OurWiEWS Kudos to Conroy ive Ed Conroy credit. Like it or not, he says what’s on his mind. Take the Paulson bridge, for example. A Province of British Columbia news release has the Rossland-Trail MLA nothing short of excited that his government will be spending $1.267 million to have the bridge repainted. Complete with fabricated quotes and congratulatory remarks, the news release has Conroy towing the government line by endorsing this “key link.” There’s one slight problem, though. Conroy didn’t say those things. Nor did he applaud his government’s decision to have the bridge — which isn’t even in his riding — repainted. Instead, the rookie politician whose rough edges may be ruffling plenty of governmental feathers balked at the expenditure. While Conroy agrees that the work must be done, he hardly gives it the séal of approval the government news release claims he does. To him, the bridge isn’t.a pressing matter. He’d much rather see the government spend its never-ending wad of money elsewhere. The restoration of the Robson ferry or construction of the Castlegar-Robson bridge are just two projects Conroy continues to campaign. There is no doubt that Conroy will receive a slap on the wrist for his comments. Until then, it’s refreshing to see a politician committed to his community first and his party second. Time to bury my 10-year-old hatchet T’ve never been a fan of the Socred government cut Bill Vander Zalm. As charismatic as he was, I’ve always had a grudge against the ex-premier. That grudge dates back to 1982, when, as Education Minister, Vander Zalm axed © a whole bunch of post- secondary funding. Among the school’s affected was Douglas College, a New Westminster institution that specialized in technical trades. sp. HARRISON Harrison Comparison post-secondary funding, spelling the end of my blazing building dreams. Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise. After all, I’m jhere and I’m happy, but something inside me still wants to ride in a pumper truck. Long-winded stories aside, I think it’s best to bury the _ proverbial hatchet. And, in doing so, I See, I was to be a student at that college, taking a two- : year program known as Fire Science Technology. I always wanted to be a fireman, so much so that I spent every Tuesday for three years honing my yet-to-be learned skills as an auxili member with the Courtenay Volunteer Fire Department. At 17, I was set to move to the Big City — a $400 scholarship in hand — to pursue my first love as a fireman. The dream ended abruptly, though, when would suggest that others do the same. In particular, BCTV and CKNW radio. If you don’t know it by now, the two medias have applied to the courts to be allowed full-access to Vander Zalm’s upcoming trial. The two want to have camera crews in the courtroom, providing minute-by-minute coverage of Vander Zalm’s breach-of-trust trial, which begins Tuesday. y- please see HARRISON page 6 Stree( TALK Aug. 7, 1947- Feb. 15, 1973 Carrie Plamondon Robson “No.” Karl Koreen Castlegar “In a way, yes, but they had no choice.” Patricia Lakes Castlegar “The situation is too complex to just say yes or no.” Barry Porsnuk “Pd say no.” Question: Has the provincial NDP government betrayed its labor roots? Alynn Russell Castlegar Castlegar “In some sense, yes.” tere? FSOT A a neem) ™@ Wednesday, May 13, 1992 Other VIEWS! Please address all letters to: Letters to the or deliver them to 197 Columbia Ave. Letters should be typewritten, double-spaced and not longer than 300 words. Letters MUST be signed and include the writer's first and last names, address and a telephone number at which the writer can be Letters coWHE EDITOR Council ignoring our traffic woes The City Council continues to ignore the problem of the congestion on our main thoroughfare in Castlegar. ‘ This would also appear to be the opinion of the police department with the statement released saying accidents have declined since the modifications have been made on Columbia Avenue. Little further support will be found I’m afraid. I, as part of the motoring public, believed the changes on Columbia were made yes for safety and for a more efficient thoroughfare. : : After all, that’s what I was lead to believe when council hired a.consultant to address the problem. We appear to have received half of what we paid for, or did we? \ Both council and the police seem to think the problem has been fixed, or so it would appear through their silence. I don’t agree, in fact, I totally disagree. The congestion on Columbia Avenue is worse. than ever and is only going to get worse through silence. So how can the problem be lessened? First of all Columbia Avenue needs help during high congestion periods, mainly 3 p.m to 6 p.m. daily. This will require the lights-at-17th Street to be overridden as it is clearly the main point of the problem. Also, a request to C.P. Rail to avoid train traffic during this peak traffic period would be recommended. “This is not in any way a first step towards privatization” claimed Harvie Andre recently, after announcing the share plan for Canada Post employees. The minister responsible for Canada Post is right . . . it’s more like the 20th step. In fact, there will be precious little left to do when the truth about postal privatization is finally forthcoming from this master of misleading statements. Already more than 1,000 rural post offices have been converted into substandard “retail outlets”, or closed altogether. Wicket service at dozens of urban post offices from Charlottetown to Victoria has disappeared. The Postal Services Review Committee (the only legislative | watchdog for Canada Post), after scolding the government for dropping service as its first priority, was axed in 1990. Other actions such as the removal of the Canadian flag in the CP logo and the coat-of-arms on postal boxes, and the contracting out of subsidiary services (such as rural route delivery, cleaning services, and the delivery of ad mail) leave little doubt that the process of postal privatization has been orchestrated for a long time. Meanwhile, American companies, such as Mail Boxes Inc., hungrily stand by to pick up the pieces of the mail system left behind by Canada Post. The president of this firm recently cited postal closures as part of the deterioration in Canadian mail service which gives the impetus for his company’s existence. Companies such as Mail Boxes Inc. illustrate the conundrum that Andre currently faces: maintaining the facade of preserving service as Canada Post’s No.1 priority while in reality having profitability as the Crown’s corporations’ major raison d’etre in order to appeal to the private sector at auction time. Meanwhile, Canadians await the day when words of truth are finally forthcoming from Harvie Andre. Unfortunately those words will read: “Canada Post is sold.” Sandra Groepler, B.C. Director, Rural Dignity Canada Robson Whether Council wishes to discuss an alternative route through north Castlegar is no longer a choice they have to discuss, it’s how to link it to the downtown core and both Highway 3 and the Robson bridge and continue to get as much public input as possible. I hope this issue will be addressed promptly as the present situation is both detrimental to our community and - extremely costly to the future development of our city. If you have any concerns in regards to this issue I am sure the city. would-like to hear from you. : William Warner, Castlegar City takes steps to end violence The recent steps taken in Castlegar towards violence against women are most welcome and come at a time of rising awareness of this world-wide abuse. Violence directed at an identifiable group is covered in a general way under the United. Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights but violence against women is not specifically defined. Countries which tolerate institutionalized violence against women can claim that this is an internal matter.and not a proper concern for the United Nations. In 1993 the Universal Declaration of Human Rights will be reviewed by the United Nations. An international coalition of women’s organizations is circulating a petition urging the UN to specifically define gender violence as a violation of human rights. This will allow violence against . women to be raised in Geneva at meetings of the United Nations Human Rights Commission. Copies of this petition are available for signing at the Castlegar and District Public Library. Completed petitions will be forwarded to the Centre for Women’s Global Leadership, Douglas College, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, U.S.A. George Richards, Castlegar 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. The writer's name and city or town of residence only will be published. Only in exceptional cases will letters be published anonymously. Even in those cases, the name, address and phone number of the writer MUST be disclosed to the editor. The News reserves the right to edit letters for brevity, clarity, legality, grammar and taste. Harrison continued from page 6 Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for that freedom of the press stuff. Heck, I have to be. However, I can draw a clear distinction between freedom of the press and an abuse of privileges. Perhaps it is wrong of me to say, but I don’t think BCTV or any other media outlet should be allowed to file in-the- courtroom coverage from the- Vander Zalm trial. For any trial, for that matter. Like him or not, Vander Zalm should be given the same treatment as any other British Columbian. BCTV contends that it should be allowed to air the trial because the charges laid against Vander Zalm stem from his time in public office. True enough, but I don’t buy it. Was BCTV there when Jack Kempf faced charges? No. Did it ask to be? No. BCTV is trying to pour an extra grain of salt in a yet unhealed wound. A wound that it will help fester and grow. Vander Zalm isn’t the first person BCTV has tried to humiliate. It wasn’t so long ago that this Canadian equivalent to A Current Affair had it’s sights set on New Democrat ‘leader Bob Skelly. If you recall, Skelly had a little trouble jumping out of the starting gate, stumbling through his first election speech -as if he had a sudden case of whooping cough. BCTV saw that and began twisting the screws. Skelly didn’t stand a chance. Within days, Skelly went from a man with a mild case of stage fright to being the long, lost cousin of the Three Stooges. He would have been dubbed the Canadian Gerald Ford, but that unfortunate distinction had already been bestowed upon Joe Clark. Call me a cynic, but I have to question the method behind BCTV’s madness. To this end, I am probably not the only one. Bill Vander Zalm will face the music for his alleged crime. And in Woing so, he should be accorded the same privileges as you : Lights, camera and action ded.