Blockade down, both sides talking

Page 1

A blockade of a CN rail line in northwestern B.C. has come down and Gitksan band members are working with the provincial government to settle the dispute.

Gitksan chiefs and spokesman Don Ryan met with the B.C. ministers of forestry and aboriginal affairs last week to address the problems caused by the transfer of assets from Westar Timber to Repap, a Montreal firm.

The transfer of assets, which included timber rights and a super mill called Carnaby, forced the closure of two smaller, older mills, Rim and Westar Kitwanga, which was on the Gitwangak reserve. This put about 110 people out of work.

The financially troubled Westar owes these workers severance pay but so far none of the laid off workers have received any money, Ryan said.

Social assistance benefits are paid to the band in a lump sum at the beginning of the fiscal year, based on a band estimate of how many people need the assistance. The assessment was made before unemployment insurance payments for the laid off workers ran out, and now the band is paying out about $25,000 a month more than it got from the government.

The assets should never have been transferred, Ryan argues. First of all, the timber licenses are on land held traditionally by the Gitksan people. And forestry minister Dan Miller was on a leave of absence from Recap, where he worked as a mill wright for 12 years, when the assets were transferred to Recap.

The Gitksan asked the Supreme Court for a judicial inquiry. "We lost that action because there were huge loopholes in the conflict of interest legislation and in the forest act," Ryan said.

The NDP government's own investigation found Miller was in a slight conflict of interest, and B.C. Premier Mike Harcourt suspended him without pay for three months. He will return to his position as forestry minister when the three months are up.

The blockade was erected at midnight on Sept. 16 on the Gitwangak reserve north of Smithers, halting all train traffic between Prince George and Prince Rupert for six days.

CN got a court injunction against the blockade. The Gitksan decided to challenge the injunction and three warriors volunteered to be arrested.

The Gitksan want the B.C. government to insure the laid-off workers get severance pay and they want help to expand their economic opportunities and re-train some of the former mill workers.