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Tuesday, March 12, 2019 | Your community newspaper since 1916

CITIZEN PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN

Enough already Zak Belsham shovels his Borden Crescent driveway on Monday afternoon. Environment Canada issued a snowfall warning, predicting up to 10 centimetres of snow could fall in Prince George by the end of the day on Monday. The forecast for the next five days does not have snow in it.

Artifacts not from pipeline construction site Threat leveled against child care centre

Citizen news service Indigenous artifacts found at the construction site of a contentious pipeline project were likely not in their original location, says British Columbia’s energy regulator. The Unist’ot’en clan, a hereditary house group of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation, complained last month that supporters recovered two ancient stone tools and observed other artifacts at the site where Coastal GasLink is building a natural gas pipeline. The company suspended work on the line, which is a key part of a $40-billion LNG Canada project in northern B.C., while the BC Oil and Gas Commission investigated. The commission said in an information bulletin that investigators found stone artifacts on top of frozen clay soils and the archaeology branch of the provincial Forestry Ministry is working to return the items to the appropriate Indigenous communities. “The soils upon which the artifacts were found would not typically contain any such cultural artifacts and this was likely not their original location,” the commission said. “However, a definitive determination on their exact location of origin cannot be made.” The two stone tools that were originally reported discovered were not present at the site, the information bulletin said. The Unist’ot’en have previously said the two tools were removed to protect them. The clan has also said an archeologist from the Smithsonian Institution estimated one of the tools dates back up to 3,500 years. In an emailed response to questions on Monday, the commission said the team examining the site was not aware the two tools had been removed. Archaeologists found four artifacts in total – one complete biface tool and three biface fragments – but could not make a cultural association, it said. The commission acted on an order under the Heritage Conservation Act to secure the four artifacts for protection and further examination, it added. It said the area had been logged twice,

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Citizen staff

CITIZEN PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN

Supporters of Unist’ot’en camp demonstrated outside of the Prince George Law Courts in January to show solidarity with their fight against a pipeline.

The soils upon which the artifacts were found would not typically contain any such cultural artifacts and this was likely not their original location. — BC Oil and Gas Commission report prepped and replanted, and all soil layers where cultural artifacts would typically be found had been removed and were at some distance from where the items were found. The Unist’ot’en clan said Monday the artifacts were recovered from a site that “had been heavily disturbed” by Coastal GasLink bulldozers.

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It said in a statement that the “cryptic bulletin” from the commission “ignores the role that CGL’s industrial activity has played in disturbing this cultural site and displacing these artifacts.” Asked about this allegation, Coastal GasLink referred questions to the oil and gas commission. The commission said “removing artifacts from their original context greatly diminishes the information that can be extracted from them.” The Unist’ot’en said they have not been included in the archeological work done on their territory. “Wet’suwet’en cultural artifacts cannot be properly identified and analysed without the input of Wet’suwet’en people,” it said. Coastal GasLink said in a statement it has been cleared to resume construction and it has filed a mitigation plan that has been accepted by the commission and the archaeology branch. — see ‘THERE IS NO WAY, page 3

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Canadians killed in plane crash

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NEWS 12

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Evasive action was taken Monday afternoon when a threat was leveled against a College Heights child care centre. Pupils attending Kool Kats Kid Care were transferred to another location while Polaris Montessori Elementary School was put on lockdown for about 90 minutes. The school was “all clear” by 2 p.m. and the school’s day ended with regular dismissal, school district superinMarilyn On Friday, students tendent Marquis-Forster said. at Polaris were On Friday, evacuated in students at response to a threat Polaris were in and police believe evacuated response to a threat and the two are police believe connected. the two are connected. The incidents are being actively investigated, RCMP added. “Our officers take all threats seriously and will continue to investigate these criminal offences with all the resources we have available,” Prince George RCMP Cpl. Craig Douglass said. “With an abundance of precaution, we have taken the necessary steps to ensure the safety of these children and the children attending the neighbouring school.” The threat against Polaris on Friday has been “thoroughly investigated” and no evidence was found to suggest it was credible, RCMP also said. Anyone with information about the incidents is asked to contact the Prince George RCMP at 250-561-3300 or anonymously contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at www. pgcrimestoppers.bc.ca (English only). You do not have to reveal your identity to Crime Stoppers. If you provide information that leads to an arrest, you could be eligible for a cash reward.

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