Employees urged

i 2

w Terrace Review — Wednesday, December 9, 1987

ape: ¥

to take over
local nursery. ~

The Thornhill Nursery, along
with every other government
forest nursery in B.C., is in the
process of being appraised prior
to the government’s call for the
private sector to submit pro-
posals for their purchase and
future operation. According to
Minister of Forests and Lands
Dave Parker, even though those
nurseries will be open to public
proposals, the government was
giving nursery employees every
Opportunity to acquire the gov-
ernment owned nursery facilities
either as individuals or in
groups.

by Tod Strachan

Parker said Vince Collins, the
Deputy Minister of Environ-
ment and Parks who has been
assigned to the position of Pro-
ject. Director to facilitate the

Kettle
Drive
launched

“‘Another successful Kettle
Drive’? was the prediction of
organizer, dignitary and donor
alike at last weekend’s opening
ceremonies for this year’s Salva-
tion Army Kettle Drive.

After MLA Dave Parker told
the sizeable crowd on hand,
“Your support will show that
you have the need to share what
you have with others less for-
tunate,’’ acting Mayor Doug
Smith told Capt. John Harker,
‘Terrace is known for its shar-

ing spirit, and we know that you -

will see that as the season pro-
gresses.”’ ‘

‘This year’s Kettle Drive in
Terrace was given a solid start
with donations raised by local
groups including the -Elks
B.P.O. Lodge 425, Order of the
Royal Purple, the Skeena Valley
Snowmobile Club, the Terrace
Centennial Lions, Branch 13 of
the Royal Canadian Legion, the
Royal Canadian Legion Wo-
men’s Auxilliary and the North-
west Real Estate Board.

Capt. John Harker said that
funds raised by the annual Kettle
Drive are the Salvation Army’s
only major fund-raising project,
and through the goodwill of Ter-
race residents would support
their many service programs for
the coming year.

He said these services include
Christmas food hampers, meals
and assistance to fire victims,
food and accommodation for
travellers in need, taxi fare to
Terrace for battered women in
Kitimat, emergency transporta-
tion and prescription drugs, .
heating for the homes of those in
_ heed, and the Annual Christmas
Dinner held at the Salvation Ar-
my Hall.

_ Harker said any food dona-

tions too late for Christmas will :

_go toward supplying the Terrace
Food Bank, which will re-open
in January if a suitable distribu-
tion center was found. .

He said there is a genuine need
for the food bank and organ-
izers ‘‘desperately need a place”
and are seeking help.

‘Wherever. the need is, we try
to meet it,”’ said Harker. -

privatization of the: nurseries,
has been contacted by at least
one or more employees in every
nursery affected by privatization
for information on the govern-
ment’s employee ownership op-
tion. .

When the government calls
for proposals from the private
sector, nursery employees will
have the option of submitting
proposals of. their own. and,
depending on the scope of their
proposal, if it is within five per-
cent of the best offer submitted
the bid will be successful. ”

Parker explained that, beyond
the purchase price offered, the
government will also be con-
sidering the full scope of each

_ proposal.

**When it comes to proposals,
you have to take everything into
account,”’ he said. ‘‘How much
of the facility, all or part? What
are the employment opportuni-
ties for the people that are there
now? Does it employ all or part?
What’s the financial support?
What’s the expertise?» What’s

the marketing plan? What’s the
- business plan?

In response to employee ques-

‘tions. regarding proposals, Col-

lins has said that, to assist in
employee acquistion of nursery
operations, some sites may be
divided into smaller units.
Although government financing
is not being offered, employees
are being encouraged to contact
the government for assistance

‘*to ensure the success of a good.

business plan’’.

Collins .also told employees
that ‘‘five free days of con- |

sulting assistance’’ is available
to assist in preparing a business
plan.

In response to the interest
shown by nursery employees,

_ Parker said the government has

also conducted a “‘successful’’
business management seminar to
teach management techniques in
nursery operation and to assist
employees in formulating their
own business plans.

DIA — continued from page 4

changing role of the Department :
in relation to Indian bands and |

tribal organizations. . Direct

. delivery of programs and ad-

visory services to bands were ex-
pected to terminate by April,
1990, with those programs and
services transferred to Indian
Organizations for their ad-
ministration,

The department also said that
they have encouraged individual

bands to enter one of two pro- _

Custodian —

continued from page 13
time. _
‘*The teachers would come in

the next day to clean up and Leo
would come in too,”’ he said.

Geoff Straker was principal at.
Copper Mountain from 1980 to
1984 and described Marchildon -
more like a family member than
an employee, .

“‘He was really more than a
custodian,’’ said Straker.

“He took an interest in the
kids and he took an interest in
the school, and to ‘me he was
more than a custodian. He was a
caring person that cared about
the kids, and it showed in his
work.”

The Ministry of Forests seedling nursery In Thornhill is one of nine such operations in the province being & sold by © 7
tender as a result of privatization Initiatives by the B.C. government. Government officials have stated that current.

For sale

employees ¢ of the facility will ba given an edge in the bidding process.

grams to prepare for.the DIA
reorganization. These options
are, ‘‘Community Negotia-
tions’’, which would enable
bands to assess their com-
munities and determine how to
proceed towards self-govern-
ment, and ‘‘Alternate Funding
Arrangements”, which would
allow. bands to enter into a
multi-year funding agreement,

‘design their own ‘program stand-

ards’ and be accountable for
their own operation.

“The government is not cut-
ting back on these things for the
Indian people,’’ according to
Bolton, ‘‘The government is cut-
ting back and closing down their

offices to save money.”’ a
_ Bolton said the government is

saving large sums of money by
cutting DIA services to native
Indians but is not’ replacing
those lost services by giving the
bands the money required to em-

- ploy their own people to carry

on the same work.

He accused the government of
trying to pay off the national
debt by taking money away
from native services, .-

“We're paying for-the-deficit,

‘and at the same time they’re in-

creasing spending somewhere
else,”’ he said, ‘‘They’re not cut-
ting back on the senseless spend-

- Bolton said.

‘ing that they're doing in other —

areas, and maybe that’s what —
they should be looking at to cut
back the deficit.

“Even though they’re saying

through the media that they’ve
increased money for native com-
munities, what actually. gets
down to us is less than what we
got last year.”

Bolton said the "government

proposal looked good in the
beginning. He described the
Penner Committee as one that ©
talked to the people, found what
they wanted and made some
positive proposals. However, ac-

cording to Bolton the federal -

government ignored that com-

mittee and followed the policy

of then-Deputy Prime Minister
Eric Neilson.

“He had alot of recommen-

. dations on how to do away with

Indian Affairs and how to do
away with Indian people,’’
“‘And that’s. what
the government’s going by.”’ ‘

_ “There'll be a lot of people
left out in the cold if they’re not
given a chance to organize, and I
think every six months, or every
year, they change the rules of the
game just to throw you off the
track.

“By the end of two or - three’

years there could quite con-
. ceivably be no more DIA as it is

‘within our regional office. That

will leave us out in the cold and
that will be our tough luck,’’

‘Bolton said it appears that the
government has a long-range
plan to destroy the drive behind
aboriginal rights and land claims
by weakening tribal strength. .

‘*] think that’s probably their
‘long range plan, and it will get to
-a.point where people will just
take whatever is thrown in front
of them, The government’s long
-term plan is to have the Indian
people get rid of their idea that
they have aboriginal rights,” he
said. ,

“Give us an equal chance,” |

Bolton said, ‘‘the equal oppor- -
tunity and equal funding that

_ they (DIA) have for.the number
.of people they employ and the -

amount of work that they pro-
duce. Give us an equal chance
and ‘we'll do a better job than
they did. That’s what we’re say-
ding to the government.”” |

But he added, ‘‘They are mak-
ing sure we are doomed for fail-
ure by cutting back on funding
— and that’s a key, resource, Un-
til we get onto our own two feet,
we're going to need that sup-
port.”” - «