AH TA-FAA TRAITMISSY a ee , VICTORIA (CP) — Premier Bill Vander Zalm reac- ted angrily to the federal budget Tuesday, accusing Ot- tawa of penalizing British Columbia for responsible money management. The budget will force either cuts to provincial social Programs or tax hikes, the Social Credit premier told a throng of reporters outside his office an hour after the federal budget was tabled in Ottawa. More on Budget, page A6é “*We've just witnessed an outrageous budget,”” Van- der Zalm said. ‘Here, for many years, we've seen British Columbia very responsibly budgeting for all of its needs. so as to provide all of its people with good programs. “*We could raise taxes the federal government should have raised, if they had the courage to face their own problems as opposed to dumping it on us."” The B.C. government's $13.5-billion budget last year was the province's first balanced budget in a decade. Vander Zalm was particularly annoyed by cuts in planned transfer payments to the provinces for health, Post-secondary education and welfare. Federal Finance Minister Michael Wilson singled out British Columbia, Ontario and Alberta by reducing planned increases in KEN GEORGETTI «+» ‘they're liars’ Couvelier estimates the 3130 eillioe this year and $1.25 billion thas wimped out again,"’ ‘ ‘said Couvelier. “All they've done is transfer the tax bur- den on to the backs of the provinces. Vander Zalm was also upset at the federal gover- nment's decision to scrap the Polar 8 icebreaker project. The icebreaker, whose cost Wilson said had soared to more than $680 million, was to have been built in Vic- toria. it meant hundreds of jobs. Conimitment made, Promises made, it was a deal,"’ Vander Zalm said. ‘‘Now, all of a sudden they’ve decided to simply cancel that too. Ken Georgetti, president of the B.C. Federation of Labor, said cutting Polar 8 is just another broken promise from Ottawa. “I don't like to call people names but I’ve heard everyone up to and including the prime minister say British Columbia is guaranteed Polar 8 and now I hear Mr. Wilson finally strike the death knell. “The only word I have for that is that they’re liars."” NDP Leader Mike Harcourt said the budget was par- ticularly brutal for British Columbia. “British Columbia has been singled out and it’s the ordinary British Columbia working family and poor who ‘are going to suffer the most,” he told reporters. B.C. business leaders either mildly praised Wilson's budget or criticized the minister for not taking strong enough action to contain the deficit. “*The issue for all of us is whether the projections that Mr. Wilson made are too optimistic,"’ said Jim Matkin, president of the Business Council of British Columbia. “*He’s predicting revenues will grow by another $7 billion this year. If that doesn’t happen then the deficit pops up $2 billion or $3 billion more than he projected. **And if you look over the last five years, his deficit projections have never come true."’ ¢ executive director of the Fraser Institute, a right-wing economic research group, gave Wilson just passing marks for the budget. “*He met the minimum standard,’’ Michael Walker said of Wilson's spending cuts. ‘‘He has very skillfully taken a little bit from every ares “*We're on a bit of a knife edge right now in terms of People’s expectations. If the inter nal markets don’t accept Wilson's forecast, then the run on the Can: dollar will precipitate further interest rate increases."’ Heritage Week celebrated By JOHN CHARTERS * Heirtage Week began in Castlegar at 9:30 a.m. Monday but preparation for the event has been going on for months through the efforts of many people. In her welcoming address to special guests and visitors at the restored waiting room of the Castlegar Rail Station, Castlegar and District Heritage Society president - Sherrel Koreen pointed out that while con- siderable progress had been made over the past year in taking the 83- year-old building back to the pre-war era in accordance with society policy, there was yet much to be done. Heritage Week, she said, was an opportunity to make a visible Progress report to the public and in- dicate the direction of future en- deavor, as well as to acknowledge the efforts of the donors and workers in the community who had made the museum possible. She then thanked the donors, corporate and private, for their contributions to the project and Gail Moodie, Heritage Week chair- man and her staff, and introduced the official party, Ald. Terry Rogers, representing the city of Castlegar, and Rossland-Trail MLA Chris D'Arcy. Rogers congratulated the society ‘‘on the very considerable progress of the past two years’’ and gave the of- ficial proclamation of the opening of Heritage Week in Castlegar. He was followed by D'Arcy who said: ‘‘We waste a lot of time in coming to grips with the fragility and transience of our heritage. | know because I live here too. “If it had not been for the ad- continued from front page in his letter on the renovation project he is unable to meet with Castlegar trustees.right now because of his work schedule. Smecher said the board should point out to Brummet ‘‘it’s unfair’’ for districts such as Castlegar to com- pete for building funds with a district such as Surrey which has a severe space shortage and must be given first consideration by government. A special fund should be set up to help Surrey, leaving the rest of the districts in the province to compete for the remaining dollars, she said. mirable bull-headedness of certain members of the Heritage Society, Zuckerberg Island and its unique Chapel House would now be a desolate waste. This beautiful station, the nucleus of this city, would have vanished forever in a few minutes un- der the blade of the bulldozer. You few have saved these valued remin- ders of your heritage for posterity, tourist attractions and financial assets for your community. It is now the responsibility of everyone in Castlegar to see that they survive. “I came to this station almost 30 years to the day to buy a ticket to Parksville to my mother,’’ D’Ar- cy continued. think Terry Weeks was the agent. He had the ticket ready for me in 30, maybe 40 seconds, without the aid of any electronic equipment. It was just a single strip of pasteboard, but with it I could get off and on the train at any station bet- ween Castlegar and Parksville for as long as I liked; or I could give it to someone else_part-way through the journey. It was completely tran- sferable. It is an entirely different story today, in spite of all the elec- tronic wizardry, as anyone who has bought a ticket knows. This station is, therefore, a reminder of a simpler, less cumbersome mode of life that we have allowed to escape us. Perhaps it points the way to reversing the trend and saving something of what we have lost. I sincerely hope so.’" He then declared the 1990 exhibit open. The special guest and chief exhibitor for this year, George (Mac) McAndrew, was introduced by John HEMTAGE WEEK LAUNCHED .. . Rossiand-Traill MLA Cee OAs Diary (tl s and hirtivardte reen, acting mayor Soci ry Rogers and George aye MacAndrew, Saetiegaret finer police officer, Were on hand at the Castlegar Rail Station Monday to officially start Heritage Week celebrations in Castlegar. — cosnews photo by John Chorters Charters, who pointed out that Mac was not only Castlegar’s first police constable, whose arrival here in 1930 marked the beginning of Castlegar’s evolution into a city, but that his devotion to service as a police officer and later as a retiree, made him one of Castlegar’s valued pioneer citizens. Other visitors from the city in- cluded Ald. Patti Richards. The guests and visitors then toured the building, examined, and attemp- ted to identify for a prize some of the more unusual exhibits, observed the telegraphers on the main floor and the spinners and weavers upstairs at work, and took some of the donated refreshments. ese, as well as musical enter- tainments, such as the Accordion Band and the Oldtime Fiddlers on Saturday, will continue through Sun- day of this week. The Chapel House on Zuckerberg Island is also open every day this week and hot coffee is available to visitors. Increase opposed By CasNews Staff Castlegar city council has joined its fellow Canadian municipal councils in opposing massive increases to radio licence fees proposed by the federal government. In Castlegar, the proposed increase of 647. per cent would see the city’s licence fees jump to $1,764 a year from the current level of $236. The licence covers radios used by emergency services such as fire Protection and ambulances. “I think we’re going to have to con- tinue to work this subject rather Lottery numbers The winning numbers in Saturday’s Lotto 6/49 draw were 17, 18, 21, 22, 23 and 45. The bonus number was 7. The jackpot of $2,289,653.40 goes to the holder of a single ticket bought in Atlantic Canada. The four Extra winning numbers for British- Columbia on Saturday were 24, 49, 76 and 91. The winning numbers drawn Saturday in the B.C. Keno lottery were 2, 5, 17, 20, 35, 42, 47 and 53. The winning numbers in the Ex- press draw for Jaguar cars were 423720, $48536, 639770 and 452138. The winning Lotto BC numbers were 8, 9, 18, 19, 25 and 32. These numbers, provided by The Canadian Press, must be considered unofficial. © It's About Your Health © Shop ‘n Save * Woolco Not oll flyers receive tull distribution. 4 you did not receive one these flyers ond would like to do so, please phone our Circulation Department at 5-726. .’" Mayor Audrey Moore said. In a brief to Communications Minister Marcel Masse and Treasury Board president Robert de Cotret, the licence fees ‘tis both unconscionable and extremely inflationary.”’ “The government's intent is to treat public and private users on the same basis,"’ the FCM notes in the brief. ‘‘While claiming to remove the last ‘inequity’ so that all radio licence holders share the cost of managing the radio frequency spectrum, the government is in fact creating an ‘in- justice’ by imposing a massive tax in- crease on the delivery of essential emergency-sérvices by local gover- nments.”” Municipalities are currently charged a flat fee of $236 for one base station regardless of the number of radio units. Castlegar actually gets off Under the proposed changes, Ed- monton will see its licence fees jump to $135,624 from $2,654 and Calgary’s fees will skyrocket to $250,000 a year from $2,500. In the West Kootenay, Nelson and Trail face increases of 1,200 per cent and 970 per cent respectively. Kootenay West-Revelstoke MP Lyle Kristiansen is also angry about the proposed increases. “These radios are for emergency use, such as fire departments, am- bulances and police departments,’’ Kristiansen said in a news release. ‘‘In fact, some of those services are volun- teer-delivered, such as rural firefighting, and face a huge budget increase because their radio fee is almost their only operating cost. Local briefs RDCK to rework resolétion . By CasNews Staff Regional District of Central Kootenay directors agreed Saturday to rework a resolution calling on the provincial government to halt further bac Br yeazcation before sending the resolution. to the Association of jehay- y ion in Trail at the end of April. Area K director Bill Cuthill’s proposed resolution states that the ivatization of highway mai “*has resulted in a serious decline in the safety of winter roads along with generalized deterioration Coron poor maintenance) of roads in the Kootenays.’’ The resolution that ‘‘the blight of privatization is threatening to spread to the B.C. parks system’’ and called for the AKBM to make a strong representation to the provincial government .for a moratorium on privatization. However, some directors disputed the claim that privatization has led to a decline in road maintenance and said they have had reports that Bel Maintenance, which has the contract for road maintenance in the West Kootenay, is doing a good job. After Cuthill acnowledged he hadn’t contacted the RCMP for any statistics which might indicate highway safety has deteriorated since Bel took over, dii agreed it’s inappropriate to criticize privatization of highway maintenance unless they had evidence. Cuthill agreed to rework the resolution: Cities given representation The cities of Castlegar and Nelson are no longer without represen- tation on Regional District of Central Kootenay standing committees. RDCK board chairman George Cady announced revamped com- mittees Saturday which include Castlegar Mayor Audrey Moore and Nelson Ald. John Neville. Moore will sit on the regional district’s waste management committee and Neville has a seat at the local government awareness committee table. Cady’s omission of the pair when he announced the 1990 commit- tee structure in January caused an uproar in Castlegar and Nelson and an angry exchange of letters between the cities and Cady. Area F director Earl Hamilton replaces Area E director Josh Smienk on the planning committee in the only other change announced Saturday. Moore bumps Area I director John Voykin from the waste management committee and Neville replaces Jack:Morris of Kaslo on the local government awareness committee. Plastic package tax proposed Regional District of Central Kootenay directors are sending a i to the A iation of K y ici convention in April waxing the AKBM to petition the federal and provincial governments ‘‘to impose significant taxes on manufacturers who utilize plastic k. or plastic e products..." The directors hope the tax would provide a financial incentive to manufacturers to remove the products from the marketplace. Area K director Bill Cuthill noted that plastic containers are g in the and are from a non- renewable resource — petroleum. The only concern raised about the resolution centred around the possibility that if such a tax were imposed, manufacturers would pass the cost on to their customers. However, Creston director Bill Herchmer pointed out that the board is simply sending the resolution to the AKBM for consideration. “*We can tear it apart if you wish at the AKBM meeting,”’ he said. >, February 21, 1990 r astlégar DESIGN WINNER . . . a Selkirk College student Tanya Martin, who: the new logo for the Castlegar school-district, is presented with a certificate of appreciation on behalf of the school board by board chairman Gordon Turner. —cosnews photo Castlegar News TREET TAL TANYA MARTIN, a graphics design studehy at Selkirk College, was presented with a certificate of ap- preciation and a cheque for $100 by the Castlegar school board Monday night after her design was chosen as the new school district logo. Martin’s logo was chosen last fall from among 23 designs submitted by her college graphics class, superintendent of schools Terry Wayling said. The new logo will be incorporated into the district in as many ways as are appropriate over the next few years, Wayling said Martin’s work will likely grace school board of- fice letterhead and perhaps be painted on school district vehicles. TRA JOHNSON of Castlegar will retire tomorrow after 24% years as a school bus driver for the Castlegar school district. Johnson, who is also pastor of the Kin- naird Church of God, will devote full time to the ministry. He and his wife Adeline leave this week for a two-week vacation in Mexico. © CUT °N LOOQSE hair design will become Castlegar’s latest hair salon starting March 1. Owner is Star Mengede formerly of Madison Magique. The new Il business will be located at 623 Columbia Ave. design was chosen as RETIRING . . . Pastor Ira Johnson (pictured with wife Adeline) will retire from the Castlegar school district and devote full time to the ministry. B.C. begins reviews New pool well attended By CasNews Staff ‘Castlegar’s new Aquatic Centre has made -a big splash among local residents during the first few weeks of operations, statistics. from the Castlegar and District Recreation Department show: In the pool's first three weeks of operation starting “Jan. 2, 6,645 swimmers passed through the Aquatic Centre’s dgors, the department repor- ted in a news release Statistics indicate all swim times are popular, the department says, with noon-hour swims for adults attracting approximately 235 swimmers a week. The recreation department's aqua- Tit classes filled during the first two days of registration and 125 women are participating in water aerobics. As a result of the program's popularity, the department has added a drop-in class Saturday from 10 a.m~to 11 a.m. As well, the statistics for the pool’s regular schedule have been ‘‘outstan- ding,’’ the -department—says.— The early-bird swim attracts an average of 40 early risers and teen swims have brought in more than 140 participants Per session. Each weekend, the pool attracts approximately 700 swimmers who en- joy the pool, whirlpool and steam room. Since the regular schedule began Jan. 22, the recreation department has made a few changes to the schedule. to accommodate the demand. The outcry for more lap-swimming time has been resolved by adding a Saturday swim from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Lap swimming is-also scheduled Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. and the recreation department will reinstate adult lap swims on Mondays and Wednesdays from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. beginning Mar- ch 26. The department decided to reduce the size of its aqua-fit class to accommodate both activities during public swimming. Due to the overwhelming Popularity of the circuit weight- training room at the Aquatic Centre, the recreation department has hired a supervisor to provide assistance to users on weekends. Federation of Canadian Municipalities, of which Castlegar isa compared to member, says the increase to the municipalities. easy under the proposed increases What could be more absurd than a tax on emergency services provided by volunteers?"’ some larger Schools continued from front page the Blueberry area who now attend Kinnaird elementary at their local school, Turner said. The program for gifted students at Twin Rivers can then be moved back to Kinnaird elementary, creating some space at Twin Rivers, he said. However, the move will not eliminate the need for more classrooms at Twin Rivers, Turner added. Also, extra classroom space will be created at Kin- naird Junior to take a class of Grade 6 students from Woodland Park and alleviate that school’s overcrowding, he said. Other class moves are possible, but some have been considered and rejected, such as moving Grade 8 students from Kinnaird Junior to Stanley Humphries secondary school, Turner said. Moving a new group of students to the high school would make little sense with the renovation work that is expected to begin this year at SHSS, he said. Turner said a decision on the Blueberry Creek school should be made by early March to allow time to put the school, closed several years ago, back into shape for classes. If the school is opened, the district will add a class each year after the first year until the school is full, Tur- ner said, adding that such class space may be necessary anyway with the additional students who may join the school district when the workers move to the area for the Celgar construction project. During Monday’s meeting, secretary treasurer John Dascher told the parents funding for reopening the school will likely be provided by the Ministry of Education. Turner said the ministry currently provides funding for schools based on floor space and despite the gover- nment’s plans to provide funding in blocks based on enrolment figures, funding may still be provided under the old provisions or new funding factors may come into play in the reopening of the school. Turner said parents should consider what arrangements are best for their children rather than how changes such as reopening Blueberry Creek school will be paid for since the school board no longer has the power to tax and cannot go to the for funds for such a project. Boards can now only increase local taxes for the par- ticular purpose if the public first approves of the project through a referendum. VICTORIA (CP) — All large-scale projects will be reviewed for social and environmental impacts under regulations released Monday by the provincial government. Pulp and paper mills, mineral smelting and refining plants, chemical plants and major port and marina developments are among develop- ments required to undergo the process. Environment Minister John Reynolds said provincial, federal and local government agencies will be in- volved in the reviews. “No ‘permits or licences will be issued for a project until all issues of concern to the government have been resolved,’’ Reynolds said. Brian McCloy, a spokesman for the Council of Forest Industries, called the system ‘‘part of the new reality of building any new project in B.C today that has environmental im- pact.”” Bill Andres, executive director of the West Coast Environmental Law Association, called the review process an ‘‘excellent step forward,"’ but criticized the Social Credit gover- nment for not consulting with interest groups. continued trom front poge curriculum, he said, noting the provincial policies on the new curriculum stress the importance of enrichment activitiés for all students. The provincial government will provide funding for enrichment activities in the higher grades as well once the new intermediate and graduation-program curriculums are phased in, Enrichment Kinakin said. But for now funding for enrichment in those grades will be provided through the school board’s general budget, he said. The concept of a district enrichment program stems from a review of the district performed several years ago by outside assessors who found Castlegar lacking in the areas of challenge and == enrichment Programs, Kinakin said. 1990 MAZDA 323 $9395 PLUS FREIGHT. P.0.1. AND METALLIC PAINT. 4.Wheel Independent Suspension Remote control mirror Tinted glass Halogen headlamps 4-speed heater, rear defroster Shop Where You Like, Buy Where You Save! 1990 MAZDA B2200 PICKUP 5-Speed. AM/FM Cassette $9495 PLUS FREIGHT & POI ‘a CASTLEGAR 713-17th Str O1 7956 Castlegar “THIS IS THE MAZDA WAY!” © CALL NOW, CALL COLLECT 365-7241 pa rae me eee USE COUPON FOR EXTRA SAVINGS! os 9 am am om om AT CENTRAL FOOD — SHOPEASY ROBIN HOOD FLOUR 10), Ae UNBLEACHED OR WHOLE WHEAT... LIMIT ONE WITH COUPON WITHOUT mak $5.88 a} COUPON EXPIRES SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 25/'90 - ROAST ROUND STEAK BONELESS. INSIDE CANADA GRADE A YOUNG TURKEY ane be SIRLOIN TIP 57 BONELESS. ,. 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