15 YEARS AGO… (Aug. 15-21, 1995)
Gustafson Lake militants accused of 'terrorism'
A band of about 15 heavily armed native militants that has illegally occupied a piece of private ranchland near Gustafson Lake is suspected of committing "acts of terrorism" against police, fisheries officers and forestry workers, RCMP said this week.
The group has been involved in five shootings since the middle of June, including one last week where a bullet narrowly missed an RCMP officer, police said.
In June, militants shot at two B.C. Forest Service employees and, on Aug. 11, fisheries officers were involved in a tense encounter with two heavily armed militants near the Fraser River.
The occupation, about 50 kilometres west of 100 Mile House, began when rancher Lyle James tried to evict a group of natives from a site where they had performed sacred sun dance ceremonies for several years.
One protester, identifying himself only as Wolverine, said the group is prepared for an RCMP attack.
B.C. Attorney-General Ujjal Dosanjh said police would use force to break up the encampment only as a last resort.
Flash forward: On Sept. 11, an hour-long gun battle erupted between protesters and hundreds of heavily armed police surrounding the encampment. The militants surrendered six days later.
25 YEARS AGO… (Aug. 15-21, 1985)
Pop singer backs ferry fatality lawsuit
A Vancouver man whose wife and two of three sons were killed in a collision with a B.C. ferry last week is getting some unexpected legal support from pop singer Terry Jacks.
On Sunday, Mr. Jacks confirmed that he has asked prominent Vancouver lawyer John Laxton to help crash survivor George Kwok with a million-dollar lawsuit against the B.C. Ferry Corporation.
Mr. Kwok was at the helm on Aug. 12 when his 10-metre cabin cruiser collided with the Nanaimo-bound Queen of Cowichan in Queen Charlotte Channel near Bowen Island.
His wife, Kim, died trying to save the couple's three-year-old son Michael, who died three days later in B.C. Children's Hospital. Martin Kwok, 12, is missing and presumed drowned. Mr. Kwok and a third son, 10-year-old Nelson, escaped with minor injuries.
B.C. Ferries has blamed Mr. Kwok for the mishap, saying the 46-year-old mechanic veered into the ferry's path without warning.
Mr. Jacks, whose West Vancouver home overlooks the scene of the accident, disagreed, saying: "I think the ferry ran him down."
Flash forward: In December, 1997, a B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled that B.C. Ferries was partly to blame for the accident and awarded Mr. Kwok $446,000 in damages.
Special to The Globe and Mail