4 - Sunday, August 7, 1994 - North Shore News Ve aren't all equal JEREMY DALTON is my MLA and he has a question for me. He wants to know what we are going to give away next as far as the indians are concerned. 1 will hazard a guess: the shop. that’s what. Recently, this space itemized how the reserve Indians are being treated as a privileged caste in the matter of the GST, the PST, income tax, fishing rights and whatnot. It's much the same with hunt- ing, and the artful dodger tricks - over in Victoria are enough to make a cat laugh. Buried in the papers some time ago was a little item about how four female elk in a protected herd had been shot and killed by our conser- vation-minded, Great Spirit-loving Red Brothers who are so close to nature, The elk had been mistaken for deer, it was said. Which goes to show that the Indians may not be so close to nature after all. Or that the elk-hunters should have their eyes tested, elk being about twice as large as any deer. Mr. Dalton sent me Hansard extracts showing that the Liberal 66 Why does it take all those sleuths working for the government six months “at least” to find out how and why protected elk were slaughtered? 99 MLA for Chilliwack, Robert Chisholm, had asked why nothing had been done about it even though an investigation had been going on: for six months. That’s right. Six months. Sherlock Holmes, where are you? Moe Sihota looks after this sort of thing. Sort of. And his response was a labored type of answer that only a speared politician or a bureaucrat could make. Sihota told the Liberal MLA: “The matter the Hon. Member Doug Collins ON THE OTHER HAND refers to is under investigation. There is a process of which I'm sure the Hon. Member would bene- fit from being informed and | will inform him of that process. “First of all, the process involves an analysis by conserva- ‘ tion officers, collation of the evi- dence and the forwarding of the material to the attorney general’s office for assessment. That process normally takes somewhere in the neighborhood of six to nine months. That is why, I would sus- pect, no charges to date have been laid in this case.” Translation: “We have no inten- tion of harassing our Indian friends. So get lost, you dummy.” On June 29, Sihota took pen in hand to a Mr. George Wade of Chilliwack, confirming that nothing had been done in the matter and that nothing would be done. Here's part of what he wrote: “Charges will not be laid. The guidelines for sustenance hunting at the time of the incident required that wildlife management staff meet with the First Nations people and present conservation concerns regarding certain species, including elk. This consultation process had not been fully completed at the time of the shooting.” Translation: “We have dragged our feet in this matter as much as possible. So much so that you might think we have drugged our feet instead of dragging them. “For goodness’ sake go away. Don’t you know we have to worry about the Indian vote, especially ° now that we are over halfway to the next election?” Moe continued: “First Nations people in the Lower Mainland have been notified of our conservation concerns about elk. Any future harvest of elk will GN* te Call today for a free estimate! 1113 Lonsdale Ave, Nozth Vancouver eK CANATEK DESIGN GROUP It r DESIGN: GROUP: IN ut Gommitment to Quality 9275 Remodeling %& Design % Construction be investigated and, if warranted, charges will be laid.” If warranted? He means if he chooses to act. The minister then delivered him- self of this mysterious statement: “The courts have given aborigi- nal people priority, after conserva- tion concerns are addressed, in the use of wildlife resources. 1 am encouraged by the response of British Columbia's First Nations regarding their participation in the management and conservation of wildlife.” He may be encouraged but ] ain't. And exactly when did the courts give Indians the right to rav- age wildlife resources? There are some other questions. Why does it take all those sleuths working for the government six months “at least" to find out how and why protected elk were slaughtered? Answer: because they have no instructions to get their butts mov- ing. How long do you think it would take them to find out such things if it had been Joe Blow who did. it? Answer: about six minutes. Certainly not six months. We are all equal, you see, but some... Here’s a footnote for you. 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