Members of the Burns Lake Tragedy Fund’s temporary committee faced a barrage of questions from locals and Babine Forest Products workers during the annual general meeting, held at the College of New Caledonia last Monday.
Now officially a society, the temporary committee stood down during the meeting and a new board of nine locals was elected.
Temporary committee members Terri Dickson and Angelika Posselt chaired the meeting along with Mayor Luke Strimbold who explained that he was there as an impartial participant.
Before the election, Dickson explained the rules of the society and said that after legal advice from local lawyer Warren Chapman, it would be a conflict of interest for anyone that intended to benefit from the fund, or their immediate family members to be elected to the executive.
She said, “The fund is now a registered legal society and it has mandates and rules that have to be followed. Mr. Chapman explained to us that any person or their immediate family who intends to apply for funds from the society can’t be a voting member of the society.”
Posselt further explained, “You can’t make a motion as a member of the society to give yourself money. You could be prosecuted for doing this.”
Local Melvin Joseph said, “How is it that money donated to the Babine Forest Products workers can all of a sudden have a society underneath it? We get donations at Lake Babine Nation and they are used to help people pay their bills …. if the explosion and fire didn’t happen, there wouldn’t be any of this money in Burns Lake. I want this society to remember that many of those that were in that explosion can’t go to work. They are still emotionally effected. Think about what would have happened if that roof didn’t raise up and the fireball went through the sawmill … everyone would have been killed.”
“All of the workers are emotionally effected. Some of them are of age and don’t know how to read or write. That sawmill was their home, it was their pay cheque. The people that donated, donated because they cared. There will also be loggers laid off in July so next year we will be feeling the effects of that.”
Mayor Strimbold said, “We are just trying to explain all the legal parts of the society and folks need to understand that the society has its constitution, which is not set out by Burns Lake folks, but by the province. Those are all great comments and we will get to that discussion after the election.”
Dickson said, “We just want you to understand that you can’t sit on the board and decide to give money to yourself of to a family member. When we say immediate family members, we mean those living in your household. If you are elected to the board and there is a discussion on an application for your brother, I would hope that you would have the good sense to keep out of the discussion. If your brother gets $1,000 and the guy next door gets $250 they’ll all be looking at you. I understand that we live in a small community and that many people are related, but these are the rules.”
Dickson said, “As of tonight, I believe there is $303,000 in the account and there is still a few more cheques that need to be deposited. I estimate that there will be approximately $375,000 in the fund. We received the society paperwork on Feb. 29, 2012, then we had to apply to have the funds transferred from CIBC [Canadian Imperial Bank of Canada] to the society. Tomorrow [March 20, 2012] is the first time that any cheques could be written and the funds can be accessed by the new executive.”
Dickson said the criteria committee has established an order of priority for how the funds will be distributed. “First will be injured workers, then workers on shift at Babine Forest Products [on Jan. 20, 2012 at the time of the explosion and fire], then Babine Forest Products employees, sub contractors of Babine Forest Products and finally community members that are unemployed because of the tragedy.”
“The criteria has been established because there needs to be transparency and a level playing field. There needs to be an understanding of where everyone fits in. This money is not going to return you to your former income. There is just not enough. If there was $6 million in the account it would be easy. This money will ensure that the basics of life are met, and I don’t think, much more than that. I know it is a struggle to go from a wage to Employment Insurance but we have to ensure that six, 12 and 18 months down the road that people’s needs can be met.”
A total of 13 nominations were received, for the nine seats on the board, requiring an election. As a result, Anna Bertacco, Laura Blackwell, George Dechene, Bruce Disher, Greg Kingcott, John McQueen, Marvin Gerow, Jack Brown and Susan Zimmer were elected.
New board members then elected McQueen as president, Gerow as vice president, Brown as treasurer and Zimmer as secretary.
Applications for funding from the Burns Lake Tragedy Fund Society can be downloaded from the society’s website at www.burnslaketradgedyfund.org or www.hamptonaffiliates.com. Forms can also be picked up the Bulkley Valley Credit Union (BVCU) Lakes District Branch.
Filled out forms can be dropped off at BVCU Lakes District branch.
At the end of the public meeting, local resident Beverly Teegee said, “I am happy that Lake Babine Nation opened the doors to the Margaret Patrick Memorial Hall to everyone after the tragedy. I want to commend the people of Burns Lake, and the Village of Burns Lake for coming together. This is what it means to be human beings. Coming back to the community after 10 years away and seeing everyone as one, First Nations, non Natives, it doesn’t matter. From this point on I hope we can all be as one. We all have the same blood, there is only one colour and that is red.”
Pius Charlie said, “On behalf of B shift I want to thank all the volunteers for getting this fund off the ground.”
