Norman PLANT FOREMAN — Peter Harvey OFFICE MANAGER — Lindo Kositsin vested in and belongs to Castle News kid. “Gee provided however es copyright in teat part end wat part ecvertwement prepared trom repre prects, engravings, etc. provided By the 10 the advertier advertiser shall 1 The CPR connection It is interesting that three of the major issues concerning Castlegar area residents this summer involve CP Rail; the footbridge across the Columbia River; the CP Rail heritage station; and CP Rail's plan to spray herbicide along its tracks in the Castlegar area. Coinciden- ce? Certainly. But it also shows the key role CP Rail plays in this com- munity. FOC halt of that, if in fact the relocation proves tocostless? And that's presuming residents want council to spend that much money on thé station. Certainly, the station is an important link with Castlegar's past and is worth preserving. But the question is at what cost? Then there's the time element. CP Rail says it wants the station Letters to the Editor THI The footbridge will be upgraded, but the decision was never CP Rail's since the footbridge the Ministry of Highways’ respon- sibility. CP Rail was only involved because the footbridge is attached to its railway bridge. Once again it was clear how voicing an opinion can make a dif- ference. The highways ministry in- tended to close the footbridge because it requires substantial repairs. But it changed its mind. ighway ini: Cliff, Michael made a point of mentioning that the “considerable support” local residents mustered for saving the footbridge played a part in the ministry's decision to spend $10,000 on renovations. It pays to protest. CP RAIL STATION The CP Rail station presents a slightly tougher dilemma, prin- cipally because Castlegar council finds itself on its own with this problem. CP Rail gave the heritage station building to the city on the condition the city move the building. That's where the problem arises. Where does the city come up with the $40,000 moving cost — or even r by mid. . That leaves council less than three mon- ths to decide if it wants the building and then come up with a plan to pay for it. Finally, what will the building be used for? And will it cost still more money to upgrade once it's moved? These questions remain to be an- swered before council proceeds with the relocation, but one solution worth looking at is to initiate a fund-raising appeal similar to the one that played push the library budget over the top. Three months isn't long, but even if just $10,000 was raised, it could be enough to sway the city into put- ting up the remainde: HERBICIDE SPRAYING The herbicide spraying problem is relatively simple. Mayor Audrey Moore came up with the solution in just one sentence at this week's Environmental Appeal Board hearings: Have CP Rail brush the tracks instead of spraying them. Mrs. Moore says the brushing machines which cut the vegetation from a truck that runs along the rail track, work quite effectively in Europe. And, she’s right on the button when she says i one thing this area doesn’t need, it's more chemicals. Ron Norman Almost every government has a single image it projects, or for which it is best remembered. In the Bill Bennett government it was re- straint. In his father’s government it was the great dam building proj- ects. It's a bit more difficult to locate in the Brian Mulroney government (because his government seems to have come slightly unravelled) but it’s there. It is seen in the relentless pursuit of a free trade agreement with the U.S. In the Bill Vander Zalm govern- ment it's in the way he deals with the public — his much-balleyhooed new openness. Vander Zalm himself is a good example of the new open- ness. He hands down opinions on everything from abortion to gam- bling. And he does it whether he's walking across a parking lot or sit. ting down at a formal news con ference. But perhaps the supreme exam- ple of Vander Zalm's new approach is his countless task forces. He has commissioned so many task forces he’s given new meaning to the word. It started out innocently with the task force established to look into liberalizing B.C. liquor laws and pri vatizing the province's liquor stores. That was fair enough. It made sense to test the waters of public opinion before deciding whether to make beer and wine available at the corner store. But he didn’t stop there. Like a man who once having tasted a new drug can't seem to get enough, Vander Zalm had to have more task forces. So there was a second; then a third; and a fourth. Pretty soon it seemed like there were task forces cross-crossing the province nearly bumping into one another along the way. Each one was gauging public opinion on some issue of importance. And just what were these vital issues? Among them were legiti mate things like what to do with toxic waste materials. But included were things like an examination of B.C.'s heritage; and just last week a task force on library spending was announced. (In its defence, the Vander Zalm government established the library funding task force — which includes Castlegar Mayor Audrey Moore as its vice-chairman — at the request Cable hike questioned In response to a recent request by Shaw Cable to raise monthly sub- scription rates, I have to question this apparent increase. One portion of the I do agree with is the improvement of current signal quality because at times in the past, reception could be considered somewhat shabby due to interference, excessive ter- restrial sparkles, etc. What I cannot see as justifiable is Shaw Cable's claim of adding three new basic services to the Trail/Castlegar viewing area. (CBC French, House of Commons Channel, and KAYU-TV from Spokane, Wash- ington). At the time of writing this letter, Shaw Cable has yet to add KAYU to its regular list of programming. A recent phone call to their office in Castlegar only resulted in being told that it would be still another month or two before the channel in question would be added in this area. What bothers me is why do they come right out and state that it is available (referring to a Shaw Cable newsletter that arrived in the mail last Greater powers This last Saturday (July 25) we had the unveiling of the Tolstoy statue at the Doukhobor Museum. There had been months, perhaps years, of plan- ning for this unqiue occasion. The dig- nitaries were ready with their long speeches to honor Tolstoy, but in Tols- toyan mode, greater powers moved to command the day. Saturday morning nature took charge and gave us a display of the fury of K thunderstorms; the of the union of B.C. i S and the B.C. Library of Trustees Association. But Victoria has ig- nored other UBCM requests. Why pick up on this one?) Now, I want to make clear there is nothing wrong with task forces. They are wonderful things. They provide Joe Average with a chance to walk in, and without having prepared a formal submission, make his views known. But they are limited and they begin to lose their effectiveness when they become as common as gum on a shoe. That might explain why there were so few people at the toxic wastes task force hearing in Castle- gar a few weeks ago. That task force will make recommendations that could possibly see a toxic waste dump established in the West Kootenay — perhaps even near Castlegar (though it’s unlikely). But the impact of that task force was diminished somewhat when it came just a month or two after a liquor privatization task force was in town and a few weeks after a heritage task force was in the area. Who knows, if the trend contin- ues, we could see task forces into recreation complexes. That could be followed by a task force on B.C. place names, then street names, and finally the ultimate task force: a task force on task forces. Besides, task forces aren't the only means to determine public opinion. Why not have local MLAs hold public meetings? It could bring them into closer touch with the. people they represent. But I guess it could be worse. We could have a government that never ventured out into rural and small town B.C. to hear what those of us who live outside the Lower Main land and Vancouver Island have to say. We could have a government that sat in Victoria and made de. cisions solely based on some bur- eaucrat's report. But a task spending? force on library warring clouds continued their inter change up to the official hour drowning out the microphones of the orators. The latter had to concede their verbal out. pourings to that of the persistent rain. The statue was unveiled and Tolstoy stood unruffled by the proceedings with his right hand tucked in his belt looking out on the bedraggled crowd. The storn rumbled away like the sound of distant gunfire, and the people adjourned gratefully to the protection of the Brilliant Cultural Centre. The dark skies slowly cleared that afternoon and by early evening the elements had declared their peace. The valley was left to arf open blue tran- quility. Tolstoy surveyed the scene and liked the strength and possibilities of his new surroundings. Colin Pryce Castlegar week) when in reality it is not. This strikes me as a promotional deception on the cable company’s part to make the public feel satisfied with its services. The CBC French channel is another matter entirely. If Shaw Cable was to take an area census, they'd find that people in the Trail/Castlegar region would not be too interested in a French channel; but here it is nevertheless and we are supposed to be grateful because it is “newly” offered to its subscribers. ~Remember “When? 35 YEARS AGO From the Aug. 7, 1952 News Castlegar firemen performed yoeman service over the weekend, an- swering a record total of six alarms, five of which were on Saturday. ‘The last of these was an incendiary blaze which is still being investigated by the RCMP. The fiery weekend began with an alarm about 3:30 Friday afternoon. A number of empty cement bags in the basement of W. Wanjoff's partially completed dwelling at the south end of the village had caught on fire. . 28 @ Against a background of soaring temperatures and some of the lowest humidity readings of the season, some six forest blazes have given Castlegar Forestry District firefighters one of their busiest weekends of the season. The west Robson fire which des- troyed the home of Pete Saliken last Friday afternoon was the first call handled by the forestry men during the weekend. . * @ Construction began this week on a new office and a printing shop for the Castle News. F. Eremenko is having the store now occupied by B. Huber on Columbia Instead of red progi g why doesn’t our local cable company do what I've heard Shaw Cable systems in Alberta will be doing soon. For an extra dollar per month, they will be offering TSN and Much Music without having to use a descrambler. This in my opinion would be worth the $2.15 increase they propose per month. Donald Ball Castlegar Film gives different view of Witnesses Recently, we had a large influx of Jehovah's Witnesses into our area for propheesies are thoroughly docum- ented in this excellent film. Also shown one of their religious \- Outwardly, they present a picture of a happy, moral people, satisfied with their lot. However, I have just viewed a -y film on the W. Society of Jehovah's Witnesses, called Witnesses of Jehovah, which provides aclearer view. I believe people inviting Jehovah's Witnesses into their homes should be made aware of their history and doctrinal changes. For example, they have set the date for the end of the world several times over the past 100 years, namely 1874, 1914, 1925, and the latest, 1975. All of these false are the effects on family life, from refusal to join in family celebrations, to lose of life over refusal of blood transfusions. The saddest thing is that should a baptised Jehovah's Witness come to disagree with any of the doctrines of the Society, or simply wish to leave and participate in family activities again, they are “disfellowshipped,” and never spoken to again by any of their J.W. friends and former associates. There is no honorable way out of this organ- ization once in. Rev. Kenneth Smith Castlegar Get back on track Though I am very pleased with the Progressive Conservative govern- ment’s ability to keep inflation and interest rates down and the fact that the economy (and jobs) is beginning to pick up. I have been upset with some of the decisions they have made of late. I feel that perhaps Prime Minister Brian Mulroney is trying to be all things to all people and unfor- tunately that is impossible. We elected a right wing government by a very strong majority and I feel that the majority of the people want more right wing decisions. It is fine to try to be the nice guy in certain things, but one should use logic, too, and remember it is we “the taxpayers” who have to foot the bill and suffer the consequences. Though it is true that once a gov- ernment is elected they have to rep- resent all the people, I still feel that if Tribute to Bob Last week at the memorial service for Bob Wood, the late owner of Bob's Marina on the Arrow Lake by Syringa Creek, the following poem was read. A number of the people in attendance said they would like to have a copy, and that they would like to see it published in the paper. I think it is a fitting tribute to one who contributed to the boating enjoy ment of our community. ROBERT IAN WOOD We nearly stopped at Nancy Greene But decided to go on To Syringa Creek on Arrow Lake Upriver from the dam. We took a stroll down by the lake When two plump dogs came nearer And there below we saw the sign A white one “Bob's Marina” “So come on down,” a voice called out, “Don't stand up there and stare, I know the view’s intriguing you But it costs the same down here.” A floating cabin on the lake Smoke curling from the stack A fleet of boats all gathered ‘round The biggest at his back! We'd seen this scene in magazines But never dreamt we could See this first hand, be privileged to meet Bob and Margaret Wood. The finest coffee in the world Came from that cabin small “It’s in the water,” Bob would say, “There's nothing false at all —" “It’s pure and clean from lake serene No chemicals — understood? It’s honest, strong, Canadian And that’s what makes it good.” He'd tell us all the stories Of his ‘childhood in Hong Kong, His call to war in Europe Where he served his country long. they are elected as a right wing party they should continue to be right wing. It is no wonder the NDP won those three seats; it is getting hard to tell who is right wing and who is left wing. The NDP supporters are not likely to vote Conservative no matters how much of B.C. they are given, or how many wishy washy motherhood dec- isions are made. But some who voted Conservative last time may vote otherwise this time because they have lost confidence or are confused. Some of our Conservative members would not likely vote for another party, but if they are displeased they may not vote at all which could lead to the same consequence. I feel the only way we can regain confidence in the Conservative party is to make the leaders remember why they were voted in and get them back on track. Iris Bakken Salmo Wood Of fishing in Prince Rupert, Duck shooting from a ditch. The stories went long into night The tales all full and rich. He'd proudly take us in his boat To show us ‘round his world Up to Renata then back down — King Neptune's flag unfurled. He loved his lake, his heart would ache When ill health dogged him down But back he'd fight with all his might And rarely a visible frown. For years he battled to the end With Margaret to'ing and fro'ing He'd often whisper with a wink. “It's her that keeps me going.” But now Bob's gone, back to the lake The water there so good — It's honest, strong, Canadian Like Robert Ian Wood. Philip Beynon July 23, 1987 Ave. on the east side. A local committee has been set up to assist in the selling of debentures for the proposed new Birchbank Golf Course to be developed on the property known as the old company farm located between Trail and Castlegar. Debentures valued at $100,000 are being offered in the Rossland, Trail and Castlegar areas for the extension program being carried out by the Ross land-Trail Country Club-Ltd. ee 8 Number of telephones in the British Columbia Telephone Company system increased by 11,004 during the first half of 1962 to reach a total of 579,026 at June 80, according to a company report. The number of phones in the Castle- gar exchange is 2,020, a gain of 80 tele- phones since Dec. 31, 1961. * * * There appears to be no reason why the Land Settlement Board should place a road through the property of William Masloff of Ootischenia at any time in the immediate future, Hon. Ray Williston, minister of lands, forests and water resources has informed Mr. Masloff's lawyers. 15 YEARS AGO From the Aug. 3, 1972 ar News Kinnaird Town Council has joined with the Trail Chamber of Commerce and that of Nelson to protest a propsal to cut this area off of air mail service. No official word of the proposal has been received by council and Mayor Colin Maddocks suggested the reason may lie in the fact that the Kinnaird post office will be phased out when home delivery service starts next year. . The 1972 KC Days ended cum laude on Sunday afternoon with a very tired chairman Bill Banham sitting down to relax for the first time in weeks. The three-day event drew record crowds to all events, with the weather- man co-operating to the fullest. 8 « The appointment of Castlegar News editor Bruce Ramsey as acting editor of the Castlegar News is announced by publisher L.V. Campbell. Mr. Ramsey will be acting editor while the newspaper's editor and manager Burt Campbell, MLA for Revelstoke-Slocan, is seeking re-elec- tion to the B.C. legislature in the general provincial election being held Aug. 30. 5 YEARS AGO From the Aug. 1, 1982 ar News Mayor Audrey Moore said Friday that the provincial government's new ceilings on public sector spending will mean municipalities will have to seek compromises from their employees. “Something has to give,” she said if municipal budgets are to meet the six per cent ceiling this year and the five per cent ceiling next year. She did not say if the compromises mean wage rollbacks or possible lay offs. * 8 «6 Castlegar hasn't yet been plagued by swarms of river moths but a local en tomologist says the moths can be expe- cted to clog radiators and car windows for the next few weeks as their mating season gets under way. 7. 8 8 West Kootenay Power and Light Co. has welcomed a provincial cabinet decision to approve the sale of three power plants, owned by Cominco to West Kootenay Power for $20 million in common shares. When will Victoria act on pesticides? ? The U.8. Environmental Protection Agency now claims that pesticide pollution is the most urgent environ- mental problem in the United States, Steven Schatzow, chief of the E.P.A.'s Pesticide Division, has stated: “Pes- ticides dwarf the other environmental risks the Agency deals with. The risks from pesticides are so much greater because of the exposures involved. Toxic waste dumps may affect a few thousand people who live around them. But virtually everyone is exposed to pesticides.” And your dinner table is an impor- tant source of that pesticide exposure. Twelve years ago, the B.C. Royal Commission on Pesticides pointed out that 3.4 per cent of B.C. produce contained unacceptably high levels of pesticide residue — and the Com- mission suggested a simple remedy that Victoria continues to ignore. The Commission found that the major cause of high residue levels was the misuse and ignorance of the people applying pesticides. As a result, the Royal Commission recommended that all farmers pass a pesticide proficiency exam before being allowed to spray poisons onto our food supply. Just as drivers must pass a driver's exam and barbers must pass a barber's exam, a farmer would have to prove that he or she: @ could read a pesticide label; @ knew the proper way to dispose of leftover pesticides and pesticide con- rs; e knew basic safety precautions; and © perhaps most important for con- sumers, knew how to properly adjust the spray rig to avoid overspraying poisons onto crops. Such a farmer examination system operates throughout the United States. B.C. has required non-agricultural pes- ticide users to pass such an exam for several years. However, Victoria has refused to act on the royal 's PESTICIDE PROBLEM . . . Dinner table is an important source of pesticide exposure. revealed that the man who accidentally sprayed poisons onto a nearby group of farmworkers: © was unable to read the pesticide label; e@ was unaware that he shouldn't have sprayed while the wind was blowing towards farmworkers; e was unaware that he should not be spraying a crop that was headed for market that day; and e had no idea that he was spraying one of the world’s most toxic pesti- cides. In trying to identify what chemical it was that he was spraying, the only description that sprayer could give was that the label had “pink worms on it.” Since he couldn't read, he didn't even know the name of the chemical that he was spraying. Tests of cauliflower headed for market from the same farm showed extraordinarily high levels of pesticide residue. The inquest jury investigating the death of Jarnail Deol called for man- datory certification of farmworkers who apply pesticides. At about the same time, the British Columbia Medi- cal A and the Consumers’ dations for mandatory farmer certifi- cation. The problem is not academic. Evi- dence at the 1983 inquest into the pesticide death of a Surrey farmworker Association of Canada (B.C. Branch) also recommended the same thing. Later that same year a tripartite com- mittee of farmers, farmworkers, and W.C.B. staff agreed upon a compre- hensive set of pesticide regulations, which would have included a require- ment for education and certification of pesticide sprayers. But for the last four years, the Workers Compensation Board — under pressure from farm employers who are fundamentally. opposed to the idea of any kind of government regulation — has delayed impl ing all such Cominco affected by tax changes In The Vancouver Sun Comineo Ltd. — this province's biggest mining company — will feel the effects of two of Finance Minister Michael Wilson's tax changes, company comptroller Don Miller said. _ Inrecent years, the company has raised money through preferred share issues, a low-cost method of But 725 Brunette Ave.,at Bvy ¢1, Coquities,B.C.,¥3E 1¢3 B.C., VSK 245 CaN) Toll Free 1600) 663-2233 J under Wilson's proposals, the company must pay up front a 40-per-cent tax on preferred share dividends, Under Wilson's tax proposals, flow through shares will be less attractive to investors. A flow-through share allows the investor to acquire the tax benefits accruing to the company and have been especially important in recent years to mining exploration activity. Now, though, an investor will only be allowed to deduct up to 100 per cent of his investment against taxable income instead of 133 per cent. “The attractiveness of flow-through shares to the investor will go down and therefore the return to the company will decrease,” says Miller. Because Cominco has racked up several years of losses, it won't be in a tax-paying position for some time because of accumulated tax credits. When it is paying corporate income tax again, some of Wilson's changes will begin to bite. For example, there are a number of changes that generally reduce the accelerated write-off of depreciable assets for tax purposes. In other words, Cominco won't be able to depreciate assets as quickly and therefore would pay tax which it would otherwise have shielded. The government has also introduced a “put-in” rule which means a company cannot begin claiming capital cost allowances and investment tax credits cannot be earned until the asset is put in use. ther CP Rail Kd NOTICE notice. ‘The put-in-use rule will apply to property acquired after Dog HAPPY ADS classes Regional Recreation Com- mission No. 8 in the Slocan Valley is sponsoring Dog Valley regulations. However, the demand for pesticide regulation is growing. Most recently, the farmers of Saskatchewan, recog- nizing the threat to their own health, have endorsed the concept of man- datory certification of agricultural pes- ticide applicators. In April, 1987, the national pesticide manufacturers’ ass- ociation, the Crop Protection Institute of Canada, issued a statement backing the same kind of requirement. How long is Victoria going to allow totally untrained people — some of whom can't even read the warnings on pesticide labels — to spray poisons onto our food supply? Victoria requires a licence for people who want to spray Vitalis on your hair — shouldn't it do the same for people who want to spray Captan onto your berries and nerve gas onto your lettuce? (Calvin Sandborn is staff counsel for the West Coast Environmental Law Association.) Blood donor clinic in Trail classes at Mount Sentinel Field, Saturdays, Aug. 8 to Oct. 3. Christine Use HAPPY ADS to extend bir- thday, wedding or anniver- MARGARINE SUB PACK. 202.0000 1°9 CIGARETTES $] g*9 CABLE | 6 SATELLITE P.D. cumons Supt. C.P. Rail Nelson sary 9 os. to seneatilare someone,