OPINION Mi, Sastl idar Sun AS : . PUBLISHER JON JARRETT SHARLENE IMHOFF DONNA JORY EDITOR ADVERTISING REP, JOHN SNELGROVE CATHERINE ROSS PRODUCTION MANAGER ADVERTISING REP. DENISEGOLDSTONE © ROBERT PROCTOR CIRCULATION MANAGER ADVERTISING JIM ZEEBEN NICOLE BE! REPORTER BRENDAN HALPER REPORTER The © Ly ETSTRA PRODUCTION/OFFICE MARION ANDERSON PRODUCTIONREPORTER Direct Department Phones Generel OFICE sssserseersssrsersesseesSB5-5266 9365-5266 el iti Ads 365-7848 Display Advertising ..... «365-2278 365-5579 No hats editorial comment -‘Castlegar's summer ' festival in a_ - serious situation "A lot of people who think about Castlegar, think CAROL GOAR (5 The seventh anniversary of the election that brought Brian Mul-: roncy to power slipped by quietly ” recently. There were no congratulatory: Now we have lost not only in our icaders, but also in our national institutions,, We. feel trapped. We resent. anyone who appears to have something we don’t have, And Mulroney — ‘at least the P or happy The prime minister didn’t invite his old campaign team to 24 Sussex Drive, as he usually docs on Sept. 4. The only acknowledgment of the occasion was a cake — with seven y we sce -— is a different He came to us in 1984 as'a lead- er who could speak for all of Cana- _da, But with each passing year, he . has sounded more and more like a ; Queb in Ottawa, He used to candles — p dto Ly by. his office staff, It was probably best to keep things quict. Nostalgia has its risks. Jog voters’ memories and they might recall Mulroney’s bold 1984 prediction: “Give us 20 years — and it is coming — and you will not rec- ognize this country.” Already, Canada is a different place than it was, Seven Years ago, the economy was growing by leaps and bounds; Quebecers had set aside their pre- with the Constitution to make money and westerners were convinced they had finally found their voice in Ottawa. Now, we're recovering from a recession; Quebec is once again pondering Secession; and the West ing that it will never :}| about summer. And when they think about they think of Castl ’s biggest time festi- yal - Sunfest. Local residents thoroughly enjoy what this iveekend festival has to offer in regards to events, activities and sporting competitions. And local merchants, no doubt, enjoy seeing our small city play host to the surrounding area, and even the province. The entire community benefits a great deal from this event, so it should come as no surprise that the ntire community must be involved to ensure it temains a benefit. Somewhere along the line - this hasn’t been the ase. =: This year, the situation is serious. So serious is this lack of involvement, that some members of the -bard working Sunfest committee fear the festivalig ‘Ss lemise. = What? A summer without Sunfest? | The very thought might be devastating to some ‘locals, especially those who have become boat rac- sing enthusiasts. : Fortunately, this doesn’t have to be the case. 1 It’s true that raising your hand and saying “I’d ‘like to help”, is not always easy. But if enough shands were raised, the easier the task would be to tkeep Sunfest afloat. Not only that, it might even be ‘fun getting together with other members of the icommunity to share thoughts and ideas about this Syear’s festival. % If you’re interested, attend a meeting in the base- ‘ment of Jenny’s restaurant, Wednesday night (tonight). 2 Roll call at this meeting could determine whether jor not a second meeting will be scheduled - ever ragain. By Don Addis © 1901 Censors Synctcate, ne. Lit anas ene, fwta : mes AMNN EOD ee ees Nee ett erasers rer “4S POLITICALLY INDEPENDENT. ANDA = MEMBER OF THE STERLING NEWS SERVICE ished November.28, 1 ‘Second Class Mailing Permit Pending Published by The Casti pa Sun « Weekly on Wedne: 465 Columbia Ave.. Castlogar. Ey Cc. VIN G8 have the political clout to match its economic power. ‘We have changed too. Seven years ago, we believed in fresh starts. We were willing to take chances, We believed we had put the politics of envy behind us. “tall of national reconciliation. Now . “he sneers at the provincial pre- miers, accusing them of carping without offering solutions, He once prided himself on his ability to read the public mood. Now he insists we simply don't realize that free trade, « the goods and services tax and cuts in government services are good for us. In fairness to the prime minister, he has grown in his'seven years in office. He has learned how to stick to “his own agenda, rather than being thrown off course by political set- backs, attacks in the media, or the fumbling of his ministers. He has become a skilful per- former on the international stage. For all his troubles at home, the prime minister has developed a warm personal relationship with most of the world leaders he has met in his seven years in office. US. President George Bush, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, Ger- man Chancellor Helmut Kohl, French P Mit- \terand, former Bath pea Minis- ter Margaret Thatcher (he is still getting to know her successor, John Major) and most.of the Common- wealth heads of government all genuinely like and-respect Mul- roney, F He does not crack under.pres- sure. Until a politician has faced’ month after month of unrelenting public criticism, he or she remains untested as a leader. Mulroney has been tested and has passed. y And he has broken the govern- and balloons at this pas : the human factor. . . : Voters are people with pride, intelligence and emotions,» (\ 1's) Every time: Mulroney. boasts that he is going to win again because his policies are right, he is saying to us: you are wrong.’ You are not smart cnough to figure out that: free trade, a new consumption tax and the dismantling of national symbols such as VIA Rail are.in your own best interests, But you will come around, Wait and see. Every time he pulls out anothér sheaf. of projections showing that the i d, he ment of a 22-year habit of spendii ene than Canadian tax; taxpayers pro- ide. Mulroney predicts that we will not only thank him for these achievements by the end of his mandate; we will also re-elect him, with a third majority, He has said so no fewer than seven times in the past month, to journalists, to fellow Tories and to the nation at large, His forecast cannot be discount- ed. He has tumed the polls around before, as he never tires of remind- ing skeptics. And neither. Liberal Leader Jean Chretien nor New Democratic Party Leader Audrey McLaughlin seems to be lighting any fires. If the 1993 election tums out to be a referendum on the govern- ment’s plan to save Confederation, as the Tories intend, Mulroney may be able to sell himself as the cham- pion of national unity. But there is one factor Mulroney is overlooking in his calculations — is on is saying to all the workers whose jobs have disappeared and all:the families who know they will never share in the expansion: the big pic- ture is-improving. That is what counts. You are just a statistical aberration. The prime minister of 1984 spoke of the “tragedy of unemploy- ment”. The prime minister of today talks about his “prosperity agenda”. The Brian Mulroney of 1984 told us he was going to carn our trust. The Brian Mulroney of 1991 says we will learn to see things his way. Anniversaries are a time to take stock. ‘Wednesday, September 18, 1991 Letters. to ithe Editor. x 4 1 t 1 « t recent articles (Nelson Daily. jews, August 26; Castlegar News, ;Castlegar Sun, and. Arrow Lakes jNews, August 28) relative to Dr, +Dayid Suzuki's visit to the New {Denver/Silverton area, Comments ialtributed to him relative to’ the Tread with some interest of the ade of poteritinl roa building i in the Hasty Creek area of Slocan Valley were of particular interest. As well as interesting, I: found some of his reported comments to be somewhat puzzling; Such as; i.:“There’s lots of evidence in BC that we have much 'to learn about how a forest works. We the most corigervative al approach in view of our igno-, Tance,” I fully agree there is much to’ Iearn about forests, as there’ is. much to learn about genetics, biology. or any science. Only the very egotistical or very foolish, thinks he knows all thee is to in ignorance know, However, the ‘puzzling part collection and analysis that | of this is the Alliatice are met: So by rejecting: given that an approach other than a conservative one has been taken ~ in the harvest plans for Hasty Creek. To my knowledge, neither I nor any member of the Arrow Forest District staff was over a y peri-, od. This data and ly the opp y to key to the resource plans for the area. The resultant plan for timber harvest involves small opening over 118 ha of the approximately 1250 ha Of the 118 ha by Dr. Suzuki regarding the data ‘Attack was totally uncalled for ear Editor: 1) [would like to respond to the long letter by oMr. Ken Arnett and his critical attack on Mr. David Suzuki concerning his lecture held in :New Denver, pol attended this meeting and was very itnpressed and inspired by Suzuki’s speech. (The hushed attention of the full auditorium saunas attested to the power of this gentle ' oT Ate There was nothing mean or vicious in his 1iSpeech; therefore, in my opinion, Mr. Ametts criticism is unfair, unkind and uncalled for. , Such critical attitudes have been used against “the saints and Prophets of ages past and they were, ultimately, ‘sacrifi iced for the crime of telling the truth, Thasten to add that I do not pretend to be an expert on Forest Resources nor am J inter- ested in all the data and statistics that have smothered the Forestry and Environment for years until one can not see the Forests for all the paper that has abscured the trees, But for those’ who have eyes to See: we know that our sheds are being di coffee we are denied any meaningful action. We receive platitudes, not commitments. to quote Mr, Arnett’s words in the third Paragraph of his letter,“ There is no broad- cast (slash) burning planned” and further, “There is no intention to usc pesticides” I find the above less than and that are considered for harvesting, approximately. 40 percent. of the timber volume will be removed. The result will be the removal of about 4 percent of the watershed volume if it is all considered 'to be of equal timber value. I should hope this plan is an indication of were * the :p1 SS, with alli resource users, is the community: actually “dealing with land issues"? ‘Had ‘they taken the timg to participate ‘they may have dis} covered that some of their report: ed unresolved issues have beer . addressed. Such as: 1) small openings rather thay conventional clear cuts will bd ’ created; 2) level of harvest; 3) there is no _broadcas| and our objectives to harvest in a very conservative manner. I believe Dr. Suzuki's statement was made in quote “somewhat puzzling.” Environment issues are far too important to ingly. We would welt the ty to “participate in the process” but no matter how hard we strive, how nice and courteous the meetings have been or how gencrously we have been ‘treated with smiles, doughnuts and d as a war between “good guys” >and “bad guys”. Let’s be fair; it is our sacred duty to protect our sources of safe drinking water and breathable air not the sacred inter- ests of a few corporations. : Pat Romaine Act of disobedience arose from a deep commitment ear Editor: On September 6, Pete eighty- ;four rural British Columbi to allow meaningful public involvement in watershed man- "from the Slocan valley were | et pases for denying Slocan Forest access to the Hasty is tough, and canny. He heads the oh polit- ical party that can claim to be national. And he has a habit of con: founding his critics. But he is losing touch with the people, And in a democracy, there is no greater failing. One person's meat — so to speak MICHAEL FRASER The Fraser Institute I'm sure that many Canadians will share the reaction: pt House of Commons Culture Committce chair- man, Felix Holtman to the sculpture * "|’ Vanatox “Flesh dress for an albino anorexic” which is currently on dis- play at the National Gallery of Cana- da. The sculpture, by Montreal artist Jana Sterbak, consists of $300 worth of flank steak sewn together so as to comprise a dress which is hung on a rack. Mr. Holtman has reacted to pres- sure from complaints, and probably his own instincts, by summoning the gallery's director, Shirley Thompson, to appear before the committee to explain the gallery’s decision to pay to have this sculp- ture on display. Not surprisingly, the gallery has drawn broadsides from all three major federal politi- cal parties and the ire of food banks and soup kitchens for permitting such a large amount of food to be “wasted” in such a manner. While the burden of the concern of the art gallery's critics has been the fact that food has been wasted in this way, there is also the unmis- takable impression that what is really at issue is a disagreement ’ tse earn about the artistic merit of the sculp- ture. The fact that it is made from food really is beside the point, since whatever a sculpture is made from, the cost of constructing it could have been used to buy food. As Mr. Holtman noted in a com- ment to the Canadian press, “using meat as a medium for artistic expression is one issue, but the idea of the tax-funded National Gallery spending money for it is another.” Whether Holtman is successful in getting the gallery to remove the offending article from the gallery or not, there can be no question that his action in summoning the director to the' committee will influence ee choices that the gallery will the future when deciding on its acquisitions. This possibility gives Tise to the question as to how deci- sions about the acquisition of art at the National Gallery should be made. As the proverbs remind us, art is in the eye of the beholder, and one person’s meat is another person’s poison. So, too, it should be obvi- ous that whatever selections are made by the National Gallery, undoubtedly somebody’s sensibili- ties will be abused. Moreover atively narrow group within the Canadian population. In fact, a recent study by The Fraser Institute, Government Spending Facts, sug- gests that of all expenditures on cul- ture and recreation activities, 57.7 Per cent oes to the top 30 per cent of the income distribution since they tend to be more interested i in ing in such opp than those with lower incomes. > In the end, nobody should be sur- prised that the selections of the of and p ip artistic events tends to be related e education and income levels, and it’s likely that those who do the choosing at the National Gallery will reflect the sensibilities of a rel- Gallery don’t reflect aver- age tastes. Average folk are not their clientele. The question is, should average folk be called upon to pro- vide the tax dollars which are used to make any of these purchases? Wanting to add Bean's blown it! Le Having put his members aay ve ani strike, “PSAC president Daryl Ban now wants to add insult to injury. Bean is urging PSAC members 2, to stay off the ‘job as the govern- “ment brings down legislation which + wwill-end the walkout ‘and impose increases of 0%, 3% and 3%. _, Having spent the past week oe) beating their heads against’a stone wall, Bean wants his ‘members to come back for more. mu: ‘are aga ‘dumb as he obviously is. ancial Post ‘editor Diane: gies) L: ouldn’t: go that far, but one who is giving, thes? li PSAC strategic advice. On the government side it is clear; Brian Mulroney, a successful - labor lawyer long before he went into Politics is quarter backing the it team. So far he’ 's winning, hands down, =; It helps when you have the power of Parliament behind you, but PSAC and the posties didn’t have to fall ‘into the government's trap. It was (Mulroney's idea to appoint Judge Allan Gold to medi- ate the postal dispute. : : Gold’s ‘subsequent deal with the parties:to keep the mail moving while the talks’continue, was noth- ing short of brilliant. ‘What does’ ‘Mulroney get out of “As Parliament resumes tomor- w,-insteud ‘of having the Centre «Block surrounded by angry Postal workers’ and striking PSAC mem- bers; the: government, has only the - comparatively itame’PSAC crew with which to contend. Polls. show | the public j is not: « sympathetic to the union. The pub- 2 hatever raise insult to injury PSAC gets will have to come from their pockets in the form of higher taxes, Knowing they don’t have over- whelming public support, PSAC should have avoided a direct con- ion with the g and instead tried to win the hearts, and minds of Canadians, Cc agents for ex: could have made only cursory checks of travellers retuming from the US. That would have thrilled the buying public and would have meant smaller tax revenues for the government. . The public would have thought. *PSAC was great; and the .govern- "ment would have felt the pinch. ::— But no, the PSAC executive; couldn’t think in those ferme. THEY, wanted confrontation. It.was only when it became clear ~ : to even the thickest. of the PSAC. brass, thi the government wasn't ing 19, pues that the union began |: buying ney 4 “altempt to. en Canadians what nice.:: “people they. were. sspaper. ads,.in a belate One featured Gail Myles and her “Kids. ‘I won't pay, my irent™ and: nding a bigger raisc. I's a: nice ad, but by the time it ran in papers across the nation, it was already too late. The government had control of the agenda, and prodded by their friends in the business community, had raised the specter of massive industrial layoffs, and with it public support for back-to-work legisla- tion. Zero, three and three, Forty percent of PSAC members » understood that was all they were’ going to get, and they voted against the strike, But not the old Beaner! He was busy taking advice from : “Greek watershed. Three times in two weeks over 250 people took time from their work and personal 'Tives to stand on the road in sup- (Port of the Hasty Creek water _ users. On the third day 84 of those “refused to move and were arrested ,as they sat in silent, solemn \ demand for fair and just treatment. 1 Among those arrested are farmers, business people, forestry workers, professionals, consul- tants, teachers, trades people, stu- dents and children. Our common concern is the Protection of thea water which sustains us and the right to infl ing deci- ‘We were willing to face arrest because we believe our water is at tisk. Our need for a watershed planning and management which protects water is being ignored by our government. This is Not just a local matter, Watersheds all over the province are at risk, For more than eight years the Hasty Creek water users, repre- sented by the Red Mc Res- oped without public input and © ‘approved’ by only the ministries. Our view is supported by other watershed groups who have been - saddled with IWMPs and now are facing water problems. Having reached an impasse in our negotiations with government ministries, we contacted the provincial Mr. nient. Instead Slocan Forest Prod- ucts chose to seek a court injunc- tion prohibiting residents from blocking the company’s access to the watershed. The industry can have a legal right to engage in activities that degrade water, should be a matter of serious concem to all water users Steven Owen, who agreed to investigate the situation. : Despite the fact that the idents’ Association and the Slocan Valley Watershed Alliance have made sincere attempts to obtain an adequate process, Our discussions and negotiations with the relevant ministries have been fruitless, the ministries have been” willing to consult but our recom- ‘ions have been ignored. sions in our Valley. * We want to make it known that our act of peaceful civil dis- obedience arose from-a jdcee to thé:p water and to democratic recess! Tt was a last resort in response to the governments’ unwillingness We regret the ministry of Forests” claim that its Integrated shed Management Plan (SMB) for: Ae Hay Creek hon dard timber harvest ow devel- 's investigation is still in progress, the ministry of Forests issued a Road Building Permit to Slocan Forest Products, giving the company a legal right to begin logging road construction in the Hasty Creek watershed, Ina: final attempt to avoid con- Red N in Res- h the province. Presently, neither the Water Act nor the Forest Act provides adequate legal protec- tion for water or involvement pro- cess in order to impact important land use decisions. Our experience had demonstrated that in order to be meaningful such a process must include a fair dispute resolution mechanism. We, the Hasty Creek 84, firm- ly! believe that our act of civil dis- di was an honourable idents Association tried to persuade Slocan Forest Products to delay road building at least dsm made one, That 84 residents, young and old alike, were arrested for an act of conscience should be sufficient dicati that i is terri- of t he relevant facts. 2. A further quote attributed to Dr. Suzuki: “What we need are more examples of communities that are dealing with land use issues that face them." A road blockades really the way for truly interested parties to “deal with land use issues"? We have been attempting (with a con- siderable degree of success) to have local resource users partici- pate in the total planning process. In this situation (Hasty Creek), the Red Mountain Residents’ Association has advised the For- est Service on numerous occa- sions they are NOT willing to participate until certain demands of the Slocan Valley Watershed Well done and thanks Dear Editor: I would like to thank the Castlegar District Development Board for their help in sending a group of five young hard work- ing people to cut down weeds and provide a general clean up of the Brilliant U.S.C.C. Cemetery. Thank you very much for organizing such a well thought Out project. T also would like to thank the young people for their good work, bly wrorig fierce. * ‘ 1 & _ "Hasty Creek 84 "' {el i assifieds. sell fast! 4) there is no intention to us¢ pesticides. It is unfortunate the spoked person for the Residents’ Associ. ation could not inform Dr. Suzuki of these relevant facts. The next time soméone ‘of Br} Suzuki’s prominence visits'q resource activity in the Arrow Forest District, I would hope he or she :could ispend a few, moments: to visit us and learn how we are trying to improve upon how we work in a forest. As Iam of the opinion it is of ii impor+ tance to learn more of how to work in a forest, as well as tot learn more about how a fores works, H vt Ken E. Arnett: District Manager: Arrow Forest District, Well done and thank you. Nick Konkin: Cohoe Insurance Vehicle Transfers License Plates ay 1127 4th St., Castlegar gq 36573301... pape refused, stating that to do so would be economically inconve- ‘NDP mies water thrown on its face’ Dear Editor: At the rally in support of the Hasty Creek protesters held out- side the courthouse n Monday, Corky Evans said the Socreds are using the police and the courts to gtind up the Hasty Creek protesters in a cynical effort to get elected. According to Corky, the NDP isn’t doing anything like that. «In January 1991, Larry Keuhn, prominent NDP green, editor of New Directions magazine, com- mented in an editorial i in that ine on NDP it : “When the NDP called together ‘its candidates for a brief- ing session on the hot issues for the long-delayed provincial elec- tion campaign, one might have thought the environment would be at the top of the list. No way. It wasn"t even listed. The party brass think it is no longer salient.” At the recent rally, Corky said he had been in touch with Har- coutt’s office, and talked about he Environment and Jobs Accord, a - concept that predates the meeting Kuehn wrote about. ' Larry Kuehn again: “By. not taking a clear. provincial Position on the hot environment issues, the NDP allows local candidates to determine de facto the party's environmental platform for the next election.” The local candidates can say what they think the electorate will buy. The applause for Corky at the Hasty Creek rally was jiastic. The way Corky says Parrot and his gang of G h : Marxists. Rank and file members ofa union that's fared so badly in a bat- i te against the least popular govern-. ment in Canadinn history have.a: right to know. why they’ve thrown away i weeks’ wages. It's*a. question Gail Myles: « should ask Daryl Bean, 'as he urges’ her and thousands tike’her, to go a without’ pay for a second week:- an ideological, struggle BSAC. can i : never. win, it, the NDP. has a province wide overall plan which will eliminate the necessity for the kind of action people have found neces- sary 10 take over Hasty Creek. * Kuchn summed up his feelings by quoting peter Newman: “Politicians are so dishonest these days: you can’t even trust them when they say they‘re lying". * Ponce addressed the NDP green caucus, at-the spring 1990 Vancouver convention, the most recent major convention of that party. I said this coalition is going to act when it is in power the same way it acts on its way to power. I said that a caucus which dares not ‘bring up the subject of growth inside its own party can- not be called green. They voted to eject me in the middle of my ° speech. The NDP cannot ‘debate whether there even is an ecologi- cal imperative because their coalition would fall apart, They ask envi ists for” thrown in its face. Canada’s social programs were enacted because the NDP existed, not because it ever formed the government. Green votes can facilitate band-aid environmental legislation as effectively as votes for whatever government,even though Greens know change must shake civilization to its core. Only by trying to build a political for- mation that accepts that ecology is the solidarity, and promise they will be better than the “evil” Socreds. It isn’t going to be good enough, and we could try facing it. the NDP. needs some: cold water of all that humans value will one ever by built. Why do we have to go so qui- etly as we slide into the abyss? David Lewis Crescent Valley Castlegar & District UNITED WAY “People Helping Peenie 7 Saturday, ‘September 21 Castlegar Community Complex GIANT FLEA MARKET 9 am- 1 pm sosanettl & Meat sauce ont: &'Meat sauce teag Ine &' Meat sauce Feftucini Alfredo: Vegetarian Spaghetti! includes gariic toast ONLY $6.59 . Unguini with Clam sauce Fettucini Seafood Fettucini Carbonero Includes garlic toast Still hungry? ) od ‘an'8 oz New York Steak © to‘any of the’ mort © pastes for only $5.00 more! $5.95 Crepes LAE 458 Crab Crepes: =. Crepes Florentine. Shrimp Crepes 5 1 Asparagus Crepes esa These eat-in. Specials a are ; effect from ine ‘Wed: PANCAKE BREAKFAST 8:30 am - 11 am Adults - $2.00 ¢ Students & Seniors - $1.00 © under six - free : Library Book Sale and much, much more Canvas Blitz Sept. 25 & 26 Local agencies the Castlegar & District United Way supports: Castlegar Community Services * West Kootenay National Exhibition Centre * Kootenay Columbia Child Care Society « Light & Power Theatre Co. * Kootenay Society for Community Living * Red Cross * C.N.I.B. >» Arthritis Society * B.C. Childrens hospital * W.I.N.S, Trail (Women in ““ Nead Society) * West Kootenay Cerebral Palsey Association. ONE KNOCK, ONE DONATION “Thanks to You It's Working” Castlegar. & District United Way: For information call 365-7331 or by mail: — 1995 - 6th Ave. Castlegar, B.C. t $50,000 $37,500 $25,000 $16,000 “People Helping Peopie”’