15 years ago (Oct. 17-23, 1995)
Treaties to cost $10-billion, minister says
The cost of treaty settlements with B.C. aboriginal groups is expected to top $10-billion, Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Cashore revealed this week.
Government-commissioned studies indicate that treaties will transfer about $5-billion in cash and $5-billion worth of land to the province's native bands over the next two decades, Mr. Cashore said, calling the figures "very, very preliminary."
It's the first time the Harcourt government has put an overall price tag on treaty settlements since the province began negotiating aboriginal land claims two years ago.
The federal and provincial governments have agreed to split the costs of treaty settlements 50-50, with B.C. providing the bulk of the land and Canada providing most of the cash.
The studies suggest B.C. will pay about 17 per cent of the cash settlements, a total of about $43-million a year for 20 years.
Noting that the NDP government is running a deficit budget, Liberal Leader Gordon Campbell said $10-billion "sounds like a larger number than we can afford."
Flash forward: In its 17-year history, B.C.'s treaty process has produced two ratified final agreements, with the Tsawwassen First Nation and the Maa-Nulth First Nation on Vancouver Island.
25 years ago (Oct. 17-23, 1985)
Chilcotin residents oppose pine beetle logging plan
A rare coalition of ranchers, hunters, homesteaders and native bands has stalled plans to clear cut vast tracts of pine-beetle-infested forest in B.C.'s Chilcotin region.
A spokesman for Carrier Lumber, which has provincial stumpage rights to an area about half the size of Vancouver Island, said this week that growing anger from local residents has forced the company to put its logging plans on hold.
The B.C. Forests Ministry estimates that the mountain pine beetle has infested 26 million cubic metres of lodgepole pine in the Central Interior with a potential market value of $70-million.
The ministry hopes to "salvage" five million cubic metres of beetle-infested forest in the West Chilcotin over the next eight years.
Echoing the sentiments of many area residents, long-time guide and outfitter Mike McDonough said logging will change the Chilcotin's unique way of life forever.
However, Forests Minister Tom Waterland dismissed concerns about the ecological impact, saying "the environment will be damaged much more severely by the continued spread of the bug."
Flash forward: Since 1999, the mountain pine beetle has killed about 675 million cubic metres of timber in B.C., affecting an area about four times the size of Vancouver Island.
Special to The Globe and Mail