LEGISLATIVE L 4 RAKE LAMENT BULL DINGS VICTORIA BC CAN LBRARY 4 /¢ VEY 1X4 Wil ule Deay Castlegar stops losing skid against Beaver Valley/9A Trades and B.C ec? babe WEDNESDAY December 7, 1994 Hydro reach agreement/3A var z + : Taking a look at the Robson hot iunch program 18 | The Castlegar Sun Weather Vol. 5 - No. 3 ‘The weekly newspaper with a dally commitment’ 75 Cents + G.S.T. Hundreds attend CORE rally JEFF GABERT Sun staff The harsh cold wind of winter that swept down on Kinsmen Park in Castlegar last Saturday had change on its breath but it cut right to the bone of Stephen Owen's CORE plan for the West Buses, trucks and semi-trailers with yellow ribbons rolled into Castlegar from all over the West Kootenay to protest Owen's land use plan which was released on Halloween. The protest was orga- nized by the West Kootenay Communities for Sustainability. What they said, Photos 3A, Editorial, A4 the largest clearcut in B.C.. These people are changing with their hearts and souls and bank-books every day. This report has to be made in the Kootenays because we are the people who live in the Kootenays.” The protest had been in the works since Nov. 23 when Al Biex, Chairman of SHARE B.C. and spokesman for the newly formed West Kootenay Commu- nities for Sustainability, decided it was time some Oppo- sition to the CORE plan was made. A meeting of 50-60 people was held less than a week later in Castlegar to organize the rally and set a date. ‘The concern raised most often The group contends that the plan, which details future land use recommendations for the region, does not adequately reflect the concerns of the people who live in the Kootenays. A crowd of 400 people were on hand to witness speeches by MP Jim Gouk and MLA’s Ed Conroy and Corky Evans as well as many other concerned citizens. The message to government was simple: “Listen to the people”. The response from the govern- ment officials was swift. “My number one concern is the fear of the people that-the decisions from CORE are auto- matic,” said Rossland-Trail MLA Ed Conroy. “I'm here to say that I’m going to go to Victoria and let the voices of the people be heard.” Nelson-Creston MLA Corky Evans was even swifter in his crticism of the report and had a message for the people on the West Coast. “These people represent nearly 40,000 forestry workers in this valley,” said Evans. “We worked for 18 months because we believe in change, we are inun- dated with change and we want to change. This is not Victoria or Vancouver. We do not sit live in condos sucking on cappucinos in by p ip and organizers of the protest was Owen’s seeming lack of attention for what was discussed at the CORE table. “As a CORE participant for the last 18 months, I feel very much betrayed by Stephen Owen,” said Al Beix. “In light of what we produced, it is obvious he paid little attention to our rec- ommendations. “It is apparent though, that he did give special consideration to the lobbying efforts by those who chose not to participate with us.” As an example Beix pointed to the recommended White Grizzly reservation which was ‘brought forward by the Valhalla Wilder- ness Society who, Beix contends, only attended a small number of meetings before dropping out. “The government in Victoria must recognize that the people are demanding that we be allowed to write a made in the Kootenays land use plan - one plan for the entire Kootenays, consistent with CORE’s original mandate,” added Beix. The Castlegar protest was largely industrial in nature with a large representation of workers from the forestry industry. Work- ers from Cominco, Pope and Tal- bot as well as Celgar were visible See RALLY 3A SUN STAFF It wasn't quite Bermuda short weather, but last Wednes- day still set a record high tem- perature for that day. The mercury climbed to 8.4 Celsius, smashing the old record for Nov. 30 of 3.9 set 23 years before in 1971. Ron Lakeman, weatherman at the Castlegar Airport weather office, said ip rose Record warm spell blew in from the southwest. “As the precipitation came in, it brought a lot of warm air.” Lakeman said the bout of warm weather was similar to a chinook. The normal temperature for Nov. 30 is 1 Celsius. As well, November saw nearly double the amount of snow that the Castlegar area normally gets. Winter weather returned with because of a frontal system that a this week, though no cold records were set. Al Beix of West sesenerey Communities for Sustainability, speaks to crowd on some 6 400 i in Kinamen! Park at Satur. day's CORE rally. Whole families braved bitter winter weather to send a message to the provincial government that they want a land use plan made in the Kootenays. Propane leak closes Columbia RON NORMAN ‘Sun Editor Columbia Avenue was closed to traffic for a half hour late last Wednesday night because of a propane gas leak at ICG Propane at the top of Sherbiko Hill. Fire Chief Gerry Rempel said the leak occurred about 11:45 p.m. Nov. 30 while an ICG employee was filling one of the bulk tanks. “There was quite a cloud,” Rempel told The Castlegar Sun. Castlegar RCMP estimate the cloud was five square meters. Rempel said the cloud dissi- “It wasn't as bad as it could have been with different weather conditions,” Rempel said. Rempel said the problem with propane is if it ignites, it ignites all at once. Four fire engines from the north and south firehalls, along pated on its own and Ci Avenue was re-opened. with 24 gh ded to the emergency. Repel said no one was hurt in the incident. The ICG employee, Alexander Rundle of Bowden, Alta., man- aged to shut off the supply and prevent any more gas from ¢ scaping. Rempel said he isn’t sure why the leak occurred, and the matter is still under investigation. Discount cigarettes up in smoke KAREN KERKHOFF Sun Staff That 40-50 per cent discounted carton of cigarettes from Golden Nuggets, a Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario mail order cigarette com- pany could cost a whole lot more than you originally paid for it. Castlegar RCMP say they have received two calls from local merchants to enquire about the legality of purchasing the dis- counted mail-order smokes after receiving mail-order faxes from Golden Nuggets. “It’s an illegal act to possess them if the taxes aren't paid, and persons caught are subject to Pass Creek Par prosecution,” said Castlegar RCMP Staff Sergeant Kerry Soli is An official from the Tobacco Tax Branch in Victoria verified that it is illegal for the supplier to sell into B.C. unless the cigarettes have a B.C. tax stamp attached. But Jerry Gibbs, owner of Golden Nuggets, denies that there’s anything illegal about his business. “We feel we're strictly within the laws. I personally contacted the people in Victoria about the Act and they say you're allowed one carton, and it’s an industry understanding that you won't be prosecuted for possession of up to five cartons. The marketing concept is the magic number five.” Gibbs, who is a smoker, said he only markets in B.C. and “business is picking up every week.” Golden Nugget was started last March when tobacco taxes in some provinces, including Ontario, plummeted. Since then B.C. has been deluged with Ontario tobacco companies hawking tobacco at nearly half the price of what it costs to pur- chase tobacco in B.C. Currently a carton of cigarettes sell in Castle- gar for around $45 plus seven per cent tax. Kerry Solinsky plan welcomed RON NORMAN Sun Editor The proposed plan to upgrade Pass Creck Region- al Park was given a warm reception at two public forums last week. | “] think it's great,” Pass Creek resident Linda Carison told The Sun. Carlson said she especially likes the proposed exhibition grounds with its riding arena, stables and barns. “| have horses. It's something this town has need- ed for a long time.” Peter Saliken, who lives near the park, agreed. “I think this is one of the best things for the area. For all the local news and sports It looks to me like they have something for every possible person.” Mark Zurek, chair of the Pass Creek Park Adviso- ty Board which is guiding the park redevelopment, said that although some residents had specific con- cems, overall people were satisfied with the proposal. “In general, our response was very positive and very good.” Zurek said about 50 residents turned out for both meetings, the first last Tuesday night in Rob- son and the second Wednesday night at the Com- munity Complex. “We didn't have lots of people,” he said. Still, he said the board is “not dissatisfied.” “At least we had people come out.” Zurek said the major concern is with the access from Broadwater Road onto Rilkoff Road. The pre- sent access is on a blind comer. “It's going to get worse if useage goes up and you get horsetrailers in there,” he said. He said the advisory board will approach the Min- istry of Highways with the concern. Under the present plan, Rilkoff Road would pro- vide access to the west side of Pass Creek, including the parking area, an indoor arena, playground and exhibition grounds (a dog ring, riding area, stables, barns, announcer's booth and clubhouse). Zurek said another concern is the announcer’s the Castle booth with the speakers facing adjacent resi- dents. The id d the face into the park “That's a pretty logical change,” hadn't thought of that.” Zurek said the Lions Club intends to develop the east side of the creek, with the 4-H Club spearhead- ing development on the west side The east side includes: the soccer field; * two parking areas—one for 85 cars near the park entrance and the other for 65 cars at the ball field; See PASS CREEK aA r Sun Zurek said. “We