The Dominion - Prince George

The Silence Was Deafening

Moira Peters — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 09:35:46 +0000

BC's Missing Women Commission of Inquiry hears from Downtown East Side

VANCOUVER—Passionate criticism and painful stories rang out at two Community Engagement Forums held at the end of January in Vancouver and Prince George, BC, leading up to this year's Missing Women Commission of Inquiry. Indigenous women spoke up to demand justice for their beloved family members and friends who have been disappeared or murdered.

More than 100 people gathered in a large hall at the Japanese Language School in Vancouver's Downtown East Side (DTES) on January 19, 2011. The Commission's process, content and the naming of Wally Oppal as Commissioner were subject to passionate criticism and scrutiny by those who have been demanding justice for their relatives, friends and colleagues for over 30 years.

"Mr. Oppal, this has been a long journey for a lot of us women," said Walk4Justice co-founder Bernie Williams.

The Commission was set in motion in September 2010 by an Order in Council by the BC Lieutenant Governor in Council. The terms of reference instruct the Commission to inquire into the investigations by police forces into the disappearances of women from the DTES between certain dates, inquire into the Criminal Justice Branch's 1998 stay of proceedings on charges against Robert Pickton, recommend changes concerning investigations into cases of missing women and suspected multiple homicides in BC and recommend changes concerning homicide investigations and inter-agency co-operation.

"Why did it take 69 women [in BC], and over 4,000 women nationally [for this to get started]?" asked Williams.

Sold into the sex trade in Prince Rupert as a child, Williams' mother was murdered in 1977. Two of her older sisters were murdered in the 1980s. Williams and other relatives of missing and murdered women out west and across the country have been organizing for decades, demanding justice and, among other things, a public inquiry concerning all missing and murdered women since the 1970s.

"I don't trust this whole Commission. I don't trust it," added Williams, to loud applause by those in attendance.

Many women regretted the choice of date and time for the community engagement forum. It was originally postponed, but then scheduled for one of the worst days possible: Wednesday, January 19, 2011 was a welfare payment day, complicating many local residents' and others' availability to participate.

The terms of reference of the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry were repeatedly called into question.

The inquiry into the way investigations of disappearances of women in the DTES were handled by police forces deals with investigations specifically between January 23, 1997 and February 5, 2002. This narrow window excludes dozens of women who have been murdered or gone missing both before and after the chosen dates. Furthermore, the infamous Highway of Tears—Highway 16 running east-west in northern BC—is not mentioned by name in the terms of reference, despite the fact that young women, almost all of them First Nations, have been going missing along that highway for decades.

"I started a movement in northern BC. My niece went missing on the Highway of Tears," began Walk4Justice co-founder Gladys Radek.

"Our people, our families, they need to know what happened," said Radek, echoing the voices of so many relatives of missing and murdered women. "The system is failing."

"I got home at 1:30 am last night and I checked my email, and there was a 'missing' poster. That missing poster was the mother of someone who went missing on the Highway of Tears five years ago," she continued, choking back tears.

Radek went to school with Maggie Layton, the woman whose photograph appeared on the missing poster in question. The two women walked alongside each other during a previous Walk4Justice—Layton, to demand justice for her missing daughter, and Radek, for her niece Tamara Chipman, and for all of the missing women and their families.

At the Community Engagement Forum in Prince George on January 21, 100 people gathered to speak out about their experiences, stories and their missing and murdered daughters, sisters, mothers, nieces and others. The Commission, and particularly Oppal, was urged to visit the communities along the Highway of Tears. A few speakers at the Vancouver forum echoed the request for the series of cases in northern BC to be dealt with thoroughly, and not simply as an aside to the inquiry into what occurred in the DTES.

"The women of the Highway of Tears need their own inquiry," asserted Alice Kendall of the DTES Women's Centre.

"There is poverty across Canada. There is racism across Canada," she said, but adding that "something happened in this specific neighbourhood [the DTES]."

In large part, the Commission of Inquiry arose out of the explosion of media attention concerning missing and murdered women during Robert Pickton's arrest, the high-profile forensic investigation of his pig farm in Port Coquitlam and his subsequent trial and conviction for the murders of six women. As does the Inquiry, media attention focused on a few sensational cases and issues, ignoring the vast majority of others.

The facts are undeniable. The overwhelming majority of missing and murdered women in BC are Indigenous women. As has often been the case with media coverage and investigations, the terms of reference offer no mention, analysis or instructions reflecting that reality.

With the exception of the sensationalist coverage of the Pickton case, the near complete failure of the police, media and government to take reports of missing and murdered women seriously, or to do anything about them, has continued for decades. Many women denounced the institutional racism of police forces and other institutions, which have resulted in the abuse and derision of families who report their daughters, mothers, sisters and others missing.

"The silence was definitely deafening. We could hear it," said Dianne George.

"How did the Commission of Inquiry come up with the dates of January 23, 1997 and February 5, 2002?" she asked.

The terms of reference arise from the principal goal of the Commission of Inquiry: to recommend changes to improve the investigations of police forces and the judicial system, as well as inter-institutional co-operation in the future. It reflects the Pickton case, but excludes many other women, families, perpetrators and systemic problems. The Missing Women Commission of Inquiry has in fact been dubbed the "Pickton Inquiry" by the media.

Several women came forward at the Community Engagement Forum to speak about their own experiences with Robert Pickton and other suspected perpetrators. They told harrowing stories of their interactions with Pickton and others, their sisters' and friends' visits to the infamous pig farm, and their treatment by the police when they came forward.

"I was treated as though I was making stuff up, as though I was delusional," recalled Terry Williams, adding that one police officer once told her that if she kept reporting information, she would be committed to a psychiatric institution.

The stories shared included experiences and incredibly detailed information, including the license plate of the van used by Pickton and others to abduct women, an Oregon license plate of another van seen abducting women and the location of Pickton's pig farm. Almost invariably, the response women and family members received echoed a comment made by Williams: when she had a license plate number of a van and a description of the man that she had seen abducting a woman from the DTES, "The cops would not take the information."

The history and experiences do not all relate to Robert Pickton. They do not all relate to the years between 1997 and 2002. Most of the women who spoke at the Community Engagement Forum expressed their frustration or anger at the exclusion of so many missing and murdered women, but also at their own exclusion from the process itself.

"What I think everyone here is saying is that those terms of reference are too narrow," reiterated Beverley Jacobs, emphasizing that she was not speaking as legal counsel for the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs (UBCIC), but as an Aboriginal woman.

"You have the authority, Commissioner Oppal, to change...those terms of reference," added Jacobs.

"We understand the dissatisfaction that has been shown here today," said Commissioner Wally Oppal, speaking on behalf of the Commission of Inquiry. "We want to see constructive changes made."

As the Community Engagement Forum came to a close, it was clear that relatives, friends, colleagues and neighbours of the missing and murdered women in Vancouver's Downtown East Side have been proposing constructive changes for years. Beyond their critiques and proposals for the official Commission of Inquiry, which is set to begin within a few months, they continue to organize and mobilize in the DTES, in northern BC and across the country.

The 20th annual Women's Memorial March for Missing and Murdered Women will be held again this year on February 14, 2011—Valentine's Day—in Vancouver's Downtown East Side. Everyone, of any gender, is invited to gather at the Carnegie Community Centre Theatre at Main and Hastings at 12:00pm, where relatives of missing and murdered will speak before the march begins at 1:00 pm. Two weeks of commemorative events began last week, on January 30, 2011.

Other Women's Memorial Marches, Sisters in Spirit vigils and rallies for justice will take place on February 14 in Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and dozens of other communities across the country.

Relatives and supporters will be joining the Walk4Justice once again this summer, walking across Canada to honour the missing and murdered Indigenous women from coast to coast, to raise awareness, and to demand justice. The Walk4Justice will reach Ottawa on September 19, 2011.

Sandra Cuffe is a contributing member of the Vancouver Media Co-op and based in Vancouver, in unceded Coast Salish territory. This article was originally published by the Vancouver Media Co-op.

Deafening Silence.Presentation

Deafening Silence: Crowd

Waves of Controversy Continue on BC Lakes

Moira Peters — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 05:35:07 +0000

Mt. Milligan mine in Northern BC far from a done deal

With all eyes on Tetzan Biny (Fish Lake) in central BC and the looming threat of government approval of Taseko's proposed Prosperity Mine, the proponents of the Mt. Milligan mine in northern BC have managed to avoid public scrutiny. But although it's stayed below the radar, the Mt. Milligan project could turn out to be just as controversial.

Before it was called Mt. Milligan, the area where the proposed open pit mine would be located was known to the Nak'azdli people as Shus Nadloh. It is a sacred area and an important watershed. Even so, Thompson Creek Metals, the mine proponent, makes the claim that the company can restore the area after mining, and replace fish habitat in the meantime by building reservoirs. The same claim is made by Taseko with respect to its proposed Prosperity Mine.

Building and operating the proposed Mt. Milligan mine near Prince George would mean turning a two-kilometre-long fish-bearing creek into a waste dump for potentially acid-leaching rock. The move to use the King Richard Creek Valley for waste disposal would result in almost three hundred million tonnes of waste rock being dumped into the creek, eliminating fish and marine life.

In a move hailed by local newspapers as a "breakthrough," the McLeod Lake Indian Band struck a revenue-sharing deal with the province for the Mt. Milligan mine. According to Black Press' bclocalnews.com, the McLeod Lake Band would receive as much as $38 million over the 15-year life of the copper and gold mine.

The McLeod Lake Band are Tse’khene peoples. The band independently affiliated with Treaty 8 in 2000. Treaty 8 was originally created in 1899 around the time of the gold rush; by signing the treaty, aboriginal title over land is ceded in exchange for "reserve lands, and other benefits," according to BC's Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation's website.

But diverting dollars to the McLeod Lake Band doesn't guarantee the project a green light.

The Nak'azdli Band is a member of the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council (CTSC), which pulled out of the BC Treaty Commission in 2006.

"We're not opposed to the project per se, but we want to work with the company and also with the province if we can get there," Chief Fred Sam of the Nak'azdli told the Vancouver Media Co-op in a phone interview.

Neither the Nak'azdli nor the CSTC have ceded their lands to British Columbia, or to Canada.

"We have... ongoing concern about the environment, and just the way things are being handled.... We're not happy with environmental process," he said.

The Mt. Milligan mine is slated to destroy King Richard Creek. Terrane has already received provincial approval of the environmental assessment.

Though past press releases from the Nak'azdli have signaled strong resistance to the Mt. Milligan mine, Sam says his community is waiting for the BC government to provide more information about the project and the possible benefits to the Nak'azdli before making any kind of decision on whether they'll support the mine.

"Once we get something from BC, then we'll present it to our community members, and we want them to say 'yea' or 'nay,'" said Sam, noting the possibility that this vote could happen within a few months.

The Halfway River First Nation and the West Moberly First Nation are also located near the proposed mine site.

Denver-based Thompson Creek Metals Company acquired Vancouver-based Terrane Metals Corp. in July 2010. The company has already begun building roads into the Mt. Milligan mine area, and plans to invest over $827 million in the proposed mine and the mill.

According to Thompson Creek Metals, the proposed open pit mine contains 2.1 billion pounds of copper and six million ounces gold, and would provide 400 direct jobs over 22 years.

Existing controversy around the Mt. Milligan mine is buried in forward-looking statements on the company's website. But if the Nak'azdli people are forced to stand up and protect Shus Nadloh and King Richard Creek, the facts on the ground—namely, the uncertainties around rights and title—may suddenly come into relief.

Dawn Paley is a journalist in Vancouver. This article was originally published by the Vancouver Media Co-op.

King Richard Creek

More Northern BC Schools Set to Close as Olympic Budget Balloons

dru — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 10:50:44 +0000

Billions spent on Games recuperated from rural education system

LONDON, UK—As British Columbia begins to contemplate the effects of a $6-billion Olympic spending spree, 14 schools have been slated to close this year in the Prince George School District, situated in the Central Interior of the province. In January, hundreds of residents gathered to hear the Board of Education announce the planned closures, as well as increased class sizes, which trustees say will be necessary to close a gaping $7-million budget deficit in the district. The blow comes at a time when local communities are already reeling from 15 school closures since 2002. Residents of BC's Central Interior continue to grapple with serious economic problems, including an unemployment rate of nearly 13 per cent in the city of Prince George.

Widespread opposition has taken hold among local teachers, administrators, parents and residents, who fear for the fate of their schools and communities. “It's unprecedented when you have the BC School Trustees Association, the BC Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils, BC CUPE [Canadian Union of Public Employees], as well as the BCTF [Teachers’ Federation], all submitting a joint letter to the Minister,” said Don Sabo, Chairperson of the Prince George and District Parent Advisory Council. “It's pretty big stuff that's happening here.”

Hundreds of parents and community members have flocked to public meetings held at each school slated for closure and late last month dozens braved the cold outside school district offices to demonstrate against the cuts. Another demonstration in opposition to the Olympics greeted the torch relay with placards bearing slogans such as "$6 billion could fund social housing, healthcare and education.”

The BC Government has responded to the criticism of the planned school closures by denying its own culpability and faulting declines in student enrolment.

Officials have suggested that the government, despite its funding responsibilities, cannot be held responsible for school closures. “I would urge people to present their concerns to the locally elected school board,” MLA Pat Bell told the Prince George Free Press, "because that’s where school closure decisions are made.”

Local stakeholders are unconvinced, however, not least because the provincial government is the sole funder of school districts in BC, which are prohibited by law from running deficits. “School boards are put in a very unfortunate situation,” said Matt Pearce, Vice-President of the Prince George and District Teachers’ Association. “They get the unenviable task of making the cuts and they don't control the revenue.”

“I think a lot of the blame, and rightly so, has been directed at the provincial government, particularly with the [cost] downloads they’ve made, often with little or no notice to school boards.”

“Downloads” refer to new responsibilities and expenses shifted to a lower level of government without accompanying funding to meet the costs.

An abrupt shift in the funding formula for schools brought mass closures to the district in 2002 and 2003. Many believe that the model fails to properly account for the extra costs of operating schools in northern and rural areas. A recent school district report noted: “The Ministry of Education changed its method of funding school districts from one that recognized a variety of unique factors to one where the prime driver for funding became simply the number of students enrolled.”

For their parts, the Education Minister and local MLAs have instead suggested that falling enrolment, not funding shortfalls, are behind the closures. The school district "lost nearly 4,500 students in the last 10 years," Prince George MLA Shirley Bond explained in a local newspaper.

However, community members argue that the 25 per cent drop since 2001 has already been met with 15 school closures. The 14 more slated to be shuttered this year would bring the total closures to nearly half of the schools in the district in just eight years, a toll obviously disproportionate to the enrolment decline, Don Sabo notes.

As well as the unfavourable funding formula already in place, the district faces unfunded new costs and programs downloaded by the provincial government this year. These include cuts to an annual capital and maintenance costs grant, an unfunded kindergarten program, hikes to provincial health premium for employees and non-rebated costs of BC's new Harmonized Sales Tax and carbon tax.

Perhaps the greatest concern is reserved for the fate of the seven rural schools slated to close. "Because they are small communities, when you shut down the school, you're shutting down the community," Sabo said. "It's a complete disruption of the social fabric."

The closures would also mean up to three or even four hours a day spent on the bus for many kids. Teachers and parents alike are concerned about the long rides and the time that commuting children will lose, including missed chances to participate in extracurricular activities.

Their concerns are corroborated by researchers like Mount Allison University Professor Michael Fox, whose study of rural communities in Quebec found that "[kids] with large average times on a bus report lower grades and poorer levels of fitness, fewer social activities and poor study habits."

For many, it is difficult to understand why school closures and larger class sizes to save a few million dollars are considered a belt-tightening necessity, while billions are readily spent on the Olympics, along with a $500-million new roof for BC Place Stadium in Vancouver. "Bills are coming in for the Olympics and [the provincial government has] to find money to pay for it from somewhere," Sabo said. "They're taking it from our kids' education and our kids' future."

For local community activist and columnist Peter Ewart, all of this raises a broader set of questions about the economy and government policy in the region. "First of all, talk about declining enrolment begs the question: why is this taking place? A big contributor has been the damage done by job cuts and mill closures in the forest industry," which, in turn, forces families to relocate.

"People have been saying for years that there needs to be a program to diversify forestry and other resource industries in the Interior of BC. Government should be putting demands on companies, for example by requiring that resources be processed in the province and near the communities they are extracted from."

"In other words," Ewart added, "we should be adding value to our own natural resources, thus creating jobs and sustaining communities."

As the Olympics draw to a close, not only parents and students, but whole neighbourhoods and communities in this region are waiting anxiously for the final budget numbers to be released from BC's Ministry of Education in mid-March; the budget will finalize the school district's deficit level and just how many more schools will be forced shut this year.

Alex Hemingway is a UK-based graduate student from Prince George, BC. He is currently studying Social Policy and Planning at the London School of Economics, where he also received a master's degree in Global Politics.

School Bus

BC school closures