NY! Ke The Casti dar Sun a Zs ° PUBLISHER MARILYN STRONG Sane IMHOFF MARGE LALONDE CHROULATION MANAGER, MELODY SEMENOFF ADVERTISING REP. Direct Department Phones General Office ...... tee 865-5266 Circulation 365-5266 Classitied Ads 365-7848 Display Advertising .365-2278 Newsroom .... . 365-5579 Fax ae «+000 965-7762 editorial comment : We can't afford to miss the boat on this one The biggest issue affecting Castlegar and area has | fust Faised + and made its presence known. It's bigger than the Castlegar-Robson Bridge, big- ger than CURB and bigger than any current problem taxpayers are currently having with municipal or régional governments. The issue surrounds downstream benefits, and it's asking—no, it's demanding—that every single resi- dent in Castlegar and the West Keootenay_become aware of what's at stake and why. When the Columbia River Treaty was signed between Canada and the United States, a require- ment was made that three dams—Duncan, Keenley- side and Mica—be built in British Columbia for flood control and to increase hydroelectric power generating potential in both countries. Canada's share (one-half) of the extra power pro- duced in the U.S. as a result of the Treaty—called downstream benefits—was sold to a group of U.S utilities for 30-year periods beginning with the scheduled completion of each of the three Treaty dams in B.C This share, known as the. “Canadian Entitlement,” is owned by B.C. and will begin jo return in 1998. This is where we come in. During a recent press conference, Anne Edwards, Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, told rep s that a full nt will be done on how the Columbia River is used, along with the entire Hydro System. The Systems Operations Review, the name of the Project, will allow local input into future Priorities regarding the river. It's an opportunity of major importance. Local residents should make one observation however, the Americans began their version of the Systems Operations Review more than two years ago, and at least one spokesperson for the Bon- nyville Power Authority says negotiations have already began between the provincial government and that organization. Obviously these negotiations are preliminary, since it's not at all like our elected officials to begin such an important, .expensive process without public input—right? WRONG! If Kootenay residents truly want to be heard, they should begin now to make every effort possible to ensure that happens. The upcoming negotiations regarding downstream benefits is one of the most important issues of this decade, and the next—let's not miss the boat. wily The Castidgar Sun AS » AFTERWARDS, THE PRINCE AND PRINCESS WERE MARRIED AND LINED HAPPILY EVER AFTER. Now that the Christmas season has come and gone, and we are returning to some semblance of normality, many of us are thinking of the indulgences of the past few weeks and making adjustments. Because my family was stricken with the plague, or whatever that terrible virus is that has been mak- ing the rounds in Castlegar, too many of our festive meals consisted of chicken soup, every mother’s cure for what ails you. There's something about chicken” soup that just makes you feel better There is probably a very good rea- son, scientifically, why chicken soup is such comforting food, but who really cares, as long as some one offers it when you're feeling terrible. We spent a good part of Christmas snowed-in on a small island, where there is one snow Plough, and one operator, and. only certain residents rate being on the “snow ploughing priority” list Being house-bound has its com- Pensations, but we were, neverthe- less, grateful for a visit from our kind neighbours bearing her contri- bution of chicken soup. It is, after all, a sociable island, and we had not made our usual appearances The contributed chicken soup was delicious and much appreciated Chicken soup is best made, Ongoing meltdown of the Tor Dalton Camp __ Sterling News Services The notable thing to me about the ongoing meltdown of the Tory cabi- net was the resignation of Jake Epp. As they always say at wakes, after about the fourth round, we are not here to mourn his departure but to celebrate his 20 years of public ser- vice, nine of them a privy councillor, his six straight electoral triumphs out there in Provencher, Man., and the illuminating fact he could not get along With the premier of. his Province, whose name seldom leaps to mind but, for the record, is Filmon Filmon said, on Epp’s retirement, “T guess federal-provincial relations ES aS Ss ne up for quality! according to my family folk lore, with chicken giblets. With the rem- nants of the accursed influenza still lingering, I decided to stock up on chicken and subsequently pur chased a large packet of giblets. I did not pay particular attention to the contents, being more interested Seasons Elma Maund in the weight of the pre-packed product, ever mindful of waste Thus, when I opened the packaged, I was dismayed to see the amount of fat that was included. It was just as well these poor. chickens had been dispensed with, for they would all have died from heart failure very soon, judging by the amount of fat globules around their poor little hearts, livers and gizzards! When I had painstakingly stripped it all away, my half-kilo. gram of meat was reduced by at least 200 grams. Has anyone else noticed that our chickens are getting fatter and fat- ter? When I first went to Australia, where chickens were then all free- eral cabinet minister to come from Manitoba who carried the most freight in Ottawa during his career. for reasons not worth pondering here, Manitoba's contribution to fed. etal cabinets has been historically slight: The most influential Manito- ban of all in federal politics, so far. has been Jack Pickersgill, who estab- lished his political base in New foundland, which is as far from Manitoba as a-man can get; then, next to Jack, there's Jake When Epp talked, his colleagues listened and not because he came from Manitoba but because he was usually well-briefed and concise Politics, however, is a lot like capi- talism: There are more losers than winners, by definition you could say. ranged, I used (o smile and ‘declare they had all died of malnutrition, their emaciated little bodies hardly stretching to provide chicken soup. How many of you found huge blobs of skin and tucked into the body cavities of your Yuletide turkey? When I- first ordered a fresh turkey, of about 10 kilograms, from my Austtahian butcher, he laughed uproariously and said “That's no turkey you're wanting! That would be an emu!” “Well, what would a large (Australian) turkey weigh?” I asked” “Oh, about 6 kilos” says he, If I could get one that big, or the emus are around my dam at home!” I smiled. Aystralians are great. jokers. When I arrived Christmas Eve to pick up my fresh Australian turkey there were more than a dozen peo ple lined up. in the butcher shop The moment the butcher spotted me, he hollered to the captive audi- ence “Oy! Just wait until you see what she's ordered!” He indicated me with a toss of his-fead ag he dis appeared into his old locker and emerged moments later bearing tri umphantfy the smallest turkey I had ever seen - about the size of our stewing hens! While the audience “oohed” and. ‘aahed” over this large bird, I gave him my sweetest, brightest smile and asked “You wouldn't happen to tion. Provencher has been a shrewd judge of political horseflesh; in 1874, Louis Riel was elected there by accla. mation, although not for long, as we know. Epp has been a stayer, howev- er, and chances are, had he run again, he would have won again. In the requiem ceremonies attend- ing his resignation, Epp told the media, “I've seen a lot of people in public life hang on. I think it's very important to bring in new ideas, new people.” I don’t suppose these words .were read everywhere with unbridled joy but Jake speaks an extravagant truth which looms larger on the Ottawa horizon than the Peace Tower on the Hill While the country ma or may not bed hipitis for-newtead have two, would you?” Those two turkeys, a ham and a goose barely fed we four adults and teenagers for Christmas and Boxing two - Day, what with impromptu visitors and“ravenous teenagers dashing in from the sea. However, they were delicious and certainly not larded with fat Now, when I purchase chicken, | have to take into_account not on! the skin and bones, but also the ge erous amount of fat that has been tucked away in the packaging s« carefully that you cannot spot it until the package is opened A kilogram of chicken recently yielded, when measured, a full 2/3 cup of fat! 1 am concerned about what these chickens are being fed to £rpw to such proportions with s« much fat. I also am not at all happy with chain store packaging and, par dicularly, the now common practice of tucking the chicken’s back onto Chicken Maryland. You may have noticed their butchers tried, at first to do it covertly but now they state ‘Back Included” on the label which, to me, is NOT Chicken Maryland. Julia ChilG’ and the chicken farmers in Maryland must be horrified! Now that the season for conspicuous consumption is Passed, we are all more aware of quality! y cabinet more obvious than ever one should hanging on. This seems obvious, which is why the going of Jake Epp and four of his cabinet colleagues can only be viewed as preamble, to more mean ingful developments. Obviously finding Pierre Blais now in the department of justice and, at the same time, minister of state for agri culture suggests something more might be in the wind. The Prime Minister looks to be putting his government on hold There is a Jot of furniture arranging and table-setting, and what the Prime Minister does not look like doing is preparing his government for.one last charge up the hill. But hang on," just to b Wednesday, January 13, 1993 The Castlegar Sun Letters to the Editor Local situation could be an example of needed change Dear Editor: The Reform Party of Canada believes that major changes are needed in many areas. One of the more critical changes needed is that of criminal justice Some time ago, a Selkirk Col- lege Student was accused of breaking into the home of a woman, who also happened to be a Selkirk College student, threat- ening her with a deadly weapon and sexually assaulting her. The accused, who is now 18, was 17 at the time the crime was commit- ted. He is also a non-resident of Canada. The Crown Prosecutor's office tried to have the trial raised to adult court but that application was rejected. In adult court, the accused, if found guilty, would Overcrowded classrooms a result of mis Dear Editor: < aI read an article in your Dec. 16 paper about schools needing portable classrooms. -Well, I think the school board knew this could happen more than eight years ago when they decided to close rural schools. Our Pass Creek school was short by one student than what was needed forthe required quota. But after that the enroll- ment for Primary classes was on the rise again every year, but no they decided to bus our children out because the enrollment in town was low and they would get UN is becoming both po Dear Editor: How well we remember the end of World War Il when the allied forces reached Auschwitz and other shocking “death camps” — and revealed the sickening truth of what Hitler and his men had done to six mil- lion Jews. Our indescribable feeling of outrage and revulsion were even- tually calmed somewhat by assur ances that atrocities of this magnitude would never be allowed to happen again — at least not in “civilized” countries Gradually we came to trust that the United Natiens, NATO and the “free world” in general would not allow genocide and other war crimes to be repeated Alas! Our trust was seemingly in vain. Genocide and ethnoc face the real consequences of his crime. As a juvenile, the maxi- mum sentence is three year Police say that the accused wa accompanied by another person whose whereabouts is unknown. If the accused is guilty, and is not co-operating in the identifica- tion or whereabouts of the other individual, he is hardly showing remorse. In regards to the application to raise the youth to adult court, I believe that if this individual is old enough to trave} tp another country, accept its hospitality and benefits, and attend college, then if he is guilty, he is old enough to face the full consequences of his actions. « In general, it is time that the Criminal Justice System started more money for busing our chil- dren out. The board was not thinking of the children’s well being even though they say they were and still are That’s a bunch of crock. Our children take the bus at 7:30 am. while school doesn't start until 8:30 a.m., so they have to be out- side for half hour before they go inside. Then there's the issue of the safety of the roads—especial- ly Pass Creek road. ‘ The classes have been over crowded for years now, and more so this year. But instead of re-opening the Pass Creek School ‘What happened to those glow- ing assurances (implied if not written) that Hitlerian genocide would not be allowed to happen again? Were not NATO and the UN purposely set up to be on guard against such atrocities? What a feeling of betrayal we now have — to say nothing of the feeling of those on the receiving end of the’ war crimes in Yugoslavia. Apparently six-mil- lion Jewish people died in vain and so did a similar number of innocent Ukrainians, thanks to Mr. Stalin They say that history repeats’ itself for those who do not learn by it. It appears this statement is now ringing true in Eastern Europe. Just fifty years after that sickening “holocaust” against the Jews we app ly have another most heinous of all human cnmes are now raging in for- mer Yugoslavia, and have been for a good many months. And this nauseating tragedy is happen- ing without any serious effort on the part of our trusted agencies to Stop it. In fact our “father protec- tors” seem to have spent the best part of a year half-heartedly try- ing to decide what (it anything) to do about it Hitler in Yugoslavia — and plen- ty of vacillating “Mr. Chamber- lains” (such as Messrs. Major and Bush and Mulroney) trying to placate the new fuhrer. Surely this weakness in west- em resolve -is a slap in the face for the surviving Jewish people of the world who have continued to jog our fickle memories for more than half a century - so that the holocaust would never be concerning itself more with the victim's rights that those of the criminals There is another policy of the Reform Party worth mentioning here at this point. A resolution was passed by 1,600 Reform Party delegates.at the last national conference held in October, 1992. That resolution wag that any non- Canadian citizen convicted of a Serious crime should be deported Canada is made up of people from countries. around the world That diversification of cultures is part of the strength of our coun- try. We only want the best of each country, not the worst. Best doesn't mean the richest or the smartest. It means the people who want to be here, who want to be Part of this country and contribute they would rather buy portable class rooms.” If they reopened our school ail those children could have stayed up here instead of facing the stress and dangers everyday. But instead of children using the school, the board is using it as a Storage place. It’s a shame because it's one_of the newer Schools in the area. I have seen school board trucks up here unloading many times. The school board has been using our children for their own benefit all these -years. And I don't believe they have as much to its greatness—not its problems. Chances are that the accused in this case is here on a student visa. and if found guilty, will ultimate- ly be deported. The point here is, that if the accused had landed immigrant status, and was ulti- mately found guilty, our society would likely be saddled with this individual forever. If he is guilty, this is not the type of person we want or should be prepared or forced to accept Many changes are required in our system. These are but a few. Jim Gouk Kootenay West-Revelstoke Candidate Reform Party of Canada management and misplacement concern for the children as they keep saying. But they don’t think that all of us tax payers are Pay- ing for everything—yet we get the dirty end of everything It's sad the way everything is mismanaged by all these head People. It’s happening everyday all around us. There are too many people or companies making a profit at the expenses of human lives. That's very poor service all over the Kootenay area. Helen Tereposky Pass Creek intless and meaningless repeated. It is also a slap in the face for thousands of present German people who have been working so hard to ensure that the Hitlerian version of the “phoenix” bird does not rise from the ashes in Europe again I'm afraid that history will not forgive us for doing so little to stop this most heinous of human crimes from raging once again. If NATO and the UN have no authority to intervene where war crimes are involved then it is time they changed their mandates accordingly. Otherwise what is the point of their existence? H.F. Killough Dear Editor: Cancer R. Chalk Federal money and concern welcomed The announcement on Dec. 15 by the Honorable Benoit Bouchard, Minister of National Health & Welfare, that his Ministry will contribute $20 million over the next five years to set up a Breast Fund, was lauded by the. Canadian an appointment. Cancer Society and its research arm, the National Cancer Institute of Canada. While details of just how this fund will be run will not be avail- able until early in 1993, The Cancer Society's B.C. & Yokon Divi- sion will continue to expand its province-wide programs. The Mammography Van will be in Castlegar the week of Jan. 18 to 23. Women over 40 years are urged to phone 1-800-663-4242 for We should note that the contraversy over this Program is whether screening before 50 years discovers enough cancer to justify its cost There is no suggestion that the testing creates any risk to health. The Cancer Society There are none so blind who don't want to see! Dear Editor; The following is an open letter to the Nelson Daily News. The spelling and journalism of the Nelson Daily News has declined steadily over the years but the latest thing to go is credibility. I am referring to the article on the thissing PHSP's as well as the edi- torial dribble on glorifying the For- est Service. (NDN Jan. 7, 1993) The writer clearly shows a personal bias against people who are concemed about environmen- tal issues and she either did not know or omitted important rele- behind the province-wide audit of 35,000 cutting permits. A “leak” of 56 missing PHSP’s from Vic- toria to the Valhalla Society and a subsequent meeting with Min- istry of Forests in Victoria before X-mas set things off. Why would any editor blatant- ly distort the truth and ignore the facts, but at the same time try to discredit ordinary people con- cermed with water protection? The Valahalla Society is a group of dedicated individuals who have to their credit the cre- £ the Valhalla Parl-and-th ation. tark-and-the water. For over ten years they have witnessed too many water- sheds being trashed and they want to prevent the same thing from happening in the Valley, We are very fortunate to have these groups in the Slocan Valley. They don't have a corporate or Political agenda but want to insure life-sustaining necessities for all of us. It is due to these groups that we have a local CORE process specifically for the Slocan Valley. Who are you, Nancy Chapell? which ptanet do you live on them. These groups have not been self-appointed, as Nancy Chap- pell claims, but have been found- ed by concerned people who could not stand the destruction any longer and by water users who want to see this precious Tfesource protected. The editorial hogwash claims that the “Forest Service is policing and protecting our forests”. With that kind of bias, Nancy Chappel would be better suited with Jack Munroe at the Forest Alliance which as been trying hard to brain-wash us with similar claims. All is NOT well with our forests but there are none WEDNESDAY JAN. 13 LTHURSDAY JAN. 14 FRIDAY JAN. 15 SATURDAY JAN. 16 Excellent Selectioua! SPECIAL FEATURE! Bring the Kids to the Chahko-Mika Mall from noon (0 2 p.m. fo visit with _ Chika the IS POLFHICALLY “AND A MEMBER OF THE STERLING NEWS SERVICE Established November 28, 1990 Published by The Cas! Sun Weekly on Wednesdays 465 Columbia Ave., Castlegar, B.C. VIN 1G8 Member of Canadian Community Newspapers Association; B.C. Community Newspapers Association ERRORS: The advertiser agrees that the publisher shall not be liable tor 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 amount advertisement paid for such All advertising subject to publisher's approval can only go up.” Apart from the tow- ering infemo apparently raging in the upper storey of the premier of Mani- toba, Jake struck most people in the political business as a straight shooter. A preacher's son who married a Preacher's daughter and the federal cabinet's only Evangelical, he man. aged to escape the reputation of being excessively virtuous by his ability to appear as partisan as he was principled. He was also easy to like — in Ottawa, if not Winnipeg and early on, some-appraisers in inner Tory circles had him fingered aS a prospective national leader. Of course, the odds on Epp as future leader were long then and he was never to become any better than a long shot. But he qas likely the fed And Epp was a loser on the CF-18 issue, and on (a $6.4 billion program for) child care, being flattened, by the steam-roller from Finance. And he failed to find the handle on Hibernia. maybe because there isn't one On the other hand, he carved out a piece of his Department of Nation al Health and Welfare and shipped it to Winnipeg.so that Manitoba could become a world centre for the study of communicable disease (not likely to include the contagious fevers of federal decentralization) Despite the trauma of the CF-18 decision (to pick a Quebec firm over a Manitoban for the $1.4 billion main tenance contract in 1986), Epp won handsomely-in the ‘88 general elec hard to argue against it. And although there is no constitutional requirement for a government with a parliamentary majorityYo throw itself out of office just to make peo- ple feel better, argument can be made that Canadians have a goverment with a majority but without a moral legitimacy The truth about the government in which Jake Epp served is that its vision for the country and its future has been massively rejected by the People. It is hard Toknow just what a government should do after such an event since the precedents suggest ngore than one solution, but one thing for sure, is that it should look for new people and new ideas, and no m0, what We Nave here is a conglom eration of New Year's resolutions among which is one promising to do right by the long-serving and deserv ing, redeploy those who represent the future, meanwhile generally to tidy up loose ends. Meanwhile winding down the wake, there is also the departure of some other political durables Gerry Merrithew, Bob de Cotret, Bill Winegard and Marcel Masse. At one time or another somebody could be heard to say some of them. were indispensable to But as a friend of mine who used to live in Manito ba used to say, “The dogs bark but One day someone will say that someone sometime the caravan moves on soon enough about Filmon vant facts. Fortunately, the CBC and other papers were more objective and reported what real- ly happened: Pressure from the Valhalla Wilderness Society and Slocan Valley Watershed Alliance plus possible legal action was the driving factor protection of the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Sanctuary, etc. Colleen McCrory, as chair, has received a very prestigious award from the U.N. The Slocan Valley Water. shed Alliance is a large group of water users concerned with quali- ty, quantity and timing of flow of Thank you to Castleview Care Dear Editor: A heartfelt thank you to all the staff at Castleview Care Centre for the excellent care, patience and understanding regarding Louis Nech- vatal. Also a thank you to the staff_and Dr. Walton and Dr. Perrier of the Castlegar and District Hospital for their support during his death Reiny and Mary Bermel and families Stan Nechvatal and families How dare you attack the very groups and individuals who stand in the way of corporate greed and the realities of ecological decima- tion. If the Forest Service in B.C. is so terrific, why did we need a Forest Resource Commission? Or Old Growth Strategy? Or CORE? Or any of the other bodies who exist to supplement and change forest practices? Why ignore the fact that 1991 was a record year for clear-cut harvesting in B.C.” The Ministry of Forests is still geared for timber allocation with changes slow in coming and with- out wilderness - and water user groups this Province would be clear-cut from end to end. So, if any credit is due, it has to go to So blind who don't want to see! G. Retterath Letters Policy Letters to the Editor are wel- come-on any topic of local or general interest, Letters should be double-spaced, typewritten, and no more than two pages if Possible. Letters will be edited in the interests of brevity or taste if necessary. Adl letters must be signed, with address and tele- phone number, although names may, be witheld from publication for valid reason by the apprpval of the eifitor. Send letters to: The Castlegar Sun, 465 Columbia Ave., Castlegar, B.C., VIN 1G8 A CHAHIKO MIUTNKA Vite 1150 LAKESIDE DRIVE Overwaitea Sunday Hours 9 a.m .- 6 p.m. Woolco Sunday Hours 12 p.m. - 4 p.m.