Se
Castlegar News
PAGE A4, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26, 1991

MEMBER OF THE 8.C. PRESS COUNCIL

Sas
ISHED AUGUST 7, 19047 TWICE WEEKLY MAY 4, 1980
sia ta oy ns ISHED 12, 1978-AUGUST 27, 1960

L.V. CAMPBELL ~ PUBLISHER, AUGUST 7, 1947-FEBRUARY 16, 1979
BURT CAMPBELL. PUBLISHER EMERITUS - PUBLISHER, FEBRUARY 16,

MANA
SENIOR SALES REPRESENTATIVE — Gary Fleming

EDITORIAL
Information
bill a sham

The provincial government's freedom of information legis-

lation introduced Tuesday is a sham and a farce.
If the legislation truly “underscores our government's com-
. bility,” incial Secre

wow WIND iT UP OND
IT DORS NOTHING.

SEAN CuK HaRCWURT Dow.

By MARTIN MEYER
Recycle Advisory Group

Every year about two mil-
lion used tires are discarded in
British Columbia. Many of
them find their way into com-
munity landfills, helping to fill
them up at a faster and faster
pace.

The provincial government
has recently established a sur-
on the sale of tires, The
revenue generated from this
scheme is intended to help
administer a program to over-
see the collection and recycling
of used tires. Apparently the
system will be operated and
managed by the private sector,
and will likely allow con.
sumers to return used tires to
retailers when making new
purchases,
The program is not in full
swing yet. If. you have any
used tires it is probably best

that you continue to store
them until the Program gets
going. However, Waytech
Manufacturing Corp. in Cran-
brook will buy some used tires.
We suggest you phone first for
more details.

Some alternative uses for
used tires:

* Playground swings and

ys.
* Non-steel belted tires are

One 'brilliant idea’ could
turn heap of trouble into
million-dollar solution

used in the manufacture of
door mats.

* Some types of sandal
soles, especially by offshore
producers.

* Chopped up bits of tires
may be added to asphalt.

* Apparently there has
been some interest in produc-
ing roofing shingles from used
tires,

BOARDWALK
ENTERPRISES

“mr,

Specializing in...
+ CUSTOM WINDOWS
& DOORS i
+ RESIDENTIAL & t
COMMERCIAL CABINETS
QUALITY beta AND

Eliminate the middleman ~
Buy Factory Direct and . .
SAVE $$$

WATCH FOR OUR SIGN 5
MILES EAST OF
CASTLEGAR ON HWY. 3A

399-4769
FAX 399-4760

tw
tary Elwood Veitch tr d, it why
the government or a Crown corporation can refuse a request
for information.

Yes, 66.

And under questioning, Mr. Veitch could not name a single
Piece of information that would be available under the new
act that isn't available now.

That's hardly "a monumental change in the way the gov-
ernment does business,” as the provincial secretary claims.

Among the exemption clauses under which the government
would be able to withhold information are:

* Information in any briefing papers for cabinet, or any-
thing to do with cabinet discussions.

* Infor ion "that is lied, i:
confidence.”

* Information obtained for government lawyers regarding
any lawsuit. :

* Information that "could reasonably be expected to harm
the conduct of intergovernmental relations by the govern-
ment of B.C."

* Information which "could reasonably be expected to harm
the economic interests of the government."

The bill would also set up an information and privacy com-
migsioner, but only in rare cases would he be able to overturn
a government decision to withhold information.

That's a large — and vaguely defined — umbrella under
which the government can hide and dodge inquiries from the
public and the media.

Mr. Veitch is correct when he says there are certain types
of information that must be kept secret. But the exemptions
must be clear, consistent and small in number.

Even under those diti gover ially those
intent on secrecy, find ways to shuffle off sensitive informa-
tion out of public view, such as suppressing information
under the guise of cabinet confidentiality, as the Socreds did
with information regarding the closure of the Castlegar-Rob-
son ferry.

The legislation is essentially nothing more than a discus-
sion paper at this point because the Socreds have no intention
of passing the legislation until next spring — if they're still the
government.

Meanwhile, Mr. Veitch said the government will provide an
opportunity for the public to on the legislation, with
written submissions on the proposed legislation "welcomed
until Nov. 30.”

If people are truly interested in open government, they'd be

licitly or explicitly, in

LETTERS TO

THE EDITOR

Get act together

According to the Ministry of Environ-
ment, we produce (as Canadians) some 2.2
kilograms per person per day of solid waste.
That estimate means the 50,000 people
around Castlegar produce 46 tons of paper
waste per day, using Ministry of Environ-
ment estimate of 38 per cent paper waste.

Top-quality computer paper sells for $180
per ton. If one assumes that 60 per cent of
the paper is recyclable and an average sell-
ing price of $100 per ton, then we could ship
one truckload of paper a day to a de-inking
plant.

At a cost of $25 per ton to ship from a
central depot to the coast, the net after pay-
ing shipping costs would be 46 tons paper at
60 per cent at $100 per ton times 365 days
looks like some $750,000 per year, If one
assumes the startup costs are $150 per

hold, then in just three years a recy-
cling program would be self-sustaining at no
additional costs to the taxpayer.

In i our paper ‘ling depot,

depot in Nelson ($15 at 25 miles per gallon
and with the cost of gas at 53 cents per
litre) would be $350 a year.

I hope the local récycling consultant
knows more about trash than she appears to
know about the costs of moving garbage.

I never had the chance at the open house

ple from B.C., including those from Stanley
Humphries secondary school, raised funds
which will be added to contributions from
more than 100,000 other famine fighters
across Canada.

World Vision expects to receive a total of
$1.8 million from the event. The funds for
er aid and long-term development

to ask Eva Walters some i I would
like to know the name of the steel mill that
will accept 35 tons of metal a week from this
area. How many firms will reuse the glass
or plastic containers their. products are sold
in? What glass factory will accept 35 tons of
glass a week from here? As raw material to
a factory, what is the value of the glass,
Paper, plastic and metal we produce?

There were some nice pictures from the
Environment Ministry at the open house but
facts on where and for how much our recy-
clables can be disposed of were and are
missing.

A great deal of taxpayers’ hard-earned
money is being wasted and damn little
forthcoming from the study. Our taxes are
high enough as it is. With a comprehensive

at a cost to the of tens of th di
of dollars, ships one truckload of paper every
two or three months — a sheer waste of tax-
payers’ money.

It is time government and industry real-
ized that if you don’t produce a product it
doesn’t present a threat to anyone, any-
where.

Therefore, we need |
the production of certain inks, adhesives
and paper coatings that make paper prod-
ucts i i with ‘ling. When I

Pe eee

ycling program and sale of the
d costs of garb di should go
down, not up.
I say not one penny more until the so-
called recycling consultants get their act
together.

Fred Peitzsche
Ross Spur

Sacrifice worthwhile

from the Castlegar area have

buy a magazine today, read it and throw it
out tomorrow or next week, it doesn’t make
much sense to use a glue that will last a
thousand years.

I live 35 miles from Nelson. At a cost of
20 cents (very conservative) per mile to own
and operate a car, a weekly trip to a recycle

become participants in a rising worldwide
struggle to end hunger and suffering. I
would like to thank those who sacrificed
their time to show their solidarity with
needy people of the world by taking part in
World Vision’s 30-Hour Famine program.

By going without food for 30 hours, peo-

will go to World Vision’s projects in various
countries like Bangladesh where recent
storms have left millions homeless, or
Sudan where seven million people face star-
vation due to famine and civil war.

Such stories of human agony have filled
newspaper and TV reports recently. By fast-
ing for 30 hours, local teenagers and adults
experienced a little of the hunger that mil-
lions of people face daily.

I commend the people of Castlegar area
for proving that together we can make a dif-
ference in the fight against world hunger.

Please address all letters to the editor
to: Letters to the Editor, Castlegar News,
P.O. Box 3007, Castlegar, B.C. VIN 3H4,
or deliver them to our office at 197
Columbia Ave. in Castlegar.

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 without the writer's name.
Nevertheless, the name, address and
telephone number of the writer MUST be
disclosed to the editor.

The Castlegar News reserves the right
to edit letters for brevity, clarity, legality,
grammar and taste.

wise to suggest to this government that maintaining the sta-

tus quo on freedom of information isn't good enough.

VIEWPOINT

Georgetti, Fed
out of touch

about this latest shift, but we
should also be leery of easy
The thoughts G.

By DAVE McCULLOUGH
Publisher

TV in legislature doesn't
bring public close to picture

VANCOUVER (CP) - Lands
Minister Dave Parker slept,
but at least he didn’t snore.

Lois Boone, the NDP’s
regional development critic,

floor.

Sniping and heckling at
least provide relief from bore-
dom.

“How can you make such a

a
Forests Mini Claude
Rich a

stupid as that?”
A General Russ Fraser

fired a wad of paper

Wealth in Canada used to be

past

offered are part of our probl

distributed in the shape of a
i yrauid. 5 r not part of any solution.

ipyramid, Ken Georgetti, presi-

's shoul-
der with a left-handed skyhook
— 8 perfect rim shot, landing on

barks at Joan Smallwood, the

NDP's social services critic.

“Make sense, just for once.”
Nick Loenen, Social Credit

“It has a long-standing his-
tory in the British parliamen-
tary system,” said Lynda
Erjckson, a-Simon Fraser Uni-
verijity political science profes-
sor ahd author of a new book,
Grassroots Politicians.

“Maybe these people should
be a little more concerned

» about the symbolism of that
kind of stuff, given the cyni-

dent of the B.C. Federation of
{Labor, told a small gathering
! Tuesday in Nelson.

: Georgetti’s analogy, borrowed

Georgetti’s theory is that
wage restraint during a reces-
sion contributes to the negative
impact of the recession on local

ies by ng the cash

from the Carter
in the United States, tells us
that a tiny number of people
enjoyed vast wealth at the top of
the pyramid, while a huge
majority languished in poverty
at the bottom.

Then, thanks in large mea-
sure to the labor movement, a
dramatic improvement took
place. The current model is
wy smatrtehly ennesnged in tne
us comfortably e: in
middle.

Georgetti’s fear is that the
ing once bay Pd

— is threatening the middle
lass with extinction, he told his
= Nelson audience.

clef us should be concerned

flow availabe to be spent at
local businesses. Result: higher
unemployment.

We can avoid this problem if

1991 — and there are more of
them this year than in any year
since 1979 — should get raises
of at least 6.2 per cent, accord-
ing to 5
Anything less, he added, will
contribute to the problem of
r . We mid-
dle class folks will have no
choice but to shop in ok if

the flat edge of a wooden

ornate neo-classical ceiling and
performed a series of neck

exercises.
But the live telecast of B.C.
He wants fixed election

dates and legislative calendars,
free votes for members and

Picture — the

off-camera sniping and the

cism about politicians and poli-
tics.”

Television viewers also don’t
see the long rows of empty
seats — ai
seat le; t recently
totalled as few as two New

rats and three Socreds.

The poor attendance is prob-
ably because the system is
totally structured by partisan-
ship, Ex said.

ber a thi I

in commit-
“The fact it’s all a bit of a

While largely a facade,
and respect for
show, that nothing serious

pomp, tradition
the Speaker

that’s what it takes to maintain

please see GEORGETTI page AS

‘8, and the
public against drawing too
many conclusions based on its
second-rate acts.

Members accomplish vol-
umes of work in committees,
offices and constituencies that

“It’s difficult for people
involved in the process to be
committed to staying in the
house and to

they think Seed oe eens
impact,” she said.

Perhaps the legislature’s:
most important role

is to make

the ruling think before it

acts, she said, knowing the
can

on the issue in « public forum.

é

Georgetti

continued from page A4
oe lifestyles, Georgetti suggest-

Ah, there’s the rub: how do
we maintain our lifestyles?

If you believe we can do it
simply by raising wages, you're
living in a time warp. Long
gone are the days. when there
was a great big pie to be sliced
up, and the issue was who was
to get the biggest slice.

Nowadays, the sad truth is
that the pie is getting smaller —
for all of us. Relative to many of
our competitors — some as close
as Colville, others as far away as

.Tokyo and Stuttgart — we're

scrutiny and evaluating our
financial resources, we feel we
must have a certain public ser-
vice, then the public sector

employees who provide the ser-
vice should most certainly
receive fair compensation. That
much should be a given.

losing ground.

It’s appropriate for us to want
to get it back, and it’s entirely
reasonable for us’ to believe we
can do just that. But the way to
make it happen is to develop ‘a
new vision of a Canada in which
we all work together, and_all
prosper,

One of the key goals of the
new vision should be to reduce
government spending. We pay
far too much tax, and all of us —
you, me and Ken Georgetti —
must be willing to conduct a
careful scrutiny of what it is
we're paying for.

If, after conducting this

Far less of a given is the

notion that we need all the ser-
vices we’re now Paying for. Even
less attractive is the theory that
wage raises are an effective eco-
nomic development tool.

Georgetti and the B.C. Feder-
ation of Labor have much to
offer us. They are respected
leaders, and they are in a posi-
tion to help shape a new vision
for Canadian productivity and
Prosperity.

That’s why it was so disap-
pointing to learn that their view
of the world doesn’t seem to
have kept pace with changing
times. Canada’s economy is
undergoing a massive restruc-
turing, and all of us must be
willing to share in what will
inevitably be a painful period of
adaptation.

PUBLIC NOTICE

The Government Agent's office has relocated to the

B.C. ACCESS CENTRE
TRAIL

1050 Eldorado Street

1991 Rural Property taxes

may be paid at this location
Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Avoid the Rush!
Post-dated cheques are accepted.

Come in and visit us
aoe

Ministry of Development, Trade and Tourism
Honourable Howard Dirks, Minister

Carl

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