15 YEARS AGO... (Sept. 5-11, 1995)
Native protesters wounded in gunfight with RCMP
Three natives were wounded in a gun battle with RCMP in the Gustafsen Lake standoff on Monday.
The incident began when a pickup truck drove outside a "no-go zone" surrounding the camp that natives were occupying and was disabled by an explosive device RCMP had placed beneath a road in the area.
RCMP said "two or three people" got out of the vehicle carrying weapons and ran into the nearby bush, pursued by heavily armed police, including two Bison armoured personnel carriers on loan from the Canadian Forces.
Both vehicles came under heavy fire from an AK-47, prompting police to return fire, RCMP said.
Despite the renewed violence, William Ignace, known as Wolverine, a leader of the militants, said no one was prepared to leave the encampment.
As the bullets flew at Gustafsen Lake, B.C. aboriginal leaders gathered in Merritt to discuss peaceful ways of helping resolve the dispute.
The leaders also discussed the ongoing standoff at Ipperwash Park in Ontario, where a gun battle last week claimed the life of a native protester Dudley George.
Flash forward: The Gustafsen Lake standoff ended on Sept. 17 when the militants surrendered peacefully. In 1997, Mr. Ignace and his son, Joseph, were acquitted on charges of attempted murder.
25 YEARS AGO... (Sept. 5-11, 1985)
Wine industry gets $6.8-million bailout
The provincial and federal governments joined forces this week on a $6.8-million bailout package of B.C.'s struggling wine industry.
Federal Agriculture Minister Harvey Schroeder said B.C.'s industry, which produces mostly red wine, has been hard-hit by a growing consumer preference for white wines.
The two levels of government will kick in $3.4-million each to buy out surplus grapes and millions of litres of red wine that have little value on the open market due to plummeting demand.
The province's 200 grape growers will be required to spend $5.1-million of the bailout package replacing up to one-sixth of the province's grape vines with more profitable varieties.
In June, three major wineries cancelled their contracts, leaving 79 of the province's 200 grape producers with no place to sell their fruit. This year's red grape crop is worth an estimated $2.5-million.
B.C.'s wine industry employs about 250 people and produces about $2.7-million litres of red wine annually.
Bruce Walker, vice-president of the Wine Council of B.C., said the industry is "extremely pleased" with the agreement.
Flash forward: In 2009, 181 licensed wineries in the province produced almost 13 million litres of B.C. wine worth an estimated $182-million.
Special to The Globe and Mail