March 9, 1999 Over The Edge Page 2 NEE ss Gordon Wilson Speaks his Mind at UNBC By Kevin Milos “This province is worth more than leaving it to the radical right wing groups that have a nar- row, focused interest and don’t speak for the wealth of all of us.” The Hon. Gordon Wilson Gordon Wilson’s recent affiliation with the NDP has sparked many questions in British Columbians every- where. His appoint- ments to two of the most politically volatile and “hot-topic” min- istries, BC Ferries and Aboriginal Affairs, sparked even greater anxiety in NDP support- ers all over the province. On March 5, Gordon Wilson came to the northern half of the province in order to address some of these concerns to the resi- dents of northern BC and to help distill public concerns over breaking issues surrounding cur- rent events concerning aboriginal affairs in British Columbia. The most prevalent of these was for Mr. Wilson to explain why there was such a _ sudden turnface in his support for a third tier of provin- cial government, this time for British Columbians to shed their partisan jackets” and to realize that the province is at a cross- roads in its growth. “The rise of special interest groups in British Columbia are advanc- ing their narrow and focused agendas almost with impunity.” “This province is worth more than leav- ing it to the radical right wing groups that have a narrow, focused interest and don’t speak for the wealth of all of third tier being the “abo- riginal-only” government which the Nisga’a treaty would instigate in Canada. A long time advocate for the opposi- tion of this form of gov- ernment, Wilson now states that “it is = THE SALTO ARI THR STORE { 3133A Westwood Dr. George, BC f 563-7475 Hrs: Mon-Sat I 9:30-5:00 1220-2nd Ave. I Prince George, BC 562-2880 Hrs: Mon-Sat l 9:30-5:00 [ 25% off your next purchase by presenting this coupon me ee ee The Hon. Gordon Wilson Wilson goes on to claim that “This agenda disen- franchises British Columbians from the ownership of _ this province. People who don’t see the world they way that they do are out to destroy it. Secondly, their agendas entrench traditions and customs of the past that have built into the inequalities of the province in the past” Wilson believes that it is now time for the peo- ple of British Columbia to acknowledge the issues of aboriginals and to hear out their The Ultimate Spring Cleaning Event UNBC Winter Garden March 20, 1999 3 puB.c 3 Hand made and Home grown crafts Silent Auction %, Garage Sale, Cultural Event and Craft Fair Sponsored by the Anthropology Student Association of ~ Northern BC painful history. However, with respect to the Nisga’a agree- ment, the hottest topic on the’ table of Aboriginal Affairs today, he draws a similarity between the Charlottetown accord and the Nisga’a agree- ment, where a third tier of government is formed. Although Wilson was adamantly opposed to the forma- tion of a third tier under the Charlottetown Accord in 1993, he now insists that carefully engineered third tier provisional govern- ments can be a useful tool in aboriginal negoti- ations under section 35 of the Canadian Constitution. Wilsons difficulty stems from what he believes to be abuse of the Canadian courts to “litigate the contents of the treaty,” which he finds “absolutely unconsious- able.” According to Wilson, the greatest threat do democracy in Canada today is the efforts of “so called non- partisan narrow interest groups’ to litigate against a duly elected government.” He goes further to draw a com- parison of these activi- ties to the activities of Ken Starr in the United Finally, a noodle... Gordon Wilson spoke in the Wintergarden last Friday about the Aboriginal status. Photo by Dana Schwehr States government and the abuse of “a piece of legislation called ‘recall’” aiming obvious animosity at the recent trend in recall cam- paigns instigated by these interest groups. Conclusively, Gordon Wilson states that it is time for British Columbians to “Move forward to a common goal and to make BC and Canada an envy to the rest of the world.” First Annua The Phi Pi Beta Sor Spaghetti Challenge April 1. : Jump into a huge v. shoelace, you wi Watch for poster sorority office in the Winter This movement depends a great extent on the residents of northern BC since at the moment, “Resource based communities are suffering and people in these communities are suffering.” Wilson claims that the way to resolve this suffering is to negotiate and to wor- together, aboriginal and non.