PEEBLES Citizen staff Residents of the Tachie Reserve near Fort St. James are "not in a good mood," according to Tl'azt'en Nation leaders, following a weekend accident involving an RCMP vehicle and a young Tachie woman. Chief Thomas Alexis said there is an element of mistrust of the RCMP and it has been there since long before t he police vehicle ran over Agatha Joseph early Sunday morning, causing injuries including broken ribs, a punctured lung, hip fractures and injuries to her head and left eye. Alexis also stresses, however, that there is also an element of the community that supports the efforts of the RCMP to protect the community, sometimes in difficult circumstances. "What we are trying to ensure is we don't bias the investigation," he said. "As leadership, we called a meeting with the RCMP as soon as the incident came to our knowledge. That meeting happened at 8 o'clock sharp on Monday morning. Together we came up with the next steps on how to deal with the investigation. One of them was to have two teams of investigators to flesh out the true story. Once the investigation happens we need to call a community meeting and then also look at dealing with things through our justice circle to f lush out the true feelings of our membership." Justa Monk, Tl'azt'en elder and former chief, is helping the family of Joseph obtain legal counsel. Monk is also Joseph's uncle. Reports of what happened, when Joseph was struck by a police vehicle Sunday at 1:30 a.m. while at a wedding reception, are conflicting. Monk contends that "a lot of the statements made by police are false." RCMP provincial spokesperson Staff Sgt. John Ward said police are as eager as anyone in Tachie to get to the bottom of what happened, and any misconduct would be dealt with appropriately. "It not only hits home with the community, and don't forget we are part of the community there, but we have a young woman who was seriously injured and a young member who car r ies t he weight of t hat, whether it was his fault or not," Ward said. "We have been briefing (Tl'azt'en) leadership on the progress of our investigation, we have the support of the chief and council in our investigations, and we are accountable. We want to do a thorough investigation that is open and transparent so the facts can speak for themselves." The issue of trust runs both ways, Ward said. Witnesses are being called for and many have already been interviewed about what happened that night. He said police have to trust in the honesty of those accounts, and the community at large has to trust in the resolve of the police to do the right thing with that information. -- See CHIEF on page 3

Hill confident in lumber bill
by MARK NIELSEN Citizen staff Prince George-Peace River MP Jay Hill said as party whip he'll be making sure Conservative MPs will be in the House of Commons to vote for new softwood legislation, but is also confident enough opposition members -- particularly those from Quebec -- will come on side to allow the legislation to pass. "I think that the Bloc will be hard pressed not to support it in the final analysis and I would hope the Liberals will as well," he said. "And I think the NDP will do what they usually do, which is be a protest party." The federal government will bring in legislation next month to implement the controversial softwood lumber agreement with the United States after a "clear majority" of lumber producers have shown support for the deal, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Tuesday. Harper did not say what percentage of producers came out in support of the deal by Monday's deadline, and Hill said he does not know the number. But Hill added many of the bigger employers representing most of the $5.3 billion in punitive duties the U.S. has collected want the legislation to pass. "We already know, because they've made public statements themselves, some of the major producers that have the lions' share of the duties and tariffs tied up down there in the United States have come out in support of it," he said. "Some more reluctantly than others, obviously, but virtually all the major producers in British Columbia have signaled their intent to agree to the negotiated agreement." -- See MLA on page 3

Citizen photo by Brent Braaten

SUMMER HAZE -- Prince George firefighter Brad Johnston works at putting out a brush fire Tuesday behind Heather Park middle school.

Asphalt plant exceeded emissions, environment ministry tests show
High : 23 Low : 14 page 2

INDEX
Annie's Mailbox . . . . . . . . . 17 Bridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Business . . . . . . . . . . . .22-24 City, B.C. . . . . . . . . . . .3,5,13 Classifi ed . . . . . . . . . . . 18-21 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Crossword . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . 17 Horoscope . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Nation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6,7 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-12 World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

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by MARK NIELSEN Citizen staff An Otway Road asphalt plant exceeded allowable emission levels in late June when controversy with North Nechako residents was at its height, according to results from a test conducted on behalf of the B.C. Ministry of Environment. Pittman Asphalt was "well within compliance levels" for particulate, according to a report from McCall Environmental, but exceeded provincial standards for volatile organic compounds and carbon monoxide. The test was conducted on June 23, af ter residents living across t he Nechako River from the plant asked the environment ministry to investigate the plant because of ongoing smell and noise. Volatile organic compounds have been linked to increased risk of cancer, and carbon monoxide to breathing problems. A follow-up test, conducted Aug. 4, showed Pittman's operation was back

in compliance, but that has done little to mitigate concerns raised by the Nor th Nechako Residents and Landowners Association. NNRL A spokeswoman Kathleen Haines said t he peak season for paving was over by then and contended the plant should have been shut down immediately. "Pittman could have been operating with dangerous emissions beyond B.C. Ministry of Environment levels for all of June and July. We have no way of knowing if this was the case," she said in a statement. "We do know that some residents were suffering from breathing difficulties. This demonstrates that the Ministry of Environment's process of monitoring does nothing to protect the residents who live beside asphalt plants," Haines said. Pittman's regional manager, John Brunet, said the trouble was a result of working with new equipment -- it's the first summer the plant has been operating at the location -- and

an expert was brought in to fix the problem by adjusting the burner. He said it will continue to meet standards because doing so also means the plant is running efficiently. "We reacted to the issue right away because not only were there some issues with the residents but there was a cost savings to achieve by adjusting our burners," Brunet said. Ministry of Environment environmental protection officer Maureen Bilawchuck said provincial legislation allows plants to be closed down immediately only under extreme circumstances. She said the ministry will continue to monitor Pittman as well as the other asphalt operations along Otway in light of the number of complaints that have been received. About 60 residents took their concerns to city council in July and, as a result, staff is working on a report to council that, in part, will look at ways the municipality may be able to help regulate asphalt plants.

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