Editorial

Big things at stake

Should there be a camp for construction workers in Slave Lake? That’s the question Town council must wrestle with and there are reasonable arguments and strong feelings both for and against.
The main argument for is that the Tolko mill construction needs accommodations for workers. It needs a camp and it will have a camp.
On the nay side, the arguments hold that since a camp can operate at less cost than a hotel, it will act as a brake on future hotel – and possibly even restaurant – development.
Those and other arguments were aired at a second straight Chamber of Commerce meeting recently. They are valid and council must consider them all before making its decision.
But wait a minute. Is the mill construction even going to go ahead on schedule?
It might not if the Bigstone Cree Nation protest against Tolko’s FMA renewal gets any legs under it. Bigstone protested at the Alberta legislature on Nov. 24 and say they are considering other actions.
Some might think Bigstone is just going through the motions to make a point. But a growing body of Supreme Court of Canada precedent bolsters any claim by a First Nation that they must be consulted on activity in what they claim as their traditional territory.
Part of Tolko’s Slave Lake FMA certainly qualifies as traditional territory, and Bigstone apparently wants a big say in its management. Putting it quite baldly, Bigstone Chief says that the government should be “coming to us to ask us whether we want our own forest management agreements before they give them to non-Indian interests in our traditional territories.”
Given the strengthening constitutional position of First Nations with regard to the right to consultation, it seems likely the province will have to take the Bigstone protest seriously.
How it plays out for Tolko remains to be seen. But it is certain that construction of the $250 million mill depends entirely upon a secure wood supply. Given what’s at stake, it makes the arguments over where a camp should go seem fairly petty.
It may all be about jockeying for a bigger piece of the pie. But what if the pie never gets baked?

Yahoo! Election time
Voter turnout in recent elections has been pretty poor – the worst ever according to information from Elections Canada. What’s the reason?
Stability and relative prosperity are probably two culprits. Nothing drives us to the polls to make change when things are going well.
Another factor may be a growing perception that the system produces a result that doesn’t very accurately reflect the popular vote. Frank Oberle, the retired veteran of the House of Commons who represented the B.C. Peace Country for 20 years is one who holds this view. In his recent memoir ‘A Chosen Path: From Moccasin Flats to Parliament Hill’, Oberle makes a strong case for proportional representation in parliament – along the lines of what happens in countries such as Germany and New Zealand.
In those systems, a party that wins 10 per cent of the popular vote gets 10 per cent of the seats. Here, a party that ends up with 40 per cent of the popular vote could win 65 per cent of the seats. It’s no wonder, Oberle says, that under such circumstances people feel as if their vote doesn’t matter.
That doesn’t apply when the voting results in no party having an absolute majority, as in the case of the recently defunct Paul Martin Liberal government. Given that party support is strongly divided on regional lines, another minority seems likely.
Conclusion? Your vote does matter!