October 12 - Albuquerque – Stone Design, the original Mac OS X software house with over 19 years of experience with major titles like Stone Works™, Videator®, and iMaginator™, today announced immediate availability of Create® 14.0. It's yet another major (and free to registered users!) upgrade to the innovative 3-in-One page layout, illustration and web authoring powerhouse. Created to run natively on INTEL and PPC processors, Create takes full advantage of Apple's newest computers and operating systems.
• And much more: read the details of all the new features in Version 14.0!
Stone Design Corp, founded in 1984 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, was the first developer to ship a product for Mac OS X's predecessor, the NeXT Computer in 1989. With a mission to develop low cost, 100% Macintosh OS X Universal applications that are a joy to use, Stone Design has shipped over a sixteen design and productivity applications including Stone Works, Stone Studio, Create®, iMaginator™, PhotoToWeb®, PStill™, TimeEqualsMoney™, SliceAndDice™, and StampInStone™.
©2007 Stone Design Corp. All Rights Reserved.


2016 Election | Habari Gani, America!
We Know Why More Black Voters Aren't Feeling the Bern? | Habari Gani, America!
The protest movement is the factor that may well determine which Democratic candidate wins the black vote. Economic equality is certainly a priority for black Americans, but the number-one issue on most black voters' minds is police brutality — a subject that neither Sanders nor any other candidate has discussed extensively until protesters have forced their hand.
Why Aren't More Black Voters Feeling the Bern? The article is half right – the half that would reply, "All Lives Matter," while railing against racial inequalities. It is the man standing in the watchtower overlooking a great plantation. A whistle blows, no one moves, and he assumes that those below are deaf. But they are not deaf. They are trapped between the whip on the left and the gun on the right.
Black Americans have been in this quandary, stuck between parties, ever since the first African American was allowed to vote in these United States. Currently, it is expected that most, if not all, African Americans will vote Democratic. Anyone outside of the 1% who votes Republican would be a fool according to some social media memes, but Ben Carson is not doing too shabby in the polls. And you know how we love dormant, almost near dead representation. So don't think that those Black votes trailing off of the Democratic pot are going into limbo.
Why Doesn't Bernie Feel Black Voters?
One specific quote in Terrell Jermaine Starr's article caught my eye.
Lauren Victoria, a political strategist, says the senator's tone was flippant. "He's got to understand that the Democratic Party will not win this election without black voters, period," she said. "So, the Democratic nominee, whether it is Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, or anyone else, has to acknowledge that black voters are important.
As I have commented many times, trying to frighten impoverished Black people with Republican rule, more poverty, consistent war expenditures, state-sanctioned murder, and mass incarceration will not motivate them to vote. This simply means to the already generationally impoverished and targeted, longer lines at the food pantry, the unemployment and social service offices, and for a bed at the shelters. Recriminations for not voting are even more barefaced considering after the election of either stripe (Republican or Democrat); the most impoverished see little difference in their lives. Most have been eliminated from employment statistics as unemployable or not actively seeking employment. A whole cast of votes disappears down the rabbit hole. Sanders is aware of this and the catch.
Bernie Sanders' history with the Civil Rights Era and its aftermath – the Big Sleep, assures him that most Black people who vote will vote Democrat. He understands that the church-going Black working poor, state, and middle-class will vote their pastor's conscience. They have learned to pray through workplace racial attacks, employment discrimination, housing discrimination, DWB (Driving While Black), and the fallout from the last elected candidate who graced their meeting grounds. Sanders must make the church rounds and photo ops three weeks before the election and those votes are in the bag. He was also depending on respectability politics to curtail any overt discussion of race.
During [Sanders] time on stage, activists repeatedly challenged him (they also challenged Martin O'Malley) to narrow his traditional message of economic and social justice to address police brutality. Sanders seemed befuddled and agitated; at one point, he asked Jose Antonio Vargas, the moderator, if he should leave.
Why would Bernie ask if he should leave? Liberals and Democrats failed to understand three great changes since they last marched for civil rights; which is making all the difference at present. When shows like "90210" aired on television depicting young adults controlling their world and their parents, African American children also had televisions. Secondly, despite the complaint that African Americans own a miniscule amount of media space, our young journalist, pundits, authors, celebs, and populous have coopted space in all forms of communications. Black Twitter has earned its own LA Times beat reporter. Our young and willing old are fed and feed current events, opinions, histories, and mysteries with very little supervision or censorship. With access to information in a digitized world comes the third change – confidence and critical thinking. These are our young voters. They are watching people die on their cellphones. These are Black Lives Matter and they want answers.
Black Lives Matter has added Black accountability and Black issues to the main stage. The indifferent Hillary Clinton posture and Sanders tacking racial inequality on the tail end of his list will not be offset by hiring a team to Black-speak. From the grocer who sends the Black stock boy to the register when the fruit is rotten, the one Black manager layered between White supervisors and upper management in racially charged workplaces, to the Black car salesman who runs to his White colleague's side – after a Black person is sold a lemon. We have seen it all -the warning stink-eyed "brother," the patronizing hallelujah sister, and most deadly – the Black political head of Black affairs.
Bernie Sanders may not win the Democratic Primary, but he is ideals are bankable. Miles Mogulescu breaks it down. Take a look.
Bernie Sanders has garnered crowds of 10,000 supporters plus, raised over $15 million in small donor contributions, attracted over 100,000 people to organizing house parties, and is polling within 10 points of Hillary Clinton in the key early battleground states of Iowa and New Hampshire.
It's enough to put a good scare into the Clinton campaign and Democratic insiders like Barney Frank who think Hillary should get a free pass to the nomination.
And whether or not Bernie ultimately wins the Democratic nomination, he is accomplishing two important goals.
via I Was Wrong About Bernie Sanders, And So Is Barney Frank and His Fellow Clintonistas | Miles Mogulescu.


text:
Introduction of Value Added Tax (VAT) in Oman
A guide on the general outlook of the implementation
2018 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends
The rise of the social enterprise
Introduction of Value Added Tax (VAT) in the UAE
VAT in the GCC and the impact areas in the implementation cycle
Family Enterprise Consulting
Family Governance
The Deloitte Millennial Survey 2017
Apprehensive millennials: seeking stability and opportunities in an uncertain world.
After applying for a job in this country, you can access/update your candidate profile at any time.
Deloitte Middle East partner named at top of 2017 Financial Times and HERoes global champions of women in business
December 28, 2017 – Rana Ghandour Salhab, Deloitte Middle East partner and its regional Executive Committee member, was named as the number one global champion of women in business by Financial Times and HERoes in their inaugural 2017 Global Champions of Women in Business list.
The FT HERoes lists celebrate company leaders who support women in business. A judging panel scored each person on the seniority and influence of their role, their internal and external work to champion women, their recent and significant business achievements, and the testimonial that was provided with their nomination. The role models were required to be visible and vocal champions, working to create an environment in which women can be comfortable and professional at work.
Rana Salhab, Talent & Communications partner at the firm, was the first woman elected to the board of directors of Deloitte in the Middle East region. Along her career path, she worked on female advancement programs in the Firm, which increased the ratio of women to men across the Middle East.
Omar Fahoum, CEO of Deloitte, Middle East said, "We are honored to have Rana listed amongst the FT and HERoes global champions of women. Rana used her personal success as a springboard for the firm and its people, working to address gender diversity at all levels. Our journey is still ongoing. We are with noticeable improvements in women representation across all levels. To achieve this, we are taking bold steps that also include setting clear gender targets/quotas to attract and retain top talented women and provide them with the support required to progress in their careers."
Salhab is also an active and vocal champion of women advancement in Middle East communities. She speaks frequently on obstacles that prevent Arab women from being more economically active in the region and lobbies for modification of laws and regulations to reach gender equality. She sits on the advisory boards of professional bodies and other non-profit organizations that work at identifying challenges facing Arab women and implementing solutions, and networks to address them.
Salhab concluded: "More women than men gain a university education in many Middle Eastern countries, but when it comes to accessing capital and jobs, and assuming leadership positions in both the private and public sectors, the positions are reversed. I believe economics, and business case positioning, rather than only the "rights" proposition, will ultimately win the gender parity argument. While some progress on women's rights has been made in our region, and significant social and economic changes have played a role in supporting Arab women's workforce participation, much still remains to be done. I believe it is my and every business leader's responsibility to our communities to take a leading role in supporting Arab women's political and economic advancement."
Link to the FT ranking article Link to FT HERoes ranking: 2017 champions of women in business
Nadine El Hassan
Middle East Public Relations
Deloitte & Touche (M.E.)
Tel: +961 (0) 1 748444
Fax: +961 (0) 1 748999
Click here for the Arabic version
All of the 2017 Champions of Women in Business were nominated by peers and colleagues. Nominations were then reviewed by the FT & HERoes judging panel. Champions were scored on their seniority and the influence of their role, their work done internally and externally to champion women, their recent and significant business achievements and the testimonial provided with their nomination.
About Deloitte:
Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee ("DTTL"), its network of member firms, and their related entities. DTTL and each of its member firms are legally separate and independent entities. DTTL (also referred to as "Deloitte Global") does not provide services to clients. Please see www.deloitte.com/about for a more detailed description of DTTL and its member firms.
Deloitte provides audit, consulting, financial advisory, risk management, tax and related services to public and private clients spanning multiple industries. With a globally connected network of member firms in more than 150 countries and territories, Deloitte brings world-class capabilities and high-quality service to clients, delivering the insights they need to address their most complex business challenges. Deloitte's more than 220,000 professionals are committed to making an impact that matters.
About Deloitte & Touche (M.E.):
Deloitte & Touche (M.E.) is a member firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL) and is a leading professional services firm established in the Middle East region with uninterrupted presence since 1926.
Deloitte provides audit, tax, consulting, and financial advisory services through 26 offices in 15 countries with more than 3,300 partners, directors and staff. It is a Tier 1 Tax advisor in the GCC region since 2010 (according to the International Tax Review World Tax Rankings). It has also received numerous awards in the last few years which include best employer in the Middle East, best consulting firm, the Middle East Training & Development Excellence Award by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), as well as the best CSR integrated organization.
About OUTstanding and HERoes:
OUTstanding is a membership organisation for global businesses. It provides professional, peer‐to-peer connections for its members and helps businesses create diverse and inclusive work environments. To catalyse change, OUTstanding focuses on driving cultural change through authentic leadership.
In 2017, OUTstanding launched HERoes, a gender equality focused initiative, celebrating female leaders and those working to support and encourage the female talent pipeline. https://www.out-standing.org/heroes/.
Middle East matters blog
ME PoV magazine
Deloitte Insights
Middle East office locator
Contact Alumni team
About Deloitte in the Middle East
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Avature Privacy
Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UdK private company limited by guarantee ("DTTL"), its network of member firms, and their related entities. DTTL and each of its member firms are legally separate and independent entities. DTTL (also referred to as "Deloitte Global") does not provide services to clients. Please see About Deloitte to learn more about our global network of member firms.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Welcome to the first fantasy chess update, which will go through the top standings and announce the daily prize winners.
First matter of business: Since Anna Zatonskih unfortunately had to withdraw from the tournament, for the purposes of this contest, we will give her a half point bye for all future rounds (which will take her to a 3.5 / 9 score by the end, roughly what a player of her rating would be expected to score in this tournament).
If you wish to review your team and current ranking, go to http://uschess.org/fc_2009/, and login to see both.
As expected the strategy of picking several draws to win an early daily prize was somewhat effective, with the current leaders having several more draws than average. It's anybody's guess if that trend will continue, but the reality is that anything can really happen in this year's contest, given how many matches can switch from day to day (especially at this early stage, with it being entirely possible for whoever might be in the lead to be close to last after tomorrow and vice-versa). The point system seems to somewhat indicate this also as while we have many scores above fifty points, we also have many players with scores close to zero, including two people actually at zero. Luckily those poor souls (and their successors in the following days) can breathe a sigh of relief as I won't embarass them by giving their names and selections out here (unless of course one of the future such bottom dwellers happens to be Greg Shahade in which case it's not only getting mentioned here, but might well be made the headline of this article).
The winner of the daily prize for round three is Richard Francisco, with 71.5 points.
In round four, with a logjam of a tie for first in the tournament, those entrants with tie heavy entries lead the contest for the second day. Those like me, who spoke up against the choice to pick ties statistically can only hope that trend falls quickly if we want any chance at any of the daily prizes and of course most importantly the grand prize. At least the contestants as a whole showed some marked improvement in overall competence with no one having 0 points at the end of this day (a trend which I fear may not continue).
These are the current Top Five entrants. The winner of the daily prize is Matt Kizaric.


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Patriots Could Play In Their Coldest Game Ever Sunday
Andy Austin Published: January 14, 2019
This could be only the 4th Patriots game to be played in single digit weather.
New England is not the only place that's experiencing a cold snap. Their trip to the Midwest for the AFC Championship game could prove to be one of the coldest games the team has ever suited up for.
With an arctic front set to hover above Arrowhead Stadium like a Goodyear blimp this weekend, the long range forecast calls for 6-day weather forecasts calls for game time temperatures from models range from -5°F to 10°F, according to Ryan Maue's Twitter.
A look at history has the Patriots playing only three games in single digits. According to NESN, the coldest being 1989 game in Pittsburgh, which had a kickoff temperature of 3 degrees. The Patriots and Chiefs have cold weather history, with single digit temps registered during a game in 1963.
The Chiefs, who lost to the Patriots 43-40 in Foxboro, Mass., in Week 6, have opened as three-point home favorites.
Source: Patriots Could Play In Their Coldest Game Ever Sunday
Filed Under: AFC Championship, Football, New England, nfl, patriots
Does He Mean It This Time? Tom Brady Retired… Again
Do You Live in One of the Coldest Cities in New England?
These Are the 50 Biggest Retailers in America, and 3 Are Based in New England
Learn Something New at These 15 New Hampshire Museums
This Little Red Cottage is the Most Underrated Restaurant in New Hampshire


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What is PMPRB in Canada?
How does Canada control drug prices?
Who sets the price of otc drugs in Canada?
How does the PMPRB set prices?
Why are drugs so much cheaper in Canada?
How long does a drug patent last in Canada?
Can Americans order meds from Canada?
What country consumes the most pharmaceutical drugs?
Who has the highest prescription drug prices in the world?
Does a patent give the owner the right to sell the drug?
Is pharmacare mandatory in BC?
Which provinces have pharmacare?
What is the PMPRB's role under Section 90?
What is the relationship between the PMPRB and other stakeholders?
The Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB) protects and informs Canadian consumers by regulating the prices of patented medicines sold in Canada, and by reporting on pharmaceutical trends.
The federal responsibility for drug price control rests with the PMPRB, an independent, quasi-judicial body. It is responsible for ensuring that prices charged by manufacturers of patented drugs are not excessive. The PMPRB reports to Parliament through the minister of health.
The price is set by the manufacturer, and limited by the federal government. A patent in Canada lasts 20 years(iv); however, some of that time is taken up while the drug is in clinical trials and approval. A generic drug is developed to be chemically the same as a brand name drug.
How long do new patented medicines have market exclusivity in Canada's public drug plans?
Since drugs often fail in clinical trials, the delay is a necessary part of the process to ensure that laboratory results hold up in more widespread use. When a drug receives a patent, Canadian law provides pharmaceutical manufacturers with 20 years of market exclusivity from the date of filing the patent application.
How does the PMPRB work?
The PMPRB has a dual mandate: in its regulatory role, it protects consumers by ensuring that the prices of patented medicines are not excessive; in its reporting role, it provides information on pricing trends in the pharmaceutical industry via its Annual Reports.
Created in 1987 under the Patent Act as an independent quasi-judicial tribunal, the PMPRB limits the prices set by patentees for all patented medicines, new and existing, sold in Canada, under prescription or over the counter, to ensure they are not excessive.
Canada offers the same drugs at cheaper prices because the Canadian government, which foots the bill for prescription drugs, will not pay for a drug if a government review board believes the cost is excessive.
In Canada, the standard patent term is 20 years from the date on which a patent application is filed. Canada does not have patent extension legislation pertaining to pharmaceutical products.
How long does a drug stay on patent?
In most cases, the patent is issued by the USPTO an average of 3.4 years after filing for a conventional drug and 4.4 years after filing for a biologic. According to statute, the granting of a pharmaceutical patent includes protection on that patent for a period of 20 years from time of patent filing.
What is national pharmacare?
National pharmacare will be a drug insurance plan that belongs to all Canadians—one that is sustainable, fair and equitable, where Canadians can have access to prescription medicines based on their need, and not their ability to pay.
The answer is, technically no, but U.S. officials are allowing it to happen. Under the Prescription Drug Marketing Act of 1987, it is illegal for anyone other than the original manufacturer to bring prescription drugs into the country.
While the United States has the largest population and the greatest absolute prescription drug spending as a country, its spending per capita (shown in Exhibit 1 and Exhibit 2) is still significantly higher than that of other countries.
Prescription drug prices in the United States are significantly higher than in other nations, with prices in the United States averaging 2.56 times those seen in 32 other nations, according to a new RAND Corporation report.
Why do drugs get patented?
The pharma patent system was created and is used to help companies to protect that investment and recover costs spent in discovering, developing and marketing new drugs, and, therefore, encourage future drug R&D and innovation.
Why are drug patents good?
Pharmaceutical companies have the ability to develop new drugs that can prolong life and provide cures to diseases that affect people worldwide. Patents are especially important to these drug companies because they can guarantee profit and make all the time and cost put into developing their new drug worthwhile.
A patent does not provide the owner with the right to exploit their invention; it is not guarantee of validity or enforceability. In fact, a patent is a negative right; it gives the owner the right to prevent others from making, using or selling the inven- tion without permission.
It is necessary to register for PharmaCare in order to receive benefits. Every BC resident should register, even if at present you won't receive a benefit, because if your income drops or your prescription costs go up, you will already be covered.
Provincial and Territorial Public Drug Benefit Programs
Alberta (Prescription Drug Programs)
British Columbia (Pharmacare)
Manitoba (Pharmacare Program)
New Brunswick (Prescription Drug Program)
Newfoundland (Pharmaceutical Services)
Northwest Territories.
Nova Scotia (Pharmacare)
Nunavut.
What is the PMPRB?
The Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB) protects and informs Canadian consumers by regulating the prices of patented medicines sold in Canada, and by reporting on pharmaceutical trends. We are an independent quasi-judicial body that is part of the Health portfolio, and operate at arm's-length from the Minister of Health.
What are the rules and procedures of the PMPRB?
The Rules set out the PMPRB's procedures in accordance with the requirement under the Act to resolve matters as informally and expeditiously as the circumstances and considerations of fairness permit. Practice directions and further information about previous and ongoing hearings are also publicly available on the PMPRB's website.
Further to a directive from the Minister of Health under section 90 of the Act, the PMPRB also supports informed and evidence-based health policy by reporting on medicine price, utilization and cost trends under the National Prescription Drug Utilization Information System (NPDUIS) initiative. 12.
The PMPRB maintains an arm's length relationship from the Minister of Health (who is responsible for the sections of the Act pertaining to the PMPRB), the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development (who is responsible for the Act as a whole) and its various stakeholders.
What is SPA soap used for?
How do I add color to my footer?


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Affiliated with NAFA
Countries of Origin
The Society's Importance
How to Register your Saluki
Generations Explained
CRN Photo Requirements
Critique Registration Number (CRN) application
CRN Application Download
Request for Critique Panel
Critique Panel Request Form
Form for Critiquing
Critique Form
Litter Registration
Litter Registration Form
Gen 3 Registration
Critique Panel Requirements
Ownership Transfers
Ownership Transfer Form
Name Change Form
DNA Policy
1997 SPDBS Membership Vote on Registrations in Birth Country
Saluki-Tazi
In Search of Saluqi Roots, On the Tazi Trail…
Primitive and Aboriginal Dog Society (PADS) Newsletter 15
Primitive and Aboriginal Dogs Society (PADS) Newsletter 38
The Mars-Breed-test established with the sighthounds from the DWZRV
Application Download
By: desertbred
To those of us who have given our lives in study of the Saluki, the world of Falconry is never far away. The two have been tied together for all of recorded history. Many of us have watched our Tazi work naturally with wild raptors, reflecting on the natural kinship.
Today we see the shrinking availability of hunting lands and the increase in social media bringing the two worlds back into synchronicity. In the east Falconry has maintained its standing in the face of great changes in culture during the 50's and 60's. The Saluki has not fared as well. Both have been subject to increasing urbanization, loss of quarry, and sadly war. That said, the desire to preserve the ancient history of the region and to revive the working relationship between man, hawk, and Saluki has had a positive impact on preservation efforts.
Babur and his hunting party in Swati, a folio image from The Memoirs of Babur
Baburnamah : a 16th c. autobiographical, illuminated, Persian / Islamic manuscript (copy), courtesy of the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore. Of interest is the hooded falcon on fist in the center and center bottom is a Saluki. The full folio is found here with additional Saluki images throughout. http://bibliodyssey.blogspot.com/2011/08/memoirs-of-babur.html
We see that same interest occurring here in the US and the increasing interest on the part of Falconers to acquire Salukis to work is of note. The Society hopes to provide a resource here on what to expect from a Saluki if that path is chosen.
Of absolutely vital importance is the understanding that a Saluki is not simply a kennel dog who will work. He is exactly the opposite in nature. It is as difficult to maintain a Saluki correctly as it is to maintain a Peregrine. A Saluki is a household companion who does best when a part of your family life, as he has been for thousands of years. He requires space to run, and active engagement for his mind.
If you are interested in the working partnership we suggest contacting Paul Domski, skilled in both Falconry and Salukis. Occasionally we will have articles of interest here.
SPDBS SALUKIS
© 2019 SPDBS - All Rights Reserved.


I run evening courses on Wednesdays from 6pm to 8pm for a 4 week period at the Froncysyllte Community Centre near Llangollen. The course introduces you to hand building, sculpting techniques and processes. The hand building techniques I will introduce are suitable for adults of all ability levels and are introduced with step by step demonstrations. Please see below the dates for each course and subject matter.
The price per person is £70 each for each 4 week course. This covers the hire of the hall, materials,tuition and one firing and packaging to take your sculpture home safely.
Sometimes due to unforeseen circumstances life gets in the way. If you have booked a course and can no longer make it I can refund your booking if you let me know 14 days before the date of the course. If you have to cancel less than 14 days unfortunately I cannot offer a refund.


Review #638911 is a subjective opinion of PissedConsumer638911.
Nobody waits that long anywhere. My friend works at walmart and customers are always lying about the time they stand in line. What, no one can tell time anymore?
You are one of those, right? Or you going to lie again?


– Theres only two times a day you ever want high GI carbs; First thing in the morning (optional) and most DEFINITELY just after your workout.
In both of these cases you can optimise the muscle replenishing effects by adding a dose of GlycoLog (or Glycobol which we also sell) with your 30-80 grams of fast digesting carbs (such as those found in Formula-19 or Intracel 7) and 40 grams of WHEY protein. These products will exaggerate the effects of your high GI carb insulin spike and stuff your muscles full of Glycogen + Protein.
GlycoLog is one of the best mimetic out there, see what Blackstone has to say below. – Results may vary.
Glycolog is an amazing pump enhancer and insulin partitioner. If gaining mass is important to you, take it alongside of Formula 19 and Isolation.
Add Formula-19 and some Whey protein for synergistic post workout results.


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Beep! Beep! RCHS Celebrates Halloween with a Drive-Through
Natalie Nguyen
Natalie Nguyen, Staff Reporter
Due to the Coronavirus restrictions this year, Rancho Cucamonga High School hosted a Halloween drive through on Friday, October 30 to bring the community together for Halloween.
The event took place at RCHS, and it was a Covid-friendly, drive through event. Students who attended the event wore masks and remained inside their cars.
Ms. Francie Ward, the RCHS ASB Advisor, decided to host this Halloween event because the RCHS community needed a little extra joy, distraction, and a connection with other people.
She said she thought that having a family version of the drive through allowed elementary students in the community to enjoy a full night since regular trick-or-treating would be difficult.
Ms. Ward said that they didn't count the cars through the night, but they prepared 800 units of candy to give to each person who came through. At the end of the event, Ms. Ward said they were out of everything.
Ms. Ward said they decided on the games based on what families could play from their car windows. As simple as they were, they seemed to really enjoy playing. There was a second lane in case there were families who wanted to take a photo. Families could hop out of their cars and take a picture in front of a painting.
Ms. Wards said, "The best part about the night was watching how excited little ones were."
Ms. Kay Williams-Pierce, a teacher at RCHS, volunteered at the event. She said her favorite part of the Halloween drive through was seeing all of the students and their younger siblings enjoy the games and the decorations.
She volunteered at this event because she said she loves attending RCHS events, and she misses having these events on campus.
Natalie Nguyen is a current senior at Rancho Cucamonga High School. This is Natalie's first year joining a club- making it her first year joining the...


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The Magic Invisible Cloth That Only Wise Men Can See
About Oakland — and Tablet PCs — Is There Any There There Yet?
By Roger L. Kay
I hate to break it to you, but the emperor is virtually naked. At Comdex in November 2002, and with
great fanfare, Bill Gates introduced the tablet as the next mainstream mobile platform. Non-
Windows tablets had been in use for years as niche products serving vertical markets like
healthcare and insurance. When questioned about whether the tablet was really up to
shouldering the mainstream computing needs of the broad horizontal market, Gates was
unwavering in his assertion that Windows XP Tablet Edition would make it so. Microsoft's focus-
group research, he said, showed that people hated the tablet the first day, grumbled about it on
the second, sort of got it on the third, and so on until the 10th day, when they said they couldn't live
without it. I wasn't convinced, but many early forecasts reflected Gates' thinking, showing growth
in the tablet market reaching 5 million in 2005, 9 million in 2006, and 14 million by 2007. Well,
here we are mid-2005 and not on a run rate to hit even 1 million for the year.
Those early forecast curves were truly exponential, but you'd need some sort of rocket fuel to hit
14 million by 2007. By 2004, two years after the Windows tablet's introduction, it was clear that
these forecasts were not going to be realized. So, some market watchers revised their forecasts.
But the revisions did not actually change the slope of the adoption curve, just pushed it out farther
in time. So, now it's time to make a serious revision to the actual slope of the curve. What follows
is the reasoning behind this revision.
Vertical, Yes; Horizontal, Maybe Not
The verticals I get: healthcare, insurance, field sales and service, utilities, all these make sense
for a pen-based tablet. You see, a pen is good at selecting things, tapping radio buttons, and so
on. And selecting things is what you do on a form. And forms-based computing is by definition
vertical because a form has to be a form of something, like an insurance form, a medical form, an
inventory form, and so on. So, tapping with a pen on a slate tablet makes lots of sense for the few
hundred thousand people who buy them every year. Slates are the preferred form factor of the
vertical markets, where applications are truly mobile (i.e., walking), and forms-based computing
can be done with one hand holding the device and the other tapping the pen. I expect this market
to continue to grow at a modest pace.
But what is the killer app that's going to drive the horizontal market? The real-looking signature at
the bottom of the email looks nice, but how much are you going to pay for that? In the commercial
market, sketching a rough for a slide presentation is fine, but who has a secretary much less an
art department these days to turn your inspiration into finished art? How about annotating
someone else's work with handwritten comments? That's a good one, but killer? None of these
functions is killer and justifies the premium and the alternative usage model. Now, artists love
tablets, but they don't have any money. How about handwriting recognition, or at least the storing
of metadata associated with handwritten files, data that can be searched and queried? Sounds
good on paper, so to speak, but the reality is handwriting recognition will never be completely
accurate, and some data will be readable only by the human who created it, and if it's me, then
often not. Meanwhile, searching text in various types of documents — Word, PowerPoint, HTML
pages, Excel — finds 100% of the instances sought. Not to mention that a whole generation of
computer users has grown up using the keyboard as input. Most people I know who have bravely
carried a tablet about, proclaiming that it's the wave of the future, have abandoned it after a few
months at most.
The best form factor for the horizontal market is the convertible, the "notebook plus," which, in the
ideal case, is a great notebook with a screen that spins around on a mono-hinge and snaps into
a slate form factor for true tablet applications. One issue facing the convertible crowd is whether
to go with a subnote (i.e., under five pounds with a 12.1" or less screen) or a heftier thin-and-light.
Lenovo with its X41T, Fujitsu with its T series, and Acer with its 300 series have opted for the
former, while Gateway with its M275, Toshiba with its Tecra M4 have gone for the latter. Why this
choice makes any difference is that the larger models make better notebooks, potentially
replacing a desktop as a primary computer, but are pretty heavy for holding in one hand and using
as a tablet, and the smaller models, while easier to use as tablets, are a tough sell as a user's
sole computer given their lack of screen real estate and compromises on keyboard size. Unit
shipments in the subnote category, from which the smaller tablets are expected to carve share,
are low precisely because these systems can serve to replace desktops only for selected
segments (i.e., highly mobile, price-insensitive professionals in the United States and Europe,
and Japanese users, who prefer smaller machines). Thus, the convertible camp, on which the
future of the horizontal category rests, is divided.
Gates appeared to be basing his belief that the tablet would become the dominant mobile PC
form factor on the supposition that the tablet premium would decline to near zero, and every
notebook would be tablet enabled at some point with an active pen, digitized screen, and
Windows XP Tablet OS. Now, it might have been early, but Acer actually did come out with one of
these. It had a funny hinged brace that you could set to keep screen in place while you leaned
over the keyboard (without touching it!) and penned against the tilted screen. I hear that all four
customers were completely satisfied with it.
Let's look at that premium issue. The XP Tablet Edition OS is more expensive than XP Pro, and
the hinge (for the convertible) and screen digitizer cost more. Various OEMs have masked the
premium. Lenovo's X41T tablet is only $100 more than the X41 vanilla, but the costs are further
apart, some vendors say $200-300. Oh, and there's the active pen. Don't lose that or your
cooked. With a PDA, you can use your fingernail in a pinch, but the tablet digitizer requires an
active pen, at extra cost. Three years after introduction, the tablet premium remains stubbornly in
place. Economics would say if you want something to become mass market, you lower rather
than raise its price.
Forecast Reswizzle
So, where are we in all this? Early forecasts said 14 million by 2007. A revised version said 14
million in 2009. Are you ready? Take a seat. How about 3.5 million in 2009, 1.2 million slates
and 2.3 million convertibles (Figure 1)?
© 2006 Endpoint Technologies Associates, Inc. All rights reserved.
A Second Look at the PC Tablet Forecast
The assumptions behind this forecast include the following:
Rather than becoming a general-purpose computing platform, tablets will settle in as a
long-term niche product.
The fact that Windows Vista will have dedicated tablet functionality will drive adoption only
moderately.
Improved handwriting recognition and digital inking will be only moderate drivers.
Economies of scale will reduce the tablet-over-notebook component-cost premium from
$300 at launch to $75 in the out years of the forecast.
A factor in the cost-reduction assumption is that passive screens will begin to replace
active screens in the next year or two.
Education will be the one "horizontal" segment that will adopt tablets somewhat broadly
Third-party software will continue to make tablets more attractive.
Third-party hardware will enhance tablet functionality.
People might not adopt tablet functionality even if it were free because there are some
inherent negative attributes to tablets (e.g., handwritten material is less usable, hinges
may break, switching to tablet mode can be a nuisance).
·Horizontal markets will never develop as compelling a usage model as the one for
verticals.
The total available horizontal market is overall larger than the total available vertical
Vertical markets will experience a much higher adoption rate than the horizontal market,
but the size of the total available horizontal market will lead the horizontal tablet market to
exceed that of the sum of all vertical markets.
Microsoft will attempt to promote tablet adoption by tying functionality to other products,
such as Office and Explorer, but will not take extraordinary steps — such as a huge
advertising campaign, extremely liberal use of market development funds, and dramatic
decreases in the cost of the Tablet OS — to widen with market further.
Microsoft will loosen the tablet specifications somewhat to allow more variation in form
factor.
OEM support will come and go, with Lenovo having entered recently, but others, such as
Dell, staying on the sidelines, and some, such as HP, withdrawing products (the TC
series) from the market.
Most of the new introductions will be convertibles, and the convertible-slate ratio will
continue to rise.
As a "notebook-plus" product, the convertible will cannibalize notebooks. Slates, on the other
hand, derive most of their market from older dedicated-hardware markets or replacement of
manual (pen and paper) methods. The tablet PC is a generally good idea, and Microsoft is
especially motivated to have a success in this form factor. One issue facing the company is how
Longhorn, now named Windows Vista, is going to make a splash when most of the new
technology is hidden in the system. One good way is to have new form factors enabled by the
new OS. Tablet functionality built into the OS is one way to help create a feeling that Windows
Vista really is revolutionary.
Meanwhile, alternative form factors have arisen to handle some of the demand that might
potentially have gone to tablets, form factors such as Blackberries and converged phones.
Mobility is clearly important, and yet there are a number of possible ways of getting a good mobile
computing experience.
OEMs that currently have slate strategies are in pretty good shape, but there isn't a whole lot of
room for new entrants in this limited arena. Those that have convertibles in the market must do
everything they can to promote the category, particularly finding a way to find and promote, if not a
killer horizontal app, then at least a package of "wounding" apps that together make a compelling
story. They also must do everything they can to induce Microsoft to lend greater support to the
category. And those considering entering the tablet market might best be counseled to watch the
market for another year or two to see whether any of that exponential growth predicted early on
materializes.
Three years after introducing the tablet, Microsoft has largely left the OEMs to their own devices,
so to speak. It does match qualified marketing funds one to one, which is a help, but other
support is pretty thin. The prospect of a large supporting ad campaign has faded, and the
company itself doesn't seem as excited about tablets as it used to be. It would be a bad thing to
have taken the OEMs for a long stroll through the park only to abandon them before leading the
way home. The OEMs have made substantial investments to help realize the future as
articulated by Gates in Vegas in 2002. And, so far, there doesn't appear to be much there there.
In fact, I think I see an emperor in his birthday suit.


text:
Two years after B.C. passed its landmark Indigenous Rights act, has anything changed?
The province promised to align all of its laws with the principles of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), but a full two years in, only one clause of one B.C. statute has been amended
By Matt Simmons (Local Journalism Initiative Reporter)
Dec. 13, 2021 19 min. read
Seeing little interest within the Government of B.C., the Gitanyow declared 54,000 hectares of their territory a protected area this year, including Strohn Creek, seen here. The Gitanyow held a celebration of the new protected area this August, but no one from the province showed up.
Photo: Ryan Dickie / The Narwhal
Two years after B.C. legislated the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), busloads of RCMP officers arrived on Wet'suwet'en territory in northwest B.C. They were there to enforce a civil injunction against land defenders acting on the authority of Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs to prevent the Coastal GasLink pipeline from being built on unceded Indigenous land.
The ensuing conflict saw more than 30 people, including journalists, arrested.
For those who, on Nov. 26, 2019, celebrated the introduction of B.C's landmark legislation — the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) — the events cast a deep shadow over B.C.'s stated commitment to reconciliation.
"It's mind boggling that things are so much the same as they always have been, when, on the face of it, the law requires such a radical change," Merle Alexander, lawyer at Miller Titerle Law and a hereditary chief of Kitasoo Xai'xais First Nation, told The Narwhal in an interview.
Alexander, who co-drafted the legislation and continues to be closely involved with questions of its implementation in the province, said the moment the declaration passed into law, "the optimism was so great."
But two years on, the province has made little substantive change.
The mandate of the legislation is to "take all measures necessary" to bring all B.C. laws into alignment with the UN declaration's principles. It's no small task — there are over 5,000 laws in the province — and Alexander acknowledged the challenge but said he's disappointed in the lack of progress. He noted the recent announcement of an amendment to the Interpretation Act makes it clear provincial laws uphold and do not diminish the rights of Indigenous Peoples.
"I don't think that First Nations expected things to dramatically change overnight, but it's also taken two years to create one clause in one B.C. statute," he said.
Police enforce an injunction on behalf of pipeline developer Coastal GasLink, moving into a tiny house after breaching the door with an axe and chainsaw to arrest land defenders, supporters and journalists in Gidimt'en territory near Houston, B.C., in November. Photo: Amber Bracken / The Narwhal
The province also introduced an amendment to the B.C. Human Rights Code, which adds Indigenous identity as protected from discrimination.
"The [United Nations] declaration sets out the minimum standards for the survival and dignity of Indigenous Peoples," Kukpi7 Judy Wilson, secretary-treasurer with the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, said in a statement. "Indigenous Peoples are facing major threats to the survival of our peoples and our way of life. In many areas of law and policy this has not been fully understood, leaving us exposed to incredible risk in the face of health pandemics, climate change, removal of our peoples from our traditional territories and waters and the lingering discrimination and sexism faced by Indigenous women and girls [and] LGBTQ2S+ [people]."
She said the Union of BC Indian Chiefs welcomes the reforms but added, "we have to double down on the hard work to make real progress and switch from simply promoting the rights of Indigenous Peoples, to implementing the rights of Indigenous Peoples every day in all areas of life in British Columbia."
B.C. government says it's working on a five-year 'roadmap' to implement UNDRIP
Murray Rankin, Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, declined an interview but provided The Narwhal with a statement.
"Currently, we are finalizing an action plan under the [Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act], in consultation and cooperation with Indigenous Peoples in B.C.," he wrote. "The final action plan will provide a province-wide, whole-of-government roadmap over the next five years to advance reconciliation and implement the [United Nations] declaration in B.C."
A helicopter flies above mountain ranges near Smithers, B.C., where a significant amount of mining activity takes place. With the provincial government lagging on conservation, the Gitanyow created a 54,000 hectare protected area this summer within their territory, saying they support some mining and forestry within its boundaries, but only if its balanced with salmon protections. Photo: Ryan Dickie / The Narwhal
A draft action plan was released in June 2020, and the province is currently reviewing the feedback it received.
"The final action plan will describe the shared long-term goals and outcomes needed for the provincial government to meet the objectives of the [United Nations] declaration over time and outline specific actions the province will take in consultation and cooperation with Indigenous Peoples in B.C. to advance the implementation of the [United Nations] declaration," the minister noted.
Critics point out the draft lacks tangible plans to explain how the province will meet its lofty goals.
"When you look at the actual actions that they're planning to introduce in the next five years, nowhere is any plan about how they're going to do this huge legislative reform initiative that's really unprecedented," Kris Statnyk, a lawyer and member of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation who lives on Gitxsan territory in northwest B.C., told The Narwhal in an interview.
One of the key principles of the declaration is free, prior and informed consent — initially a sticking point for many critics who focused on whether guaranteeing consent equates to giving 'veto powers' to Indigenous people and First Nations.
Alexander and others explain that when it comes to the issue of consent in the context of respecting Indigenous Rights, it is about agreement and solutions — not a means of jurisdictional override.
"Consent is the future and, most simply put, it's about coming together as governments, as people seeking to find common ground," Terry Teegee, regional chief of the B.C. Assembly of First Nations, told the legislature in 2019.
Unravelling B.C.'s landmark legislation on Indigenous rights
Eugene Kung, staff lawyer with West Coast Environmental Law, explained the difference between obtaining consent and granting veto powers in a summary published following the introduction of B.C.'s declaration act.
"Veto is about unilaterally overriding a decision made by someone else, whereas consent means recognizing that the consenting party has self-determination to make an informed decision about a matter affecting them," he wrote.
'Complete miscarriage of justice': Wet'suwet'en hereditary chief
While the elected chiefs and councils on Wet'suwet'en territory signed agreements with the province and the proponent in support of the Coastal GasLink pipeline, the hereditary chiefs maintain they have never given consent to the project and continually refer to Delgamuukw v. British Columbia, a 1997 federal Supreme Court ruling, which confirmed the Wet'suwet'en never gave up their Rights and Title to the land and that hereditary chiefs are responsible for overseeing 22,000 square kilometres of territory. Wet'suwet'en hereditary leadership say elected chiefs and councils only have decision-making authority over reserve lands within the territory.
While the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs have been consistent and vocal in their opposition to the project, the province of B.C. granted Coastal GasLink approval for the pipeline and the B.C. Supreme Court authorized the injunction against pipeline opponents on behalf of the company.
For Wet'suwet'en hereditary chief Dsta'hyl Adam Gagnon, that incongruity between rulings from the Supreme Court and lower courts is indicative of a failed system.
Wet'suwet'en supporters secure a road closure in Gidimt'en territory near Houston, B.C., in November.. Hereditary chiefs served a mandatory evacuation order for all Coastal GasLink workers and sub-contractors but only a small handful left. Soon after, land defenders, supporters and journalists were arrested by RCMP carrying out Coastal GasLink's injunction. Photo: Amber Bracken / The Narwhal
"It's a complete miscarriage of justice," he told The Narwhal in an interview. "We have the Supreme Court of Canada giving us Delgamuukw, saying that our Title and Rights have never, ever been extinguished. And the Crown has been ignoring that."
"The Crown doesn't comply with existing case law," Alexander said. "First Nations have been trying to educate the province that the law is actually binding upon them, that they need to change the way they're conducting themselves."
The recent police action on Wet'suwet'en territory is the third time in three years heavily armed officers of the RCMP's emergency response team and community-industry response group were deployed to the remote area to forcibly remove Indigenous land defenders and supporters.
Alexander said it's an apt illustration that what little change has occurred since the bill passed into law hasn't happened where it's most needed.
"The province has been making a conscious decision to try and take on more social policy issues for UNDRIP compliance than taking on lands- and resource-based issues, which really doesn't make any sense, because all the conflict is occurring in lands and resource areas."
Consultation standards drop during pandemic, as expectations rise
In the province's first annual report on the declaration act, Premier John Horgan was quick to point out the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"While the global pandemic has changed many things, we remain focused on our work to make tangible and real progress on reconciliation as we restart B.C.," he wrote. "We have come together and focused on what we need to do to stop the spread of this virus. This does not mean our work has stopped in other important areas to advance reconciliation. In fact, our work to weather the pandemic together has reinforced our commitment to creating a better B.C. for everyone."
In the province's report on the declaration act, Premier John Horgan noted the impediments of the COVID-19 pandemic, which some saw as a justification for stalling efforts toward reconciliation. Photo: B.C. government / Flickr
Alexander said he's not buying it and called out the province for using the pandemic as an excuse for a "justifiable infringement."
"What First Nations in B.C. have been experiencing for the last two years is this complete disconnect where the bureaucracy has been operating at arguably a lower duty to consult standard, because of COVID."
He added there are currently hundreds of cases in the courts filed by First Nations who allege they were not adequately consulted before projects were approved.
Gavin Smith, a lawyer with West Coast Environmental Law, said cases concerning consultation, or a lack thereof, have been in the courts long before the pandemic.
"The foundational case in which the Supreme Court of Canada set out the Crown's duty to consult and accommodate was Haida Nation in 2004, after which there was a flurry of litigation for over a decade to define what that actually looks like in practice," he told The Narwhal in an email.
The Haida ruling noted the federal and provincial governments have a responsibility to facilitate a "meaningful process of consultation in good faith" with Indigenous Peoples and "cannot cavalierly run roughshod over Aboriginal interests."
"In the B.C. context (and now federally), the duty to consult should be informed by the Crown's legal commitment to implement UNDRIP," Smith wrote.
Yet, as Alexander pointed out, what constitutes consultation varies and in some cases — including when it comes to forestry and mining permits and amendments to those permits — an emailed statement of proposed activity is viewed as sufficient by the province.
"Consent within the consultation framework is still going to be reactive versus a co-jurisdiction environment, where you realize that it has to be a standalone approval, not just a, 'Did you consult, did you give them notice?' type approach."
Meaningful consultation challenged by time constraints, shifting responsibility
Bud Napoleon, a Dunne-zah/Cree trapper, former Chief of Saulteau First Nations and the first Chief of the Treaty 8 Tribal Association, told The Narwhal he's been fighting for meaningful consultation since the 1970s. He noted that when it comes to consultation, the process can often feel too rushed to be meaningful.
"When it comes to consultation, we wanted to have adequate time," he said in an interview. "Our First Nations, years ago, the Elders and their Elders, were pretty nomadic so there's many areas they had gravesites."
He said without time to talk to the Elders and physically go out on the territory, those graves would be destroyed. Napoleon added the knowledge held by land-users is invaluable when it comes to assessing potential impacts.
"If necessary, we can go to this person's trapline and walk through it all and the owner of the trapline can tell us what needs to be done or what needs to be protected."
Another challenge has been the question of who is responsible for consultation. While the Haida court case made it clear that consultation cannot be delegated, common practice under B.C. regulations is for project proponents to take on the lion's share of engagement with Indigenous communities.
The Wet'suwet'en conflict with Coastal GasLink is an example of how consultation can be delegated to companies, Sleydo' Molly Wickham, a wing chief of Cas Yikh house of the Gidimt'en clan, told The Narwhal in an interview. While the heart of the Coastal GasLink conflict is about consent, not consultation, the responsibility of the latter was shunted onto the company.
Sleydo' (Molly Wickham), a supporting chief in the Cas Yikh House of the Gidimt'en Clan, one of five Wet'suwet'en clans, says the responsibility to consult with hereditary chiefs on the Coastal GasLink pipeline fell to the company, rather than the province. Photo: Amber Bracken / The Narwhal
"It's not [Coastal GasLink's] responsibility, really, to consult with us," Wickham said. "The province and the Crown — they're the ones that legally have the obligation to do that. They're the ones claiming any sort of authority on our territories."
"They can't just have a hands-off approach, they can't just pass the buck on to [Coastal GasLink] who's clearly getting clobbered with all of this Indigenous resistance because they don't have consent to be here. But they're claiming that they have authorization from the government and the government doesn't have the authority to give them authorization."
Coastal GasLink declined to comment on their consultation efforts with the Wet'suwet'en.
Alexander said this practice of sloughing off responsibility to project proponents is standard.
"In a resource context, almost always the proponent and the affected Indigenous Peoples are left with an absentee parent or something," he said. "I call the Crown the deadbeat dad."
First Nations forced to 'weaponize' legislation to reform B.C. mining laws: lawyer
While B.C. drags its heels on amending provincial laws to uphold the principles of UNDRIP, Indigenous communities are finding other ways to use the declaration act.
"First Nations are going to be forced to use [the act] as a shield or to weaponize it in litigation," Alexander said.
The Gitxaała Nation, on the north coast, recently launched a Supreme Court case against the province for its failure to align mining laws with the declaration. As The Narwhal recently reported, the province granted mineral tenure claims on Gitxaała territory without consulting or informing the Nation.
"I don't see how one can reconcile the sovereignty of Indigenous people with Canadian sovereignty, and proceed to basically dismantle their governance and their title system with a statute like this that doesn't seek any type of consultation or consent or even notification before mineral interests are transferred," Lisa Fong, legal counsel for Gitxaała, told The Narwhal in an previous interview.
Under the Mineral Tenure Act, which has its origins in the 1850s, anyone can register as a "free miner" and stake a claim on Indigenous land. Mineral staking across the province — even in unceded Indigenous territory — can be conducted online, through a provincial website. The cost is $1.75 per hectare.
A recent report co-published by MiningWatch Canada and the BC Mining Law Reform Network, highlighted eight instances of mining-related conflicts on Indigenous territories, including the Gitxaała case.
"To avoid future conflicts and uncertainty for all parties, the B.C. government must prioritize reforming these laws to be aligned with DRIPA throughout the lifecycle of mines," the report said.
The Nuxalk Nation on B.C.'s central coast evicted a mining exploration company from its territory this summer. The company received two five-year permits authorizing exploratory work at a pair of sites near the town of Bella Coola. One of the sites is on Qw'miixw (Mount Pootlass), a glaciated peak not far from the community and above the Nutcicts'kwani (Necleetsconnay) River, a tributary of the Bella Coola River.
"Our fight really isn't with the company," Nuskmata (Jacinda Mack) told The Narwhal after serving the eviction. "It's with the province for issuing these permits. Anybody who has any type of moral fibre to them will understand that this is wrong, and the way that they're going about it is wrong."
Further north and inland, Gitanyow hereditary chiefs gathered in August to unilaterally declare the creation of the Wilp Wii Litsxw Meziadin Indigenous Protected Area to ensure unwanted mineral exploration does not impact struggling salmon populations. The claims on Gitanyow territory, as on Nuxalk land, were staked on land recently exposed by glacial recession.
The Gitanyow chiefs released a draft management plan for the Wilp Wii Litsxw Meziadin Indigenous Protected Area, which they unilaterally declared in August, detailing permitted and prohibited activities. Their vision is underpinned by the simple concept: gwelx ye'enst, which is the "right and responsibility to pass on the territory in a sustainable manner from one generation to the next." Photo: Ryan Dickie / The Narwhal
Implementation of UNDRIP could provide certainty for B.C. mining industry
In a Nov. 29 opinion piece published in The Province, Jamie Bonham, director of corporate engagement at NEI Investments, and Katherine Wheatley, manager at Canada's Shareholder Association for Research and Education, noted Canadian, U.S. and European investors worth around $1.1 trillion in assets are looking to the province to implement UNDRIP as a means to provide certainty for the industry.
"Too many mining companies still behave as if DRIPA doesn't exist — and it may as well not until the B.C. government takes action to align the province's mining laws with the act's free, prior and informed consent provisions," they wrote.
In the absence of government action, the Tahltan Nation is taking a different approach by working with a proponent to ensure the principles of UNDRIP guide all interactions and decisions.
"The ongoing evolution and growth of the Tahltan Nation shows outside governments, industry and the world how working alongside the Tahltan Nation as true partners can help secure certainty, economic benefits and pride for everyone involved," Chad Day, Tahltan Central Government president, said in a statement.
The Nation and Skeena Resources, a mining company with interests on Tahltan territory, developed a relationship that led to the company giving up 3,500 hectares in mineral tenure claims to form the Mount Edziza Conservancy.
How the Tahltan and a B.C. mining company collaborated to protect Mount Edziza from development
Now, the company and the Nation are partnering on a project to restart the Eskay Creek mine and are doing so through a consent-based decision-making agreement.
Justin Himmelright, vice president of sustainability with Skeena Resources, said reconciliation is a cornerstone of the company.
"This is the way the future is going and to be a contributor to positive social change, I think is a very wise thing to be doing, from the point of view of sustainability of your industry and sustainability of your project," he told The Narwhal in an interview.
A new conservancy was established this year next to Mount Edziza Provincial Park, seen here, in partnership between the Tahltan Nation and Skeena Resources. Photo: Carol Linnitt / The Narwhal
He explained that regardless of moral considerations, getting out in front of the changes that will come eventually makes good business sense.
"Nobody wants to work for the bad guy. The best people want to work for the best company."
The company has developed a reverse permitting system, where any ideas or plans are first presented to the Nation and agreed on before applying to the province for permits.
Alexander said a similar relationship between a proponent and a First Nation is unfolding on Stk'emlúpsemc te Secwepemc Nation territory. In October, the Nation signed a groundbreaking consent-based agreement with New Gold for a major mine.
"The smartest thing for a proponent is to come into compliance and negotiate a consent-based impact benefit agreement, so that there's already synchronicity," he said.
B.C.'s attempts to modernize forestry policies fail to uphold UNDRIP: First Nations
Meanwhile, the province recently put forward a suite of legislative amendments to its Forest and Range Practices Act, none of which bring the law into alignment with UNDRIP.
"Forestry policies — put in place two decades ago — have limited our ability to fight climate change, protect old-growth forests and share the benefits with Indigenous and local communities," Katrine Conroy, Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development said in a statement on Oct. 20, following the introduction of the amendments to legislature. "By increasing public control between government and First Nations, we're committed to smarter management of our forests that prioritizes public benefits and engagement now and into the future."
Charlene Higgins, chief executive officer of the BC First Nations Forestry Council, told The Narwhal the province started its engagement with Indigenous Peoples on the amendments during wildfire season. She said when Nations received notification of the process, many responded to flag their concerns and ask for resources, but never received a response.
"These are very technical changes, and every one of them impacts Aboriginal Rights and governance and stewardship responsibility," she said in an interview, adding that communities were expected to answer 91 questions during the engagement process. "[Logging] companies are using three to four foresters to answer these questions. Very few Nations have that technical capacity."
Higgins said complaints about the process are falling on deaf ears, and shared by way of an example a letter sent to the government on Nov. 15 by the Ashcroft Indian Band.
"Efforts of the province to engage with us have been egregious and in bad faith," the letter stated. "Under the declaration act, any changes being proposed to forest legislation, policies and regulations require our free, prior and informed consent."
The Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resources and Rural Development told The Narwhal in an emailed statement the province is taking steps to ensure First Nations are able to meaningfully engage.
Forestry and resource development is not wholly outlawed in the area protected by the Gitanyow. Rather, the environment and wildlife is protected alongside responsible development. Photo: Ryan Dickie / The Narwhal
"Engagement will be ongoing as we work to reshape how we care for our public forests and increase participation of Indigenous people in the forest sector," the ministry wrote. "Changes to the forest act give the province the tools to redistribute timber harvesting rights to First Nations. The province intends to double the amount of forest tenure held by First Nations."
Higgins said the council requested the province scrap the process and start over.
"We reject the current consultation and call for the redrafting of the intention paper and redesign the proposed consultation and engagement process, to ensure that Indigenous priorities, rights and principles are reflected in changes to modernize forest policies in B.C.," Chief Bill Williams, president of the council, wrote in a letter to the province dated Sept. 8.
"We're saying the process is flawed, disingenuous, disrespectful, compressed and expedited," Higgins said. "This is paternalistic and dismissive of Nations that have expressed concerns with the process and expressed concerns with the whole drafting of the intentions paper that was done totally internally by the province."
'We don't have 20 years'
Court cases like Gitxaała's, and others that may follow, could force the province to implement rapid change.
In June, a groundbreaking Supreme Court ruling found the province guilty of breaching the terms of its treaty with the Blueberry River First Nations in northeast B.C. by permitting and encouraging widespread resource extraction to the point that community members could no longer hunt and fish, practices that are constitutionally protected as Aboriginal Rights. The courts gave the province until the end of the year to chart a path forward on any new projects proposed, a decision that has been lauded by legal experts as a "game changer" for Indigenous Rights.
How the Blueberry ruling in B.C. is a gamechanger for the Site C dam, extractive industries and Indigenous Rights
While court rulings have a role, and it could be significant, Alexander said he finds hope in a growing awareness of the issues at play and of the lack of political will to move things forward. He said the combination of poor consultation practices and hope that provincial and federal governments will live up to their commitments on UNDRIP is striking.
"I believe it's no coincidence that these two things clash with each other right at the same time, because then the contrast is so stark: the expectation for free, prior [and] informed consent meets consultation happening at the lowest standard, the most impoverished view of consultation. That's shaping the First Nations leadership of this province."
For Statnyk, there's also a stark contrast between provincial actions in other areas and its reluctance to legislate new laws related to UNDRIP.
"I just saw the province really tooting its own horn about passing new laws to protect people getting vaccinated from anti-vaxxer protesters," he said. "They made this new law to keep families and children safe while they're going to get a potentially life-saving vaccine."
"What about the safety of Indigenous land defenders, who are simply exercising their human rights to withhold free, prior [and] informed consent?"
He added it's vital change happens now.
"The very real crises that we're facing on a daily basis throughout the province — whether it's climate catastrophe or these conflicts over land and resources resulting in violent arrests and police raids — we don't have 20 years to make this right."
"I feel the impatience as much as anyone," Alexander said. "We want it to happen yesterday because in the meantime our territories are being destroyed, in some circumstances. Sometimes I'm in the weeds, angry as hell."
"I think Indigenous Peoples will be relentless and will pass the fight on from one generation to the next. And we'll still be here."
Banner: Seeing little interest within the Government of B.C., the Gitanyow declared 54,000 hectares of their territory a protected area this year, including Strohn Creek, seen here. The Gitanyow held a celebration of the new protected area this August, but no one from the province showed up.
Matt Simmons
Matt Simmons is a writer and editor based in Smithers, B.C., unceded Gidimt'en Clan territory, home of the Wet'suwet'en/Witsuwit'e...