OPINION

AY,

January 29, 19

Free trade deal seen as national disaster

Five hundred jobs at Cominco were likely killed
by Free Trade, and now Free Trade itself ‘may be
about to die. Having inflicted its awful soll on the

disrupting an entire
regional economy, and putting

Hurtig via his book, “The Betrayal of Canada”
$24.95

editorial comment

Please patch
the potholes

Anyone notice the potholes on Columbia Avenue?
They are terrrrible.

The drive to work can resemble a slalom course for
those drivers wishing to avoid violent contact with
these six-inch-deep randomly located sinkholes.

I’ve-seen gravel forestry access roads in better
condition thal this.

My god, the main street of Sandon is in better
shape than ours, I’m just thankful that I don’t pay any
taxes in this town. If I did I’d be steamin’ mad, by
golly.

What's worse is that just when you think you've
memorized the locations of these dark satanic pot-
holes, a few more appear suddenly, out of the black

Like pimples on a 15-year-old, a few new ones pop
up every day. But I don’t think ‘Clearasil Daily Face
Wash’ will clean up this mess.

Maybe the pot holes are part of a strategy to slow
down the speeders on Columbia Ave.—random
speed bumps.

If you drive a 3/4 ton Ford, four-wheel-drive truck,
you probably couldn’t care less, but if you hit one of
these holes in an import car with 13-inch
wheels...Keeerbash!—cassette tapes, camera lenses
and film flying everywhere.

“Takk and rainy nights are like a game of Russiin
Roulette—the holes fill up with water and there’s no
way of telling where they might be lurking.

I'm afraid to fall asleep at night, for fear of the
recurring 0 are where I’m suddenly swallowed
by a black hole on Columbia Ave., car and all.

Oh well, my car’s six months old anyway, time for
a new one, eh?

I’m not blaming the city maintenance crews, and
I’m sure they’ll be patched up come spring. But how
did it get this bad?

Was it the increased industrial traffic?—who
knows.

I come from a small town where the proverbial ka-
ka would hit the fan long before its main street could
reach such a sorry state of deterioration.

I may be spoiled...but I doubt it, and I’m certainly
not rich, which is why my car’s front-end realign-
ment bills could be heading in the direction of city
hall soon if things don’t improve

Brendan Halper

the moat important book to Canada today. Canada
will either understand and heed Mr. Hurtig's mes-
sage before the next national election, or it will
cease to exist as we know it, even if we overcome
the constitutional

The history of the arrival of “free trade” is
known to all of us who have paid political attention

elle, + nneglenlarjpeted aly
are bastards,” exclaimed Cana-
aun ciak Maan Reisman on the front page
of the January 18 Vancouver Sun. “They're behav-
ing like real thugs these days in protecting their
interests. If the Ameri-
cans say the hell with
you and we'll do what
we want, clearly then, the

last week that, “If the
don't abide by
the ... rules in the lumber dispute, Canada would
have no option but to terminate the agreement.”

facing personal crisis have a right to know why
they're about to lose their incomes, will probably
have to move and will likely lose some of their
homes’ values because the real estate market in the
Trail area will become saturated.

The facts are that the Canadian dollar has appre-
ciated about 25 per cent since free trade with the
United States came into effect, and that this has a

impact on Cominco, which is in the export

, business..Cominco’s Roger Watson would, no

doubt, gladly confirm the seriousness of this situa-
tion. So while we “accomplished” free trade as a
national policy, removing modest tariffs of about
four per cent on a fraction of our exports, we pur-
sued a parallel national policy of imposing a 25
percent penalty on all our exports to the United
States. Sound rational to you?

Canada part of th
negotiations for extended free trade with Mexico.
Amazing!

And — in summary — what did we pay for this
free-trade deal, even before we get to our high dol-

turing jobs, or 14 per cent of our total such jobs in
the entire nation. And, like Cominco’s jobs soon to
disappear, they are not temporary layoffs, but

permanent terminations, Canada also yield-
ed viewwally unlimited access to our natural

these past few years. And we know of clog
opposition to it by many, including Mr. Hurtig and
various politicians, such as our own Dave Barrett.
The message here is not new. But the impact of free
trade is today demonstrated, and the trends confirm
and exceed the worst ats sone ‘The impact on
Cominco is only an unexpected bonus.

Perhaps the worst irony is that as of this past
week, our own negotiators are concluding that the
Americans won't stick by the deal — that it really
doesn’t offer much protection against reviving
American protectionism. In other words, we don’t

ic — not world — prices, and
the right for Americans to buy anything and per-
haps eventually everything in Canada.

Sure there's also a world-wide recession to
blame, but any economist will tell you that what's
happening to Canada is much more dramatic than
what recession alone would cause. Example:
unemployment in the United States has been in the
seven percent range. In Canada it has been 10.5
per cent. Case closed.

So let’s turn to Cominco and the value of the
Canadian dollar's impact on that local economic
mainstay. Certainly the hundreds of families now

ding to the Canadian Exporters Associa-
tion, every one cent rise in the Canadian dollar
decreases our exports by $1.3 billion. Since early
1986, the Canadian dollar has risen about 16 cents.
Simple math leads us to conclude we're losing $21
billion annually in exports. Cominco’s losses and
those 500 jobs can be added to the tally.

In his book, Hurtig ponders whether this disas-
trous exchange might be a “secret deal,” pointing
out that American trade officials, Congress and
manufacturers all demanded a higher Canadian
dollar. It may even have been linked to Canada’s
admission to the then so-called G5 western indus-
trialized nations group, now the G7.

But we don’t need con: theories to con-
clude that the higher Canadian dollar is today
national policy. It’s a simple fact that has run par-
allel to free trade, and it’s a policy that if reversed
would almost certainly cause the United States to
retaliate under clauses within the free trade agree-
ment, or to terminate it. Perhaps the US would do
Canada that favour if our own leadership will not.

Gerald Rotering is a former Mayor of Nelson
and Constituency Assistant to Member of Parlia-
ment Lyle Kristiansen.

have the “free trade” we negotiated to get, but have

Childhood our

It has been said that life can be divided into
three seasons; childhood, maturity and aged.
There are no boundaries to these seasons and no
previously set fences. Child-
hood is the stage we pa:

do with age, but more with

zs ~
Z/ii\S
1S POLITICALLY INDEPENDENT ANDO A

MEMBER OF THE STERLING NEWS SERVICE
November 28, 1990

Published by The C Sun
Weekly on W.
465 Columbia Ave., Castlegar, B.C. VIN 1G8

which we
attain wisdom. Often we are confused batige
wisdom. Data is not

“first season”
ly short period of time, westem society has initiat-
So ee ep wcaeitnes

hood as we have come to
know it. We could look more
closely at the preparation of

age, whether we like it or
not. Our children no longer
have easy access to the signs
and patterns of nature that were an integral part

not knowledge; and knowiedge is not wisdom!
The “getting of wisdom” (There's a marvellous
Australian book and film with this title!) takes
an entire lifetime, for we can never know
enough, nor too much. This simple statement
explains why most seniors will tell you they just
realize how much they don't know!

One of the saddest circumstances of our pre-
sent society is the alienation of most of our chil
dren from those who are closer to attaining
wisdom, the aged. Here we are, nearing the
beginning of a new century, a century which is
expected to be the beginning of The New Age,
and we are still isolating our children from our
seniors. According to many seniors. the children
of today are largely indifferent to the “old val-
ues.” Now, I suspect that this conversation could
have taken place at any time along our evohution-
ary path. I can just imagine two seniors, in, say,
the tenth century, (Back in those days you were a
senior if you survived beyond the age of thirty-
five!) shaking their heads over some childish
antic and muttering “what in the world are our
children becoming?!” What has changed since
then is what we expect of our children while they
sare gring thocagh he sua of Cabhood v

ih isa i i Ip

nal de toes of bategnps Roesiecion, chica
(along with both their parents), were workers
(some might say slaves) who were expected jo
prea cat Aes oe-vdatey baclapenrolpem: few ol
ditions. However, in a relative-

of our “gr g up.” From the age of five I
walked a mile (That's 1.6 kilometers for those of
you who have become metricized!) through
bushland to catch a bus to go to school. I came
to know that territory very well indeed. These
mornings I see our children whisked from
doorstep to school in fast-moving vehicles, with
No Opportunity to connect to the natural environ-
ment. Well, I must be fair and admit that some
do walk’ Perhaps our children grow up to be
uncomfortable living in a world where they
must create their own meanings and values.

In the past it was so much easier to construct a
self from larger certitudes, such as God, family,
country, and/or social position. We gained an
internal self-assurance from taking our bearings
from nature, and learning to recognize the mile-
stones. Hard work was a part of every day life
and it kept us focused. Today, our assurance is
measured by the success with which we learm to
deal with large institutions, whether it’s govern-
ment, the education system, the medical sysiem
or even the large corporations in which we work.
Our environment has irrevocably changed, as
has the way in which our children grow up and
learn 10 view the world. I grew up with “penny”

loafers, when a dime was bus fare. Inflation was |

already with us. Today, a “Loony” doesn’t fit in
mry shoes, nor would it get me home!

Elma Maund is a communications consul- |

tant, a facilitator, administrator and a writer.
She is presently coordinator of the logal Seniors
Action Committee.

No easy answers
and no quick fixes

My mother was
always a great fan
of the Fuller Brush
man.

In his leather
case, the door-to-
door salesman car-
ried products
guaranteed to fix
just about any household problem with a minimum of fuss.

Preston Manning, Canada’s 1992 version of the Fuller
Brush man, brings his handy pack of remedies to Ontario
and Quebec this week, and journalists and the other political
parties will be watching to see how many sales he makes.

Manning believes he's on the verge of a major break-

here.

The Reform Party has gone from 4,000 Ontario members
last June to more than 30,000 today. Manning's so confident
of his Ontario support, he’s predicting at least 2,000 will
tum out to hear him speak tonight at Hamilton Place!

Estimating the size of a crowd in advance of a public
event just isn't done in this era of carefully managed poli-
tics. But the battle for Ontario is just beginning, Manning
and his Reform Party have thrown the political rulebook out
the window.

Manning's decision to revoke Brockville flag-trasher
Gordon LeGrand’s party membership didn’t happen by acci-
dent.

By kicking out the guy who trampled the Quebec flag,
Manning is signalling that Reform has become more than a
group of westem bigots.

Manning believes some middle-of-the-road Canadians
have been reluctant to join Reform because they didn’t want
to be branded rednecks. He hopes LeGrand's expulsion will
bury the bigotry charge.

It's the kind of go-for-it gesture Ontarians seems to want
in their politicians these days.

Heaven knows it wasn't always that way.

After 4-odd years of staid Tory rule, Ontarians finally
realized they had other choices. And since then we've been
behaving a bit like a spinster who suddenly discovers men.

First there was the daring flirtation, then full-blown
romance, with David Peterson's Liberals. Then as quickly as
it had come, the flush of romance was gone, replaced by a
sudden and unexpected crush on that cute Bobby Rae.

Rae was Ontario's “answer man.”

He and the NDP had straightforward, easy answers for
every problem. Concerned about the economy” Forget it,
Bob and the NDP will make the rich pay.

Worried about the environment? Relax, the New
Democrats have a plan.

In fact the NDP message-on every issue facing Ontario
was the same. Don't worry, be happy. We'll solve the prob-
lem without costing you a cent. We'll make the other guy
Pay.

‘We Ontarians were so anxious for an easy solution to our
problems, we bought the Rae package in its entirety.

Now, just over a year into this mandate, Bob the answer
man has become Bob the excuse man.

On Tuesday, Rae went on ONT — Ontario Network
Television — the provinces’ 's CTV stations - in an attempt to
explain what went wrong

To explain why, after making all of those ises 10
special interest groups, there isn't the money to follow
through.

When you're sitting on the outside. running a province,
or a country looks easy. especially if you're a New Demo-
crat and already have all of the answers.

By the time Premier Bob finished his TV address, one
hoped Ontarians would have learned there are no easy
answers — that Rae, like David Peterson, and Bill Davis
before him, can only doso much.

It’s a lesson the people of this province should keep in
mind, as they listen to 1992's answer-man, Preston Manning
explain how he would solve our problems.

Mike
Duffy

Syndicated
Columnist

Wednesday, January 29, 1992

The Castlegar Sun

Page 7A

Letters to the Editor

Beware the corporate ghost

Dear Editor;

I believe it is incumbent upon
me to relate the following little
story involving a power discon-
nection last Halloween night. It
is ironical that this happened to
me since I continue to be active
in a local consumers’ organiza-
tion concerned with matters of
electric power.

With our father’s passing in
1987 and mother moving to
Chase last spring we decided,
somewhat reluctantly, to rent out
the old Killough Family home —
built in the 1920's and occupied
by ourselves since 1942.

The first tenant stayed four
months and then moved out on
the afternoon of October 31. Sev-
eral hours later on this cold, dark
Halloween night I got a phone
call to say - much to my dismay -

that the power had been discon-
nected. Not only were tempera-
ture lows running at -12 degrees
and lights needed to deter vandal-
ism but this power also serves a
pump which supplies water to
three separate homes in addition
to Mother's. Regrettably this dis-
connection was made without any
attempt - by West Kootenay
Power or the departing tenant - to

and restored the service but I was
later billed an emergency call-out
charge of $128.40 including our
beloved GST.

Believing WKP's conduct to
have been less responsible and
considerate than it was in carliet-;
days when it was WKP&L EY
wrote letters of complaint to com-
pany Officials and the BC Utilix?
ties Commission - all to no avail.

notify me. The ker was
working a short distance away,
and only a meter-reading was
needed since new tenants were
coming the following morning.
Concerned that four homes
were cut off from their water
source and Mother's water pipes
were in danger of freezing I
phoned WKP and insisted on
immediate re-connection. A
friendly young man soon arrived

Therefore I offer this advice to
those who would rent out their

private homes - advice which? +

is not
from either West Kootemay
Power of the BCUC: Either
arrange to keep the power (and
gas) utilities in your own name -
and set the rent accordingly - or
be sure to contact WKP well
ahead of time when a change of
tenancy is about to occur. Other-

Let’s see a referendum on returning
to two separate municipalities again

Dear Editor:

Every since the amalgamation
of Castlegar and Kinnaird, our
city has been managed by a group
of council members from Castle-
gar south, who love spending our
tax dollars - right and left- like
free donuts.

It might be wise to have a ref-
erendum to go back to two munic-
ipalities; we have separate
schools, separate churches, sepa-
rate T V

many capable experienced,
responsible, honest male and
female taxpayers who could look
after our side of the tracks and let
Kinnaird look after their busy,
busy area and their own fire hall,
city hall and RCMP station etc. I
can remember 40 years ago when
all the council members were vol-
unteers and all school board staff
were volunteers and honest people
took care of our tax dollars - they
were citizens, and Kin-

Separating, not to mention couples
separating.

A referendum on that issue
would probably bring out every
voter on the voters list and could be
held before the municipalities con-
vention to be held in April right
here in Castlegar. Anyone from
north Castlegar would be better
than the crew from south Castlegar.

In north Castlegar, there are

naird was a whistle stop.

Let’s not count our chickens
before they are hatched, or we may
well be heading down the
Columbia River without a paddle
by year 2000. Our friendly neigh-
bors to the south will be cruising
up here in their million dollar
yachts waving their American
flags and by-passing Kinnaird and
Castlegar. Boats, not cars will be

the mode of transportation and
water planes will be doing a thriv-
ing business up and down the
Columbia from Oregon to Arrow-
head. Then the Canadians can kiss
goodbye their fishing and hunting
grounds in our beautiful Columbia
Valley. Those tourists will say
“thank you” and smile behind our
backs and be on their merry way.
Another thing - if the local
yokels want their Robson ferry

back in operation they better cheer

Mr. Charbonneau when he arrives
here February 24 not “boo” like
they did to the former premier five
years ago. Maybe some people
need lessons in behavior before

February rolls around
I've never booed anyone in my
long life and don’t intend to every

do that to anyone.

Fern Schwartzenhauer
Castlegar

Don’t let an overload of proposals
really needed in city

kill what’s

Dear Editor:

It is very surprising indeed,
that ratepayers in a designated
area of downtown Castlegar are
prepared to accept a 40 per cent
increase in their taxes at this
time. I believe a program of revi-
talization should be considered
only AFTER the Bridge and the
R.C.M.P BUILDING are in
place.

It would be a tragedy if a by-
law to finance the R.C.M.P

BUILDING WERE DEFEATED
because some of the ratepayers
are taxed beyond their ability to
Pay.

A successful and a desirable
community is made up of three
components, Health Services,
Educational Facilities, and people
supportive of their Law Enforce-
ment Agencies. Our Health Ser-
vices are first class, with Home
Support, Professional Home Care
and Public Health Nursing. We

Are we in big trouble?

Dear Editor:

News item: Provincial govern-
ment loans city of Castlegar $3.3
million. A pay-off for getting the
Robson ferry off Mike Harcourt’s
back with city council's recent
“sink the ferry” resolution?

Any government which would
borrow money (we have a $2 bil-
lion deficit, remember?) in order
to lend at lower-than-market rates
to a debtor who is, unwilling to
pay off its last loan (for the Indus-
trial Park) is no financial Einstein,
in my books.

At the same time city council,
without even going to referen-
dum, accepts a 15-year debt on
behalf of its taxpayers, so it can
bury power wires and build side-

Let’s get

Dear Editor:

I strongly believe all persons
affected should support George
Steins and Fred Marsh's efforts to
get our ferry back until the second
bridge is built.

The only exit route out of
Castlegar to Robson gets so crowd-
ed, it gets absolutely dangerous.

Getting the ferry back was an
election promise. To quote Fred
Marsh: “Bring back the ferry, as
you said you would, immediately,

walks on a dead-end street

Had $3.3 million been placed
in trust and the accrued interest
used to operate the Robson ferry,
the effect on the business commu-
nity would be immediately bene-
ficial. At least 1.500 potential
shoppers would be at once posi-
tioned within walking distance of
the downtown core, something
any merchant in any city would
envy. That this thought has
escaped our political leaders at
both levels of government leads
me to think that we're all in big
trouble.

Your truly,
George Stein,
Robson, BC

involved

and build a bridge that has been
promised as soon and as quickly as
possible.”

When Art Charbonneau comes
let us all be there to cry in one
voice “we need our ferry. Bring
back our ferry!”

Nancy Makortoff
Pass Creek

Did You Know That...

Wife abuse occurs in
families of all socio-
economic, education-
al and cultural back-
grounds.

Castlegar Women’s Association

365-2104

have-a first class Hospital for the
size of our community, with com-
petent staff caring for Intermedi-
ate, Long term and Acute care
clients.

Our Schools are spending sev-
eral million dollars to upgrade
their physical plant. They provide
for primary to post secondary

-education, and tum out graduates

that are among the best in the
province.

The facilities for our third
component desperately need
upgrading. Our present R.C.M.P
building is totally inadequate.
The Cells and offices which were
suitable 30 years ago are now
obsolete.

I sincerely hope and trust that
City Council and the people of
Castlegar will give top priority to
this third component. We need a
new R.C.M.P. building before
revitalization, before a new City
Hall or a new Works Yard.

Lets not kill this project with
an overload of other proposals.

N.T. Ogiow
Castlegar

Attention
Woodlot
Owners

Funding for forest manage-
ment on private forest land
is available on a_ cost
sharing 2B asis through

’s Small-Scale For-
estry Program.

‘The size of the property must be « minimum
of 10 hectares.

wise you may be in for a rude
awakening by our local “corpo-
rate ghost.”

Why our once-friendly power
company has become so “trigger-
happy” is hard to understand,
@specially at a time when a large
fate increase is planned. It was, of
course, out of concerns of this

{ Bature that the Electric Con-

sumers Association was formed
and opposed the foreign takeover
in 1986. Perhaps it is more than
coincidence that I should have
been one of the first to feel the
sting of the new corporate poli-
cies of our power company.

Company officials maintain
that they have no obligation to
notify the home owner before a
disconnection is made and that
they act solely on the instructions
of the departing tenant. If this is
true then I would suggest it is
time some changes were ordered
by the BC Utilities Commission,
- the bossman over public utilities
in this province.

ELF. Killough
Castlegar

Silver
. Rattle
Antiques
301-11 Ave. Castlegar
(in Tulips Building)
365-5191

Did You Know That...

Frequently violent
episodes escalate in
frequency and severi-
ty and likely will not
disappear without
some intervention.

Castlegar Women’s Association
365-2104

DOING TIME FOR CHARITY
"Lock Up Your Boss . . .”

or Competitor — or Best Friend — or Mother-In-Law . .
behind bars for a few hours or a day. Get together as a group and pool your money to

Monday, February 10
Hi Arrow Hotel Jail

Fee: '20” per Hour—ie: 3 hours - 60” - All day *100”
Note: Once in jail, the captive may post their own bail after the first hour

To determine i you are eligible for this
program

Paul Jeakins, RPP: Woodland Forester
c/o Kokanee For Iting Ltd.
Box 879, Nelson, B.C.,
VIL 6A5, Fas 352-9141

Small-Scale F
a S orentry Program

Caractt
BCAY

Fortcerah it on Forest
ree Development: FRDA Il

Please Arrest
Can Be Located At
Charged With

Kootenay Columbia Child Care Society

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