The Newsletter of the Gwaii Trust Society
     
                                                  Volume 5, Number 2 - July 2001

IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME

After driving the maze of logging roads that forms the Moresby Loop one doesn't expect to arrive at two longhouse-style buildings in the middle of a clearing. But that's where you'll find the Mount Moresby Adventure Camp.

It may be an hours drive from Sandspit but its only a stroll from the Pallant Creek Fish Hatchery and a stone's throw from Mosquito Lake. The setting is ideal for kayaking, hiking and fishing, and boat access to Gwaii Haanas.

A group of Sandspit residents took the saying "if you build it, they will come" and hung a dream on it. The dream was to provide a comfort­able and affordable place for young people to camp and experience the wilds of Haida Gwaii year round. RCMP Cst. Blake Ward was the instigator.

"The main goal was to give kids a place to go that was dry and out of the weather," he explains. "Over the years I've watched kids come here and waste so much time setting up and taking down their camp in poor weather when they could concen­trate more of their time on planning, cooking and other outdoor activities."

After a couple of years of refining this vision, Blake formed a society with four other like-minded folks and began seeking support within the community. Core funding was raised through Community Futures ($200/000) and the Gwaii Trust Major-Infrastructure program ($75,000) with cedar logs donated by JS Jones and Husby. As more donated building materials began arriving from the community, construction began ear­nest in the fall of 2000.

The lodge sleeps more than 40 people in two dormi­tories with more living space provided by a common room doubles as a classroom. The second building is a kitchen and dining hall. Both buildings have running water, wood heat, generator power and a great view of Mount Moresby—all at a cost of roughly $300/000.

Five Sandspit residents—Blake Ward/ lan Collison/ Marcy Mathers, Nicole Stevens and Maria Wilkie—gathered grassroots support and funding dollars to create a camp for outdoor education on the Islands.

"We wanted to create a facility that was open to all groups," adds lan Collison/ the group's vice-president. "But we're not trying to target audiences that are already here on the Islands. We're looking for senior tours/ Scouts Canada/ Katamavik—a different niche. There's a number of school groups that have shown an interest in the Charlottes."

That interest was sparked by a market survey launched by the society last year. Hundreds of schools in western Canada received a mailout that included a . questionnaire.

Of the 220 packages mailed about 40% replied favourably, saying they would consider using the camp. The camp is also being promoted on the web (www.mtmoresbycamp.ca) where each phase of con­struction is captured through a series of photos. The word has already spread internationally as the camp is booked with a youth group arriving from England in early August. The grand opening of the camp is planned for the fall of 2001.

BRIEF CASES

CLICK HERE...

•The Gwaii Trust web site (www.gwaiitrust.com) has been updated to provide a greater amount of financial and program information. The site now sports an archive of past issues of The Trust, annual reports, audited financial statements from 1995 to the present, and a revised list of directors and staff. Application forms and program descriptions are also only a click away.

YOUTH COORDINATORS

• Danielle Myles, 1 7, of Port Clements and Carrie Carty/ 20, from Masset are coordinating the summer youth program for the Trust. Danielle recently graduated from CM Dawson and spent the school year working with Masset's Nights Alive program. In the fall she will be taking general  science courses at the University of Northern BC leading to a degree in physical therapy. This is Carrie's second year working for the program which organizes sport and entertainment events for the youth throughout the Islands. A conference dealing with youth issues and featuring Cree come­dian Don Burnstick is planned for August 16-18 in Masset.

WARNING: SPEND YOUR MONEY

With $2-million dollars left in the Major Infrastructure account Island communities are being asked to spend, spend, spend.

Gwaii Trust administrator Cliff Fregin says communities must bring their project ideas before the board for approval by the end of the fiscal year (August, 31 2001). Those communities with project approval then have one year to spend all allocated funds.

Each community—Old Massett/ Masset/ North, South and Central Graham Island, Skidegate and Sandspit—received $1/000,000.00 over a four-year period for the purpose of undertaking Major-Infrastructure projects.

The Trust made a further $1 million available for projects considered to be "All-Island" in nature, meaning they benefited two (2) or more communi­ties. The Council of the Haida Nation received $400/000.

Of the communities, only Skidegate has spent its allocated funding on projects as diverse as renovations to public buildings, a new garbage truck, a tot playground, youth campsite and the commercial mall off Highway 16.

SMFRA OR BUST

A decision on the repatriation of the South Moresby Forest Replacement Account (SMFRA) is only a handshake away.

The Federal Government gave its conditional support to bring the nearly $24-million forestry account home to the Islands. That support was contingent on support from the Province of BC. While there is still no official word from either govern­ment/ directors remain hopeful.

"We've been informed that our proposal for SMFRA acquisition has been submitted to the BC Treasury Board and they've made a decision," says chair Miles Rich­ardson, jr. "Now we're just waiting to hear."

Richardson's optimism stems from the removal of a major stum­bling block that threatened to thwart the Trust's bid to secure local control over the fund. Bureaucrats in Victoria were convinced the pro­posal lacked Islands-wide support. That question was resolved when the Trust delivered a revised draft of its proposal to both senior levels of government with the signatures of every elected representative on the Islands.

Island communities were asked last year to designate nominees to sit on the committee empowered to manage the SMFRA fund. Of the six Board members chosen/ only two were from the Islands. The rest of the management committee was to be dominated by four appointees from the province and Canada.

The forestry account was estab­lished in the late 1980s with a $12-million contribution from both the provincial and federal governments, as part of the South Moresby Agree­ment. Interest on the money has been spent on mostly research and silvilculture projects.

       NEW PROGRAMS

Watch out this September/October. The Gwaii Trust will be implementing new programming for the Islands community. Announcements and guidelines will be presented this fall.

BURNING DOWN
THE HOUSE

Residents along the east coast of Graham Island can rest easy. The TIell fire depart­ment has a permanent home and new firefighting equipment thanks to a healthy mix of volunteer effort and Gwaii Trust funding.

Major Infrastructure dollars ($92,000) helped complete the last of the renovations to the fire hall which paid for the drilling of a well/ plumbing/ stairs/ dry walling and painting and a septic field.

"We're also going to completely outfit the kitchen so the hall can be rented to groups for meetings and parties/" explains Bari Williams/ project manager for this leg of the project. "My main aim is to make the hall more self-sufficient than it is now."

Meanwhile/ another $34/546 helped to outfit the fire department with much needed safety and communications equipment from basket stretchers to handheld radios.

"It was all basic stuff" says volun­teer Fire Chief Terry Mitchell. "We didn't have enough fire hoses or nozzles before. This was basic infrastructure to bring us up to where we can safely fight a fire."

Mitchell says his crew got a chance to test the new equipment on a controlled fire on Beitush Road in May. The "Nelson house/" one of the oldest homesteads on the Islands/ was set alight before a crowd of on-lookers while firefighters contained the blaze within the lot.

ESSENTIAL  SERVICES

Will the Gwaii Trust go where the Province fears to tread?

Some Trust directors are ponder­ing that question as services that are normally covered by the BC government are being paid for with Gwaii Trust dollars. Past examples of this include books for school libraries and training for nurses in advanced cardiac life support.

"I don't like the precedence this is setting/" says Trust director Jukka Efraimesson/ who represents Port Clements. "We funded the cardiac project because it is an important skill for our nurses to have so we wouldn't say no. But my concern is that the provincial government may be seeing the Gwaii Trust as a pot of money to dip into."

While this is a reoccurring topic of debate around the board table/ administrator Cliff Fregin says the Trust has a mandate to steer clear of projects where the responsibility lies with senior levels of government.

"We are committed to funding health and education projects. But everybody understands the Gwaii Trust wasn't set up to replace government services/" Fregin says. "We are looking at developing partnerships with other funding agencies to bring needed services to the Islands."

The Gwaii Trust Business Plan (1994) speaks to this directly by cautioning the Canadian and BC governments not to "consider the Gwaii Trust [as] a substitute for ex­isting or new responsibilities and obligations." The business plan also states the Trust will "emphasize joint ventures with other agencies to provide enhanced and more com­prehensive services than govern­ments would normally provide on their own."

Fregin says this is a key guiding principle and is not likely to change in the new business plan.

QUARTERLY RESULTS

The Gwaii Trust has grown another $2-million over this past year.

The value of the fund now sits at $60-million. The Fund earned 9% for the year ending June 1, 2001 which is lower when com­pared to past years when the equity markets were doing much better.

Investment manager Tony Gage of Phillips/ Hager and North says that while the financial markets took a hit from the fallout of sinking technology stocks this year the Trust kept its head above water.

"We had a position in Nortel Networks but overall our portfolio has a small exposure to technol­ogy/" Gage explained. "Owning some return bonds and old-economy stocks such as financial services/ including the major banks/ and holdings in some of the larger oil and gas companies resulted in a reasonable rate of return."

The cost of Gwaii Trust holdings in common stocks is $1 3-million and the market value is just under $19-million. The rest of the portfolio is invested in bonds/ mortgages and short-term investments such as Government of Canada treasury bills.

Gage says the good returns that the Trust has experienced over these past few years reflect the prudent asset mix policies that were devel­oped by trustees back in 1996.

So far this fiscal year (ending August 31st) the Society has distrib­uted $3-million to local communi­ties/ non-profit groups and individu­als. Meanwhile/ the Trust has gener­ated $4 million from interest/ dividend income.

The Gwaii Trust was founded in 1994 with $38-million from the federal government. The fund is controlled by an eight-member board of directors/ representing Island communities and the Council of the Haida Nation.

The Gwaii Trust is funded from the interest of a $42-million principle sum. The original amount is inflation-proofed for future generations.

Cliff Fregin - Administrator
PO Box 397
75 Raven Avenue
Old Massett, BC V0T 1M0

p. 1.800.663.2388 · p. 250.626.3654
f. 250.626.3261 · gtrust@island.net