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WE

| cry J 7
August 4, 1993

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Liberals debate

in Castlegar

Only official forum to be held in the Kootenays

SHARLENE IMHOFF
Sun Editor

Candidates seeking the leadership of the Liberal Party of British
Columbia are Castlegar-bound for the fourth of six all-candidates”
debates, August 12

The Castlegar forum will be the party's only official debate in the
Kootenays, bringing out all seven provincial candidates: Gordon Camp:
bell, Gordon Gibson, Charles McKinney, Wilf Hurd, Linda Reid, Allan
Wamke and Gordon Wilson.

The theme of the Castlegar debate is ‘Restructuring education to
meet the demands of the new economy.’ The debate is open to the pub:
lic and questions from the audience are expected and encouraged

Questions can be asked on any topic
he Castlegar forum is part of the desire to bring the Liberal leader-

ship race to every region of the province,” said Connie Simpson, local
forum organizer and president of the Rossland-Trail riding association.
“The leadership race makes these exciting times for the Liberal Party of
B.C..” Simpson continued to state that with the Harcourt government
sinking into oblivion, public interest in the Liberals is greater than ever
before

The riding association president also praised the ‘proposed universal
ballot for electing a leader, something she states is motivating people to
become involved.

The Castlegar forum will be held Thursday, August 12, at the Fire-

Robson Bridge

Bernie Boehme finishes smoothing the concrete
on one of the two abutments of the Castlegar

SUN STAFF PHOTO / John Van Putte

Improvements to avalanche control
During 1993 and 1994 the Ministry of Transportation and Highways
is undertaking a $5000,000 in improvements to the avalanche control
systems in Kootenay Pass on Highway 3 between Salmo and Creston
Last year there were a total of 516 avalanches. The planned improve
ments will be undertaken in two phases. The first will be completed in

late October of this year.

side Motor Inn, and begins at 7:30 p.m

Power surge ‘puts the thaw’ on local business
Results in the loss of $9,000 worth of specialty items

SHARLENE IMHOFF
Sun Editor

A power surge through the electrical sys.
tem controlling temperatures at Polar Pantry
brought an unwelcome thaw to products con
tained in freezers, Thursday night, resulting
in the specialty shophaving to dispose of
more than $9,000 of product

Peter Garvin, co-owner of the shap which
sells fresh frozen seafood and meat items,
said the business will remain closed this

week so products can be reordered and
restocked. Garvin estimates the power surge
occurred not long after closing time, Thurs-
day evening. Not long after arriving at work
Friday, Garvin noticed that many products
were no longer frozen on
Garvin said the problem could have been
prevented if someone had been in the shop
after-hours to turn the electrical breaker back di
on, but the unsuspecting owners could not
have predicted the surge, which resulted in
seafood and other frozen products left vul

No conflict of interest says Seaton

SHARLENE IMHOFF
Sun Editor

Colleen McCrory from the Valhalla Society in New
Denver isn’t surprised by the recent findings of a public
inquiry into the government's purchase of MacMillan
Bloedel shares. Justice Peter D. Seaton, was appointed
by the government in Apmil to investigate whether it was
in a conflict-of-interest position over the additional
MacBlo share purchase and the subsequent Clayoquot
Sound land-use decision. Released last Thursday
Seaton’s findings conclude “there was no conflict of
interest, real or apparent” in the land-use decision

B.C. Premier Mike Harcourt said the land-use. dect
sion was based on balancing competing interests in the
area, and there was no consideration of the MacBlo
shares. “Our government was faced with tough choices
Our decision balanced the need to protect environmen
tal values in the Sound with the need to ensure a stable
economy for local residents.” But local preservationist
and Chairperson of the Valhalla Society Colleen
McCrory, maintains it was no accident that the NDP
purchased $50 million shares in Canada's largest log
ging company three weeks before allowing 75 per cent
of Clayoquot Sound to be logged by it. She says the

. —Tenni ?
Castlegar RCMP and Victoria | (ons anyone
rescue respond to “SOS”
Flashing light alarms Castlegar residents

KAREN KERKHOFF
Sun staff

How do you say I've made
it safely in Morse code?

If you don’t know, don’t
feel bad, because a 21-year
old Williams Lake man who
had hiked up Mount Sentinel
the evening of July 28 and
had been signalling with a
flashlight his safe arrival to
his girlfriend waiting down
below also didn’t know
Morse code

Castlegar RCMP member,
Corporal Al Hudema, said if
the young man had known
Morse code he never would
have signalled what
interpreted as an S.O.S. by
numerous Castlegar residents

“It appears he had no idea
what the Morse code was

Nelson RCMP detachment
which handles ev
weekend calls for ¢
RCMP, had received
calls from concerned

was

ning and
astlegar
numer
ous”
individuals who feared that a

person was in trouble on
Mount Sentinel

Hudema said what made
the signals even more dis-
tressing for one resident was
that the hiker maintained
flashing communication,
such as it was, with a Castle
gar resident

“He was playing games
with this one guy for two
hours.”

After Castlegar RCMP
members checked with the
airport and found that there
was no report of an overdue
plane they then attempted to
to the area in a four
wheel drive vehicle
they
to drive to the site
from where the signals were
coming. Due to the lighten
ing and the high
winds, the search by the
RCMP was called
off until morning

drive

However, were

unable
storm
Castlegar

IVS sometimes nota popu

lar call, but we have to some

thing that’s not off the

cuff

and irrational.” Hudema said
to continue the search under
such conditions might have
resulted in a tragedy

The RCMP also contacted
the Rescue Coordination
Centre in Victoria, which
chartered Highland Heli
copter to check the matter
out, however, due to flight
regulations, which forbid fly
ing after dusk, it was decided
the search would begin at the
first light

Shortly after five a.m. a
helicopter with rescue person
nel and two RCMP officers
on board lifted off in search
of the person in distress

The hiker was found short
ly after 5 a.m. unharmed and
packing up his camp. Hude
ma said no charges will be
laid against the hiker l
wasn't criminal intent
of a lack of thinking

NDP are now showing colors of dirty politics that were
once reserved only for the Socteds.
In the public’s eyes, this government is perceived to
have a conflict, therefore they have a conflict
McCrory continued to say that if the government's

she said

then it would
very clearly have been charged under Criminal Conflict
of Interest. “The fact that the NDP government is get
ung away with this really means there is no teeth to their
conflict of interest laws.” In a letter to Conflict-of-Inter-
Ted Hughes, McCrory states the

tainted decision was made in the U.S

est Commissioner
NDP’s purchase of major shares is a serious conflict
because “the government is not only in a position to
firectly decide whether to log and how much to log in
Clayoquot, it is now one of the largest owners of the
largest company which stands to profit from logging
this area.”

McCrory also questioned why Clayoquot Sound, the
centre of the largest land-use conflict in the province,
was not included in the government's CORE (Commis.
sion on Resources and the Environment), a process that
is attempting to make decisions on land use based on
consensus by as many user-groups, and those affected,
as possible

The cost of the 1
carnmed by the Vict
and Rescu

Rain or shine, tennis buffs could
| on the tennis courts in Castlegar last week

N STAFF PHOT nn Van F

still be found

nerable to the lack of cold combined with an
amount of heat from the glass doors covering
the freezers.
Garvin said he hopes customers will be
patient and understand that the closure is
temporary.
We've always guaranteed the quality of
T products, but that’s something we can’t
once they've been left thawed like that
lt was better for us to dispose of them
since safety to the constimer is a number
one priority.”

Downtown Revite
This week will see
paving of 3rd Street
East, which will
mark the end of
paving downtown
Work will begin on the Plaza
at the end of Wood Street,
and sidewalk work will con-
tinue on 3rd Street West and
Wood Street. Bricking of the
sidewalks on 3rd Street and
Wood Street will begin, and
landscaping will continue

Reriata Reunion

Over 200 people came from
across the Canada for the
Renata reunion held last week-
end. When the dams on the
Columbia were built they
flooded out many communi-
ties, including Renata. In its
heyday, hundreds of people
lived in Renata. The residents,
and the offspring of the resi-
dents were treated to a dinner
in the Robson Hall, the sharing
of memories, pictures and arti-
facts. There was also a reading
of the names of the residents
of Renata who were buried
there, and then had to be relo-
cated in the Robson Cemetery
due to the flooding. There was
a service held in their honor.
Some names of previous resi-
dents of Renaia are still recog-
nizable in Castlegar such as
Schuepfer, Rempel, Rohn,
Funk, Friesen, and Jung
Renata was also a large grow-
er of fruit for market. The
Renata reunion is held every
three years.

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Ann Landers .......... 7B
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