Wills written at Gustafsen NORTH VANCOUVER -RCMP Const. Mike Lidstone spent: most of this month on edge. at the Gustafsen Lake _ Standoff, By Anna Marie D'An elo -News Reporter - _. “It. was: difficult, The first week was neat and different,” said Lidstone on Thursday. - “The remaining weeks. it was very tying. It was constant anxiety, emotionally. exhausting for every- body ... valways being on edge ... it was draining,” he said. The- nine-year veteran of the .. North Vancouver. RCMP and 11 of ‘his colleagues in the Emergency Response Team (ERT) returned on Wednesday after spending more than three weeks at the standoff. “They (the armed squat- ° ters) literally hunted us. They : planned assaults on __ the. - ‘ police,” said Lidstone. Lidstone said that: the - squatters’ were “not- in “a defensive mode”. and it. " appeared it, was a matter of. time before someone. Wa © killed. "Lidstone is the team "leader of: the” North © Vancouver “ RCMP's ERT. He said hun-. dreds of ERT Mounties from throughout Canada took, part “in police operation. oa “The set-up was like a place where you would have a * typical military assault” ‘said Lidstone. 7 -_ “However, you can't send :the military in there because ‘the military are trained to: innihilate everybody, They 1 are - not’. trained policemen." said Lidstone. He. said: . the.,.; North ly sleeping. While on duty, the police atlempt- ed to “tighten up the perimeter” around the squatters’ camp. At night, the police stept under the stars and would sonietimes have to remove frost anc ice from their sleep~ : ing bags. “You don’t really sleep. You just put your ‘head: down and wonder when the next time you are going to get shot at," said Lidstone. He said the Nomh Vancouver RCMP ERT members were not shot at, but former North Vancouver Mounties at Gustafsen Lake who now work at other detachments had “bullets whiz by their heads.” The police used Coleman stoves to boil water for ration packs of meals, © _ “These precious “Tittle packs were good the first week, but they get less “and less appetizing the more time you “Photo submitted "ine and this dufus is g giving me . Vancouver, Mounties suspect- “NORTH. VANCOUVER’ 'RCMP constables the finger... You're a police. ed that they were going to be Mike Lidstone. (left), Blair Yorke, Tom — officer there, trying to do your called to the standoff in late, Seaman and Marc Biage of the ERT. “August. “We realized it was quite ‘aw dan- gerous operation to undertake, at id : Lidstone. vos “We made sure we were all pres. pared and people rushed: around. chinging their wills and making wills before we left.” he said. ; At. Gustafsen, ERT members - worked 30 hours: straight with six stayed there,” said Lidstone, Lidstone® said. police * wills were also written at Gusta “People would write their wills j in. their notebook: Sand get other mem- bers to sign it” said Lidstone. “Sometimes before someone went out, they'd give you a message to say to their. wife if they didn't come “back.” _Gustatsen Lake. Photo submitted ‘NORTH VANCOUVER RCMP ‘constables: Wayne Knapman (lent and Wayne Pride are’ shown’ aboard an armored personnel carrier used by RCMP Emergency Response Team members at the | Gustafsen Lake standoff near 100 Mile House. Lidstone said Canadian Army — members there to handie the armored personnel carriers could not believe that the situation was a police and not military operation: “One of the military personnel had been in Bosnia and he said that the fire fight (where a police armored ‘personnel carrier. was shot “at with thousands of bullets) was larger than anything he had. ~ seen | ins. Bosnia,** - heavily’ in ‘the meat: ‘industry in terms of cattle raising. ; “The immediate issue was they 1 were calling for the evic->. —— ,.tion /of Pércy.. (Rosette) and: -- MOHAWK | “his family who basically have _Dacajewelah: (Splitting The heen here for about six years, Sky). a call for help. : mnaintaining. the ‘sundance | -- aay ; ceremonies here, which by the way, lama Sundancer. — / “These white racist ranchers basically threatened Percy and. his family with being. lynched: and burning ‘down. their. ‘cook- - heuse. and forcliily removed off. of their. land. Inside. of their :; /Arucks they were armed with all kinds of assault-weapons.:.° —: “They made many threats of forced ‘eviction thinking that: « | these people were basically by themselves and didn’t have any-. body to back them. -Well|they have a lot of friends. Friends and - allies surfaced from ever where and since they were armed it ‘Was necessary for us to be armed as well, ‘ : # “If they were going (o make gocd on “their. threat to burn “, down the cookhouse and. string up some red niggers. we were, going to make sure that they didn’ te" i ; ~ SUNDANCER “The magic in that formula is that given the growth of population on the North Shore and the aging population on the North Shore. this bed capacity combined with ew tech- nologies, should allow us to operate a litte _ More efficiently.” / + Noth Vancouver, District Mayor Murray Dykeman, who sits on the acute-cure plan ning subcommittee id that while some. of: Ahe committee's findings may be misleading, the draft report is a planning tool. The report shows that “if all the beds that could be in Lions Gate Hospital ‘were approved, then we'd have enough beds right now to look after the next 10 or 15 years. In - © other words, we don't have to Jook at phin- ning dnew hospitals-he said. aA The dralreport is expected to receive final, approval by the GVREID within the next wo months, r