Politicians of Podunk Pontificate on Port

If one listens carefully enough, you can almost hear the phones ringing at the riding offices, legislature offices, House of Commons sanctuaries and at the desk of Mayor Herb Pond. Yesterday’s announcement that the First nations of the region have decided to head to court over the container port project, has become the talk of the town in less than twenty four hours.

While everyone seemed to have something to say, other than the usual cautious statements, not much new light has been shed on the situation. One can guess though of the pressure being brought to bear on the elected officials of the region, who seemed to have been once again caught by surprise by the developments.

With the high profile project once again on the front pages due to legal concerns, the political scrambling to find a position to stand on has begun anew. The tone of the commentary thus far, is that of someone not wanting to make a statement that may come back and haunt them later on in the process.

However, our elected officials should realize that once and a while you also have to take a stand on an issue, regardless of the political backbite from it. Hopefully, our MP, MLA and city council members won’t let this issue get out too far away from them, it would be helpful if we knew where they stood on this and how they can contribute to finding a solution to it before it gets too late.

For the record, we provide the comments of those in the political class that have commented thus far, as relayed to the Daily News on their page one story in today’s issue.

PORT ANSWERS IN DEMAND
By James Vassallo
The Daily News
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Page One

Elected officials are demanding answers, encouraging dialogue and guaranteeing the project will continue in the wake of pending court action around the Prince Rupert container port announced by the Coast Tsimshian yesterday.

Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen said he has spoken to new Minister of Transportation Lawrence Cannon, who expressed general support for the project but who is new to the file, as well as Cannon’s second in command on the issue.

“I talked to the parliamentary secretary and said you need to come up for this and the circumstances around the Queen of the North,” said Cullen. “We’re going to have to get somebody up here to push this file forward quickly.

“There’s just too much at risk.”

He notes there has been little coming from the new Conservative government about the issue, a problem that Tory campaign co-chair John Reynolds said would be treated as a priority in the last election.

“I remember that rhetoric, although a lot of it was coming from the (Conservative) candidate,” said Cullen. “but I remember Mr. Harper talking while in the area and saying how important this was.

“It’s time for him to step up.”

That lack of movement has also been prominent from David Emerson, the Minister of International Trade and Minister responsible for the Pacific Gateway, he said.

“I think Mr. Emerson has been distracted, something about betraying voters,” quipped Cullen.

The MP also asked the public not to get caught up in any racial tension, a problem that manifested the last time threats of court action were in the news. The best interests of Prince Rupert and those of Metlakatla and Lax Kw’alaams are the same, he said.

“I don’t hold the government of Canada as the only culprit in this,” said Cullen, who said he hopes to speak to people from the First Nations communities today. “I’ve seen some of the offers and they’re not bad.”

From the city of Prince Rupert, Mayor Herb Pond stressed that everyone knows the importance of the project it will go ahead. “Prince Rupert and Northwest B. C. will have its container port and it will be completed on time.“ said Pond. “Our friends and neighbours in Metlakatla and Lax Kw’alaams need this project as much as anyone, maybe more. They’re savvy business people with expanding enterprises in tourism, seafood and forestry.

“The successful development of this modern high-speed trade route will give all of our businesses - theirs included - unparalleled access to world markets.”

Pond said the fact that those communities are interested in negotiating the best deal for themselves should neither surprise nor alarm anyone.

However, federal government representatives say the communities have been consulted, listened to and offered a very good deal.

“Consultations have been ongoing since 2004,” said Steve Rhodes, Western Economic Diversification’s manager of strategic initiatives and intergovernmental affairs. “We believe we’ve very carefully listened to their concerns.

“We made an offer and we believe it’s a generous offer.”

Rhodes said in consultation with the Coast Tsimshian WED has twice fine-tuned the offer to better meet their demands. As reported in yesterday’s Daily News, Port President and CEO Don Krusel explained the offer included employment opportunities, financial support for job and skills training, the creation of an Aboriginal employment coordinator to help band members realize job opportunities, and “significant funding” for Aboriginal businesses that would benefit from the port expansion.

In terms of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act approval that the Coast Tsimshian are concerned about – the reason for one of the two court applications (the other being a failure to consult and accommodate) – Rhodes said both the WED and Environment Canada provided the necessary oversight and gave their approvals once responsibilities were met.

This morning also held an impromptu political protest when four boats from Las Kw’alaams and Prince Rupert ventured into the Fairview container port area to assert Aboriginal fishing rights. The Daily News was initially denied access to the area by security.

Shaun Stevenson, the Port’s director of business development, confirmed the boats did make an appearance but said a port authority patrol vessel sent to investigate the situation reported the vessels left shortly after.