4 — Wednesday, June 27, 1990 - North Shore News Hee ¢ Kco-Logic ¢ A YERY important book has just been published by Mc- Clelland & Stewart, written by Elizabeth May, the activist who is generally credited with being the main individual responsible for the creation oi a national park on South Moresby. It is a book that should be read by all Canadians, since it tells us so much about the morally cor- rupt, intellectually empty, ecologically blind governments that control the fate of the land we inhabit. The buok is titled Paradise Won, and it is, amazingly, a book with a happy ending. What it makes clear, however, is how nearly impossible it is 10 save even a tiny fragment of our natural heritage. What Ms. May makes clear is that without the presence of determined natives living in the area, environmentalists alone would never have been able to - stop the juggernaut of destruction that had fixed its eye on Lyell Island. And even with an incredible al- liance of natives, conservationists, ceded an inch of land. As Haida councillor Miles Richardson puts it, ‘We don’t claim that land. It has always been Haida land, never anything else. It’s Canada that’s claiming it.” The significance of Paradise Won is that it describes in detail the inner workings of the political systems in Victoria and Otiawa alike. The Queen Charlotte Isiands, in case you haven't noticed, have become something very close to a de facto separate state. The Haida have been charging admission fees to the thousands of tourists who fleck to the area every year, Haida stand guard over aging tctems and longhouses. Anybody who wants to ogle these signs of the Haida’s long history on the islands has to buy a **..without the presence of determined natives ... environmentalists alone would never have been able to stop the juggernaut of destruction that had Fixed its eye on Lyell Island.’’ artists, national celebrities, media, lawyers and politicians, tac out- come was a cliffhanger. Still is, for that matter. fis. May was senior policy ad- viser 10 Tom McMillan when he was environment minister. Be- tween 1985 and 1988, her job was to oversee the creation of the South Moresby national park. She writes with clarity and Precision avout the events that unfurled during those critical years, also with wit and passion. But the real power of the book stems from her insider’s vantage point. One thing that becomes ciear from reading it is the context in which the story of Lyell Island is fixed. What is really involved in the struggle for control of the 150 islands which make up what the natives call ‘‘Haida Gwaii,’’ and which we call the Queen Charlot- tes, is fundamental ownership. It is much more basic than the Struggle over the Falklands, which the Argentines call the Malvinas. In that case, two former colonial powers feuded over seized ter- ritory. In any long-term political sense, the Queen Charlottes question is every bit as serious as the situ2.- tion in Quebec. Sooner or later, I believe, the Haida will win some sort of sovereignty-association status within Canada. In fact. the fate of Quebec is bound to have a considerable effect on the fate of Haida Gwaii. A Quebec that is allowed to break away from central Ottawa control sets a mighty precedent for the Haida, as, indeed, it does every other tribe in the country. They are all distinct societies, and they want to continue to be themselves, to take control of their own destinies. The Haida see themselves as members of a nation that never surrendered to Canada, never licence, and follow a guide. Which is exactly how it should be — except that the Haida unilaterally set up the fee system, brushing aside Ottawa’s objections that this was totally illegal. The Mounties, it should be noted, did not move right in. They had better sense than to stomp into a legal and political quagmire. May tells many revealing anec- dotes, but my favorite is about a $200,000 booklet that was printed by McMilian’s department after it seemed a workable interim agree- ment had been reached between the various parties concerning the fate of Lyell Island. At the last minute, the Justice Department stepped in and in- sisted the booklets be shredded because the captions in the photographs used terms like “‘he- reditary activities of the Haida’’ and ‘‘ancestral home.’” Justice lawyers said that no department of the government could afford to say such things, since it might eventually com- promise Ottawa's land claims negotiations with the Haida. Shortly thereafter, May learned that behind her back Environment Minister McMillan had agreed to sign permits for the construction of two dams on the Souris River in Saskatchewan without requiring federal environmental assessment reviews. He’d done it without consulting downstream Manitoba in order to get Saskatchewan to translate its statutes into French... A near thing, indeed. May resigned her post as scon as she fearned what had happen- ed. So when the South Moresby agreement was [inally signed in July, 1988, she wasn’t there. In some ways, that’s just as well. If she’d have stayed on in Ottawa, the rest of us wouldn’t have this book to read. WV man receives award WEST VANCOUVER | resident Frank A. Griffiths, chairman of WIC Western Iniernational Communications and chairman of the Yancouver Canucks hockey club, was presented last Saturday with the prestigious Golden Heart Community Achievement Award. The annua! Variety Clud of B.C. award is given to an individ- ual who has demonstrated Ivad- ership and commitment to public service for thy betterment of the community. Griffiths’ various companies have collectively raised more than $53 million for chairtable causes over the last 25 years. The 73-year-old) Griffiths also owns BCTY, which annually do- nated 22 hours of television time, the use of its facilities and the services of its technicians to help produce the Variety Club Telethon, We've got The telethon has helped the Variety Club raise more than $33 million for B.C. children. 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