NOVEMBER

Cassiar Courier

the Voice of Cassiar Country

1986

CTORY FOR GUNO

The new M.L.A. for Atlin stopped by the Courier offices for an interview during his campaign visit.

Larry Guno, a lawyer from the Nass Valley, was elected October 22, 1986 as the Member of the Legis-

lative Assembly for the Atlin constituency. He was one of 38 newly-elected M.L.A.s.

WHO WON WHERE? A POLL BY POLL BREAKDOWN

In a statement the following morning, Guno said, “I am overwhelmed and tired but very pleased with the ‘results in the riding.” Although support for his candi- dacy was particularly strong in the southern area of the riding, Guno remarked that “‘it was nice to see that out- side the Nisga’a area, I took a slim majority of the votes.”

Guno plans to be vigorous in voicing the concerns of the region in the Legislature. When asked about his pri- orities, he replied that he ‘‘would have to sort these out with the various groups in the riding.” In the interim, however, there were items of local interest that he felt could be dealt with sooner, such as improvements to the highway system, and dealing with the situation in Good Hope Lake concerning the bussing of school children into Cassiar.

Guno plans to improve the riding’s communication network. He hopes to establish constituency offices in Dease Lake and Cassiar. With Atlin being (marginally) the second largest electoral district in the province, with an area of 22,000 square miles, Guno feels that con- sultation with interest groups must be maintained, and the sheer size of the area involves some amount of expense beyond that of a southern district.. There is a

_ possibility that Guno’s constituency offices may be run jointly with those of fellow N.D.P.er, Jim Fulton, the MP for Skeena but these plans have not been con- firmed.

Disappointed in the provincial results, Guno plans, as part of the opposition team, to hold the government accountable, He also noted, “The person who sets the

tone of government is the Premier.’”’ Whereas he felt that Bill Bennett’s government was confrontational, he hopes that Vander Zalm will live up to his promises of co-operation.

Guno was born and raised at Aiyansh in the Nass Valley, 60 miles north of Terrace. He attended school locally, as well as in Prince Rupert, Alert Bay and Ed- monton. Upon graduation he worked as a fisherman for several years, and as a mill worker in Prince Rupert. He was a federal civil servant with the Dept. of Indian Affairs in Prince Rupert and Vancouver He furthered his studies at Langara College and Simon Fraser University, and graduated from the University of British Columbia Law School in 1979. Called to the bar in 1980, he has a practice in Vancouver, specializing in family and crim- inal law. He has spent a great deal of time in the last three years working on behalf of the Nisga’a Tribal Council, in their efforts to obtain a greater share and more control of their natural resources.

Running for the Socreds was Stewart businessman, Andy Burton. Barry Church, Burton’s campaign manager, stated in a phone conversation that ‘we won the battle but lost the war. We were happy with the fact that Andy (Burton) won a majority of the votes from Stewart north.” Church was pleased with the show of support in Cassiar. He also wished to thank all residents who were involved in the campaign.

The tally for votes in Cassiar as of Gctober 23rd was: Andy Eurton (S.C.) 187, Guno (N.D-P.) 165.

OTHER ELECTION STORIES page 15

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Blectoral Oninct Soundery y

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’PASSARELL DIES IN CRASH

The former M.L.A. for Atlin, Alan Murray (Al) Passarell, along with four others, was killed ie 27, 1986 in a plane crash at Dease Lake, The aircraft which was carrying Al, his wife Ruth, Ben Able, Shelly Smith and Joe Florence from Atlin to the Socred nomin- ation meeting crashed and sank into Dease Lake.

Born April 22, 1950 in Detroit, Michigan, Al came to Canada while a young man. He obtained his Bachelor of Education degree at Notre Dame University in Nelson, B.C. and was principal at the Good Hope Lake school prior to his election to political office in 1979 when he became M.L.A. for Atlin.

Passarell’s career in the legislature was notable for several things, among them his one-vote win in 1979 from which came the nickname “Landslide Al”, In that election he defeated Frank Calder who was originally an N.D.P. member before he crossed the floor to the Socreds.

On October 22, 1985, unhappy with his party’s policies, ;

he duplicated Calder’s move.

A memorial service was held October 7 at Grandview Calvary Saptist Church in Vancouver, the site of Pass-f arell’s May 17, 1986 wedding to the former Ruth Lonki.f Officiating were Father Joseph Plaine and Rev. Bryant Wigg. Colleagues of Al’s from both sides of the legisla- ture attended.

Funeral services had been held the previous day inj Atlin for four of the crash’s victims. The Recreation -Hall was filled with local residents mourning the con- siderable loss to their community.

Passarell is survived by his son Rocky, and his]

~ daughters Natasha and Jackelynn, who reside in Surrey.

Al was also known for the tall tales he told in and out of the legislature, especially for the story about the “charging grizzly” that supposedly went after him. Al’s

was a uniquely northern personality and he will be missed.