November 23, 1986 ESTABLISHED AUG. 7. 1947 He Lv CAMPmELL MONCH OF COPYMGHT: tui! complene News Lid. prow cont prepared trom repre pr: wo 10 the edveviwer PUBLISHER AUG 7. 1947-68. 19. 19/3 PUBLISHER — Burt Campbell EDITOR — Ron Normon PLANT FOREMAN — Peter Horvey MANAGER — Linda Kositsin ADVERTISING MANAGER — Gory Fleming CIRCULATION MANAGER — Heather Hadley 4 soto copyright on on printed master produced by Canto Mowe Led yever tho! copy’ thot port ony pu. ongromnge Bear is bleeding By DAVID ESOP Associated Press Many senior members of Congress are telling President Ronald Reagan to reverse course and concede his secret arms sale to Iran was an error, then revamp his White House staff to meet the challenges of his final two years in office. That's the advice from Reagan's friends Reagan's natural critics, the Democrats who will take control of the Senate in January and who hold power in the House of Representatives, are eagerly picking at the Iran controversy in hopes of tearing away great chunks of the so-called Teflon coating they say has insulated the president from lasting political damage in prior controversies. “Now there's a feeling the bear is bleeding,” seid one senior House As Reagan boarding his helicop- ter Friday for a weekend trip to his Camp David retreat, he ignored shouted questions from reporters and left behind warring aides who seem intent on trying to stress their opposition to the policy he is detending. He has twice tried to put the Iranian arms controversy behind him, and has twice failed judging by the public opinion polls and the criticism in Congress. Recent days have produced the foll 9: * After his nationally televised speech Nov. 13, a public opinion poll published by the Los Angeles Times reported only 14 per cent of those surveyed foynd Reagan's statement he did not trade the weapons for American hostages in Beirut essentially true. * An ABC News poll released on Thursday reported 57 per cent of the public approve of the way the Democrat, on oc he not be identified. Whatever advice he takes, Reagan is embattled in a way neither he nor Democrats are ac- customed to. his job, o dec e of 10 points ice Septem- ber. The poll also reported 59 per cent of those surveyed did not think the president has told the truth about the Iran operation Ron Norman Political “neéphytes “take “note: There's more to winning a municipal election than simply filing nomin- ation papers and showing up for the candidates’ forum. Just ask Gordon Ferguson. Ferguson is the well-meaning aldermanic hopeful best known for wanting to rid our sidewalks of cyclists. For the second year in a row he trailed every other candi- date at the polls. In 1985 he managed 393 votes, about 600 short of the third and final aldermanic position. This year he totalled only 150 votes — 700 votes fewer than Patti Richards, who took the final council seat, and more than 400 votes back of Joe Irving, who finished sixth in the seven-candidate field. Ferguson wasn't even close, yet to his credit he actually ran a better campaign this time around. He plastered posters of himself all over town and came up with a solid plat form. But his dismal results prove you need more than posters and clear views to get elected. You also need to work hard and to put together a solid team of volunteers who know the political process. That was the biggest difference between Ferguson and Richards; between finishing last and landing a seat on council But it wasn't the only difference. How else do you explain Richards polling 863 votes and Irving just 574 votes? After all, Irving — like Richards — had a hard-working group hustling to get him elected. If I could answer that, I wouldn't be in the newspaper business. Those are just the vagaries of municipal politics that make it so much harder to predict than provincial or federal polities. A good bet is that Richards drew heavily on her wide-ranging con tacts within the community, like Homemakers and Meals on Wheels where she knows a large number of the city's seniors She was also involved in minor hockey, Job's Daughters, Beta Sig ma Phi, Brownies and her high school reunion. All those groups touch different segments of the community and that helps when it comes time to run for office What's interesting about Rich ards is that when she first an nounced her candidacy, some sus. pected her of NDP sympathies be cause heft husband is a member of the Canadian Union of Public Em ployees. The word was that Rich ards would be part of a “slate” along with incumbent Len Embree and newcomer Irving. Of course, tat sever nidterial- ized. In fact, Embree and Irving teamed up with another incumbent, Bob Pakula, not so much to form a slate, but to share printing costs on a pamphlet circulated throughout the community. The irony is that the supposedly NDP Richards was asked to run for council by Mayor Audrey Moore and was supported by the same people who support Moore. Some in the Embree-Irving-Pakula camp sus- pect Moore asked Richards to toss her hat in the ring because Irving announced his intention to run. ring because Irving announced his intention to run. Irving was NDP MLA Chris D'Arcy's publicity coordinator in last month's provincial election, the same election which Moore lost carrying the Socred banner. Gets interesting, doesn't it? Despite Moore's backing, Rich ards maintained throughout the campaign that she is non-partisan. That independent position likely helped her at the polls, because municipal voters traditionally like their politicians to be free of provin cial party politics. (Moore, for instance, could find herself in a sticky situation next year should she decide to seek the mayor's chair again. She will have to distance herself from her Socred ties in order to attract those soft NDP votes.) And how do we read Richard's win? Are Castlegar voters unhappy with council? Incumbents like Pak ula are usually defeated when vot ers are dissatisfied with the way things are going. Yet two of the three incumbents were returned to office with strong support. Perhaps voters thought council needed a change; not a wholesale change, but one that would help get things moving in the community. It isn't so much that council or the incumbents have done a poor job; it’s just that a new face and some fresh ideas go a long way to rejuvenating the municipal scene . . That couple pictured with incum bent Nick Oglow and his wife, Shirley, on the front page of the Nov. 16 CasNews may be Castle gar's answer to the Big Blue Machine. Dorothy and Bob Bagg were instrumental in Oglow topping the polls in the municipal election The Baggs are experienced poli tical organizers who were also key members of CasNews publisher Burt Campbell's team in his un successful bid for the\Socred nom- ination in Rossland-Trail earlier this year Letters to the Editor WKPL sale opposed Editor, Castlegar News: From my limited knowledge of Utili Corp United, it appears this company is run by sincere people with consid erable expertise in public utilities. At the same time I would like to salute West Kootenay Power and Light Co. and its parent company Cominco Ltd. for being good corporate citizens over the past 90 years to the citizens and towns of southeastern B.C. However, now that we have clearly reached a turning point in the history of this part of the province it is essen. tial that our decisions be those which are in the best interests of the people of the West Kootenay, of British Colum bia, and of Canadians in general Before making a final decision re garding the sale of WKPL I urge the B.C. Utilities Commission to consider the following matters of concern. 1. Allowing the sale of WKPL, a vital utility eomplex, to a foreign corporation appears to be a disturbing precedent. It would appear that similar utilities in the rest of Canada could now be purchased by foreign interests. | firmly believe that Canadian power generation and transmission utilities are too vital to the security, well being and lifestyle of Canadians to be subject to the uncertainties of foreign control and foreign self interest 2.1 believe that we have reached a turning point in the history and econ omy of southeastern B.C. We now have the choice of either moving more into the mainstream of the provincial economy by ensuring Canadian owner ship of WKPL, or isolating ourselves even more than we presently are by allowing foreign ownership. It is vitally important that the right decision be made at this time 3. In my opinion and in that of the majority of the West Kootenay citizens to whom I have spoken, it is very desirable that we come up witha viable Canadian alternative to the UtiliCorp purchase, using government assistance if necessary. I understand that several fairly realistic bids were received from Canadian companies. 4. The present value of the Canadian dollar against its American counter. part has made the purchase of WKPL particularly attractive to UtiliCorp. It is essential that both federal and provincial governments ensure that the interests of the people of the West Kootenay and of Canada are protected against such foreign speculation during this time of currency weakness. 5. Straw polls carried out by myself and several other people indicated that at least 70 per cent of the citizens of the Castlegar area are opposed to the sale of WKPL to foreign interests. The remaining 30 per cent are divided in opinion between those who say they are insufficiently informed and those who actually favor the sale to Utili. Corp 6. There appears to be some degree of strife and disagreement between the two local generating companies, WKPL and B.C. Hydro for various reasons. This is yan unfortunate situ ation Which needs to be improved. The potential for conflict will likely be even greater if a foreign company is allowed to purchase WKPL. We want harmony in this province, particularly in the critical sphere of power generation. 7. Regarding the preferential power rates that we have enjoyed for many years in this part of the province, I be. lieve the “honeymoon” is over. Quoting from the B.C. Utilities Commission de- cision of Oct. 15, 1986: “The commis. sion has concluded that the low rates enjoyed in the WKPL service area will not exist indefinitely, WKPL has in dicated that even if their proposed rates were accepted WKPL rates would equal those of B.C. Hydro by 1995. Unless less costly alternative sources are found, the commission con cludes that the issue is not whether WKPL's rates will in fact approach those of .C. Hydro, but only how quick ly” This indicates to me that regardless of who becomes the owner of WKPL we will almost certainly be paying B.C Hydro rates within the next few years Perhaps we should be considering the possibility of WKPL being purchased at this time (for $80 million) by B.C. Merchants make you wonder about justice Editor, Castlegar News: After reading the letter from a dis satisfied customer regarding our mer chants in Castlegar (Nov. 16 CasNews) I had to write to say I couldn't agree more with her. My husband and myself have had two encounters just this past week with Castlegar merchants that really leave you wondering where the justice is Our first encounter took place at a local glass company. We placed an order for three pieces of specially cut glass, which we wanted sandblasted My husband made them a rough templet, which he pointed out tothem. with the correct measurements written on the rough templet. (We didn't have anything large enough to accurate templet.) They said there would be no problem. The cost (which we paid) was $26 for the glass plus $45 for the sand blasting. We later call, telling us our order was ready. Upon arriving home with our order we dis covered it was far too small. We checked and found they had made it exactly to the rough templet and had ignored the measurements. My husband rushed back and re make an received a ceived an apology and assurances it would be corrected. He went back later to get the properly cut glass and dis covered once again it had been cut wrong, plus they refused to have it sandblasted unless we paid another $45. So, we now have six pieces of glass, all of which are too small, and we are out of pocket $80. Hardly fair, I'd say Our second problem followed that very same week. We took an 11-inch by 14-inch picture to a local photo studio for framing. We picked out the frame and were quoted $65.90 plus glass, signed an invoice and were told it would be ready in one week. Five days later the merchant calls to explain he's cut the picture to fit the frame. But he's made a terrible mistake. The price is not $65.90 but $145. Gee, real sorry, he says, tell you what, I'll knock off 20 per cent and you can have it for $119.50 So much for our signed invoice and one week service. I go in and say there’s just no way we can pay that price and I feel it’s very unfair. I'm given back my cut-down photo and am told it's too bad, but mistakes happen. Boy, on that we sure do agree Sharon and Albert Demke Robson Hydro. I realize that there is some de gree of apprehension regarding our provincial power authority, B.C. Hydro. However, if there are problems with this organization we, the citizens and politians, should be working on them through the legislature, an option which in the case of foreign ownership would not exist. 8. During periods of peak demand WKPL finds it necessary to purchase some additional power from B.C. Hydro to meet shortfalls in power generation. UtiliCorp proposes that this shortfall could be met by putting in a thermal generating plant (gas fired or coal-fired). It would seem ridi culous to resort to air-polluting meth ods of power generation when we are surrounded on all sides by great surpluses of hydroelectric power gen erated by B.C. Hydro from their var ious modern power dams in south eastern RC. 9. The WKPL dams and generating plants have performed extremely well for almost a century. Inevitably these facilities are becoming old and some what outmoded and will have to be replaced sometime in the future. It would appear that a logical future replacement for WKPL facilities al ready exists in the form of the Koot enay Canal with its new power dam and modern generating plant 10. At the present time, Canada and the U.S. are in the midst of difficult and, so far, seemingly unproductive free trade negotiations. It is a rather inopportune time for UtiliCorp man agement — sincere as they appear, to be seeking approval for a buyout of a sizeable Canadian utility complex. I cannot help but wonder whether ownership, by American interests, of our power generating facilities might be used as leverage against Canada in the difficult negotiations ahead 12. From a layman's point of view it would appear that the Kootenay River, its channel, water, water head, gen erating potential, etc. belong and must continue to belong to Canada and its people. Surely Canadian citizens have the right to insist that the Kootenay River generating sites be utilized ef ficiently and remain Canadian-owned. To allow permanent foreign occu pation of our generating sites and generating potential would be a bad Canadian precedent. This sale would be forever, with no apparent recourse if in the future the transaction were to be deemed a serious mistake I urge the commission to give very serious consideration to delaying the sale of WKPL to UtiliCorp United in order to allow time for a viable Canadian alternative to be put to gether (with government assistance if necessary) to ensure that this utility complex remains Canadian-owned Harry F. Killough Castlegar Please address all Letters to the Editor to: The Castlegar News, P.O. Box 3007, Castlegar, B.C. VIN 3H4, or deliver them to our oftice at 197. Columbia Avenue Castlegar, B.C Letters must be signed and in clude the writer's full name and address. Only in very exceptional cases will letters be publishd without the writer's name. Never theless, the name and address of the writer must be disclosed to the editor The Castlegar News reserves the righfto edit letters for brevity. clarity, legality and grammar Remember Castlegar i Nominations for the directorate of the Castlegar and District Chamber of Commerce were handed in at last Thursday's meeting. Voting will take place on Dee. 20. Two names were sub- mitted for president, A. Anderson and M. Dalton. . * The Celgar Corp. Pulp and Paper Mill will use an average of 50 million gallons of water a day when in full crs here. Owing to the process used, the fine wood pulp cannot be removed and pollution of the water for ‘a distance of 12 miles will take place. This will not be harmful to fish, it is reported. . . Jimmy Davidson, popular Castlegar ferryman for the past 33 years will make his last trip across the Columbia as skipper at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow. Jimmy was first ferryman here in 1919, and has been on the job since. Thirty-three years without missing a day for sickness is his proud boast and in that time was often routed out of bed in the middle of the night to make the crossing with late travellers. ._ * * ‘A worthy organization, a Wolf Cub Pack, has been started in Robson under the sponsorship of the Robson W.I. Ven Archdeacon B.A. Resker, assis tant district commissioner, who was present at the Robson W.I. meeting gave various details applying to this pack and gave mention to the two Cub- masters, Mr. R. Couchman and Mr. W. Hughes. 25 YEARS AGO From the Nov. 23, 1986 News R.R. Rivers has been re-elected chairman of the First Castlegar Boy Scouts Association Group Committee. Murray Little is treasurer and Mrs. Paul Ogiow is secretary. . 28 8 There will be a contest for the chair manship of Castlegar council in the Dee. 8 election and one may develop at Kinnaird amongst commissioners. R.C. Maddocks, owner of the shoe store of the same name has filed papers to run for village chairman. Aage Sylvest, acting village chairman, has already resigned as commissioner to seek the chairmanship and had filed papers two weeks ago. At Kinnaird, village chairman Carl Loeblich has been nominated while Pat Romaine, hospital employee, has been nominated to run for commissioner. . A search and rescue organization has been set up for this area under the auspices of the Castlegar and District Sportsmen's Association The organization will be immediately available to help in the finding of anyone lost in the area. Rescue units of four men each will be set up . Teachers and school trustees of school district No. 9 have reached agreement on teachers's salary sched ules for another year The agreement sees a three per cent increase totalling about $1,700 for teachers in the professional basic and prof a d ifi 15 YEARS AGO From the Nov. 25, 1971 Castlegar News The Dec. 11 civic election is fast moving into high gear with Mayor Colin Maddocks of Kinnaird announc- ing he will seek re-election. William Banham, recently retired as president of the Castlegar and District Chamber of Commerce, has thrown his hat into the mayoralty battle in Kin naird . 8 6 Two Kinnaird men have marked 40 years of service with Cominco, and were honored with the presentation of gold medals last week by the company Thursday night Frank Dawson and Herb Shields were among the special guests at a company-sponsored ban quet in Trail. They joined 22 other Cominco employees, who have tallied up that length of service. . The amount done at of customs business the present time at the Caastlegar Airport does not warrant a full-time customs service being estab lished there. This was the conclusion of the dep- uty minister of national revenue, Raymond C. Labarge, related in a letter to Ald. R.C. Maddocks and read at Castlegar's council meeting last week 5 YEARS AGO From the Nov. 25, 1981 Castlegar News The totals changed, but the overall results were still the same following Tuesday's recount of the ballots cast Saturday for the three Castlegar aldermanic terms. Top vote getter Bob MacBain jump ed four votes to 1,432, Doug Mac Kinnon increased his total by just one vote to 1,351, Carl Henne jumped five votes to 1,163 and Frank Stasila, wh ended up fourth and out of the runr increased eight votes to 1,099 two-year NIGHT AT THE CIRCUS CIRCUS TIME... La Troupe Circus came to town Thursday ‘and put on a well- received performance at Stanley Humphries secondary school. The five-member theatrical circus entertained young and old with clowns, acrobatics, tumbling and balancing acts CostewsPhotos by Ron Norman May fe Expo elite reap travel pay VANCOUVER (CP) — Six. teen employees of Expo 86 accounted for half of the $757,000 paid in travel ex- penses for 1985-86, according to data released by the provincial government. In total, 339 employees collected travel expenses, while 689 employees were paid a total of $19.7 million in salaries during the year. Former president Michael Bartlett had the highest sal. ary at $174,154 — $34,000 more than the salary the government said it paying him. Although Bartlett resigned in June, 1985, he is being paid his full salary until the end of December. “I have no intention of dis- cussing it . . . zero,” Bartlett said when reached at his home in Florida Friday night. “I-don't have any ob- ligation to explain things We did everything properly.” His travel expenses were $17,311 for the last two months with the corporation. Dick Melville, public af. fairs counsel for the provin. cial government, said he ‘ould not answer questions on Bartlett's travel expenses or the discrepancies in his salary until he has a chance to investigate. There was an administra tive mistake that lead to a lapse in medical insurance policies. As a result Expo paid $27,000 for an operation for Kevin Murphy, the vice- president of construction. EARN $100,000 The data also shows that three other employees earn ed more than $100,000 last year. Among them was Don McConachie, vice-president of marketing who was fired in August, 1985. He earned $105,855. Others in the $100,000. plus club were: Jeff McNair. Dionne mother dies NORTH BAY, ONT. (CP) — Ilzire Dionne, mother of the Dionne Quintuplets and unsung heroine of their sen sational birth 52 years ago, died in hospital Saturday Dionne, 77, had been living in nursing-home seclusion for some time in the seven bedroom brick house the On. tario government built many years ago for the celebrated family in nearby Corbeil Even in death, she was un able to avoid the glare of publicity that had plagued the family through much of their lifetime. The three surviving quintuplets — Cee ile, Annette and Yvonne — quietly returned to their birthplace several weeks ago to visit their ailing mother, hoping their presence would go unnoticed They asked funeral home officials then to arrange a private service when their mother died, says the North Bay Nugget which reported their visit but was unable to track them down before they went back home to the Mon. treal suburb of St-Bruno. The family, hospital and funeral home refused Satur. day to give any information about her death or funeral arrangements. SEVERED TIES The funerals of the Quints’ father, Oliva, in 1979 turned into an unwanted media event for the family, espec ially for the surviving Quints who attended despite their alienation from their parents for many years. The birth of the five iden tical baby giris — Emilie died SERVICES o = LTD. * LANDSCAPING |ACKHOE © SEPTIC TANK © GRAVEL * SAND * TOPSOIL * TURF * FIREWOOD Fost & Efficient in 1954 and Marie in 1970 — on May 28, 1934, in an iso lated log farmhouse in North. ern Ontario bush country was heralded far and wide as a miracle, the world's first quintuplets to survive. Within hours of the birth, reporters swarmed to the town of Callander on Lake “Starts Nipissing just south of North Bay, and then converged on the Dionne homestead at Corbeil a few kilometres east on what is nowHighway 94 One Chicago newspaper reporter brought a kerosene heated incubator with him to replace the wood-slatted bas ket by the stove to keep the In the Ladies, Fabric and Linen Departments | Lace Ribbons, Trims & Appliques infants warm. Others started a drive to collect breast milk to feed the Quints, two of whom were delivered by midwives and the last three by Dr. Allan Dafoe of Call. ander. Few, including Dafoe, gave them a chance of surviving more than a few days. * November vice-p1 of marketing and entertainment, at $103,781; and, Murphy at $114,124. In contrast to the $100,000- plus salaries is corporate participation vice-president Mel Cooper, who worked as a consultant, charging Expo $33,600 for his services from August, 1985, to March 31, 1986, while creative director Ron Woodall picked up $91,933 as a consultant. Chairman Jim Pattison was a dollar-a-year man at All Handbags Including Brixton Leather = Weslo T Department Store _) Store Up to 500i SELECTED SPORTSWE. BY TAN-JAY, SELECTED DRESSES, Expo, weren't. Pattison’s Beautiful B.C. Magazine produced 1,008,000 copies of the official ao but his companies At Diet Center You Have Nothing to Lose but he cg std owner osrcoser Maines will — you reach your weight goal! 7“ book for an revenue of $312,000. Neon Products Ltd. did $171,908 worth of business with Expo in the 1985-86 fiseal year and Jim Pattison Pontiac Buick Cadillac received $134,930 from Expo — more than any November Special 9 QZ. Call 365-6256 For Appts. 1223 - 3rd Street La HOURS Mon.-Fri, 7:30.4.m. te 12:30 p.m. Se » other car dealer supplying automobiles to the world’s | fair. On the other side of the ledger, Pattison submitted no expense accounts during his six-year tenure at Expo bases come alone Open Sundays 10 a.m. -5 p.m, Prices effective Sun., Mon., Tees. 6 Wed. and drew no salary. He en- tertained on behalf of Expo at his home and aboard his yacht, Nova Springs. Senior vice-president Bill Blezvad said Expo cost the Pattison Group millions of dollars in deals because of Pattison’s absence. One par- ticular deal that did not go through, Sleeman said, re- sulted in $10 million in pos- sible revenues not being realized. Pattison was unavailable for comment Friday night. RENT SMOKED OYSTERS, $1 19 BROKEN SHRIMP $ 1 ag SEA HAUL m6 CHEESE SLICES $339 BLACK DIAMOND. PROCESSED . J PEANUTS $ 1 59 GOLDEN BOY. BLANCHED. s8Q 4006 __. We reserve the right to limit eonaies Prices limii to stock on hand. THIS SPACE 365-5210 CENTRAL FOODS Swor-Easy ¥ This year has bee: you, our custome than ever before We'd like to say between Dec. 5, Getting You Home for Christmas At Reduced Fares We carried more passengers on more flights to more destinations Return Fares” to all AirBC destinations for passengers flying 1986 and Jan. 14, 1987. For Example: “Christmas Season Return Fares” na record year for all of us at AirBC. Thanks to rs, AirBC is Canada’s leading commuter airline thanks’ by providing special “Christmas Season AirBC's " Tickets for these only io available already sold ou! Get details on Return Fares AirBC in Castlegar! Vancouver So book your thy destinations by calling your travel agent or phoning, 4 booking > Tickets are non Travel must npicted before Jan 14 1987. ° Fares are lumited and pecial “Christmas Season Return Fares will bet ween Nov. 21 and Dec. 5, 1986 ht early. Some flights are Christmas Season to all AirBC te 1-800-663-052: