alpacas | | 18, 1991 @ inion Op Dave McCullough Publisher Simon Birch Editor Peter Harvey Plant Foreman Mark Davis Advertising Manager Warren Chernoff Accountant Heather Hedley Circulation Manager Burt Campbell Publisher Emeritus L.V, Campbell Aug. 7, 1947, Feb. 15, 1973 OurWiEWS ‘No’ the best answer B.C. voters will be given tee referendum questions to answer in the upcoming provincial election: 1. Should voters be given the right, by legislation, to vote between elections for the removal of their Member of the Legislative Assembly? 2. Should voters be given the right, by legislation, to propose questions that the Government of British Columbia must submit to voters by referendum? There are good arguments on both sides why voters should answer “Yes” or “No” to the questions. Reluctantly, we'd advise voters to say “No” to both questions. Tackling question No.2 first, although we're in favor of meaningful public participation in issues that affect people's lives — the issue of logging in watersheds is currently a prominent le — the ALLRIGHT Guys! eed TN BEHIND YOU! ~ STAY OUT AS LONG {attlegar News % so-called initiative process, a good idea in theory, has turned into a nightmare in reality in states such as California which use the process. For example, in the 1990 election in that state, California voters faced 140 — yes, 140 — initiatives, each listed with arguments pro and con and rebuttals to each argument. The arguments for were supplied by the sponsoring groups of the initiative and the arguments against by those who opposed the initiative. Letters toTHE EDITOR Criticism of Suzuki ‘unfair, unkind and uncalled for’ Please give me space to respond to the long letter by Mr. Ken Arnett and his critical attack on Dr. David Suzuki concerning his lecture held in New Denver. I attended that meeting and was very impressed and inspired by Suzuki’s speech. The h ion of the full auditorium The process has even spurred t initiatives on the same ballot with the end result being voters either not bothering with the initiatives or voting a blanket “No” to everything. It’s also an expensive process. We don't need that in B.C. Removing MLAs — the recall process — is more tempting to say “Yes” to since it might age better bility and improved performance by politicians. But it also might discourage elected officials from making potentially good decisions because of pressure from special interest groups which could wave the threat of a recall petition in front of the politician. Recall also has the potential to constantly disrupt the political process. audience povhanewn to the power of this gentle speaker. There was nothing mean or vicious in his speech. Therefore, in my opinion, Mr. Arnett’s criticism is unfair, unkind and uncalled for. Such critical attitudes have are being degraded alarmingly. We would welcome the opportunity to “participate in the process” but no matter how hard we strive, how nice and courteous the meetings have been or how generously we have been treated with smiles, doughnuts and coffee, we are denied any meaningful action, and receive platitudes, not To quote Mr. Arnett’s words in the third paragraph of his letter, “There is no broadcast (slash) burning planned” and further, “There i is no intention to use been used against the saints and prophets of ages past and they were, ulti ticides.” I find the above statements less than reassuring and, to quote Mr. Arnett, sacrificed for the crime of telling the truth. I hasten to add that I do not pretend to be an expert on forest resources nor am I interested in all the data and statistics that have smothered the forestry and environment for years until one cannot see the forest for all the paper that has obscured the trees. But for those who have eyes to see, we know that our watersheds Environmental issues are far too important to be considered as a war between “good guys” and “bad guys.” Let's be fair. It is our sacred duty to protect our sources of safe drinking water and breathable air, not the sacred interests of a few corporations. Pat Romaine Castlegar Harcourt reads too much into Socred memo @ Calling the use of lottery funds for health care playing with people’s lives is irresponsible electioneering VICTORIA — “Harcourt press conference, one o'clock,” the NDP caucus researcher said, pinning a note to that effect on the press gallery's bulletin board. The topic: lottery grants. Now whenever someone men- Hubert BEYER health ministry document which solicited ideas for the spending pf that “the Socreds will do anything to hang onto pow He was ap- Report from Victoria tions lottery grants to me, visions of Bill Reid and his good friend and Bill Sullivan come to mind. Sullivan was the chap who, thanks to Reid, managed to secure $277,000 worth of lottery grants for a recycling project. Reid later bes less to say, when they had lost his cabinet post over the con- good. But what the leader of the troversy. opposition produced was a leaked more than $100 million worth/of lottery funds on health care pro- jects. “The deputy minister has asked that a plan be developed for ex- penditure of up to one-half of lot- tery fund revenue ($101.3 million in 1991-92) on rer care,” said the memo, signed by Garry Curtis, executive director be policy, plan- ning and legislation. “The plan is to be lete by palled, he said, that the govern- ment would actually sit on health care funding for more than a year “in a cynical re-election bid.” Now, hold on a sec, Mike. Iknow you're trying to capture a few headlines as we tip-toe into the election campaign, but let’s not get carried away. I admit the memo the end of the month and, since it may raise false expectations, is to ilar exercise” took place in June last year. ag penis gy Np renee into the memo. It shows, he of lottery funds to aid the government in its re-elec- or her, So it’s not, worthy of the leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Op- position, not even in an campaign. please see BEYER page A7 Sree tm Wednesday, September 18, 1991 OtherVi EWS 7 Please address all letters to: « or deliver them to 197 Columbia Ave. Letters should be Letters coWHE EDITOR Children should come first Last winter I wrote a letter to the editor explaining the importance of brighter lighting and a controlled fenftig light across bia near the Ki d C fall The next day I received a phone call from Ald. Jim Chapman who explained that brighter lights and a controlled intersection was planned for this spring and I would have known this if I'd pay more attention to city council meetings. In May I asked Ald. Chapman again about the lights and controlled intersection. His reply was the contractor was in Prince George and I shouldn't expect the contractor to come to Castlegar just for me. Then I said at least put better lighting there for now. Ald. Chapman told me that they cost $200 each. When I said my sons’ lives are worth more than $200 and I’m sure other parents feel the same, Ald. Ch d it’s too just have to wait until July. Now that July has come and gone and there is more broken glass (I presume from another car accident) on the road and children are coming and going to school, what is Ald. Chapman and city council waiting for now? I hope it’s not a child that I’m sure is worth more than $200. Maybe just a new election so they can say they will fulfil their campaign promises. Daragh Carter Castlegar , I will Coyle not president In a recent letter from the Castlegar and District Heritage Society to the Castlegar News, John Coyle was entitled “president.” This was an error on my part. Mr. Coyle is not president of the Castlegar and District Heritage Society, he is vice- president, elected at the annual general meeting on May 9. I wish to apologize to John for any embarrassment this has caused him. Since Sherrel Koreen’s resignation on Aug. 27, the society has been functioning with apr The last resort On Sept. 6, 84 rural British Columbians from the Slocan Valley were arrested for denying Slocan Forest Products access to the Hasty Creek watershed. Three times in two weeks more than 250 people took time from their work and personal lives to stand on the road in support of the Hasty Creek water users. On the third day, 84 of them refused to move and were arrested as they sat in silent, solemn demand for fair and just treatment. Among those arrested are farmers, business people, forestry hypoth 4, 1 Fr tr and child: n. Our in progress, the Ministry of Forests issued a road building permit to Slocan Forest Products, giving the company a legal right to begin logging road construction in the Hasty Creek watershed. In a final attempt to avoid confrontation, the Red M tried to persuade Slocan Forest Products to delay road building at least until the ombudsman has completed his investigation and | made recommendations for resolving the The refused, stating that to do so would be economically inconvenient. Instead Slocan Forest Products chose to seeka court int inijanction prohibiting common concern is the protection of the water which sustains us and the right to i in our valley. We want to make it known that our act of peaceful civil disobedience arose from a deep i to the pr ion of water and to democratic process. It was a last resort in response to the government's unwilli to allow | ingful public resid from blocking the company’s access to >the watershed. That industry can have a legal right to engage in activities that degrade water should be a matter of serious concern to all water users throughout the province. Currently, neither the Water Act nor the Forest Act provides adequate legal protection for water or for the rights of wale users. Therefore, we are bree, in decisions. We were willing to face arrest because we believe our ‘water i is at risk. Our need public invol onder to have an impact on important Tend use decisions. Our experience has demonstrated that to for a w: and be gful such a p 38 must i hud process which protects water is being ignored by our government. This is not just a local matter. Watersheds all over the province are at risk. For more than eight years the Hasty Creek water users, represented by the Red ion and the Slocan Valley Watershed Alliance, have made sincere attempts to obtain an adequate process. Our discussions and negotiations with the relevant ministries have been fruitless. The ministries have been willing to consult but our r dations have been ig: d We reject the Ministry of Forests’ claim that its Integrated Watershed Management Plan (IWMP) for the Hasty Creek area provides adequate protection for our water. In our view, this IWMP is a thinly disguised standard timber harvest plan, The monthly meeting takes place on Thursday, Sept. 19 and we urge all and i double-spaced and not longer than 300 words. residence only will be published. Only in exceptional cases will letters be published d people to attend. As always, it is at 7 p.m. sharp at the CP Rail Station Museum downtown. There are several vacancies on the board of directors and we welcome newcomers. Carolee Fitz-Gerald Secretary, Board of Directors Castlegar and District Heritage Society loped without public input and “approved” by only the ministries. Our view is supported by other watershed groups who have been saddled with IWMPs and now, are facing water problems. Having reached an impasse in our negotiations with government ministries, we d the pr Mr. Steven Owen, who agreed to investigate the sieuahont. Despite the fact a fair disp We, the Hasty Creek 84, nay believe that our act of civil disobedience was an honorable one. That 84 residents, young and old alike, were arrested for an act of constience should be sufficient indication that something is terribly wrong here. Hasty Creek 84 For the record A letter to the editor on page B5 of the Sept. 11 issue was incorrectly edited to state that Dr. David Suzuki was one of the 84 people arrested at the Hasty Creek blockade. The paragraph should have read: “Colleen McCrory, the award-winning environmentalist and one of the best- known persong,in the field, was one of those arrested at Hasty Creek. David Suzuki, the famous geneticist, visited Hasty Creek at the blockade and encouraged citizens, saying: ‘People like yourselves are the true conservatives. The extremists are those who think they can barge in and manage the forests with their existing knowledge.” The News apologizes to Dr. Suzuki and to the > letter writer, Richard Caniell, for any that the is still the error has caused. embar Beyer continued from page A6 The Socreds may have been guilty of a lot of things these Past few years, stupidity and a mis- placed sense of loyalty among them, but to accuse them of play- sible with people’s lives is irrespon- x John Jansen, dis- ly. N; za to call for half the lottery r to go toward health care. “Harcourt can’t pinpoint one penny we're sitting on,” Strachan added. Meanwhile, deputy health min- ister Krysia Strawczynski defend- ed the ministry's action by point- Se ot oat Riowage Sy agers the former health missed Harcourt'’s claim, calling it “the silliest statement he’s come up with in a long time.” I tend to agree. Current Health Minister Bruce ctrecias said the memo is roar a staff, he said, had merely done some planning in case cabinet was indicate any decision by the gov- ernment to use lottery funds for health care. Well, [wouldn't go quite that far either. There has been a lot of pres- sure on the government to use lot- tery revenues for health care. Just Bren- da Parkes submitted a 70,000-sig- nature petition advocating that half of all lottery funds be spent on health care. The fact that the memo in ques- tion was written shortly after that petition was presented to the health minister cannot be a coinci- dence. Nor, I might add, should there be any reason to deny the connection, unless the government doesn't want to admit that it can sctyelly be swayed by public pres- mail things considered, Har- the to use as election bait should be re- garded as suspect. In fact, I consider it as suspect as the Socreds’ attempt to saddle Harcourt with the Ontario budget. But while the latter is designed to invoke fear of fiscal mismanage- ment, the former could cause peo- ple to fear for their lives, and that's not something one uses for politi- purposes, I'd say Harcourt’s attempt to use the memo to his political ad- vantage has failed. He’d have been better off not touching the thing. And I wouldn't be surprised if the Socreds turned that little isod inst him in the weeks funds from the health care system to come.