* Letters to the Editor

Wednesday, July 7, 1993

Pre Castlegar Sun

Page 5A

WZ
The Castiégar Sun
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7S
PUBLISHER MARILYN STRONG
SHARLENE IMHOFF CATHERINE ROSS

ADVERTISING REP.

NICOLE BEETSTRA
PRODUCTION/OFFICE

MARGE LALONDE

CIRCULATION MANAGER
JOHN VAN PUTTEN CHRISTINE MOYER
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KAREN KERKHOFF MELODY SEMENOFF
REPORTER ADVERTISING REP.

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465 Columbia Ave., Castlegar. B.C. VIN 1G8

tS POLITICALLY INDEPENDENT AND A
MEMBER OF THE STERLING NEWS SERVICE
Established November 28, 1990

Published by Sterling Newspapers Ltd
Weekly on Wednesdays
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8.C. Community Newspapers Association
and B.C. Press Council

editorial comment

Time to start
trimming the
senatorial
fat

For Castlegar residents who are keeping abreast of
the national scene. they must be thoroughly disgust
ed with the Senate's approval of $6,000 in tax-free
expense allowances

The vote, which took place late in June, served to
further grab the attention of a working class who are
sick and tired of political hacks and patronage
appointees who continue to line up at the trough like
there’s no tomorrow

The Senate is an unnecessary legislature: a house
of second-guessing, patronage and lobbying. Occa-
sionally the Senate holds useful hearings but these
duplicate the House of Commons’ job.

Canadians are bang-on when they say politicians
can no longer relate to a working group of people
whose daily toils include budgeting, spending as it
is earned, and living with constant economic
restraint e

The mollycoddled appointees who make up the
Senate are so far out of touch they’re beyond help.
Collectively, Canada’s 104 senators are among the
richest, most pampered citizens in the country.
Their base salary is higher than what the vast
majority of Canadians earn. On top of that, many
Senators are millionaires and collectively hold hun-
dreds of directorships or other positions—yet they
want more.

With a base salary of $64,000—vastly more than
most taxpayers make, particularly considering that
it is only a part time job, these greed mongers also
get perk upon political perk. Whether it be travel-
ling expenses, rental accommodations or office fur-
niture, Senators have been living high on the hog at
the cost of taxpayers

Senators must retire at 75, or can retire after six
years’ service before that age. The pension is a for-
mula based on their average salary multiplied by
three per cent and years of service. A senator who
served 20 years and retired this year would get
$38,000 a year for life—indexed fuily

While serving under the system, they have nice
offices equipped with VCRs, stereos and cellular
phones, complete with $50,000 a year for research
costs. Wow, now that’s hurting

But even worse than all the overpayment, some
46 senators couldn't even find the time to be pre-
sent for the controversial vote. The senate sits only
100 days a year, yet attendance is still so low that it
makes the entire system nothing short of a big
joke—it’s just that nobody’s laughing

When Prime Minister Kim Campbell begins her
election tour, taxpayer’s should demand that a
plebiscite for senate abolition be held in conjunc-
tion with the next election

She’s promised to trim the fat and this would be
an excellent place te.gtart. If she’s got the guts, then
taxpayers are ready to hand over the scissors—
extra sharp!

ERRORS:

The advertiser agrees that the publisher shall not be liable f
damages arising out of errors in any advertisement beyond the
amount paid for the space actually occupied by that portion of the
advertisement in which the error occurred, whether such error is due
to the negligence of its servants or otherwise. and there shall be no
liability for non-insertion of any advertisement beyond the ainount
paid for such advertisement

All advertising subject to publisher's approval Contracts must be
sompleted within one,year from contract date, No contingent orders
accepted

John

views down everyone's yal

be reduced.

A recent hot topic around our
province has been the ongoing
battle between loggers, environ.
mentalists and almost every other
group of B.C. residents. The
national media is constantly airing
stories of how the international
community is placing bans on
British Columbian forest products
because they do not support our
methods of logging.

sure to have some impact, howev-
er small. If the protests in the
world market gain strength and
momentum—and I hope they do,
maybe the dollars and cents lost in
those sales through a decline in
public opinion will force the
forestry sector to make changes in
their long-standing practices
While the methods of logging
have been long-standing, the natu-
ral beauty of our fine forests is not

It is the way in which the trees
are-taken that is the problem
CLEARCUT is exactly what the
word says——clear, take all the
trees, and leave nothing behind
With this method it takes too
long for the fore'st to recover.

A way to eliminate those
huge, treeless spaces that look as
though a napalm experiment took
place is to reduce the-size of the
cuts. Smaller
would enable the remaining trees
to father the next generation of
torests. Don’t you think it makes

narrower cuts

More sense to cul less and make
better use of what is cut?

We all know every business
decision 1s based on profit. ‘but
with enough encouragement the
problems of the past can. be
changed to be examples for the
future. If nothing is done to alter
the pace at which our trees keep
disappearing we will be a perfect
example of what NOT to do with
a country's national pride. I am
not, trying to say all logging

lt doesn’t surpise me how you
fee! about annual allowable. cuts,
as you are obviously an opinionat-
ed person who tries t6 push your

But you will not succeed in forc-

ing me to change my opinion that
the annual allowable cut should

This international pressure is

Annual allowable cuts

should be stopped entirely, by no
stretch of the imagination would
that be possible

I know you have quite the
imagination, and some of your
arguments in our past columns
have shown creativity, but they
sometimes lack believability—but
this one takes the cake!

This province relies heavily on
the forest industry, and that is the
root of the problem. B.C. is still
in the dark ages (Karen you
should remember back that far,
you were there), when it comes to
making use of the “raw” men
als. If there was more thah just
loggers, lumber mills and pulp
mills to make use of the trees
then our employment base could
be broadened and stabilized
Instead of a tree making its way
to the mill and becoming low
grade construction Jumber which
will then be ‘Shipped to develop
ing countries, we could start to
create finished produets to be
sold on the high-prreed interna
tional market

The job base could then be
strengthened and a slow construc
tion year would not carry the
harsh repercussions as in the past
Diversification can mean stabili
ty—which is something our
province needs

What can you possibly be
thinking John? Sure, it's easy
for you to say that the annual
allowable cut should be
decreased—-it's not your liveli-
hood that’s being threatened
It’s fine and dandy for you to sit
behind your computer and hide
behind the words you type
after all, it truly doesn’t affect
you.

I've personally seen what
decreased logging practices can
do to a community that relies on
a strong and viable timber
industry in order to survive

Three summers ago I hap.
pened to tour Three Forks
Washington

me that atone time

It was obvious to
(and not
that long ago). Three Forks was

a thriving and bustling commu
nit ta public outery to save
the § cd Owl resulted in les
Joggin ICLINILY ind the
inevitable slow and painful
death of a once vibrant town

* As I toured the almost empty
streets T could see the hollow
eyed hopelessness of long-time
residents reflected in their cof
fee cups as they sat slowly and
thoughtfully sipping their cof
fee. No doubt they were think
ing about days past, and
wondering how they were now

Karen

going to feed and house their
families. For many of the resi-
dents, the only way they knew
how to feed their families was
through logging

Now, don't get me wrong,
I'm not saying cut, cut, cut
That would be a foolish prac-
tice, and the terrible end result
would be the same—loggers
would no longer have an occu-
pation, and we would no longer
have trees. I think the allow
able annual cut should stay the
same, but I agree that we have
to realize that unless we
replace what we have. taken,
we will find ourself in a world
which is devoid of beautiful
green trees. It would be a
tragedy for everyone—not just
our grandchildren

Get used to it John
EVERYTHING we use today
comes from our own natural
and some of those
resources aren't renewable. I
think we need people in legis-
lation who understand that it is
not laws against using what
we have that will make the
difference, but strong guide-
lines and management tech-
niques Decreasing the
allowable annual cut would
only ‘open the doors to even

resources,

more restricting legislation
Where will it stop? The
answer is not in decreasing
annual cuts, but in managing
our forests

We are a population which
relies heavily upon wood prod-
ucts—that is the FACT of the
matter, Let's work with that
fact, and put legislation in place
which will continue to assure
that we will ha those
resources at our disposal. It
makes pericct sense tv me. It
you cut 1,000 trees then you
have to replace those trees —and
more. | want to be really clear
about this—I'm not saying we
should run amok cutting at will

It’s tree-huggers like you
who make the laws, that with
the final and rig
of a signature, condemn a com-
munity to financial doom

teous flourish

Call the newsroom at 365-5579 or fax us your rt:

if you have any comments or questions about this week's Cheek to Cheek, feel free to
send us your comments in a letter to the editor c/o The Castlegar Sun.
if you have a subject that you would like to see debated in the Cheek to Cheek
column, Karen and John would love to hear your suggestions.

and req

ts at 365-7762

Leave them
alone and
they'll die
of natural
causes

Dear E d
Things are in a sad state

Columnist's comments thoughtless and defamatory

Dear Editor:

With horror | read Elma
Maund's viperous essay, printed
Wed., June 23rd. I am astound
ed The Castlegar Sun printed
such a defamatory opinion of
members of our community,
which she literally named.

How many “Strawberries for
sale” signs are between here
and Nelson? One. How many
sell strawberries that may be

East Indian? The same, ONE
She may as well have used the
house/fire number “=
She classifies the turban as
“dirty” before she gets out of
the car. He also had a
pocket

grimy
How close was her
face?? She buys the “small’
basket then later complains of
Struggling to carry it. Did she
even care to ascertain the rela
tionship of this man to the

field? Could he

woman in the
of been a visiting grandfather
At the very least did she
speak out against What she saw
1 injustice to the woman, to
Satisfy herself that her impres:
sions were correct. No
Did it occur to her that there
are school age children, who
already suffer racial taunts and
must now suffer from the fami
ly being so vilified. Under the

of affairs when doughnuts
take priority over wildlife. I
am referring, of course, to
the recent incidents of bear-
killing arising out of Tim
Hortons garbage

If one deliberately sets out
to kill a bear, that is against
the law. But if one delibér-
ately sets out garbage that
will attract bears which will
be killed as a result, that is
business. Do we continue to
kill bears until there are
either no more bears or no
more Tim Hortons?

It seems to me that the
bear is being made to play
the role which rightly
belongs to the store. If there
is some humour to be found
in this episode, it might be in
the remarks the officer made,
“all that grease and sugar”,
referring to the contents of
the garbage. Therein may lie
the solution: don’t shoot the
bears, they will die peaceful-
ly from heart disease

Yours trul
George Stein

Looking at Castlegar through wiser eyes
we take things too much for granted

Sometimes

Isn't it funny how we can
take where we live so much for
granted, that we forget what we
really have all around us. More
so when we have lived here
most of our lives.

Recently my sister had been
considering moving back here
with her family—and that's
wonderful. But when mention-
ing this to some friends on a
number of occasions the
response was “why on Earth
would she want to do that!" I
could hardly believe it, and
would answer back with “why
not?” It was almost insulting

Then I started remembering
back to high school days when
we couldn't wait to leave here
and REALLY live. Or so we
thought. It did not take long
before we looked forward to
those holidays and the trips back
home. I feel that I have been
very fortunate to have been able
to move back to Castleyar when
my daughter was two, so [ have
been able to ratse her here. Tcan
honestly say that I can think of

no better place to have done
that

Now that she is a teenager
and the prospect of living on her
own is not too far away (24
months until she graduates I
have been informed more than
once lately) she too has plans of
moving away to some city that
she thinks will be paradise. Not
to worry, she'll learn. We all do.
Now, don't get me wrong, there
are lots of wonderful places to
visit and live, but for me, right
now, this is it

We have so much to do and
see here, starting with the~
scenery, Working out at the air-
port as I used to do, talking to
many customers who were over
whelmed by the scenery all
around them, soon I was often
soaking in the view much more
often than in the past

It's all around us. Never
mind our tourist attractions
hiking trail

recreation, centre ¢
(List

parks. etc. ete. ete
them all would take mos

than I have, but you kr

If you have a point of view or comment you would like to shar.

too, I'm sure.) The other com
ment that customers often gave
was that the people were so
friendly. What a complement; it

felt good
Our
sithout a lot of dain

submit it to The Castlegar Sun type-written 400-600 words, or call 365-55
Your comments regarding this column are always welcome.

ts that

e with Castlegar Sun readers please
79 for more information.

children in large centres face
There are lots of programs for
them to get involved in, sports
or the arts to name a couple
We've got lots of great teach
ers, and in general in the
schools (as they aren't large)
kids don't get as lost in the
shuffle if they do have prob
lems.

I could go on and on forever
with positives that our town has
to offer. I guess you get the pic
ture that I am happy to be liv-
ing right where I am

As citizens of Castlegar I feel
it really is necessary for all of us
to be positive about our town
with each other, visitors and
potential visitors. Okay, Okay, it
sounds so simple right? But if
we aren't positive who will be?

Marcia Jackson was bor n
and raised in Castlegar, and is
currently the Assistant Manag

of the Castlegar

f Commerc.

Chamber

Former SHSS
student
achieves
admission

Thomas Shmoorkoff

Thomas William Shmoorkoff,
a graduate of Stanley Humphries,
and a former chemist at Celgar
Pulp has achieved admission to
the Bar in the High Court of New
Zealand after graduating from
the University of Aukland in
1992. Shmoorkoff is the son of
Bill and Eila Shmoorkoff of
Radium, B.C

Would anyone that
would wish to,
please write to me
about their’
dealings with any
realtor or agent in
Castlegar.

Plea reply to:
Box 670
c/oThe Castlegar Sun
465 Columbia Ave.
Castlegar, B.C.
ViIN 1G8

Dear Editor:

On June 19 we witnessed the shooting of a
young bear behind the Met Mart, and we under-
stand that another bear was shot the next day

Apparently, all it takes to prevent bears from
foraging in the dumpster there is a chained and
locked garbage lid, such as those used in nation-
al parks. Why doesn’t Tim Hortons install one of

these?

Witnesses to bear shooting
appalled at local business

Isn't the expense and inconvenience part of

their r
rural area?

y for doing bus

ness in a semi-

Sincerely,

Sheren, Caitlin, & Eric Spilker

Consulting
* Financial Counse'ling
and Qoal Set ing

Brenda
365-3487

Alice Kanigan passed away on Saturday, July 3,
1993 at the age of 61 years. She is survived by her
loving family; two daughters Marge Heayn (Ame)
of Edmonton and Nancy Weninger (Alan) of
Kelowna; one son Gordon (Donna) of Calgary;
three grandchildren; her mother, Mary Wanjoff of
Castlegar; two brothers, Harry Wa
Olds, Alberta and Cecil Wanjoff of Castlegar

Funeral services for Mrs. Kanigan were held on

Obituary

Alice Kanigan

Tuesday, July 6, 1993 at 2 p.rf trem the Memorial
Chapel of Springfield Funeral Home, 2020
Springfield Road: Cremation will follow

In lieu of flowers donations may be made to
the Arthritis Society or the Alberta Foundation
for Diabetes Research, c/o 12814-163rd St
Edmonton, AB TSV 1K6. Funeral arrangements
are under the direction of Springfield Funeral
Home 860-7077

njoe (Elsie) of

guise of compassion for th When I inguired if they wer
woman I find her comment not worried that some one
cruel and uncalled for would take the produce and the
She is also completely money they answered from a
unaware of the generosity of

consciousness rarely found
these people f

who often lea today, that if that occurred
produce out for people to help
themselves and a bag to leave
their money

then the person must need it

Dorothy Easson

Notice to City of Castlegar Residents
Water Conservation

City of Castlegar requests that water

use for irrigation purposes be limited to
even calendar days at even numbered residences and
to odd calendar days at odd numbered residences,
between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m

Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.

COMPUTER FOR KID

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On the IBM Compatible computer, you will:

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+ Leam to use a computer paint program + Leam to use Microsoft Windows
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DATES: Courses commence July 26, August 3, August 9, & August 16
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PRICES EFFECTIVE
SUN. JULY 4 TO SAT. JULY 10, 1993

Castlegar Foods - 635 Columbia Ave.,
Castlegar * 365-5755

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Canning Time

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