CASTLEGAR NEWS, Thursday, December 1, 1977 Discusses National Unity, Culture With Broadcaster-Author Plerre Berton ~ Castlegar’ s Michael Scott Interviews Author {Last month Michael Scott, son of Mr. and Mrs, Malcolm Scott of Castlegar, interviewed Canadian author ,and broad- caster Plerre Berton for the Queens University student newspaper, the Journal, in Kingston, Ont. Reprinted be-, low from the Journal, of which Scott is editor, are excerpts from the Anterview:) : You've had a great + deal to say recently on the topic of national unity. Someone pointed out to me last night that you grew up in the Yukon; Living in the Yukon you must have seen one culture being dominated by another culture, a culture moving in. People from the south moving in. Berton: No, that’s not true. Nobody moved into the Yukon when I was there. People moved out. The town was dying. One culture that was dominated was the native cul- ture. It was certainly domina- ted but nobody thought about that then. The culture that I lived in was a static culture. It was a culture in which if anything the town’ was losing population. There were not many new- comers. Most of the people had, lived there since 1898. It was a “very stable community. The interesting thing about the community however was that we were not influenced by the Americans. We were influenced to some extent by the British. Of course this was true of every- body in the 1920's. There was ‘no perceptible American in- fluence of the kind you have now. For instance, we didn’t have radios. And in our case of course there was no television. There were movies, from - America that’s true, and comic strips but they came very late * so that we were thrown upon our own resources, The. education was far more Canadian then than it is now. I was raised with readers and they were full of Canadian authors and every Canadian - author from A. J. Lampman to Bliss Carmen was in there. 1 was raised with Canadian liter- ature, some English literature and not much American. And all the history I took, was Canadian history. I didn't take any American history. Some British history so that 1 .think I) was probably more conscious of being a Canadian than a kid raised today on the Niagara Peninsula of Ontario. We weren't assaulted by the enormous American influence. QJ: Do you give any eredence to the claims which keep coming out of Quebec, that perhaps the largest etum- bling block to any sort of unity, any solution, is the fact that English Canada doesn't have a strong culture? Berton: I think there's some truth in it. Blakeney has been saying that until the English Canadians: know who they are and have a feeling of their own roots that the French Canadians won't take us too seriously. The problem is the Americans. I don't think it’s quite as bad as some people are saying. I think there is begin- ning to be quite a sense of country, quite a sense of nation- hood. And I think it has intro. duced parts of the country we wouldn't otherwise have seen, Until television came along, only a small percentage of Canadians could travel. They couldn't afford to travel around the country, except for the war, when people could. The war and television gave people the physical aspect of Canada the movies never gave us. They only showed you the American Rockies. ‘iaion! (specifically the CBC), - our country opened up. It was late to get into the industry and generally in easy stages, inter- esting stages. There's clearly beeen a concerted attempt on the part of the Corporation to develop some background, a national consciousness which you have to have. Q3: What do you think about the role played by Harry Boyle and the CRT-C? * " Berton: Well they are, I think, a very good influence. By insisting that a certain amount of time be devoted to Canadian programmes, they help spur that on. If there wasn't that 55 per cent content, you wouldn't see any Canadian programmes, except for news and sports, on the private stations. And even with news, I’m not at all sure that they wouldn't import the “CBS news from Walter Cron- kite if they could get it with the feed and insert their own ads in order to make money. QJ: People talk now about another depression soon to be. Do you think that that’s pos- sible? Berton: We're in one. It's like the generals who fight the next war on the basis of the last. People think of the next depression in terms of the 30's depression. We can't have another 30's depression be- cause we learned something about that, and we have a whole bunch of checks and And then through tele- * balances to prevent that. Human Rights Group Accused of Cruelty -. An animal protection group has accused Amnesty absurd,” said Sherman Carroll of Amnesty International's nal of and disgusting” experiments on hogs involving electric shocks and red-hot metal rods. Amnesty International ac- : knowledged recently that ex- periments have been conducted on hogs in Denmark and said they were made to investigate torture techniques used on humans, It denied the animals were tortured. The private, London-based for the abolition of torture. Jon Evans, president of the Association Against Painful Experiments on Animals, con- demned the experiments and said they were “valueless, serving no practical purpose whatsoever.” The tests were carried out under Dr. Ole Aalund, profes- Amnesty International investi- gates allegations of human: Kootenay Furnace For Your Annual Servicing 693-2209 821 - 16th Ave., Genelle rights the world. Martin Ennals, general secretary of Amnesty Interna- tional, said the “on-off” experi- ments were carried out on anesthetized hogs to see if - torture inflicted with cattle prods would leave any marks. “This talk of torture is He said nine young hogs were used in experiments which started just over a year ago and were not yet finished. +The hogs were touched on sensitive parts of the body, usually around the thighs or near the genitals, with a high- voltage “prod” he sai id. In other hot We have a totally different depression now. The 90's De- pression was a depression of . deflation. Unemployment and deflation, We're now in a far worse situation. We have two different things to worry about. , First of all, we have inflation and ‘unemployment, and sec: ond, the unemployment is dif- ferent. In the 30's, almost every- body was tinomployed. Nobody had a job. Nobody had .any money. But in this depression, large numbers of people have large quantities of money, anda large number of people are struggling along. And it’s youth who are struggling especially. In the old days, the youth couldn't get work, but their fathers couldn't either. So you know, everybody was in the same boat. If everybody's broke on your street and every- body's having a hard time, the community feeling is not too bad, and it wasn’t for the lower middle class. It was very tough on the young men riding the rods. For my family, we couldn't afford a radio, let alone acar, My allowance when I was a teenager was-one cent a week, That's all they could afford. You know,.we couldn't anywhere, couldn't even go 3 Vancouver, couldn't even trav- el). But nor could anybody else. We made our own fun. It wasn't too bad. asta I -think. it’s worse now because savings are being whittled away. What price these ads in the paper? You look back in ‘the 30's and you see ads from insurance com- panies, telling. people to buy annuities and in the 1970's for $75 a month they could go and live in Florida. That's a lost ‘dream. That money's just whit- tled away. And this is why there's no more radicalism on the Cam- pus. ; QJ: Students dante: have time for radicalism. Berton: Students “want ; jobs. They want the marks to get a job because they know es 5 there are no jobs. In the 60's, sor of preventive medicine“at Copenh Universit : the reason the kids could afford to rebel was because of the fac they could take a job for a month and quit, and move across the country and take another one. They never had to worry ‘where the next dollar was coming from. Now it doesn’t matter what class they belong to—there ain’t no jobs for ar- metal rods were used in the same way. KS hs si0™ she 40 6 [ace tela 13 dada 0. aiden ages pu we to sans piven age Fra ig ma 9,000) qe qin tn| a Oe Celebrate Charistenas el £ your here we har ineitare our sere Ss ae 4 oa0 ery at at [esate [en con ee Hudsons Bay Company or doctors QJ: .. . or journalists. Berton: Or journalists. And that’s the problem. And that’s the difference. But’ there's certainly a depression. Look at what's happened to the dollar. Look at what's happened to the stock market. Look at unemployment and inflation. QJ: Do you think this is - going to change people my age? They're having to work, they're having to be keen, they're having to fight and claw and scratch to get the marks. The competition is very keen. Will the characters of Canadians be different in 20 years for the same reasons that your genera- tions character was changed by the 30's? Berton: Probably. We don’t know. I don't know what's going to happen. What's hap- pening, of course, is that the elite aren't the. only, people _ getting educated: We made a terrible mistake with our uni- versities years ago. We sug- gested that university was only a means to getting a job. It was never intended to be a means to getting a job. It.was intended to bé a means to get éducated so that you could have a better life within yourself, not outside Phone Days 489-2711" : Night 489-3126 ot or 426-6494 oA fades NAS 00K, B.C. yourself, .Now everybody ex- pects a well-paid job if they go to university,’ but everybody's going to university, really, ‘Everybody that wants to can pretty well go. So that guys come out trained as architects and engineers, and in fact, have to be waiters, All sorts of people who come to university for one thing are going to have to do some- thing else. As a matter of fact, that’s always going to be true, whether we have an affluent society or not. Because we don't know what the jobs are going to be in'the future. - For instance, I make. a large portion of my income from something that wasn't invented when -I went to- university. There were no tele- visions. How would I know I was going to be on much time as writing books, but it pays better. There are all sorts of jobs now, all sorts of tethniques and’ things, Computerization, for instance, and systems. - QJ: At the same time, I don’t think one can forget that this is an age of increasing apecialization?- Berton: Well, I was raised in Victoria after we left the Yukon, and I went to high school there. And if 1 wanted to go to College, I went to Victoria College--it was just dqwn the street. I was the only one. It was a two-year college, Then I knew where I had to go after: it was UBC. So the whole family had to move, everybody moved over to Vancouver, my sister and I went to UBC. There weren't | I didn’t. I wasn't trained for tele- vision. Nobody was trained for television. I get on it. That's what I do. It doesn't take as Man Charged After Friday Accident A Castlegar man was charged following an accident Friday afternoon on Highway 3A at the Castlegar Airport turnoff, John J. Markin has been charged with driving too fast . for road conditions after his 1977 Ford pickup was unable to stop for a north-bound vehicle making a right hand turn into the airport.. ‘An estimated $2,000 in © property ‘damage occurred when the Markin vehicle - swerved, went over the divider and knocked over a utility pole and traffic warning light. No injuries have been re- ported. ten other Teould go to. I didn’t have to worry about which university I was going to « go to. I knew that‘that was the one. I didn’t have to-make any choices, And the choices at - university weren't that broad. I .was..going to go into journalism and take an arts course, and that’s what I did. I | worked ‘for the college news- paper like you're doing. Now it's a very difficult thing. First of all, kids who're not used to _ making choices—they were not taught that at school—suddenly find at the age of seventeen, that they have-to decide, at that moment, what they're going to do with the rest of their lives. I thought I was going to be a chemist when I started out, and I found after two years at university, that I was spending all my time at the paper, so I switched. But,- ye Gods, most people don’t know, what they're going to do with their life until .they’re 24 or 25. You're sup- posed to do what you like, but you don't know what you like . till you've tried it. Castlegar Plywood Offers You... Over 100 Varletles of wal Pa ling Everything In Plywood Fr Products Pre-hung Interlor Doors ‘Mouldings, Casings and Hardwood “Planks OPENS DAYS A WEEK! 725 - 6th Ave. S. (next to L&D Heating) 965-3514 ‘My Sincere Thanks To everyone who supported me at the polls, and my wonderful campaign committee. Lovette Nichvolodoff Province of British Columbla Dogs Running Big Game Ownors of dogs take notice that from December 1, . 1977, to March 31, 1978, In the area of Region 4, any ‘Conservation’ Officer or Constable without flabllity may destroy any dog found running at. large and harassing big game. Signed .B. J. Robinson Acting Director Fish and Witdlite Branch Beautiful bat ware to grace | your table or your friends, i ary Mi ‘selection {ram the | Mlustratedabove Any 6, Sale - punch Poo set Just what you need for tgsive entertaining: Sel conaiis lasses, Blast fade, pcexcloave ome Bay eit boxed ot Saeaat nec Weise Légtatative Library, 314 ; Parliament piss 0) 501: Victoria, Bs Cs ; VOV 3x4 Von 80, No. 49 Published Every Thuréday Morning at “The Crossroads of the Kootenays” ; TWO SECTIONS (AB) BD CASTLEGAR, BRITISH COLUMBIA, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1977 *Gity Water -By RYON GUEDES. ee Editor | The provincial tives to discuss the city’s water needs, told council Curtis de- will delay its approval of funding for Castlegar's pro- posed new water supply for “at least two months,” Mayor Aud- fey Moore reported: Monday. :> Moore, who met ‘Friday -with Municipal Affairs Minister "Hugh! Curtis and economic ‘development ministry and wa- ter rights branch .representa- eided the g should investigate a new well near Selkirk College as a possible supply before approving the city's plan, Curtis said his ministry recognized the problems faced by the city and that of three . B.C. communities facing serious water problems Castlegar “was Source Near Selkirk College Under Study after discussing the well with water rights branch officials he felt it should be studied, costed out and compared with the city’s proposal, Moore said. © “As the Selkirk well study will not be completed for at least two months ‘I. was as the number one priority," but about this delay as T'm sure all of you are,” Moore told council. “It appears un- usual for the minister of muni- cipal affairs to be advising a municipality where it should or should not obtain its water.” . .' Asked by Ald: Len Embree whether she had pointed out to Curtis that the city was seeking the soft water from the Arrow Lakes rather than ground wa- ter, Moore said she told the minister the city was. not interested in wells and con- sidered. it unfair, to “usurp” a water supply from an area which already has its. own “* Only the status of veteran Ald.’ Gerald Rust remained ‘relatively unchanged in the city ‘eouneil standing » services Calderbank -was works and services chairman, Dr. Charles Fowler protective ~ shuffle announeedl Monday night after. the f Francis “Bud” Ife four newly-elected-al haicman and Jim Gouk In Mayor Audrey Moore's appointments. for >1978, Rust. retained: his’ chairmanship ‘of mittees, and Ald. Len Embree Picked to chair’ the. plan- g committee. Among the newly-elected -gouneil: members, "Ald. Albert: Santa Claus parks and ’ Designated ‘acting. mayor for.this month and November 1978 was Rust, while Calder- * bank was assigned the position for January and , February, Embree for March and April, Fowler. May and June, God- deris’ July :and| August and Gouk, September and October. “In'an address before the appointments the mayor. con- gratulated Calderbank, Fowler, Godderis ‘and Gouk on their election to council Nov. 19. She Godderis' health . and. Ws Sale, 6 tor 14.99 shee Sale, 6 for 17.99, ‘Seda syphen Mant yout own spark. Tabi ting water Choice of ‘gieen i black syph008 | cokD nf 18.99 eoretiteo, 9 ay tims Wath leat glass bottom. Made m Gothic whiskey oat Seven, otce set con England tpt ats ol 1 fo -Arrive.Here Brg MY 2 said the committee. system of council has functioned “most efficiently” in the past year and commended ‘the. 1977 commit- newly-elected aldermen Albert “with Shea Rust said.council, current- ly'in the process of preparing budgets for 1978 programs, has“ Castl not yet had tho opportunity to . analyze:the effects the recent. changes in the assessment roll would ave on the budget. Full Agenda water and The: rst. priority for the: airport committee ‘will be. im- proved navigational facilities at legar. rt: to “ensure ‘the ‘safety, and comfort of the passengers :.and the people using the terminal,” Rust said. water shortage. on the: conimittee agenda. “ Embree,:who ‘chaired the parks’ and ‘services ‘committee in 1977, ‘said:he _He said a request to the federals -” sewer bias som re gov- ernment renovation programs, and careful planning are -in-. eluded .in the 1978 agenda for city council, Mayor Audrey - Moore said Monday. - . After an official swearing- in. ceremony for herself. and. Gouk, Fran “Bade Golders and on Charles Fowler, Moore said in her inaugural * address: that - council must. contend with a new Assessment Act, Revenue Sharing Act, and Municipal Act amendments which’ will have “far- reaching: effects” on Castle- ° gar. residents. for 1978 “Council. will be giving these effects ‘due consideration when’ our’-1978 budget - is finalized,” she said, : + ° The mayor said the finan- \ ces “are-in good order”. and the city ‘will enter’ 1978 with a financial Surplus. Information on one ii But the mayor said the city had “little choice” but to accept the ministry's terms. because the.-government is a major funding agency in Castlegar's plans. She said city council “has \ The city’s proposed new water ‘system may not be “approved automatically” even if the provincial gov- ernment's two-month, $20,- ,, 000 feasibility shows ‘the "well near Selkirk College is * not suitable as’ a district water source, the municipal affairs and housing minister E said in an interview yester-- day. Sencar Hugh . Curtis told the Castlegar News the ‘three ministries—municipal af. ' fairs, economic development and ” environment—examin- sing the*city’s request for funds for a tie-in to CanCel’s Arrow Lakes pipeline have snot ruled out other alter- / natives for solving the city ater problem. i “If the short-term stud- s'tes prove the supply is not, sufficient: then. clearly : we shave to go back and work with ‘the city," Curtis said. “He said the city's proposal would be ‘reconsidered, but added that” he» "wouldn't nergy. Minister Jack Davis hopes System Blocked for 2 Months done its homework” and pre- sented a viable plan which would cost the ministry around - $200, 000 yearly with minimum from other ultimately put ‘Cantlogar’s plan back considerably,”. Moore sald.- “What this) will: mean’ next summer I trust the ministry ‘of © $70,000 ‘tess than the grant received yearly for the Castle- gar South sewer project. “This further delay will --Alternatives Not Ruled Out ‘Approval Not Automatic) estimated. potential as a groundwater source. - : “We don't want to fool around with this,” Curtis said.'“We want to do the paperwork and get a hole. - =) spending of a little bit of | Seity. ‘HUGH CURTIS ++ smapeting “productive” i punched in the ground and. - find out what's there.” ~The minister said he has ” been allotted a “fairly. gener- “lat dollars and the logie oe affairs will be: pre- pared to explain: to the Poon. ‘i of Castlegar.” Council granted the may- ; (continued on page A2) & al districts, and funding for the city’s proposal . would:; take a‘ “considerable” por-* inn of the program fund-: in; “It would be so very. expensive for the city and’, the province I ‘think we would be less than respon- sible if we ignored the money to investigate a good source of water just across the Columns) Hens Curtis said. Asked about Mayor Audrey ‘Moore's statement : that using the well as a city. source would “usurp”: water. from’ an: area suffering its | own water supply. problems, Curtis’ replied that the two- : month - study. will test the -well’s , capacity to ‘supply . nearby areas ‘aswell as the | “Curtis described his meeting last Friday with the city delegation as “frank and, straightforward: a : 4] believe that in terms of local: ‘dollars and, provin- exploring another. prod la proposed Hegionil Distlct of Central tata the Castlegar News — ctoria, the’ the inister-had not yet read the RDCK: -brief—sent'to hin las May month with the‘ ‘of ‘the’ Col bis-Sht Kootenay. and Kootenay-Boiindary’ regional Seis waning Hydro be made liable for all school and municipal taxes, but had just: put it aside to study.” > “Davis had not yet contacted the ROCK. but ‘planned to. set up the meeting’ ‘on a’ date’ which would by. the ‘schedule, the anew extended care unit and > Local teachers ‘and School District No. 9 are scheduled to. present ‘their positions on a ein dispute Monday at a tion to the incoming council, the «tee chairmen. for. handling the ‘work of council in a “prompt and effective manner.” | * a joint. soroperation: the Rust, “appointed © to. his eaird Plaza, the.-Down- -- third term. as “administrative wn Busineasmen’s Associa- “services and finance chairman, + nal: Recreation. :said the committee's main con- cern ‘will. be budgetary prob- At CasNews Office: Yuletide Song Sheets. ‘sheets of: first ca baits ‘decanter plus Soothers Weely bowed toro 799] arm Hadise avian Bae Fir gent Livata char fe pea gusty Enainh ott 7 sh bo Boned" Simple te Peer Goce at Caslasns Steen carats ae so 1.99 25.14.99 son 14.09 Sate, a1: 99 China, Trait second)” Terrific gifts? It's hard matte think of the Bays * The Bay will be open. until 9 00 p.m. “Thur, and Fri. ateae ‘ends: sau December 3. oe ce per given have to hold the: "< line on spending as. much as possible.and at the same time extend as ‘many services to the portunity to” ‘taxpayers’ as are possible,” he satenge:e words: with ‘this spe-. aid “We also have to go ahead ‘available now at. the Castlegar Christmas. pai and songs are News. Groups and individuals in: “terested in obtaining’ the song sheets may do 80 by calling in “person at the Castlegar News office. They are available on a ne the Castlegar ‘News | re- 8 serves the right to. limit quanti- ‘All the well-known carols ‘ are included as well as the more modern ‘pieces ‘such’ as “Ru- dolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” “and “Winter Wonderland.” ——— _ Snows Foil SPCA Efforts ‘Meavy snowfall preven- ted all but an interested few from attending a Society for” ‘the Prevention of Cruelty to “Animals: organizational meeting here Tuesday night, . an SPch official. said this . weel be. executive director: Bill Leach said ‘only’. 16: * residents—five less than the “minimum: number required to form a branch—attended the meeting, at which local j for the SPCA's ‘interest in “executive eaecabers were to haye_been: elected. i “We're going to hold another ‘meeting in the spring,” Leach said..“People who did: attend: were very interested ‘in’ the® SPCA: movement, asked about our. animal control programs and’: ‘showed, quite an interest in forming .. group.” Leach: said the reason A forming an SPCA branch in é ‘said persons ested in joining the: aren 2 B.C. sisecter, iy large, al 229-474 the Castlegar area is “main- ly, geographical.” He said the ante area has a- branch and’ a’ volunteer’ i y but the “distance ee they two “areas makes “a separate branch desirable. should call Heraldine Copp. Castle and ‘the’ amalgamation ‘of the — stwo:, the city's of ‘sewer: and ‘water Fates, will be placed before council in the new year, + she said, 27ST wo. significant programs to be:implemented in 1978 are . the (federal) Neighborhood Im- provement’ Program and. the (BC. : ‘Development Corpora: earing at ‘the Hi Arrow Arms © Motor Hotel: ats ‘Arbitrator Sack Potonisth, : appointed by by the school board, - said ‘he. ‘will join two other - 8ppointed by the teachers, and :s Dan Geronazzo, he said: “If the. arbitrators: fail to ‘dissenting votes will be sent to the Labor Relations Board for final review, Polonicoff said: School board treasurer John Dascher said the. dispui ‘involves teachers’ demands fo arbitrators: in- an’ attempt .to ™ ‘te; reach a unanimous decision on the dispute. | The other‘ arbi-: trators ‘are Brian Prentice men's allowances, as well as the creation of similar’ allowai for elementary. counsel tion's): Frogren | if parts of ‘the city,”. “Our ‘city. Toust plan care- fully so that we can assume our obvious role ‘as the transporta- tion and distribution centre for the West Kootenays,” Moore said. “But before we can fulfill this. role we must have our * water supply. in ‘place. “T'am confident that this ‘project will be successfully. resolved by this council,” ‘she said, ‘Moore said 1977 had been “an active and productive year ; for the city,"\and ‘listed com- pletion of work’ ‘on Fourth Street ‘South, Sixth Avenue South and:Meadowbrook Road, sealing.on Columbia ‘Avenue, rebuilt sidewalks, Kin naird Hall renovations, paving : Sof: the ‘downtown parking lots’ establish: completion, of the.” + South ‘sewer system, : departments; amohg The Sepia Gs bal a $100,000 Western Lottery win: ner. "Philip ‘Sherstobitott, who didn't“ see. the. dctyal draw because he was at-a hockey practice, did not know of his windiall until 24 hours ‘later. Tt‘was pot watil ‘the day shop, at..Castle- \ gar and District "Hospital BUZZ: A pi