Vike a ers oe ee saint dian Ae ket OPINION ie at 465 Columbia Ave. Castlegar, Te Ty 168, The Sun See Newapapers Assocation, and the B.C. (recs Ovenctl Gemantshe 1980, 10420. editorial comment Shifting responsibility The Beatles tune She's Got a Ticket to Ride could soon Carry more meaning for some parents in School District No. 9. ee meetings, it appears as if the district's bus commit- tee’s hard work could be for naught. Directed by the board im February to examine bus- ing problems within the district, specifically that of overloaded buses and the use of school buses to trans- While it’s a fact that families are sik Snel so ecerpt tat Gnenge Gene's qadtonr for: paar phoreye oo diagar-pelgreamee ype pone and yet never get involved in the organization. Their__| involvement is minimal or nil. When things go bad with, our kids we blame society. Maybe it’s time that parents accept their part in raising their children. Ulti- mately their children are their responsibility. It’s not up to the district to assure their children are BC. How sweet it is. The most vociferous critic of British Columbia's forest practices has been Greenpeace Germany. Now, the most ruthless forest company to ever have raped our forests turns out to be owned by a Ger- man nobleman. Timber Comp Ltd., owned by Prince Friedrich Fuerst Zu Wied, operates on for- est land near Revelstoke. Forest district officials said the compa- ny has a 20-year history in the Revelstoke area. The controversial harvesting est industry, will regulate forest practices not only on Crown land, but on pri- vately-owned | land as well. Since the code is not yet in force, cabinet was poised to declare parts of it law, enabling the government to deal appropriately with the Ger- man robber baron. Like most culprit: I'll bet my laptop computer Beaumont's chain saws that Petter has known about the company’s record ks it to German robber baron problems caused by the compa- ny's logging practices. To back up his tough stance, Petter released a video tape of the work site shot by for some time. In fact, the min- ister said a few days after the story broke that Beaumont has ignored previous clean-up orders. officials played ‘dumb and pro- fessed their innocence. “We're ked, but we'll veut G stoke Lake and Highway 23 North, has been going on for about four years. News of the company's destructive forest broke just a few days before Forest Minister Andrew Petter was to go overseas to meet with and Swedish publishers and foresters, and European parlia- mentarians in Strasbourg, France. The purpose of Petter’s trip was to talk to the pow- ers that be about British Columbia's new Forest Practices Code, the introduction and appli- cation of which will set the course for sustainable harvesting practices in B.C.. The new code, which is not supposed to go into effect until further consultation with the for- Cracking down on the compa- ny on the eve of his departure to Europe is too much of a coinci- dence. On the other hand, con- from ah the. gompany refused to allow them onto ig The tape is nothing short of a horror a, the stuff that envi- ronmentalists wave around. It shows vast tracts of denuded mountainsides, scarred by wind- ing logging roads. Several soil are visible. Meanwhile, the threat of quickly bringing parts of the new ment,” * said J B member of Beaumont's board of directors. Petter, no slouch when it comes G *s Forest Practices Code on stream blackmal tactics against British bia forestry d I can “t fault Petter for exploiting the ion to his adv has spooked some other compa- nies. MacMillan Bloedel’s chief forester, Bill Cafferata, said rapid ion of the code would to politics, i the opportunity the situation offered. “It might be nice if Green- peace Germany were to focus some of their activities on Ger- man forest companies to change their practices. It goes to show bad forest practices are not a question of what country you're from,” he said. The minister also said he hopes that other forest compa- nies with operations on private land will pressure Beaumont into changing its ways voluntarily. Now, I should mention that I’m somewhat suspicious of the timing. age Beaumont, too, must have decided that discretion is the bet- ter part of valor. Beating by 24 hours the government deadline to clean up its act, “certainly cause a lot of con- cern.” Well, sir, so does Beau- mont's treatment of the land. With British Columbia's new Forest Practii Code, the lines announced last Sunday that it has agreed to a site inspection by B.C. government and company representatives. Mel Beaumont, president of Beaumont Timber, said the com- pany and the forest ministry will work as p ona will be clearly drawn. The com- pany that adheres to it has noth- ing to fear. That goes for Crown land as well as privately-owned tion in British Columbia. In i I'd like to say study of the I operations. Work on the site was not to to our august German prince: “Sire, the British arenes resume until the pany and the ministry reach an agree- ment on how to resolve the are g- d if I were you, I wouldn't respond with: “You can say that again.” Do it one step at atime It’s time to think about being environmentally friendly Almost every day we are bom- barded by negative messages about the world around us: our air and water are being polluted, we waste too much and produce too much garbage, our forests are being cut at too fast a rate, our food is full of pesticides, and on and on. What is to be done? We can con- sider the problems insurmountable and do nothing. We can turn to the government for some help, but their resources are limited. Or, we can begin to realize that we can take responsibility for some of these problems within our communities. Every day we make choices, whether we realize it or not, that impact the environment. By becoming mort aware of issues driven to piano, swim lessons or other hi functions. And it’s not up to the district to assure that : ingl parents who already have lots on their plate to deal with the bottom line is the district has to draw the line. The school district isn’t their children’s social Groce, Tor it 3 ep 60 then to seaangs thet chaideen 7 diene! temenngemmanath decane: digo to be ly parents and i not the school board and caregivers. It could also be an issue | which needs to be resolved with our transit system. However, the school board does have the clear to assure that students who are “legal- 0 ee ee ee left out in the cold because another student needs to get to daycare, swimming, or other such activities. The line was drawn (at least we thought so), but after the recent school board meeting that line has ished. One final questi 2S et #2 omen tees if their dati d and then trashed only a few months later? The school board has better things to do with their time than strike com- mittees that are valid in name only. Let's get on with educating our children! ERRORS: that the publisher shall not be lable for lab tor non-insoon of any ecvertaemert beyond the amount paid for such to publisher's te Soailats smmice eoghand watts ove yor er covarct date No contingent orders accepted. Printed in the U.S.A tal problems. We can start by making small are listed in order of effectiveness. In other words, it is more environ- and our will ese us the courage to tackle larger ae could begin in our homes. There is a lot of information avail- able today which can help us make those environmentally positive choices. Using this information, we can ourselves i razors, recycled products such as Paper, and on and on. In our yards and gardens we can phase out pesticides and herbi- cides in favor of organic hod: ly effective to reduce our When we see the positive changes we can make in our :p of than to recycle. We might also consider our driving habits. The automobile is such a part of our lives that we may forget that, environmentally ee it's a nightmare. up vast quantities of ate and fragment the to such an extent that bio-diversity is threatened. The manufacture of cars uses a tremendous amount of resources. The driving of them consumes Kitchen scraps, lawn clippings and weeds can go into a compost pile. The finished can then be used to enrich the garden soil instead of chemical fertilizers which tend to destroy soil struc- ture over time. Most of us have heard of the three environmental Rs: reduce, reuse and recycle. Many people in the Castlegar area are taking As individuals we can make some change in our automobile habits that, if practiced by enough people, could reduce the damage caused by driving. We could hold on to our cars longer and keep them in better running order, car pool, take pub- lic transit more frequently, ride bikes, and walk places more often. As an example: people shop- ping in downtown Castlegar could park their cars in one spot, grab their reusable shopping bags, and Speaker’s Corner Castlegar student Tamara Terry is I don't think Quebec is going to separate it’s what the I think they'll stay. They wouldn't make it on their own. Also I believe the people want to stay. Politi- Cians are elite; the PQ I feel that many minorities living in Canada show loyalty to their motherland. zens in Quebec, I feel the majority owe their loyalty to Canada. —Alex Pereverzoff I think they will stay with Canada. They're not ready to leave yet. Maybe in the far future, but they need us now. —Angela Plotnikoff some of you have con- cerns about the way growth is occurring in your community, or with watershed and forestry issues. Maybe you would like to see more green spaces, or bikes trails, or simply have your neighborhood -free. As individuals, and as groups of concerned people, we can change things whether they be the above issues or other environ- mental concerns, We must be willing to educate ourselves about the issues and then take the incentive to do something about them. So I urge the people in this area to take more of the responsi- bility for the care of our shared environment. Libby Ruljancich is a found- member of Community Action Network for a Better Environ- ment (CAN BE), which is based in Castlegar, although it has members from throughout the West Kootenay. If people would like further information about environmental issues and CAN BE and its mission call Noni at 399-4114 Wp tre canadian Red Cross BC -YUKON DIVISION Wednesday, September 21, 1994 Letters to the Editor Gouk’s excuses just political bafflegab Dear Editor: there was an article in various Sterling Newspapers about Jim Gouk taking his wife on a holiday at taxpayer expense. parliamen.- his airline privileges to take his wife when there was no official business. As a candidate in the there had to be official business to take my spouse. What I was told was that I could bring my family on six trips per year. I took that to be intended to take into account that I would be away from home much of the year and there might be times when it would be useful for my family to come to Ottawa or any other des- tination so we could be together, The job of an MP can be very demanding if done right. Bob Brisco’s two heart attacks are proof of that. The airline privi- leges are some small way of min- imizing the effect. Many MP's fly back to their ridings every week- end, When I flew to Ottawa it was at least five hours each way with one or two place changes. The travel alone is demanding. This is a long way of saying I the airline privileges are not unreasonable. But I believe Mr. Gouk’s rebut- tal [to Naumetz’s story) is just ki _ The Ref party and Mr. Gouk were ken in their criticism of MP perks, including airline privi- seem to be an attempt to make him popular with another sector but are not well thought out. ([Gouk's) criticism of Mr. Naumetz as being on a vendetta and as inaccurate, only-because his destination was Halifax, does not change the reality. ‘When you get caught with your hand in the cookie jar there are two legitimate answers. One is “I'm just having # cookie, I’m entitled to it.” Another is “Sorry, I won't do it ” But the answer which is unacceptable is “Just checking to see if it was empty.” Jim, if you have decided it is fine to take your wife and use the airline benefits, come clean. Don't make phoney-sounding excuses like you looked at ferry terminals. Some of your supporters may buy that! but the rest of us aren't likely to. Give people credit for having a little intelligence. Accusing the press of a vendet- ta for fair comment is a war you can't win. I understand they buy their ink in barrels. I learned a long time ago that you never lean on an open door or try to win a pissing match with a skunk. When you are outflanked, out- gunned and out numbered, cither give up or run away. The issue here is not whether you are enti- tled to take your wife.. You are. The issue is your credibility. Before, you criticized the bene- fits, and now you are taking full advantage. You do not appear to have learned from the lessons of gun als ke like to Local chamber explains colorful, b ifu ugly photo of C $4,361. We your editorial “We ter!’ in the edition of The Sun. I agree with your comment “There was only one disappoint- ing feature in the entire 27-page magazine, and it involved the half-page ad on Castlegar.” The Castlegar and District Chamber of Commerce submit- ted two ori and Ci y y of Yosse Studios). It had the gi grass and trees, bluest water and sky representing Castlegar to the fullest. It was the nicest pic- ture I have seen of Castlegar. The second picture submitted was of a completed portion of our downtown revitalization and how beautiful our down- town was after all of the h. But nei- negatives to the Kootenay Country Tourist Association for our advertisement. For some reason, only one picture made it to the Guide. We were not allowed to proof the pictures for our advertisement and [the KCTA)] chose which picture to |, use and which picture not to dse, consulting us. The picture we submitted was a very ther picture with its own beauty made it to the Vacation Guide. The Castlegar & District Chamber of Commerce is still trying to find out why. As to why Castlegar had only a half-page ad - it was all we could afford. The cost for a full Page was way beyond our bud- get. The half page ad cost the Castlegar and District Chamber received 50 per cent off through the Partners In Tourism program (Ministry of Tourism) and su 000 (City of Castlegar) and the remaining amount was paid by the Castlegar & District Chamber of Commerce. A full page ad would have cost us $8,722. We cannot afford this. With the limited funds we have to advertise and the many places, brochures and guides we advertise in, we have to be dis- cretionary in order to get the biggest bang for our buck. If anyone would like more infor- mation, please do not hesitate to contact the Chamber office. Renee Read Castlegar & District Chamber of Commerce Bill Vanderzaim or Gordon Wil- son. Come clean if your position is changing. You have justified the trip ore you are the party transport critic and that you were looking at transportation facili- ties. That's another way to say you were erldoud a holiday and seeing the Another reason to keep tax dollars in Canada Dear Editor: Further to Mr. Weldwood’s letter on “cross-border educa- tion shopping” (September 14, 1994 edition of The Castlegar Sun), do the people of this area realize that there is another form of cross border shopping occur- Gonzaga University in Spokane have been coming up here to deliver courses in the Master's of Program. It is my understanding that the students pay tuition in American funds. The faculty may buy a few meals and rent a few hotel rooms but they then leave the country to spend most of their earnings and pay taxes. Again we are supporting the American economy. In order to support the local (Canadian) economy one should consider enrolling in one of the programs offered by a British Columbian uni- versity. At least two provin- cial universities offer external Master’s of Education pro- grams. While the faculty who teach in these programs may spend only a few dollars locally they do pay federal and provincial taxes in this country. I ask the same question that Mr. Weldwood asks. Why should the local citizens sup- port an institution that pro- motes cross-border educational shopping? Another question. If the citizens of the West Koote- nay want education and health services locally, why are they not willing to support them by keeping tax dollars in Canada? Beverly A. Onischak, Robson Good call for columnist Dear Editor: In response to My Turn columnist Lynnene Davis, who Pp d in the Sep ber 14 edition of The Sun. Hooray and a pat on the back for you dear lady! I have long been an advocate of “teenagers on y September 21st. The classes will be held weekly for 17 weeke in J. L. Crowe Secondary School in Trail, Room 207 at 7:00 - 10:00 pm. For further it are people” but I was to feel alone in my We need more mar to real- ize that they need a place to socialize just as we “adults?” do. Frances Ritson Dale McRae at 1-604-693-2232 or 61. ¢ CUSTOM PAINTING ¢ L.C.B.C. CLAIMS We recommend 811 Columbia General Paint It Doesn't Cost Anymore To Choose The Best YOUR COMPLETE AUTOBODY & COLLISION CENTRE ¢ WINDSHIELD REPLACEMENT ¢ FRAME REPAIR © SENIORS DISCOUNT ¢ COURTESY CARS QUALIFIED JOURNEYMEN GGiusioN Lp) 3805 365.2585 Avenue *For all the details, visit: a © Wallcoverings * Window Blinds castenar- BA- 365-6214 Products Cn ple dean a The earlier peop! 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