Wednesday, April 22, 1992 B OurVWiEWS Dave McCullough Publisher Passing the almighty buck o the provincial government has found a new way to tax Sree Columbians... wonderful. en News that Transport Minister. Art Charbonneau is considering erecting toll booths along B.C. highways should come as a shock to most drivers. Imagine, after forking over $1,000 for inflated ICBC rates, $25 for over- taxed gasoline, our government Adrian RAESIDE wants more. Sure, there may be plenty of us who believe a toll system is just what the province needs, after all, driving British Columbia highways is risky at the best of times. But for.a provincial government to ask us ordinary Joes to pay for something it is responsible for is a financial cop- t. hg residents of this province, we expect our government to upgrade our highways systems at least.as often as they upgrade their paycheques. A toll system merely adds insult to financial injury as British Columbians are forced to dig that much deeper to pay for governmental mistakes. a There is no quick-fix to British ia’ ncial woes and the new government should know this. As voters, we elected the New Democrats to guide us through these difficult times. Instead, it appears we are seeing more of the same, as our —|provincial-government considers new Circulation Manager Burt Campbell Publisher Emeritus L.V. Campbell . 7, 1947- Feb. 15, 1973 and inventive ways to pass the almighty buck. it Apolitical council is the way to go things go according to Let’s have a show of hands: How many of us know what CURB stands for. How many care? That many, eh. : CURB, if -you don’t already know, stands for Coalition Unaccepting Rash Bureaucracy. You remember this bunch, don’t you — the same ones who spent the entire winter hounding city hall? Well, like it or not, these s.p. HARRISON . Harrison Comparison plan, CURB may just field a full slate of candidates in the 1993 municipal election. No joke. That thought troubles me, though. As much as my journalistic, stop-the- presses heart is dying to write those stories, I’m one of those who believes there is no room for special interest or political party- backed groups in municipal politics. Municipal polities is one of Donny: Osmonds civic i makin a ges “Th rsda U RB held its second en meeting. Being the curious guy lam, Suntiired cost to the Fireside Inn to see who was slamming whom and why. To my surprise, I was the only “media type” in the crowd — I guess the other folks have written CURB off for dead. : —Sure; CURB’s pulse-may-be fainter than a heart murmur, but the once-blustery citizens group is far from dead. In fact, if : the last bastions for free thought and I want it to remain that way. One only needs to [00 o the 7 Mainland to find out just how ineffective municipal politics can be once a party system has been established. : Take Surrey, for example. At my previous job, I had the not-so-pleasurable task of Owe __covering Surrey council now and again. job ‘sucked. In a word, the job suc] Ce caasoN aon? 'Letters MUST be Streef TALK Lori Enders Raspberry “] think it depends on the case.” Matthew Twyford Richmond “Yes.” Question: Should Canada reinstate the death penalty? Rena Arnold Castlegar “Yes.” “Depending on the crime, definitely.” Jordi Wishlow Castlegar Heidi Smee Castlegar “Yes.” Sa i§ Wednesday, April 22, 1992 z i ‘Please address all letters to: itters to the Editor pastiegar News 1.0. Box 3007 pastiegar, B.C. N3H4 br deliver them to 97 Columbia Ave. etters should be pewritten, double-spaced and not longer than 300 words. signed and clude the riter’s first and ast names, ddress anda lephone humber at which e writer can be feached between a.m. and5 m. The writer's i be published. ly in eptional ses will letters published jonymously. in in those es, the name, ressand | e number of riter MUST Hisclosed to "editor. News res the right it letters for , , grammar taste. Letters toWHE EDITOR Second route required As a concerned taxpayer, I would like to know why our mayor finds it necessary to devote so much of her time and our money, to Eastern Canada and China, assuming the work of an international diplomat, while neglecting the most essential needs of our over-taxed and: under-serviced little town? Why have the most rudimentary skills of diplomacy and negotiation not been applied in order to obtain the right of passage for essential traffic through a secondary road in Castlegar? -With the present volume of traffic on Columbia Avenue, a major accident on Sherbiko hill is not a question of if but a question of when an accident involving a tie up traffic completely between north and south Castlegar. tractor trailer or a number of vehicles could « An ambulance rushing to the Castlegar hospital from anywhere in Area I or J, including south Castlegar or Blueberry Creek, would have no hope whatsoever of getting through, since the only access would be blocked. The city is being callous and negligent by ignoring a potential denial of hospital access; not only to the people of south Castlegar, but all those in the surrounding area who help pay for hospital services. We agree that a paved secondary road would be nice to have in the future. However, a passable, accessible bypass road is imperative today. : We suggest the city set aside some of its grandiose plans being talked about and get on with work on the essentials. The taxpayers of Castlegar deserve no less from their-elected representatives. 2 N. T. Oglow Castlegar Kindred spirits alive in P.E.1. Interest is growing world-wide about the life and works of Prince Edward Island author, Lucy Maud Montgomery, creator of Anne of Green Gables. In response to this demand we have formed a Kindred Spirits of PE.I. Society, which will share information and insights into the Anne phenomenon and L.M. Montgomery’s life and works. You can obtain more information by writing to: Kindred Spirits of P.E.I. Society Silver Bush, Park Corner, Kensignton » R.R. #2 Prince Edward Island COB 1Mo0. George Campbell Kensignton, P.E.I. Ever get the feeling we got snookered by Yankees when we salmon and herring. Something fishy about accord boundaries of landing stations or Other VIEWS _}1ns' entered into the Free Trade Agreement with them? And have a sneaking hunch things will get worse if Mexico gets dealt into the card game? I do. © Don’t get me wrong. I’m what Garde Gardom, our agent general in London, calls a free trader. I firmly believe that the future isin eliminating trade barriers. It’s the rules of the U.S.-Canada Free Trade pact that bother me, or rather the interpretation of the rules by the Americans. It seems that, according to the Americans, everything that works in their favor is considered to be governed by the agreement; every- thing that works in Canada's fa- vor is being challenged. Canadian lumber exports to the . U.S. are perceived to be a threat to their own forest industry, and a countervailing duty is slapped on When, on the other hand, British Columbia places a limit on the amount of raw logs leaving the province, the Americans cry foul, Harrison continued from page 6 Okay, perhaps I’m being a little crass, but it’s with good reason. Surrey politics had my head spinning is disbelief as the NDP-backed governing party and the Socred-backed opposition spent more time did deciding policy. sessions that should take two hours, routinely stretched into the five- to six-hour range because Councillor X decides to debate Councillor Y on the merits of socialism, capitalism or whatever. In Surrey, weekly council ~ Report from Victoria Hubert BEYER pointing to the free trade agree- ment as an excuse for wanting unimpeded access to our raw logs. Meanwhile, the Americans are also taking a run at our fishing in- dustry. That controversy started back in 1986, when the Americans first demanded that we drop our regulations which required salmon and herring caught by our fishing fleet to be landed and processed in Canadian plants. In 1989, the Mulroney govern- ment, like a good little free-trade partner, gave in to those demands, allowing the Americans virtually free access to our unprocessed Lost behind the rhetoric of two bellowing councillors stroking their own egos are the decisions needed to management a _é growing municipality. There was nothing more frustrating than watching much-needed lost-cost housing projects get axed because— councillors were forced to vote in blocks as though they belonged to the B.C. legislature. Such political shenanigans aren't unique to Surrey, though. Take Vancouver, Richmond, or Burnaby. Sadly, the two-party system - is slowly eroding municipal The new regulations require only that fish be landed at a desig- nated landing station for counting prior to export. The U.S., however, wasn’t even satisfied with that, ~ threatening retaliation under its trade laws, unless Canada guar- anteed that our fish could be pur- chased and/exported by U.S. buy- ers without touching our soil. Somewhat unsettled by the prospect of losing a potential 4,000 to 5,000 jobs, Ottawa offered to send the issue to arbitration un- der the disputes mechanism of the Canada-U.S. accord. And that’s where it stands at the moment. Last week, a delegation of the unloading facilities for direct ex-: port. They also want provincial gov- ernments to develop legislation similar to U.S. laws that would ensure full utilization of domestic processing capacity before raw fish leaves the province. They've urge provinces to delay any amendments to provincial legislation required by the Free Trade Agreement until Canadian authority over the processing of fish resources is guaranteed. And finally, the unions are de- manding that Ottawa intreduce further regulations requiring fish . landed in Canada to be eviscerat- Workers Union and the Prince _ export, place export taxes on un- Rupert Amalgamated Shorework- processed herring, and serve no- ers and Clerks Union came to Vic- _ tice of Canada’s intention to with- toria to plead their case. draw from bilateral fisheries The two unions have an exten- agreements until our fight to fully sive list of suggestions for alllev- enjoy the benefits of our own re- els of government. They are ask- urces is assured. —ing coastal municipalities to un-—— Given the double standard the ———__—— dertake economic development initiatives that encourage domes- tic processing industries and dis- courage the location within their U.S. applies to the interpretation of the Free Trade Agreement, I’d say the unions demands are wor- thy of public support. politics to a level that can’t be repaired. I’m not: suggesting that CURB will be the downfall of Castlegar politics. Heck, whether city council will admit to it or not, CURB’s very presence has kept it on its toes. What I am saying, though, is Castlegar. If CURB wants change — and it has every reason to demand it — it must put people ahead of politics. The creation of a pre-established political block limits one’s ability to make effective decisions. It also begs the question of that it would be a shame to see - CURB sponsor a slate of candidates, if that is indeed what it intends to do. Despite its quirks, I like the way Castlegar politics work. Sure, Mayor Audrey. Moore is domineering and sure, some of the councillors say one thing and do another, but that’s accountability, namely, who would these candidates be accountable to— CURB or Castlegar? I, for one, can’t and won’t endorse the introduction of party politics to the Castlegar municipal scene. It’s ruined Surrey and it will surely do the same to Castlegar.