a

A2 Castlegar News March 11, 1990
2 Castle
:

_Harcourt takes aim at Socreds

VANCOUVER (CP) — NDP Leader Mike Har-
court, predicting an election is in the wind, fired up
delegates Saturday with a fiery campaign-like speech at
the B.C. provincial party convention.

But the real sparks were expected to fly later in the
day during a long-awaited debate between

until October 1991, Harcourt predicts the Socreds,
buoyed by improving opinion polls, will call the vote this
spring.

A recent opinion poll suggests the NDP and the
Social Credit party are running neck and neck. Polls a

talists and over logging Island's
‘Carmanah Valley.

Harcourt, dapper in a double-breasted, blue pin-
striped suit, took dead aim at the Social Credit gover-
nment.

“Friends, in a matter of months British Columbians
«will go to the polls in a watershed election in our provin-
ce’s history,"’ he told more than 900 delegates jammed in-
to the stately Hotel Vancouver convention room,

While the government doesn’t have to call an election

year ago the gs trailed the NDP by 20
points.

The NDP — thanks to six straight byelection vic-
tories — hold 26 seats in the legislature compared to 42
for the Socreds, There is one Independent.

“They're dishing up a familiar old election recipe
called Socred st the toweririg leader whose party
has governed the province only once.

‘ipe. Spend taxpayers’ money to buy
ired old rhetoric about the NDP. Season it

with some good old Ottawa bashing-and-serve it up
nightly in TV ads,""

The convention floor shook as delegates cheered
Harcourt,

But outside, he shrugged off suggestions the logging
conflict within the party is creating a rift.

Party insiders say an environmentalist faction known
as the Green.caucus and some members of |WA-Canada,
formerly called the International Woodworkers of
America, are at odds over a logging resolution.

The draft calls for a on all

Although both the woodworkers and green caucus
members were on the party's standing committee that
drafted the compromise resolution, neither side is happy.

Harcourt insists he isn't worried.

“I understand that conflict and I see people who
have lost their jobs . . . who are angry and frustrated,
people who are concerned about the environmental
degredation of this province,’’ he told a crush of repor-
ters.

“I think this is just the start of a journey that British

logging in the Carmanah until a comprehensive land-use
plan is in place.

The Carmanah is tiome to old-growth forest, in-
cluding North America’s largest-known giant Sitka
spruce.

Cc are going to have to take together. It’s going
to be painful.”’

Tough decisions will have to be made on how to best
manage the forests with consideration given both to
wilderness preservation and logging jobs, he said.

Briefly

CIPE

continued trom tront page
own destiny,”’ he said.

Neither pulp mill manager Jim
Browne nor industrial relations
manager Ron Belton could be reached
for comment Saturday on the open
house,

Meanwhile, Him said CIPE mem-
bers believe strongly that public
meetings and hearings are the proper
avenue that Celgar should be pur-
suing now.

“I have read over 100 letters sub-
mitted to the major project review
process (MPRP) on the Celgar expan-
sion,” Him said, ‘‘letters from the
Castlegar, Arrow Lakes and Nelson

school districts, unions, environmen-
tal groups and citizens throughout the
Kootenays. Many of these are asking
for public meetings and hearings on
the pulp mill expansion.’’

In the Celgar Report recently
distributed throughout the area, the
company states, ‘‘Part of the satisfac-
tion of this project is that it will
demonstrate to the people of
Castlegar . . . that they do not have to
trade off a healthy environment to
preserve economic stability.’’

““A good way for Celgar to demon-
strate this is to start public meetings
pnd endorsing public hearings as
“Quickly as possible,’’ Him said.

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MP asks for response to
forestry committee call

Kootenay W MP

Lyle Kristiansen is asking his con-
stituents with an interest in forestry to
respond to a request from the House
of Commons sub-committee on
forestry for public input on the role
and mandate of the new federal
Forestry Department.

“West Kootenay and Revelstoke
residents have never been short of in-
formed opinion on forestry practice,’’
Kristiansen said in a news release.
“This invitation from the Parliamen-
tary sub-committee presents a golden
opportunity for the expression of
views at a time when forestry resource
and related environmental concerns
are high on the local agenda.””

Ki the New D
Party’s Parliamentary critic for oc-
cupational health and safety, was
‘caucus forestry spokesman from 1980
to 1984.

He has recently been Participating

hearings in

”” Bird said.

Tor a report to Parliament on the most
effective and-comprehensive role and
mandate for the new federal Depar-
tment of Forestry.

The department, created by the
adoption of Bill C-29 late last year,
was formerly the Canadian Forestry
Service within various departments
including Agriculture Canada and
Environment Canada. Its role and
mandate focused primarly on
forestry research and the negotiation
and implementation of
federal/provincial forest resource
development agreements (FRDAs).

However, according to J.W. Bud
Bird; Conservative MP for Frederic-
ton-York-Sunbury and chairman of
the forestry sub-committee, the issues
of the 1990s and beyond point to the
need for a stronger and more effective
federal role in Canada’s forest sector.

“The concepts of sustainable

He added that the public’s concern
about the environment has resulted in
an unprecedented re-evaluation
across Canada of how the nation’s
forests are being managed. He noted
that while most forests are under
provincial jurisdiction, the federal
government can play a strong role in
providng leadership and coor-
dination in achieving and implemen-
ting national standards and strategies.

Hearings are being held in Ottawa
on Tuesday and Wednesday of each
week from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
They began Jan. 30 and are expected
to continue into the summer as

izati and in the

B.C. Hydro
commissions
fish study

B.C. Hydro has commissioned a
field survey to obtain information on
winter fish populations in the forebay
of the Hugh Keenleyside dam and in
the Columbia River downstream of
the dam as far as the confluence with
the Kootenay River, the utility said in
a news release.

RL&L Environmental Services
Ltd., of Vancouver and Edmonton, is
conducting the survey. The data will
be used by Hydro primarily to assess
the feasibility of lowering tailwater
elevations below the dam at a later
date, Hydro says.

The fistieries study is one of several
activities being carried out-as part of
Hydro’s review of the remaining
hydroelectric potential of the lower
Columbia River. Powerplant
development at Keenleyside is one
possibility, the company said.

Court news

in Castlegar provincial court last
week, William Yofonoff pleaded
guilty to failing to comply with con-
ditions set by the court and was sen-
tenced to a 14-day intermittent jail
term and six months probation with
conditions.
* 6
Peter Alex Konkin pleaded guilty to
causing a disturbance in or near a
public place and mischief and was
given a suspended sentence on both
charges. Konkin was ordered to pay
$196 restitution and must serve four
months of probation for the two of-
fences.

Forest

forest sector are invited to present
their views and tq answer questions
from sub-committee members. The
sub-committee may also travel to hear
submissions in certain regions of
Canada.

in the House forestry sub-
on a rotating basis with present NDP
forestry critic Brian Gardiner, MP for
Prince George-Bulkley Valley, during
early consideration of the federal
forestry’s new role.

The forestry sub-committee of the
House of Commons standing com-
mittee on forestry and fisheries is

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365-7266,

and i resource
management must be developed into a
workable national strategy, taking in-
to account both economic and en-

groups and individuals
are invited to submit written sub-

from front pege
said B.C. is not the only province
without a renewed agreement and
renewal can happen at any time, even
after the expiration date of the first
agreement.

“But we're concerned,”’ he said.
“It’s definitely needed. It’s a real
asset to forestry in B.C. and to a con-

missions for the sub-committee’s con-
sideration before April 16.

future."”

tinuation of a healthy forest in the

Lottery numbers

The winning numbers drawn Thur-
sday in the B.C. Keno lottery were 3,
6, 16, 17, 28, 45, 47 and 55.

The winning numbers in the Lotto
6/49 draw wer 1, 3, 14, 33, 37 and 49:
The bonus number was 16.

The jackpot of $10 million was
divided into two prizes.

The four Extra winning numbers
for British Columbia were 4, 19, 56
and 95.

The winning numbers drawn Wed-
nesday in the B.C. Keno lottery were
3, 5, 13, 15, 29, 32, 47 and 52.

These numbers, provided by The
Canadian Press, must be considered
unofficial.

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In memory

:

Freemont Warner

Longtime Castlegar resident Freemont ‘‘Monty’’ Warner died
March 9 in Trail Hospital after a lengthy illness at age 68.

Warner, who was predeceased by his wife Bertha in 1986, was an
avid outdoorsman and renowned fisherman known by many in the
Kootenays.

After starting at the Comineo smelter in Trail in 1940, he moved to
Kinnaird in 1950 and quickly became involved in numerous community
activities.

He was a director of the Kinnaird Improvement Society, an
executive member of the International Order of Oddfellows and served
a two-year term as a commissioner of Kinnaird council in the early
1960s.

Warner was also active in the Castlegar Rod and Gun Club and, as
a member of the club’s pollution committee, was one of the early
fighters for a cleaner Columbia River.

In his later years, he spent most of his time with his family and
trying his luck on the local fishing lakes.

He was one of the first to hike in what is now Valhalla Provincial
Park and a mountain in the park was recently named after him and his
father Bob of Slocan City.

Santa
THE ULTIMATE DONATION!

Meke the ultimate donation to the Children's
Centre Teleth

For every Ultimate Burger purchased at Dairy Queen
between 9 a.m.-10 p.m., Sunday, March 11, Dairy
Queen will donate 50¢ to the Children’s Develop-
ment Centre Telethon.

(Dairy Queen, Castlegar & Trail locations)

Support this Worthy Cause!

Chretien leads in survey

OTTAWA (CP) — A ourvey by The Canadian Press of most
federal Liberal party delegate tings through Wednesd
night indicates the following support among delegates:

Jean Chretien 307, Sheila Copps 66, Paul Martin 182, John Nun-
ziata 0, Tom Wappel 0, uncommitted 105.

The results are cumulative, from 61 delegate selection meetings held
by riding associations, university and college clubs, women's groups and
native groups since Feb. 15

The results, based on interviews by CP and its membet newspapers
with riding officials or delegates, reflect current voting intentions.
Delegates are free to change their allegiance at any time leading to the
June 23 leadership convention in Calgary, where some 5,200 delegates
will vote. The survey does not include about 600 ex-officio delegates
who cast votes as party executive members, MPs or defeated candidates.

Reid denies violating rules

VANCOUVER (CP) — Former tourism minister Bill Reid has
denied he violated the guidelines for dispensing B.C. lottery funds to the
city of White Rock.

Reid, who resigned last fall after he directed another lottery grant
to a society that bought recycling equipment from a friend’s company,
said a decision to give the city its $225,000 grant in a lump sum was not
wrong:

ity council in the front ity south of
wanted the money to build a promenade and asked for the lump-sum
payment so the project could proceed.

Lottery guidelines call for grants to be dispensed in instalments.
Reid said he discussed the issue with his staff, which agreed to make the
change.

Acid rain action postponed

WASHINGTON (CP) — One week after the announcement of an

ise on air ion, the U.S. Senate
has once again postponed action on a bill that includes a comprehensive
acid-rain cleanup plan.

The Senate began a scheduled 10-day recess without passing key
amendments to the Clean Air Act, the major U.S. air pollution law that
hasn’t been updated in more than a decade.

Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell (D-Me.) had pledged to
keep senators in the.chamber as ions as necessary to pass the amen-
dments before the recess.

But when debate on a contentious amendment dragged on past
midnight Thursday night, Mitchell relented and said Friday the bill
would be the first and only business when the Senate resumes March 20.

Freedom predicted for Baltic

OTTAWA (CP) — Moscow will eventually relinquish control over
the Baltic republics but tough negotiations lie ahead, the External Af-
fairs Department predicted.

Mark Entwistle, a, spokesman for the department, said Canada
believes a satisfactory solution can only be achieved through patient,
peaceful negotiations between Moscow and representatives of the three
Baltic republics — Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

Canada has never recognized the 1940 Sovié® annexation of the
republics.

By agreeing to negotiate, the Soviets realize that eventual indepen-
dence for the Baltic republics now is on the bargaining table, Entwistle
said.

Troop deal reported signed

BUDAPEST (Reuter) — Hungarian and Soviet foreign ministers
signed an agreement in Moscow today on a timetable for the withdrawal
of Soviet troops, Hungarian radio reported.

Under the agreement, the 50,000 treops are to begin leaving Mon-
day, and the last Soviet soldier is to leave by June 30 next year.

But the radio said three Hungarian opposition politicians who at-
tended the talks as observers believed the Hungarian government could
have achieved a better deal.

The three, Gabor Demszky of,the Alliance of Free Democrats,
Lajos Kosa of the Federation of Young Democrats and Ernoe Raffay of
the Hungarian Democratic Forum, said they wanted the agreement
renegotiated after Hungarian elections March 25 and April 8.

Laid-off workers promised jobs

VICTORIA (CP) — The pgovincial industrial adjustment services
program will be used to find new employment opportunities for workers
laid off in Kimberley by the closure of the Sullivan mine, Advanced
Education Minister Bruce Strachan said.

About 700 miners lost their jobs when Cominco Ltd. closed the
mine in January because of falling zinc prices and production losses.

The program will bring Cominco and union officials together with
federal and provincial consultants to search for alternate jobs for laid
off workers, Strachan said.

More value needed, report says
VANCOUVER (CP) — As North American lumber producers en-
ter the 1990s they will have to get even more value from trees they cut
because timber supplies are declining, says a special report.
The report, by a forest industry consulting firm, says the forest in-
dustry in North America, ‘‘traditionally directed towards the mass con-
ion of dity products, is pi ly reaching limits in terms
of raw material supply."’

and i concerns are
causing real constraints on industry growth,’ Widman Management
Limited says in its Markets 90-94 report.

The report explores a number of areas of growing potential in
value-added production, including many already under way in British
Columbia.

Adding value to lumber products can be as simple as sorting and
grading logs into diameters and species before running them through
mills; to kiln-drying lumber prior to shipping it overseas; to building
whole new mills to take the ‘‘junk’’ wood that industry used to discard,
chip or burn and turning it into new high-priced lumber products.

Nurses angry over appointment

VANCOUVER (CP) — The B.C. Nurses’ Union says it is
“*outrageous’’ no working nurse was appointed to the provincial gover-
fiment’s royal commission on health care.

“The BCNU will assist the commission insofar as we can, but we
have serious doubts about a process that excludes us in this way,’’ union
president Pat Savage said in a prepared statement.

Health Minister John Jansen said the $2-million, 18-month study
will be headed by Justice Peter Seaton of the B.C. Court of Appeal.

Other commissioners, all from either Vancouver or Victoria, are:
Bob Evans, a University of British Columbia health care economist;
Ken Fyke, president of the Greater Victoria Hospital Society; accoun-
tant David Sinclair and Marguerite Ford, chairman of the Alzheimer
Society of B.C.

Underfunding top problem

VANCOUVER (CP) — Government underfunding is the most
serious problem facing health care in British Columbia, suggests a poll
done by the B.C. Medical Association.

Seventy per cent of those who complained of funding problems
blamed the provincial government, the poll indicates.

Twenty-eight percent of those polled cited underfunding
specifically, while $3 per cent mentioned various issues related to under,
funding.

Results of the survey of 501 B.C. residents, conducted in Decem-
ber, were released last week.

Corporate
donation

B.C. Hydro’s $15,000 donation to the new Cas:
procentee by Diane Piket, far right, a Castlegar
directors, and Rick Larsen, right,

jah and District Aquatic Centre is

of the West

jawyer who sits on the Crown utility’ 's

CosNews photo

ona Walker (left).

ar
—_ ting the funds are Ron Ross, Castlegar project society president, pak potecaisdl
rdinator V:

Act comes under fire

VANCOUVER (CP) — The Men-
tal Health Act in British Columbia
seriously breaches the Charter of
Rights and Freedoms, say two ad-
vocates for the mentally ill.

Chloe Lapp and Bill Trott say the
act's deficiencies are so severe that
B.C. mental hospitals operate under
some of the same conditions that
Permitted brainwashing experiments
at—-Montreal’s- Allan Memorial
Hospital 30 years ago.

“I've always said all the conditions
legally exist in B.C. for another One
Flew Over the Cuekoo’s Nest,” Lapp,
executive director of the B.C, division
of the Canadian Mental Health
Association, said recently.

Trott, a psychiatric patients’ ad-
vocate with the Community Legat
Assistance Society in B.C., said the
act doesn’t come close to the changes
required by the charter.

“The basic legal protections, the
checks and balances, are not there,’’
he said.

More than 80 per cent of ad-
missions to B.C.’s largest mental
hospital, Riverview, are involuntary

Count delay
calleda
bad idea

VANCOUVER (CP) — Delaying
the count of federal election votes in
Quebec and Ontario so that British
Columbia won't feel left out is not a
realistic solution to the problem, says
the chairman of the election reform
royal commission.

Pierre Lorte says that would be like
“Sa parent telling their kids they can-
not open their presents until the day
after Christmas.””

Lorte said Friday that although
there have been some objections from
B.C. businesses, having polling
booths open at the same time across
most of the country is an option his
commission can consider.

Canadians
may not
want to pay

OTTAWA (CP) — Canadians want
tough government action against
polluters but aren’t ready to pay new
taxes to clean up the environment,
says a public opinion study carried
out for the federal Environment
Department.

The study, conducted by Thom-
pson Lightstone and Co., contradicts
Previous polling results indicating
Canadians are willing to pay more for
a cleaner environment.

“Although previous research had
indicated Canadians are willing to pay
more at the pump for an environmen-
tal cleanup fund, that willingness has
been eroded by the GST (goods and
services tax),"’ says the study, ob-
tained by CBC Newsworld.

“They feel they are already taxed to
the limit, and that the necessary funds
could be found if the government
rearranges its priorities."”

The study, based on discussions
with groups of Canadians in eight
cities as well as interviews with
opinion leaders, found apparent con-
tradictions and regional differences in
attitudes on the environment. The
study, which included no percentages
of support for specific proposals, did
not say how many people were inter-
viewed.

— by far the greatest percentage of
any Canadian province.

A June survey showed Ontario had
10 per cent involuntary admissions
and the national average is under 20
per cent.

Even more disturbing, Trott said, is
that half of Riverview’s involutary
admissions have no legal basis for
detainment under the charter.

B.C.'s Mental Health Act had its
last major revision in 1964 and Trott
said he is heartened by the gover-
nment’s recognition that the act needs
rewriting.

“The wording of the act casts a net
to include people who probably
should never be in an institution.

In some cases, a patient in British
Columbia can be confined to a mental
hospital on the order of only one doc-
tor.

The Mental Health Act requires ‘a
doctor to examine a_ psychiatric
Patient on admission to hospital, but
provides no definition of the word
examine.

“The doctor can look at you
through a window or hear what other
people say about you, but never ac-

tually has to speak to you before ad-
mitting you to hospital,”’ said Lapp.

And B.C.’s psychiatric hospital
patients may not refuse medication or
treatment, a right granted in
most other provinces and the United
States.

B.C.’s act allows a hospital ad-
ministrator to deem a patient incom-
petent, to make treatment decisions
and to consent to treatment on his or
her behalf.

“The basic rule of consent requires
two competent parties. Here, you've
got one,”’ Trott said.

Homeowner grant
increase announced

VICTORIA (CP) — Two-thirds of
the homeowners in British Columbia
whose school taxes are higher than the
annual homeowners grant will get an
extra subsidy, Finance Minister Mel
Couvelier said.

The exact amount of the grant will
be spelled out in the budget planned
for April 19, he said.

The basic homeowners grant
reduces property taxes by up to $430.
Seniors, veterans and the handicap-
ped receive up to $700.

A-ministry official said the increase
will be. based on a percentage of the
difference between school taxes and

the homeowner grant.
L i to allow

government spokesman said.
will also be able to

to even out the swings in property
values of residential neighborhoods
will also be introduced this spring,
Municipal Affairs Minister Lyall
Hanson said Friday.

The assessment and property tax
reform bill will give municipal coun-
cils the power to levy a flat tax on
residential property, in conjunction
with a percentage tax on assessed
value.

This will allow local governments to
even out the disparity of property
values in different neighborhoods, a

set separate taxes on residential land
and property improvements under the
act in an attempt to limit the effect of
swings in the price of land, the official
said.

Couvelier said the government
decided to make an early announ-
cement to let municipalities prepare
for the changes.

Municipalities. will also be given an
extra _week — until May 22 — to set
taxes and establish municipal
budgets, he said.

Spring election likely as

VICTORIA (CP) — The tulips and Social Credit
popularity are shooting up and the government is
giving away money.

There is more than a hint of a spring election in
British Columbia and at least one party has election
fever.

“We're preparing for the call in May, the election
in June,’ said New Democratic Leader Mike Har-
court, who itches to form the province's second NDP
government.

Premier Bill Vander Zalm, who has until October
1991 to go to the polls, says an election is near. He
won’t say how near.

ANALYSIS

“‘There will be an election in the not-too distant
future because we are going to be running out of
‘time,”’ the premier said in a recent interview. ‘‘But I'm
not so sure we're as close as some people are
speculating and I can’t talk about this much.""

GETTING READY

But the government, despite a string of six straight
byelection losses, appears to be getting ready just in
case Vander Zalm changes his mind

Almost daily, news releases detail government
giveaways in various parts of the province.

In recent weeks, the Socreds have announced in-
creased funding for mental health care and established
a royal commission on health. The provincial ferry
system is receiving a $70-million facelift

Lawyers for the government have taken Ottawa to
court over federal budget cuts in planned payments to
the province.

And more importantly, the governing Socreds
have steadily cut into what was once a 20-point lead in
the polls for the NDP. A recent poll indicates the two
parties are now in a virtual tie.

CLIMBS BACK UP

A new image as national statesman has helped
Vander Zalm climb back up in the polls.

In January, the B.C. premier hogged headlines by
throwing himself into the Meech Lake debate with a
made-in-B.C. proposal to solve the impasse. In
February, Vander Zalm and Finance Minister Mel
Couvelier helped lead the provincial attack against the

Socreds, NDP get ready

federal budget.

On the minus side, Vander Zalm now finds him-
self embroiled in the aftershocks of another scandal —
this time the handling of provincial grants by Bill Reid,
aclose friend who resigned from cabinet late last year.

It’s the latest in a long line of problems to plague
Vander Zalm since winning power four years ago

Reid was the seventh cabinet minister to resign
since the 1986 election. A group of backbenchers left
caucus last fall — later to return — because they didn’t
think Vander Zalm could win-the next election.

Harcourt says the scandals and the dissension in
Socred ranks are symptoms of a government too old
and tired to continue.

SHTING PAST

But while Harcourt does his job as Opposition
léader and tries to instil a winning attitude in his
troops, he knows he is fighting a battle against history.

The NDP has pierced the Socred armor only once
in 38 years. Dave Barrett led the New Democrats in
government 1972-75.

In the early 1980s, the NDP thought it could smell
victory as the province reacted angrily to then-
premiere Bill Bennett and his Socred government's
restraint policies.

Bennett, premier for about a decade, avoided
what many said was almost certain defeat in the next
election

He quit

Then the short-lived love affair with Vander Zalm
began and the NDP was again denied

RATING ODDS

Most New Democrats are guarded about their
chances this time.

“TL think it’s 50-50,”* said Bob Williams, the last
cabinet minister in Barrett's government still sitting in
the legislature

Other New Democrats look at their chances based
on past figures.

“The bacis fact of B.C. politics is that four of 10
people will never vote Social Credit and four of 10 will
never vote NDP,"’ said Moe Sihota, NDP justice
critic

New Democrats want badly to prove the Barrett
government wasn’t just a fluke of history.

The Socreds have always maintained it was.

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