{. cultural renaissance.

A Scottish jig

That's a fot af ok

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Lied

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found\NEWS A5

Nass culture thriving as more
poles planned and lost artifacts -

This year’s music festival features
Highland Dance |
showcase\COMMUNITY Bi

WEDNESDAY 37
APRIL 2, 1997

exual predator tries

By JEFF NAGEL
TERRACE’s mosi notorious sexual of-
fender will get a shot at parole this
month.

Robert Roland Willoughby has been in
prison for 11 years for his sex crimes
against young children here.

And the Standard has leamed Wil-
loughby has changed bis name while in
prison.

Now known as Kevin Roland Oatway,
he remains behind bars at Mountain In-
stitution near Agassiz in the Fraser Val-
ley.

Willoughby became eligible for day
parole in 1989 and for full parole in
1991, That means he’s now entitled to a

parole hearing every year if he wants
one.

Last year he turned down a hearing,
but this year it’s going ahead — on April
17.

Parole board spokesman Debra Kihara
said anyone can apply to the parole
board to observe the hearing, which will
take place at Mountain Institution.

So far the 47-year-old inmate hasn't
been granted release of any kind.

But victims in the Fraser Valley are
keeping close tabs on another sex of-
fender named Oatway who has been
released.

Bobby Oatway was previously known
as Robert Gordon Stevens when he met

Kevin Oatway (previously Willoughby)
in prison.
The two sex offenders are reported to

have ‘‘married’’ each other in prison and ~

then Stevens changed his name to
Oatway.

Bobby Catway was paroled from
Mountain Institution last March after
serving two-thirds of a 10-year sentence
for buggery, bestiality, rape and gross in-
decency.

Oatway was initially released to a
halfway house in Toronto but public out-
rage there forced him to ask to return to
prison.

He was retumed to B.C., where he was
released again from the Sumas correc-

Local runner marks milestone
distance over the
weekend\ SPORTS B4__

were

a wg TOUEL i.

tional centre near Abbotsford in October,

unleashing more protes! from former

victims.

Reform MP Randy White cites the
Oatways’ name changes as evidence of
the need for legislation preventing
violent offenders from changing their
names in prison.

“All B.C, if not Canada knows of the
terrible deeds of Robert Roland Wil-
loughby,’’ White said.

“For Corrections Canada to allow him
and Robert Gordon Stevens to both
change their names in prison is an of-
fence to right-minded cilizens out
there.”’ ‘

White said such offenders are not like-

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936 PLUS 7¢ GST
VOL. 9 NO: 51.

for parole

ly disguising themselves for privacy, but
are “very likely planning to reoffend un-
der another name.”” i

Sex offenders are very difficult to track
after a name change, he said. ;

While claims B.C. sex offender Robert
Noyes has changed his name as well, but
the authorities won't disclose it.

“Nejther Corrections Canada, the
parole board nor the police will not give
the public his new name,”’ White said.
“They say ‘We tell cach other.’ But
that’s not adequate. What they have to
do is tell the public.”’

Continued Page A2

Minister
unaware
of threat

130 protest dramatic

fishing fee increases

~ By DAVID TAYLOR
WORRIED BUSINESS owners in Terrace
rallied outside the Access Centre last
Thursday to protest a huge leap in fishing
licence fees that could result in millions of
lost tourist dollars.

But in spite of the public outcry, B.C.’s
environment minister was somehow. bliss-
fully unaware of any possible crisis.

“T haven’t been approached with those
concerns,” Cathy McGregor told the Stan-
dard \ast Thursday. ‘‘But I’m willing to sit
down with people and talk about it.’’

When asked if she was worried that the
huge increases would drive away tourists,
she simply said, ‘No.’ .

In fact, McGregor insisted she was not
aware of any concerns about potential huge
dollar losses for local businesses because of
the fee increases.

And she says there are no plans in the
works to reduce the more than $40 per day
it will now cost out-of-province tourists to
fish in the northwest.

‘‘We wanted to put the interests of B.C.
fishers first,” McGregor said. ‘These clas-
sified waters are very special. Non residents
should pay more to fish in world class
rivers.”

McGregor said that reducing the non-
resident angling fees isn’t in the cards right
now because the price is actually quite rea-
sonable.

“Our fees are very low compared to other
areas like Europe, and there haven’t been
any increases here since 1990,’’ she said.
“And most of the money from the higher
fees will go into habitat conservation.”’

But former Steelhead Society president
Bruce Hill says the minister must have
known about the cancellations and lost
revenues.

“That’s horseshit. She has been called,
faxed and sent letters by the Steelhead
Society, the BC Wildlife Federation and
many others,”’ he says. ‘We've been trying
to reach her since last week but she’s being
shielded by her staff and she’s getting some
really bad advice.’’

Hill also says the minister was informed
of the protest rally held Thursday in front of
ihe provincial government’s Access Centre
on Eby street,

About 130 guides, lodge owners and other
business people attended the rally. Lodge
owners complained cancellations had al-
ready resulted in losses of hundreds of
thousands of dollars.

Other business owners said they had
received phone calls from foreign
customers wanting ta know if the rumours
weretrue,

‘‘We had people calling from the States
on the first day this was announced,’’ says
Laurie Schulmeister of Misty River Tackle.
“One set of gentlemen from Oregon has

sat

mw Editorial, Page AS
m Letters, Page AG
m Tourists leaving, Page A12

been coming here every summer for 20
years. This year they aren’t.”’

Liberal environment critic Christy Clark
says she also asked the environment minis-
ter about the fee increases during Question

- Period last week, but failed to get a satis-

factory answer.

“1 don’t think she has a clue what effect
this will have on people,’’ Clark says. ‘‘It’s
like she doesn’t want tourists to fish in
B.C,, I thought it was a good thing to have
visitors come here and spend their moncy.”’

Hill, who helped organize the protest, is a
longtime NDP member, not normally taken
to protesting against his own government.

**T voted for these guys and I’m just total-
ly flabbergasted,’* Hill said. ‘‘And we can’t
get through to them.’’

Hill told the crowd northwesterners are
going to have to keep pushing until the
government pays attention.

“If they don’t listen to us we'll come
back next week and wrap this building with
fishing line.’’

Eresy LOIN
THEN TOURZS!

SPORTFISHERMEN, guldes, tackle store
owners, motel operators and others rallied

against angling licence fee Increases that -~

took effect yesterday. At top Is Searle
Philippe, who works at the Terrace Co-op's
naw tackle shop. Above, sportfishing ac-
tivist and NDP member Bruce Hill speaks
out against the government's decision, -

Repap B.C.
separation
is complete

Failed vote has no effect here

By JEFF NAGEL
THE DEFEAT of the Repap-Avenor merger doesn’t
change a thing for workers and contractors in the north-
west. ‘ _

Avenor sharcholders rejected the watered-down deal by a
wide margin last Wednesday, briefly fuelling speculation
that it could change the status of Repap’s operations here.

But Repap B.C. remains protected from its creditors by
court order,

And the Royal and Toronto-Dominion Banks ended alt
speculation on Thursday by exercising their option to take
over the shares of Repap B.C. .

With those shares completely divested from Repap En-
terprises, nothing that happens to the parent company now
will have any effect on northwestemers,

“They are now the owners of these operations,’ Repap
B.C. vice-president Rudy Schwartz said of the banks,
“Now we can get on with life and slart working on the
plan.”

Repap B.C. will also be changing its name to reflect the
change in ownership and separation from Repap, he added.

“We're working on il,’ Schwartz, said. ‘‘A lot of weird
ideas are coming oul, Someone suggested we call it Plup,
or pulp spelled backwards.”’ (Repap’s name came from
paper spelicd backwards.)

The next step for the company is to work with the banks
and the court-appointed monitor to restructure the compa-
ny and try to put it back on sound footing.

“Our focus is going to be to put together a structure thal
will gel the maximum retum to the creditors,” Schwartz
said. ‘Stability and repayment — that’s my focus.’”

Meanwhile lawyers for various creditors will find out on
April 8th whether the Supreme Court will allow the forma-
tion of a creditors’ committee to participate in the restruc-
turing.

Monitor David Bowra is expected to release his interim
report on the state of Repap B.C, around the same time.

The defeat of the merger of Avenor and Repap Enter-
prises is a blow for Repap sharcholders, especially compa-
ny chainman George Petty.

The original proposal was fought by pension fund and
other shareholders since it was tabled in December.

That led on March 3rd to the exclusion of debt-laden
Repap B.C, from the deal — forcing the subsidiary to seek
bankruptcy protection — and Repap Enterprises share-
holders agreed to dramatically slash the number of Avenor
shares they would get in exchange.

But in the end even that wasn’t enough for Avenor share-
holders, 75 per cent of whom voted against the deal Wed-
nesday.

‘Continued Page A2

A wild moose chase

A MOOSE MADE a wrong tum last week, and some-
how ended up on Loen Ave,, leading RCMP and con-
servation officers a merry chase.

Cpl. Ray Griffith was part of the posse, and he says
the moose likely wandered into town on Wednesday
night, then rested In a stnall wooded area.

Heavy traffic on Thursday confused the yearling,
causing him to wander around the Locn area, looking
for a way out. At onc point dere was a concern thal the
moose would head towards E.T. Kenney Primary,
where students were getting out for the afternoon,

Conservation officers attempted to dart the moose,
but he eluded attempts at capture and ran between the
eourt house and the social services building into the

ush,

Officers tracked the moose quite a ways into the
bush, to see if it had been darted, but Griffith said
“there was no indication of il slowing down,’’ ,