Alliance candidate advocates for infrastructure dollars from big business
Derek Neary
Northern News Services
Fort Simpson (Nov 24/00) - Government is being driven by profit-driven corporations and Northerners are receiving very little in return, according to Alliance candidate Fred Turner.
During a campaign stop in Fort Simpson on Thursday, he said industry should be forced to work to the benefit of all NWT residents.
"They're using our roads and our land... they should leave some lasting benefits," he said, suggesting that a bridge across the Mackenzie River and a highway that would parallel a Mackenzie Valley pipeline would be two examples.
All the while, the NWT must move quickly towards achieving devolution, gaining full provincial power and control of its resource revenues, he suggested.
"We're not getting our fair share," he said.
In meeting with NWT constituents over the past three weeks, Turner said Bill C-68 is a recurring issue.
"People are very upset with the gun law... they want to be law-abiding citizens but there's a bit of a backlash," he said, adding that the Alliance would repeal that law.
Another issue that he said he's repeatedly heard about from residents is that of the Premier's chief of staff working as the Liberal's campaign manager, which some perceive as a conflict of interest.
He described the Liberals' treatment of aboriginals as "shameful." Violence over a fisheries dispute in Burnt Church, New Brunswick and fining First Nations for environmental infractions while letting mining companies off the hook are the types of issues that Turner said he would take a stand against in the House of Commons.
On the issue of aboriginal land claims and self government, Turner said "the Alliance party is supportive of having government closest to the people it's representing."
Specifically, he said he wasn't informed enough to say whether the Alliance would be agreeable to the Deh Cho Process, which endeavours to establish a public government based on Dene values and customs.
He suggested that some polarization still exists between aboriginals and non-aboriginals in the North.
"I believe I can act as a bridge between those two distinct cultures," said Turner, whose mother is Cree and whose father is from England.
Asked why some aboriginal leaders have encouraged their membership not to vote for the Alliance, Turner said the Liberals' suppressive regime is the reason for that.
He said government funding for bands is often funnelled through chiefs, and in return some of them deliver the votes, he said.
Not all chiefs are reflecting the feelings of their membership, he contended, adding that some aboriginal leaders are supportive of the Alliance.
"There's a regional chief who told me he hopes we will get into government... I believe we will," he said.
