David Lam Montreal Memorial The Main Event: BC vs. Snow December 6 Vigil in Coquitlam by Marcel Martin Friday December 6 is the day when Canada remembers the victims of violence. On this day, we remember the 14 women who had their lives taken while they were attending classes at the l’Ecole Polytechnique in Quebec. The vigil in Coquitlam was attended by members of the Coquitlam Douglas College Student Society, the Douglas College ombudsman, instructors and students. The ceremony consisted of several speeches made by both staff and students as well as 14 white roses to represent the women who were killed. One by one, 14 people stated the names of those women and then they placed roses into a vase situated at the front of the podium. The crowd was composed of mostly women but there were men standing beside them; the women and men all held white candles that radiated a glow of remembrance over the attendees of the vigil. Several people commented that they thought that the ceremony was performed and conducted well. The theme of the vigil was remembering the names of the people who were affected on that fateful December day, not the name of the lone gunman. This point was mentioned several times and the idea fit in well with the 14 people who placed roses in the vase. There were some people that walked by the ceremony without casting a glance towards the vigil. Some of those people did not even hesitate to postpone their destina- tions and find out what was happening in the atrium(David Lam’s Concourse Area). News _ self, the motorist had to climb into Gustafsen Lake Trial by Doug Whitlow s 1997 begins, the largest and most expensive jury trial in the history of British Columbia continues. This trial began on July 8,1996 and has cost the unknowing taxpayers of British Columbia in excess of $30 million. The trial begins again on January 6, and will cost $50 000 a day. As a new year begins, we often hear the saying “out with the old and in with the new.” The “old” in this case is the continuing rhetoric of the prosecutor Lance Bernard. Benard is trying to prove the guilt of the accused with the aid of many police and civilian wit- nesses, countless hours of video tape and tonnes of paper work. The “new” is the new year, which hopefully will see the end to the trial and start of the “public inquiry” into the police mishan- dling of the “incident at the Big Lake, Gustafsen.” Someone must be held accountable for this miscarriage of justice by the RCMP, Canadian Forces and the Governments of British Columbia and Canada. At the close of 1996, the court in Surrey had been witness to what could quite possibly be the biggest “cover-up” of wrongdoing over the Canadian Criminal Justice System. This cover-up, beginning at what had been an unknown lake in Central BC in the summer of 1995, eventually escalating into the largest and most expensive operation in the short history of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. As the prosecution is part of the trial began to wind down in November 1996, a certain mood became evident. This was a result of recent “disclosures” of evidence from the Crown. Many documents that had been requested by the defense team suddenly appeared. Much of these came too late due to the fact that the witnesses relating to the disclosures had already been questioned on the witness stand and several witnesses requested by the defense team had refused to comply with requests to appear. Most of these were high ranking officers in the RCMP. Another event which caused a long delay in the trial at this time was the Crown bringing forth 50 hours of sensitive video tape evidence which could not be viewed by the general public. According to sources, these tapes involved RCMP training proce- dures deployed at the Lake in 1995. The tapes are claimed to depict the Mounties in “embarrass- ing situations”, involving the use of “heavy weapons,” derogatory language towards natives, and national defense “secrets.” These tapes had to be viewed behind closed doors, first by Judge Josephsen and then by the defendants and their counsel. According to the RCMP, the material in the tapes will not be made public, especially the one and a half hours that no civilian personnel was allowed to see. This adds to the suspicion of a The result wasn’t even close by Marcellus It is now time for BC residents to hang there heads in shame. When we get a tiny dump of snow the Lower Mainland collapses and falls to a deadened silence. People then composed themselves just long enough to to curse Jack Frost and Old Man Winter. In the Coquitlam sector of the Lower Mainland, we received a measily 45 cm(1.5’ for those people who prefer the imperial system). Because of this snow, the world we know as it, stopped. The word transportation became an idealistic dream. No one actually got themselves where they wanted by actually moving any consider- able distance. To transport one’s form the commuter hell. The Sky Train, during the snow storm, became the most expensive tin can model. As soon as the white stuff fell, the irritating voice on the train stopped saying “The next stop is....” which meant any commuters on the train were trapped in a smelly, hot can of steam. At least the busses still rain on any route without a major hill on it. Students living near Mariner and Chilko in Coquitlam or Victoria Drive in Port Coquitlam know what I’m talking about. The only mode of transportation that was not affected was the West Coast Express. Little - do transit officials know but nothing gets in the way of a conventional train. The train will plow its way through cows, snow, debris, or even stupid cardrivers are not problems for the West Coast Express route because there are no hills to impede the progress of the mighty choo-choo. Perhaps the most stupid phenomenom I saw was the “I survived the blizzard of ‘96” T- Shirts. I am willing to bet that our mountain cousins in Alberta and those Canadians on the Prairies are laughing their heads off. They usually get four times the amount of snow we get; I have never seen a monster truck and carry a rocket launcher to make some room on any highway, freeway, or unplow- ed side streets. Many residents playing beat the train. Rock slides * Se ie pee adi simply took an extended Christmas and major avalanches are the only eae eee vacation to relieve themselves potential threats to the train; these Update (Part IV) cover-up by the governments of necessary to bring out the truth of being told to the court and the few BC and Canada, and by the RCMP _ the events at the Big Lake in people in attendance in the and would appear all the more British Columbia. visitor’s galley at the Provincial reason why a public inquiry is This is part of the story now Court Building in Surrey. Those people attending court regularly have learned a whole new language from their many hours in courtroom no. 7. The following is a short glossary. We must remember these were used primarily against native people: Target of opportunity: Indians to be shot at, in an attempt to kill. Neutralize or disable: to kill or attempt to wound Indians. EDU: Explosive Disposal Unit from RCMP OIC: Officer in command, either police or army. 2IC: Second in command. Zulu: Operational field headquarters near Gustafsen Lake. Covert Insertion: RCMP, FBI, or Army attempt to sneak into the native camp. OP: Observation Post, used to spy on the native camp. FOP: Forward observation post, in the bush near Indian camp. Extraction: Police or army units removed from the area. Eye in the Sky: Wescam camera mounted in either a plane or helicopter to monitor camp area from the air. The King: RCMP overall Commander. ERT: Emergency Response Team, comprised of mostly urban- based police officers. Grunt: Low ranking officer or ERT members in the field. Data Base: Land mine used to blow up a truck driven by two camp occupants. APC: Armoured Personnel Carriers used to transport RCMP and heavy machine guns at the lake. Dum Dum: Hollow point bullets used by RCMP ERT teams. (Outlawed by the Geneva Convention; armies are not able to use this ammunition.) .. 4 January 61997 The Other Press