OPINION

“oe

at 485 Cohumbia Ave. Castlegar, nO. Vil 100, Tre Centegar Sun
member of

editorial comment

Unsung
heroes

They're all around you on the streets; they sit
beside you in the restaurant, and they say hello to
you as you pass them by.

By looking at them there is absolutely no way in
which you can tell who they are. Their faces aren’t
green, nor do they have three eyes. They look like
you or me and you can’t pick them out of a crowd.

But their very existence makes life for you and I
easier—they are the true unsung heroes of our
time—they are volunteers.

Coming out of the “ 'me” generation,they are a

setting
unto its own. Without a hard-working staff and
volunteers it might never have become

more than a dusty nook where books were stacked.
are all around us, and yet we never

Without them Castlegar would most certainly be
far less than it is today.

‘ @RRORS:
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subject
Contracts must be completed within one year trom contract
date. No contingent orders accepted. Printed in the U.S.A.

Commonwealth Society case hurts NDP

Cliff Serwa may soon be the
only Socred left in the B.C. Legis-
lature, but that Prospect doesn't

Just the other day, Serwa
expressed “outrage and dismay”
over Premier Harcourt's unwill-
ingness to offer British
Columbians any assurances that
part of the charitable donations
made to the Nanaimo Common-
wealth Holding Society wasn't
used to finance the election cam-
paigns of NDP candidates.

T'm not one for outrage and dis-
may, but I'm damned curious why
the premier and his cabinet col-

Last week, criminal charges)
were laid against the Nanaimo
Commonwealth Society and three
other societies, all of which have
intimate ties to the NDP, but the
special ommended

special prose-

cutor doesn't believe there is.a
chance of pressing charges beyond
a reasonable doubt, isn’t enough to
clear up the that exists
in the public mind,” said Serwa,
the Social Credit critic for the
attomey general's ministry.

Serwa wants the government to

call a public inquiry under the
Inquiry Act. “Such an inquiry
could complement the criminal

the four soci-
eties, and offer the public some
assurance that any shady dealings
which may involve members of
the NDP will be exposed.”

agree, There's.
pears inquiry to bring
the dark and secretive corners o!
politics& And if my memory serves
me correctly, the NDP never hesi-
tated to demand public ingiiries
when they were in opposition.

At the cenfre of the scandal are
charges that the four-societies
misappropriated money raised

bingo games. The
charges followed a two-year-long
investigation by an independent

suggested charity money was
being used for political purposes.
And then about a week ago, the
RCMP’s commercial crime unit
announced that the four societies had

“They are alleged to have used
bingo funds contrary to the terms
and conditions of the lottery regu-
lations,” the press release said.

The four societies in question
are the Cc

comment on the charges, but Lib-
eral house leader Gary Farrell-
Collins was more than willing to
have his say.

“It's a black eye for the NDP.

Holding Society and three associ
ated societies — NCHS Charities
Society, Harewood Social Centre
Society and Harewood Communi-
ty Hall Association. All are based
in Nanaimo.

But none of the societies’ direc-
tors have been d individual-
ly. They include former federal
NDP caucus chairman and former
provincial finance minister Dave
Stupich, past treasurer of the soci-
ety. Dale Lovick, a siting NDP

ase uRpEmBes ha perved 26 §. GigggtOr, «-

Many charity groups in
Nanaimo didn’t receive the funds
they were promised and the New
Democrats are right in the middle
of it,” he said.

Under the terms of the provin-
cial lottery regulations, the soci-
eties were allowed to operate
bingo games as long as 25 per
cent of the proceeds went to spe-
cific charities.

According to the Liberals,
RCMP wanted to charge individu-

', ak directors.of the societies but

were. overruled by, officials,ia the

Holding sec was formed in
the 1950s. Its d was to

y general's ministay an
allegation Attorney General Colin

fund charitable organizations and
advance socialist causes.

The investigation into the soci-
eties began-when’a coalition of
Nanaimo charity groups com-
plained that $1.4 million in bingo
money earmarked for them had
been used to pay off a string of
debts from bad business invest-
ments by the societies.

The Liberal opposition didn’t
stop there. They alleged in the
legislature that at least part of the
money was used to fund NDP
election

The premier has refused to

rejects.

The investigation, Gabelmann
said, was handled independently
by special prosecutor Ace Hen-
derson, who had recommended
that no individuals be charged.

I have no reason to doubt
Gabelmann’s word. The very rea-
son for appointing special prose-
cutors is to take sensitive matters
out of the ministry's hands. But I
still like Serwa’s idea of launching
a public inquiry.

The Liberals have raised
enough doubts in the public's
mind, and those doubts should be
addressed.

Quit being a drip—conserve water!

Water, water everywhere, but
we've got to use less. Think twice
before

some adjustments or changes in
behavior. Ideas can range form
investing in modern fixtures and
appliances to using extra caution
and common sense.

Consumers should ensure fix-

parla aptegioerr-bag apm
loaded sewage treatment facilities.
Our resources are important
and we have to treat them with
respect. We can’t continue to yse
water at the rate we're using it.
Conserving not only cuts water and
emergy bills, but also can result in

municipal tax savings.

‘These’s a ripple effect. Using less
water also means using: less hot
water, which saves on heating costs,
and while there isn’t a shortage on
water, when we use too much it can
overload on sewage treatment facili-
ties and the water can’t be treated

sion of sewage treatment plants,
which can save the public many

A typical family of four uses
more than 1,000 litres a day with

You don't have to change your
lifestyle to do without to be water
efficient. It just may mean making

ples are water saver toilets which
use less than 13.25 litres, however,
be mandatory in 1996 for new con-
struction and renovation in Ontario,
will use six litres or less.

The conventional toilet uses as
much as 20 litres. Water saving toi-
lets cost only slightly more than
conventional ones, and soon only

Anyone who can’t afford to
replace a conventional toilet can
buy inexpensiye gadgets. A Toilet
Dam, which costs about $10, is a
rectangular rubber device with a
steel insest in the middle that seals
along the insides of the tank and
displaces water so less is used when

Other inexpensive devices are an
Early Closure Flapper (a flush valve
or stopper that allows only the nec-
essary amount of water to escape).
Low flow heads on showers and
sink faucets usé about half the
amount of water of conventional
models. For a family of four, using

a low flow showerhead can save
about 27,000 litres of water a year.
The time for conservation is here
now—and yes, citizens of Castle-
gar, it's time you get involved in
this process.

As we continue to grow, the
demand on our sewer and water sys-
of infrastructure will run into the
millions of dollars. So, if you con-
serve now, you won't pay latet

Oe at mame Gee Comnaevasion

+ Install smaller tubs. A cen-
timeter decrease in di can
almost cut water volume by 4

* When washing your car use a

* Take shorter showers. Showers

use less water than baths.

+ Fix a leaking toilet or one that
continues to run after flushing.
Either wastes up to 200,000 litres
Per year.

+ Repair leaky faucets. One drop
per second can waste about 10,000
litres per year.

¢ Keep a bottle of water in the
fridge to avoid running the tap to
get a cold drink.

+ Restrict use of sprinkling by
using high efficiency irrigation
bapa or xeriscaping (low water

The people of Castlegar use
more water per capita than any
other

impact of increasing demand is
having the following financial
impact on Castlegar’s utility funds:

Water—expenditures related to
satisfying demand and upgrading
requirements will exceed $3 million.

Sanitary sewer—expenditures
related to increased demands
(treatment and main capacity) on
‘our sewer systems are: North
sewer-$1.3 million; South sewer-
$1.0 million.

Is it worth the waste? I don't
think so. CONSERVE NOW! It's
in your hands.

Lawrence Chernoff is a former
City of Castlegar councillor.

He remains active within the
community and works as an ambu-
lance attendant.

Wednesday, May 11, 1994

Letters to the Editor

Children learn what they see

Dear Editor:

Perhaps part of the problem
with today's children arises
from the role models they have
to follow.

This morning on the radio I
heard a report that the stoning
attack which seemed to initiate
your editorial did not happen.

Of course when a reporter
Comes across a sensational story
which will sell newspapers and

attract at least province-wide
attention we should not expect
the report or the editor to check
out the facts. If a group of young
people were seen in the neighbor-
hood wearing identical jackets it
must have

Your editorial does not point
out a very real problem in today’s
society. There are many reasons
for its existence, one of which
may appear before you in the

mirror every morning.

Turn on the news in the
evening and see what adults have
done to each other during the day.
It perhaps puts adolescent behav-
ior such as burping at Dairy
Queen into perspective.

Bill Gorkoff
President,
Castlegar and District
Teachers’ Association

More to consider than trespassers

Dear Editor:

I am writing to you concerning your recent article
in the April 27, 1994 issue “Trespassers Wreak

Havoc on U.S.C.C. Land”.

While I understand the USCC’s concern with a
minority of people abusing the privilege extended to

the surrounding communities to have access to

and worked on thes lands in the past to start a

‘Cemetery on the lower

I myself have seven members of my family
tu and

$500 BONANZA
‘Door Prizes’

Get toughér!

Dear Editor:

A short comment on a couple
of things that were in the hews in
the past week.

First is the caning of the U.S.
teen that was caught vandalizing
vehicles in the Philippines. No
mention was ever made that this
kid did commit an anti-social act.

Next is the of the van-
dals that trashed Mr. Dam’s
cabin.

It is my opinion that if we in
Canada had a similar type pun-
ishment for hooligans and
hoodlums in this country there
would be a drastic decline in
crime and vandalism that is
itted by the so-called mis-

interred there,

many
For this and

wa Ea dabdadaad se eoudlgct ae mea oe
cae eee ane Cis Socons, os Tam Sone 5 great

reasons, I would ask the execu-

tive of the USCC to consider carefully all of the

I would also ask anybody using these lands to
consider carefully before leaving the roadways, just

their

lies of the people interred there with closing the

ot acted Win ee es SATE A

Jim Makortoff

Column a 8ratuitous slap in the face

and then accuse him of ‘igno-
Fance’, ‘petty behaviour’, ‘person-
al bias’ and ‘stubbornness’.

The writer claims that the

liberty with license and good
taste with what tastes good.

I refer, of course, to his dia-
tribe on alleged ‘censorship’ at
Selkirk College of an article on
wife beating. One which you dis-
cuss, too gently, I felt, in your

on bad taste.

While I have not read this
“specific literary offering” which
your writer defends so vocifer-
ously, the gist of which I have no
difficulty in gleaning from his
and your words, as well as my
own familiarity with similar
pieces written over the years in
college and university student
popes by would- be rebels and

— doesn’t have to taste the
contents of a garbage can to deter-
mine its contents. The smell is usu-
ally enough. Moreover, one does
not spread the contents of that
garbage can over the property to
offend one’s neighbour's nostrils

. irony and satire to
achieve its purported purpose. It
is well, therefore, that he be
reminded, of the comment of a
famous author who said, “blows
are sarcasm turned stupid”.
Furthermore, it is also well to
remember that irony is a fine
edged literary tool which requires
not only considerable wit in its
use but demands that the writer
makes absolutely clear to his
readers that he actually means
exactly the opposite to what he is

Package maturely”,

This is a gratuitous slap in the
face to all concerned, and if I
were a member of the student
body or the faculty I would be

i than b

more
Finally, I am of the life-long
conviction that any man who
strikes a woman under any pre-
text has forfeited the right to be
called a man and that anyone who
would defend the act, disclaimer
Or no, becomes an accomplice to
the act. In any case as the editori-
al makes clear, the topic is in very
poor taste at any level.
Throughout all of this ‘sound
and_fury’_I_keep wondering

See COLUMN

saying —a
not obvious in this case; while
good satire is a skilled art for the
gifted few.

Then there is the statement in
the column which reads: “The
part that I suppose bothers me
most is the fact that although we
are in college and should be sus-
ceptible (sic) to new lines of
thought, a surprising number of
college-goers (?) are not open
minded enough to look at the

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