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The Cas jar Sun
HI\S
PUBLISHER MARILYN STRONG
SHARLENE IMHOFF CATHERINE ROSS
EDITOR ADVERTISING REP.
JOHN VAN PUTTEN
KAREN KERKHOFF
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MARGE LALONDE
CIRCULATION MANAGER
SHAUNA KATTLER
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CHRISTINE MOYER
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Mi
The jar Sun
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465 Columbia Ave., Castlegar, B.C. V1N 1G8
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editorial comment

Sandbox games

Do we count ourselves lucky, or do we kick our-
selves in the end? With the possibility of Trail Hospi-
tal rejoining the West Kootenay Health Planning
Council (HPC) one can’t help but wonder if, unfortu-
nately, we might just get what we've been asking for.

If all of the members on the HPC were children
playing in a sandbox, Trail Hospital might not have
been shown the patience or tolerance they have

received from other Council members thus far

Picture this. Seven children are playing amicably
While there is the normal role-playing and
assertiveness exhibited by each, such as arguments
over toys or sand thrown in the face, the parents sit

by and tolerate the outbursts

After all, isn’t that how children leam? We all
have-to'leam how to co-exist in this small world,
and the sandbox is one of the first training

grounds.

But, all of a sudden, the whiner of the group
deciaes he wants to make the rules. He wants all
the toys while he plays King of the Castle Nothing
is more important than his little castle sitting on

Why shouldn't he have the best for his castle—
the other kids have the pails and shovels. There-
fore he deserves to be king. Forget about what the
other six participants want, and forget what is best

A loss

ne has to wonder if the residents of

QO <iten really know the full scope of

their power. In one municipal election

night, the Crossroads of the Kootenays has man-

aged to send shock waves across the entire
country.

Audrey Moore’s loss of the mayor's chair is
far from personal, but it might take some time to
truly recognize the collective
magnitude of it all. After all, she
was a nationally-recognized fig-
ure, who, at the press of a speed
dial button, could call up any
minister in any government
department or any number of
bureaucrats for answers. You
don’t sit in the mayor's chair for
as long as Moore did without
building a respectable network. The difference
between Audrey and other long-serving mayors
however, is that her network is not only
respectable, it's rock solid.

Audrey really dealt with people on a personal
level, and she used her personality to open doors
for the city. Doors, that might have otherwise
remained closed

Ed Conroy and Jim Gouk should be so lucky.

It's ironic that the talents Audrey was respect
ed for in the larger scheme of provincial and
national politics, were the very same ones she
was criticized for here. at home—most heavily by
members (or are they former members?) of the

Coalition Unaccepting Rash Bureaucracy.

Here's a perfect example of how to shoot
yourself in the foot. Before Brian Mulroney
was elected leader. of Canada, the Federation
of Canadian Municipalities set up a commit-
tee to work on a scheme that would create
some much-needed employment by embark-
ing on the development of municipal infras-

tructures across the country.
In a nutshell, the program
would ensure that municipal
infrastructures, like those in
Castlegar, would be over-
hauled, with the cost of con-
Struction being split three equal
ways among the federal and
provincial goscrnment, and tt
Municipality
The commitice that devel
oped the program was chaired by now B.C. Pr
mier Mike Harcourt, and had members from
across the country, including Art Eggleton, a for
mer Toronto mayor and now Treasury Board
Munister, and, you guessed it, Castlegar’s very
own—Audrey Moore. When Mulroney was
elected however, the project was shelved in its
entirety

Enter the year 1993 and a new Liberal Govern-
ment that is about to re-open and begin the pro-
ject, combine that with the fact Audrey Moore
was about to be awarded the presidency of the
FCM (she’s already first vice-president). What

not yet comprehended

you had is Castlegar in a highly lucrative posi-
tion. But all that disappeared Saturday night

At first, I really questioned Moore's decision-
making when she didn’t use any of this informa-
tion in her campaign. But then again, here’s a
lady who knows the difference between national
agendas and answering to the local guy or gal on
the street

Instead of receiving recognition for her provin-
cial and national achievements, not to mention
how they benefitted our city, Moore was criti-
cized for “being away too much”, which in itself
is kind of funny since she also faced criticism for
“being too involved and in control of city hall.”
But then again, only Audrey Moore could be
accused of doing both

Castlegar residents, for the most part, don't
visualize on as Jarge a scale as their previous
leader did. They see the immediate: the
garbage lid that doesn’t stay on tight; the street
light that just went out: the crack in the side
walk, or the street that hasn't been plowed yet
It's typical of disenchantment, and the per-
ceived need for change

Castlegar’s new mayor, Mike O’Connor,
wrapped it all up very well in an interview with
The Sun on Monday.

“For the most, Audrey Moore did a great job.
but it was time for a change.”

Sure Mike, now how about getting some sand
placed on that icy-Columbia Avenue the day it
actually snows.

Wednesday, November 24, 1993

Letters to the Editor |

The Castlegar Sun

Canadian government slaying seals for sex organs

Dear Editor
No doubt your readers are appalled by the Department of Fisherie
news that up to 60,000 Canadian harp seals Operations, is reported
could be slaughtered for their ge! ja to be
used in Far East sex potions. We would like to
call on your readers to join the campaign by
the International Fund for Animal Welfare
(IFAW-Canada) in requesting the Canadian

government ban the export of seal penises.

‘The hew threat comes from a Chinese syn
dicate which wants to use seal organs in the
manutacture of so-called aphrodisiacs. This
has exposed a loophole in current regulations
that needs to be dealt with urgently.

Claims by the Government which would
allow the buyers to remove the organs they
require and dispose of the rest of the animal
for use as fertilizer for example.

The Government should also be aware. that
its own officers do accept that Canadian seal
penises are sold for use in Asia. Mr. Frank

medicines.”

Coverage went a long way!

Dear Editor:

On behalf of the Kootenay
Columbia Child Care Society, I
would like to express our grati-
tude for the excellent coverage
that you and your staff at The
Castlegar Sun gave our recent

success and we raised over
$4,000.00 for this most worthy
cause.

Once again, thanks, and we
hope to see you at the Second
Annual Night of a 1,000 Stars
Celebrity Auction!

Lehb

Pinhorn, the Newfoundland and Labrador

newspaper “The Independent” (Nov 9th) as
follows: “Mr. Pinhorn conceded that organs
from some Newfoundland and Labrador seals
killed last season, including their penises and
livers, were being taken for use in Chinese head

The Canadian Sealers Association is equal t
ly candid about this vile trade. Their Execu
tive Director Tina Fagan was recently quoted
in the Globe and Mail (Nov. 6th) as saying
she: “acknowledged that seal penises are
exported to Southeast Asia”, and that the asso-
ciation is “conducting research to find ways of
using all the parts of a seal that is killed.”

We are told that many Canadian sealers do
not and would not kill seals purely for their
penises to be used in sex potions, and IFAW
commends any fishermen that are prepared to

take this moral stand
Director, Processing However, clearly this does not apply to all
in the UK national Canadian sealers, Our inve Stigator in Hong
Kong reports that Canadian seal penises are
readily available there and in China

All the time big money — the Chinese syn
dicate wants 60,000 seals at up to $50.00 a
is being offered to kill seals for this
e trade there is a real risk of mass slaughter
ing place. At present there is no law that
can stop it. That is why the Canadian govern.
ment should close the loophole in the law and
ban the export of seal penises. That is what
the majority of Canadian people want

Your readership can help by writing to their
local MPs or direct to new Prime Minister
Jean Chretien.

Richard Moore
Executive Director IFAW (Canada)

Unfair and one-sided

Dear Editor:
The following is an open letter _ and one sided
to all people of Mother Earth. Signed for the Sons of Free-
For decades the Canadian dom:
authorities ‘in their courts meted
out harsh sentences for the
Doukhobors, mainly the Sons of
Freedom, and this time was no

We believe the trial was unfair

Lucy Hoodicoff
Nell Parfinuik
Val Parfinuik
Peter Slastookin

Celebrity Auction. As you

know, the evening was a huge Fundraising Chairperson

for the group. In his mind no one else counts. He
feels important, and yet at the same time neglect-
ed. He also feels the others owe him something
After all his “lead” pencils never tured into silver
as he expected.

With a final kick of sand in the face, “whiner”
storms off. He won't play unless everyone else
agrees to play by his rules

What would normally happen now is that “whin-
er” would be told straight out that no single entity
plays king in this sandbox

But not “whiner”. Instead, he goes crying to the
parents who takes him by the hand and declares
that, “whiner” deserves the whole sandbox. After
all, don’t the others have the pails and shovels?

What “whiner” and his parent don’t understand
is that playing in a sandbox without pails, shovels,
or other friends can be a dam lonely pastime.

Enviously “whiner” watches as the other players
find another sandbox and play happily without
him. Meanwhile the parent realizes he has commit-
ted a serious faux pas—he receives stern looks
from the other parents who have tried diligently to
Stay out of the disagreement.

Imagine “whiner’s” surprise and confusion
when the parent suddenly tells him that he must
give up his dream of being king and instead work
out his differences with the others—and perhaps
settle for a share in the Castle

If you haven‘t any idea what the above scce-
nario has been likened too—just think of these two
words: regional health

Albert Einstein once said that the problems we
have today can not be solved thinking the way we
thought when we created them. It appears that in
the scheme to promote regional healthcare in the
West Kootenay. Every player, with the exception
of Trail, has changed in the way it considers ser-
vices. Sometimes the sand in the box ends up in
your ears,

ERRORS.

The advertiser agrees that the publisher shalll not be liable for
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 nc
liability tor non-insertion of any advertisement beyond the amount
paid for such advertisement

All advertising subject to publisher's approval Contra
completed within one year from contract date No cor
accepted. Printed in the U.S A

Eco warriors take welfare

ast weekend, 10 inmates at

the Nanaimo Correctional

‘Centre, who were due for
release, applied for income assis-
tance. They didn’t have a job to go to
and had no other means of support.

The 10 were then driven in a
prison van to the nearest welfare
office where they promptly were
issued social assistance cheques
So far, so good. I suppose it’s bet-
ter to give some break-in artist the
help he needs until he, hopefully,
finds a job than turning him lose
without a penny in his pocket. It’s
safer at any rate

Among the 10, however, were at
least three Clayoquot Sound
protesters. They had been arrested,
convicted for criminal contempt of
court, served their time and were
about to be released.

Thumbing his nose at an ever-
compassionate society, which
doesn’t seem to mind feeding the
mouth that bites it, one of the
released protesters mockingly
waved his cheque before TV cam-
eras.

Another said he considered him-
self an ecological warrior. It was
society's duty to sustain him while
he conducted his battle on behalf of
the ancient temperate rainforest in
the Clayoquot. He was gainfully
employed, so to speak

Right. Now, is it just me or is
something terribly screwed up here

I mean, these people have been
breaking the law with impunity
They have insulted judges. They
have brought our court system into
disrepute.

They have ranted against the
government’s decision to allow par-
tial logging of the Clayoquot, a
decision with which, according to a
recent poll, most
British Columbians
agree. And now
they have the gall to
line up for hand-
outs.

I have watched
these people for
some time now, and
the more I see and
hear of them, the angrier I get

I've suspected for a long time
that many of the protesters are wel-
fare recipients. Who the hell else
has got the time to hang around the
Clayoquot, keep people from doing
an honest day’s work and get him-
self arrested?

What's more, these same people
who put their hands in our pockets
to collect welfare are trying their
best to initiate an international boy-
cot of our lumber. Of course, even
if they are successful, the boycot
won't hurt them.

Their income is secure, thanks to
the largess of the taxpayer It’s the
loggers and their families who will
be hurt by a boycot

I've always considered myself
somewhat of a bleeding heart, an
opinion shared by many readers on
more than one occasion. I got quite
a collection of letters to prove it
But what these fraud artists are
doing could quite conceivably turn
me into a redneck

It took Social Services Minister
Joy MacPhail all
weekend and the
better part of
Monday to get
her damage-con-
trol machine into

Hubert gear. Not until

3:30 p.m. Mon-
Beyer day did she talk
to reporters

To her credit, she didn’t seem to
be very impressed by the eco pan
handlers either. They could protest
all they wanted, she said, but any-
one classsified employable must be
looking for work or will be cut off
welfare .

“While it is everyone’s right to
protest, that is not considered
employment. If that is their occupa-
tion at the time, they'll be cut off
welfare. We'll be monitoring it,” the
minister said

Reporters wanted to know how
many protesters have been collect
ing welfare while making a nui-

Beyer
Beware

sance of themselves in the
Clayoquot. It appears the govern
ment has no idea

When we asked if, per chance,
she might be willing to look into the
matter, she was somewhat reluctant
at first, but then she made some sort
of commitment

Yes, if possible at all, she would
haye her ministry find out how
many of the 800 protesters who
have, so far, been arrested, have
collected welfare while playing
ecowarmior in the woods.

About time

If I sound a tad irate, forgive
me. But I find this caper highly
distasteful. Not only do these
junior rambos play all of us for
suckers, but they take badly need-
ed funds from those who need and
deserve them.

I'm talking about the disabled
I'm talking about single parents
who can't possibly pay today’s
high rents and feed a family on
what they make at minimum wage
jobs. I'm talking about some of
our elderly who find it difficult to
make ends meet on small and
fixed pensions.

For those people I'll be a bleed-
ing heart any day, and I'll go with
a vengence after any government
which tries to save money on their
backs.

But I'll be damned if I calmly let
some bums who wouldn't know
what to do with a job if they were
offered one thumb their noses at,
society. Go get ‘em, minister

Sorry, there is no My Turn column
this week.

Poised, and on the
verge of change

Dear Editor: team.

Things are about to change Finally, I know that we have
in B.C. and it begins in com- to earn the right to be govern-
munities just like Castlegar. ment, and I intended to do just

Since being elected Leader _ that...one British Columbian at
of British Columbia's Social a time. It’s an exciting chal-
Credit Party on November 6th, lenge, one that will help us
I've heard from British provide the type of leadership
Columbians in every corner of British Columbians are
the province. They've asked demanding for their families
me to deliver a message to and their province
Mike Harcourt and the NDP Today, we start building
Enough is enough! tomorrow. I invite the voters of

British Columbians are, once
again, looking to Social Credit
as the free enterprise alterna
tive to big government and its
even bigger debt. They want to
hear from us on such issues as
managing their tax
dollars...developing and educa
tion system that creates job
ready grads...making our
Streets and neighbourhoods
safe...and generating new pri
vate sector investment and
long-term jobs.

Early next year I'll be initi
ating a series of “Forums. on
the Future”, public meetings
that will make community con-
cerns the backbone of our
provincial platform. From edu-
cation and health care, to jobs
and the environment, each
forum will provide British
Columbians with an opportuni-
ty to turn issues into action

At the same time, | am com-
mitted to building our party
and its membership. In fact, I
intend to have 100,000 active
members by December 31,
1994. After all, for nearly 40
years Social Credit has been
the only party that puts B.C
first: We're no one’s farm

[ Quieptan

DID YOU KNOW?

That we can now

process your

Out of Province Registrations

Estate Transfers

Tax Free Transfers and Setters Effects

All Purpose Permits

And answer all your insurance questions

Castlegar to join m
Grace McCarthy

Selling something?
Phone 365-5266

A Christmas Seal is
A Hug on Every Card

3 =

Help stamp out
lung disease!

THE + LUNG ASSOCIATION

J. The Christmas Seal People ®

We have PRIVATE AUTO INSURANCE
Ask about it!

CASTLEGAR SAVINGS
INSURANCE

COMES

Slocan Park
226-7212

100 - 630 17th St
Castlegar
365-7232

Pp — such as in the case of P. Astaforoff
our sister Pauline Berikoff, who
was charged with mischief when
she was arrest on Sept. 5, 1993.
Since then, between her hearing
and the trial, the charge of
attempted arson came as a shock-
ing surprise — changed from the
original charge of mischief by
some hand, and looks very suspi-
cious to us. We are concerned
about our sister Pauline
Berikoff's sentence of five years.

OPEN SUNDAYS
until December 5
10:00 am to 3 pm

Beside Greyhound

DS wautl tke to thant |
ale adhe? Ls ot art cu the

Ca ttlegar Wane goal Fi ctoon

Leuers to the Editor are welcome on any topic of local or general inser-
est. Letters should be double-spaced, typewritten, or legibly handwrit-
ten, and no more than two pages if possible. Letters will be edited in
the interests, of brevity or taste if necessary. All letters mast be signed,
with address and telephone namber, although names may be witheld
from publication for valid reason by the approval of the editor. Send
letters to: The Castlegar Sun, 465 Columbia Ave., Castlegar, B.C.,
VIN 168, or drop them off at the office. Poetry will not be

thaltay 0 Fb ie.
ra

From the ground up
DO YOU REMEMBER?

The Public Meeting held February 1993 at
the Brilliant Cultural Centre

Approx 1000 concerned citizens attended and
from this meeting a new chapter of
“SHARE” was formed
Can we reach a balance between local
economic and environmental issues?

On November 25, 1993
KOOTENAY COLUMBIA SHARE
is hosting a PUBLIC MEETING

7:00 pm at Brilliant Cultural Centre

Three guests will make presentations and
the floor will be open for discussion.

Presenters will be:

+ Jim McLoren - Celgar Pulp: Before & After
+ Herb Hammond ~ Forest Practices, Past & Present
+ Dave Oswald - Forest Practices, Pas! & Present

Plan on attending.
Have your questions answered.
Cooperations is better than conflict.
For additional information call 365-6313

KOOTENAY COLUMBIA SHARE

Box 3310, Castlegar, B.C. VIN 3H6

A Kootenay Savings Member
Gives A Personal Account.

Kootenay Savings
Where You Belong

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