Saturday, July 25, 1992 @ z i PAGE OurWiEWS AdrianRAESIDE INION Op Dave McCullough Publisher Scott David Harrison Editor Mickey Read Composing Room Foreman Warren Chernoff Accountant Heather Hadley Circulation Manager Bullheaded brilliance or those of us who thought Fe: Castlegar-Robson bridge battle was over, think again. As coy as a kid around a cookie jar, Castlegar has come up with a ingenious plan that may force the provincial government into action. Using the government’s own playbook, the city may amend its traffic control bylaws to prevent truck trailers from accessing Columbia Avenue and Arrow. Lakes Drive. Arguing the Columbia is a secondary highway and Arrow Lakes is a municipal route, Castlegar has the right to restrict truck traffic in accordance with the Municipal and Motor Vehicle Acts. As brilliant as the city’s plan is, there is a catch. A mammoth one, as a matter of fact. Such bylaw changes must meet the approval of the Transport Minister. In this case, that individual is none other than The Artful Dodger himself, Art Charbonneau. Charbonneau, you may recall, is a popular figure in Castlegar. Not only did he renege on a promise to reinstate the Robson ferry, but he also gave the kiss of death to our bridge. With that in mind, Charbonneau isn’t about to approve any city plan that would force the province to build a bridge he claims it can’t afford. Despite that, Castlegar must be applauded for turning the tables on our penny-pinching province. It’s refreshing to know city hall isn’t willing to roll over and play dead. NeREDIBLE! WE || (N Ww Gor UP AND WALKED OFF. WOW Housing must become priority There is something that really intrigues me about Castlegar. We claim to be such a caring community, yet there is one issue we refuse to address. No, I’m not talking about the bridge, the ferry or even the likelihood of Warfield hill traffic being diverted through Castlegar. It’s a hell of a lot more serious than that. Instead, I wish to discuss _D.HARRISON 's Harrison Comparison apartment, but I wasn’t going to let my pocket get tapped every month so Mr. Landlord could pay the mortgage on his third house... which is also being rented at some ridiculous price. I considered sleeping in my car, but instead I split a two bedroom house with a fellow reporter. Imagine, we considered oursleves lucky — the rent was right and the location was great. one social issue that seems to play 40th fiddle to everything and the neighbor’s dog. When I moved to Castlegar from White Rock, I was bewildered at the obvious lack of rental units. I was equally shocked at the outrageous Lower Mainland prices money- minded landlords were chiseling out of common renting folk. This presented a problem for me. Not only was I unwilling to pay $500 a month Stree TALK for a less than spectacular one-bedroom Sadly, though, I tend to think I’m one of the few that has managed to escape excessive gouging. As a matter of routine, I flip through the classified section of The News to scout out rental prices — having moved 16 times in the past four years, I’m always looking fora better deal. Week in and week out, however, I see inflated prices for the very few apartments and homes available. please see HARRISON page 7 TT, L.V. Campbell Aug. 7, 1947- Feb. 15, 1973 Question: Does Castlegar need more affordable housing? Ely Koorbatoff Slocan Park "Yes. People should have as much access it.’ as possible.’ Annie Benedict Castlegar ‘You better believe i Clarke Houston Castlegar ‘It would help the young folks an awful lot.’ A. Mackereth Castlegar ‘I think so, for the older people.’ Fred Jordt Trail ‘Yeah, anywhere. Houses are too expensive.’ @ Saturday, July 25, 1992 dThe News Other VIEWS Please address all letters to: Letters to the Editor Castlegar News P.O. Box 3007 Castlegar, B.C. V1N 3H4 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 reached between 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 Letters toWHE EDITOR “Castration by association?” (Scott David Harrison column, July 15.) My goodness. Methinks Mr. Harrison is paranoid. One decision not to run for office by one person in a political party that Mr. Harrison obviously does not belong to, and he clutches his crotch. Who said Mr. Harrison can’t run for Harrison too paranoid for politics office, male paraphernalia and all? I simply chose not to pursue nomination and invited other healthy white NDP males to join me in support of affirmative action. If this makes Mr. Harrison feel discriminated against, he might imagine how it feels to be a Canadian woman, having had to fight to obtain the vote and then, 75 years later, still having achieved only 14 per cent of the seats in Parliament. As Mr. Harrison closed his column, “I leave you with a simple question:” If Mr. Harrison uncrosses his legs, is he in any danger? Gerald Rotering Nelson Today’s 18-year-olds have earned the vote David DaSilva CASTLEGAR NEWS SERVICE When is someone old enough to vote? The provincial government has decided that 18-year-olds should be able to cast a ballot. Recently, the NDP government passed legislation lowering the provincial voting age to 18 from 19, bringing it in line with federal law. In provinces across Canada the voting age varies from 18 to 19. This move by the B.C. government is an attempt to standardize the age requirement across the country. The Peace Arch News — a sister publication of The News — asked a range of people to get their opinion on the lowering of the provincial voting age. The majority opinion seems to be that 18-year-olds are well informed and have just as much right to vote as their elders. Surrey-White Rock-Langley Reform Party candidate Valerie Meredith says some of the youth she has talked to are ready, willing and able to vote provincially and federally. In fact, some are “more informed than some of the adults,” she says. “I think the 18-year-olds today are’faced with a situation where they leave school and there isn’t any employment,” Meredith said. “They are more conscious with the relationship between government and services. The 18-year-olds today are owning their own cars, buying gas, getting car insurance and all these other issues that are legislated issues.” Not only are teenagers more exposed to government through high school courses, Meredith said they have to be more concerned about the economy because they are faced with pressing economic problems as soon as they leave school. One White Rock youth said she doesn’t have much faith in middle-age voters. “I know 40-year-olds who don’t understand the issues of today,” Semiahmoo Secondary grad Erin Kinghorn said. “I was ready to vote when I was 14 years old,” she said. “I was forcing (older) people to vote for parties, if they didn’t know who te vote for.” Kinghorn said 18-year-olds have a “bigger voting realm” because of what they learn in ‘I think generally 18-year-olds probably would be better able to cast an enlightened ballot than they were 20 years ago.’ —Liberal MLA Wilf Hurd “Kids nowadays are a little closer to the action,” she said. “The economy is such that they can’t assume that they will leave school and get jobs. “They can’t assume that during the summer, they will get summer employment. They can’t assume that they will afford to drive a-car. They can’t assume they will get into higher education,” Meredith said. “They have to be a little more aware of the world around them.” Do 18-year-olds have more of a firm grasp on B.C. politics than middle-age voters? high school courses on current affairs, politics and government. “There is a lot more interest in what is going on in the world,” the 18-year-old said. “There is a lot more interest in the environment and the current issues. Twenty years ago, people were more living for themselves.” Surrey-White Rock Liberal MLA Wilf Hurd wishes he had the same opportunities today’s high school grads have in participating in politics. During his election campaign, Hurd had the pleasure of working with a few volunteer students who donated their time to his campaign for extra credit on a politics course they were taking. “I think kids mature a lot faster these days,” Hurd said. “The whole mass-medium and the kind of issues they are exposed to at a much younger age, and, of course, I think the education system is a lot different than it was 20 years ago. “I think generally 18-year- olds probably would be better able to cast an enlightened ballot than they were 20 years ago,” the rookie MLA said. However, political maturity may not be the sole motive behind the decision. Under the constitution, age levels are being set to a federal standard for equal rights, White Rock Mayor Gordon Hogg said. “That age is the age in which one assumes criminal responsibilities with the Criminal Code of Canada,” he said. “If we can hold them criminally responsible, we should also allow them to vote at the determination of that,” Hogg said. “There has been a decision made federally. They are at the age of majority, in terms of full responsibility,” he said. “I don’t think we can take away their political right if we are going to hold them responsible legally.” Harrison It’s easy dismiss these jacked up prites as market-driven, but that’s a out. The supply-and- demand tHeory doesn’t wash with me, be: e I refuse to buy into a capitalistic theory that allows one individual to profit from another’s misfortune. (I'd be a terrible businessman. Why, my honors degree in sociolo- gy proves that.) I think it’s high time Castlegar got its priorities straight. Forget about the bridge, downtown revi- talization and a new fire hall and concentrate on the people. The and taste. city must stayt promoting housing projects which are affordable to all I can’t imagine being a Selkirk College student, a low-wage earn- er, asenior or a single mother and trying to afford Castlegar prices. There are a lot of people out there that blame the housing crunch on the Celgar expansion project. After all, some 800 work- ers rolled into town and snapped up all the once-eheap places. That may be part of our prob- lem, but it’s not all of it. Nor is it acceptable for our city to wait out the three-year span of this expan- sion project until such a time that suites become available. I get really bothered when I see an obvious problem — such as the lack of affordable housing — being ignored because of short- sighted- ness. I hope I am not the only one that feels this way. If 1 am, I make no apologies. Currently there are three low- cost housing projects in Castlegar. Sprinkle the odd apartment block in and we still have a problem be- cause too many people are being left out in the financial cold be- cause housing hasn't become a provincial or municipal govern- ment priority. I admit that I’m a bleeding- heart liberal, but I don’t think it’s a crime to care about the less for- tunate people that I share this community with. Let’s not kid ourselves about housing, the problem is growing and can’t be swept under the car- pet like dirt on a living room floor. If Castlegar cares, we can do two things — lower our rents to- day and start building housing units for tomorrow. It’s up to us, all of us. eee Ron Norman is on vacation.