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32 Pages

ollarton
1 erosion yet
E to be halted

North Van District to
work with residents

Katharine Hamer _
News Reporter knamer@nsucws.com

IF all goes according to plan, the rapidly
eroding foreshore along Dollarton
Highway could be fixed as early as the
sumumier.

The Dollarton Foreshore Association — a group of cen-
cerned homeowners in the 2800 and 2900 blocks of Dollacton
Highway — have been lobbying North Vancouver District since
last January for help stopping the land sliding away behind their
houses.

Residents along the Dollarton foreshore have been losing as
much as four feet (1.2 m) of land a year.

“January and February are the worst months,” said
Foresnore Association spokesman Cliff Sweeney. “When the
storms hit, we can Jose up to two feet a night.”

“We couldn't fix it individually,” said Sweeney. “The district
wouldn't allow us.”

When it became clear that a majority of Dollarton residents
— 20 of 24 homeowners at last count. — were determined to
take action, North Vancouver District environment manager
Ken Bennett produced a report with a recommended strategy. It
was approved by council in Octobe:

In his re Bennett states that “the lack ofan erosion con-
tol plan... has resulted in individual, piecemeal, action by resi-
dents in an attempt to fix their erosion problems.”

All work in the foreshore area must be approved by the
municipality and the Burrard Environmental Review Committee
(BERC), whose members include the Vancouver Port Authority
and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

Bennett suggested the allocation of a “specified area” project.
The designation would allow the district access to the foreshore
for remedial work even though it is privately-owned land.

Sweency says residents will be asked to submit a specified area
initiative asking the district for temporary funding of the project.
He said the cost will come out of municipal taxes over a 15 to
20 year period.

The district will then establish a steering committee —- com-
prised of staff and representatives from: the foreshore association
— tu negotiate proposals, ensure that residents and council are
happy with the costs entailed, and facilitate applications to
BERC.

Bennett said the district has set aside $400,000 in its capital
budget for the construction project, and is drafting a tender for

proposals.

See Foreshore page §

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Rail rage

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All-stars p16

NEWS photo Jutle Iverson

ROSS Peterson, vice-chair of the Council of Unions for BC Rail, spoke at a Thursday morning rally outside the
company offices on Esplanade Avenue. Locked out rail workers took their grievances to the street. See story

page 5.

Land ci

Deana Lancaster

News Reporter
dlancaster@nsnews.com

WITH the new year upon
them, members of the
Squamish Nation will soon
begin planning for total

-control of their reserve

lands.

Since fast June when Bill C-49 — a
new land management act for the
Squamish Nation and 13 other bands
across Canada — was passed, the band has
had the right to develop land management
codes applicable to all the land in its
reserves.

Squamish gain control of reserves

the Svanding Senate Committee on

For the Squamish Nation, that includes
about 800 acres on this side of Burrard
Inlet. The property is partly comprised of
the Capilano Reserve, near the north end
of the Lions Gate Bridge, containing the
south side of Park Royal Shopping Centre;
the Mission Reserve near Lower Lonsdale;
and the Seymour Creek Reserve, which
holds the Real Canadian Superstore.

Bill C-49 allows the band to rewrite
“the general rules and procedures app!
ble to the use and occupancy of First
Nation land ...” Which means big changes
could be in store for the face of the North
Shore.

Harold Calla talked about the potential
for the Squamish land when he spoke to

Aboriginal Peoples in Ottawa in
December 1998.

“1 drew up a list of projects that will be.
undertaken, we think, in Squamish’s lands
over the next 15 to 20 years ... That list
came up to $1.3 billion in activity,” he told
the committee.

That list is not available to the public.
The bill contains no requirement for bands
to consult with neighbouring municipal
governments on land-use decisions, and in
a meeting with the News at Squamish
Nation administrative offices in mid-

» Squamish Chicf Joe Mathias

See Consultation page &