a .CastlegarNews June 3, 1990 OPINION Cas News PAGE A4, SUNDAY, JUNE 3, 1990 MEMBER OF THE B.C, PRESS COUNCIL J ESTABLISHED AUGUST 7, 1947 TWICE WEEKLY MAY 4, 1980 THE 12, 1978-AUGUST 27, 1960 LV. CAMPBELL — PUBLISHER, AUGUST 7, 1947-FEBRUARY 15, 1973 PUBLISHER — Burt Campbell EDITOR — Simon Birch OREMAN — Peter Harvey ER — Wayne Stolz CIRCULATION MANAGER — Heather Hadley EDITORIAL Participaction rates impressive Not that we’re sore losers — although some Castlegar Participac- tioners, depending on how fit they are, may be literally sore after Wed- nesday’s Great Participaction Challenge — but we wonder how our neighbors in Trail managed to register a 93.2-per-cent participation rate to out-exercise Castlegar in the challenge. Maybe Smetler City organizers of the challenge exercised more than their bodies in an attempt to exact revenge for Trail’s defeat in last year’s challenge at the hands and feet of Castlegar residents. Does juggling the numbers count as 15 minutes of exercise?! Just kidding. Seriously, congratulations to the City of Trail for a remarkable turnout in a thoroughly worthwhile annual event. And although we finished second to Trail, Castlegar’s 82 per cent participation rate is also excellent and was enough to out-exercise R ke in the th y local chall What’s more impressive, though, is the increase in the rate in Castlegar over the last two years. Last year, 74.1 per cent of Castlegar residents participated and in 1988 just 58.52 per cent got out to exercise. In Trail last year, the rate was 65 per cent. The increases are a tribute to both the increasing awareness among people of the need to stay physically fit and to the hard work of the recreation department staffs here in Castlegar and in other areas_who get the vote out, so to speak, for the challenge. Everyone who participated deserves a slap on the back. Or maybe a warm heating pad on the back if you exercised a little too strenuously. As for Trail, wait 'til next year. New law CP News Analysis By JIM BROWN OTTAWA (CP) — The federal government may not have resolved the national debate over abortion with the compromise law that passed the Commons this week. But it succeeded, at least for the time being, in shifting some of the political heat to others — in- cluding the Senate, the courts, the provincial legislatures and the country’s doctors. The most immediate battle will come in the Senate, where questions have already been raised about whether the law will win approval before the summer parliamentary recess or be delayed until the fall. Beyond that, lobby groups on both sides are setting their sights on the courtroom and the doctor’s office. The first constitutional challenge of the law will likely come from a woman denied access to abortion by a doctor who fears criminal prosecution, says Christie Jefferson, executive director of the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund. Bill C-43 would allow abortion if a single doctor believes the physical, mental or psychological health of a woman is threatened. The legal definition is wide enough to permit abortion on social or economic grounds, as well as for clinical illness. But doc- tors who ignore the law, or women who lie about their health, could get two years in prison. The law gives little guidance to ‘physicians in interpreting a genuine threat to health, says Jef- ferson. “It’s unclear when a doctor might be performing an abortion within the law and when they will be committing a criminal act.”” The Canadian Medical may not resolve abortion debate to abortion, says physicians are needlessly worried. She says the legislation lets a woman and her doctor decide privately on abor- tion. “The bill is very respectful and asks doctors to do nothing more than what they are doing now — which is to practise ethical medicine,” says Campbell. “There’s no need for any doc- tor in Canada to have any fear about this bill.’” Alberta Attorney General Ken Rostad weighed into the debate with a warning that private prosecutions won't be allowed. And in view of the federal bill, the provincial government said it will have to abandon health regulations that had limited access by requiring a second doctor to consent to abortions. Campbell acknowledges the federal law will not guarantee ac- cess in places like Prince Edward Island, where there have been no abortions for eight years, or Nova Scotia, where the provincial government is fighting efforts by Dr. Henry Morgentaler to open an abortion clinic. ¢ “Those are separate issues that have to be dealt with at the provincial level,’’ she says “Regrettably, the powers of the Parliament of Canada are limited.”* On the anti-abortion side, lawyer Angela Costigan of Toronto, who has fought unsuc- cessfully to block abortions with civil suits, suggested as soon as the new law was introduced last fall that it could open the door to private criminal prosecutions. But Karen Murawsky of Cam- paign Life, a leading anti-abortion ion, played down the ity after the bill passed the “You can’t incite someone to bring a court challenge,” said A i fears i-abortion zealots will try to lay private criminal charges — in effect replaying last summer’s drama when irate boyfriends filed unsuc- cessful civil suits against Barbara Dodd and Chantal Daigle, trying to halt their aborgions. Doctors in Halifax, Winnipeg and Calgary have already said they'll stop performing abortions. ~ Others at women’s health clinics im Quebec have vowed to ignore the law and dare authorities to prosecute. Justice Minister Kim Campbell, who advocates unrestricted access y. ‘I think we'll have to wait and see what situations arise.’” Whether anti-abortion forces can mount an effective challenge hinges in part on @ case now before the Supreme Court of Canada, involving the death of a LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Time running out The Green Party held a regular monthly chapter meeting at the Heritage Hall in Vallican on Saturday, May 12. Kootenay Green stalwarts showed up to fly the Green flag in the heart of the NDP stronghold of the Slocan Valley. Strange rumors were floating around. The recent NDP candidate war in some minds was Luke Skywalker (Wayne Peppard) versus Darth Vader (Corky Evans): NDP ‘‘greens’’ versus the Winlaw Mafia evil empire. In Evans’s hour of triumph, a wild pack of disgruntled NDP “‘greens”’ was on the loose, perhaps in the Slocan Valley itself, nursing their wounds and thinking dark Green thoughts. In the valley, under the rapidly lengthening shadow of a crumbling planetary life-support system, experienced political analysts feared that time might have run out at last for the socialist coalition. The NDP ‘‘family”’ is proud of its visionary founders, people who took principled stands for the impossible, demanded social justice and changed Canada. This is a long while ago now though. These days, NDP youth come to meetings, and say they do not think they have a future and, speaking through their tears, they say they will not let Carmanah be cut down. NDP ‘“‘family’” skeletons Munro and Georgetti toil behind the scenes to ensure that Carmanah will be shredded. That magnificent old-growth stand is just a symbol of the global environmental crisis, but people who want to resist planetary destruction are entitled to pick a battleground. Crushing the dreams of youth who have been reduced to wondering if there is a tomorrow at all, as opposed to wanting a better tomorrow, doesn’t really fit into anyone’s concept of a party that is “‘noble’’ of one that has ‘‘v ** It can’t goon for long. Will the election come first? to turn the situation around.”* This may fit the needs of the coalition that would love to put off really difficult debate for 10 more years but let everyone be clear about what is being said: it could be too late already and 10 more years of the trends we face now could easily leave us overtaken by events without real options to respond if, for instance, mass starvation feeds social disintegration and the bombs blow up. Ten years is twoelections. Politics is going to have to start on fast forward to keep up with the fall of civilization. “Vote NDP one more time’’ doesn’t cut it as a slogan as time runs out for all future generations. Have NDP ‘‘greens’’ become politically frustrated enough to join or to attempt to take over the Green Party? Allis still quiet on the West Kootenay front. Imagine if far more than the hopes, dreams and hard work that went into the Peppard ‘“‘green’’ campaign went into a campaign to produce a Green political voice speaking for the interests of the planet. An Angus Reid poll found 14 per cent of the electorate ‘‘would definitely support a party that made preservation of the environment its primary objective.’” If these ever show up in the ballot boxes the provincial political landscape changes forever. The first Green elected in North America will lift some of the weight from hearts all over the planet. Let politics become sharply focused on principle and policy, not personality or dreams of Crescent Valley Statement upsetting At the beginning of last week, a news item of major importance had been broadcast. This news report revealed that fish with cancerous lesions were being caught in Burrard Inlet and False Creek The Cashore Show suddenly region, ‘‘introducing the next environment minister’’ who pronounces that he still has hope, because ‘‘environmentalists have not said we only have 10 years left, they have said we have 10 years inthe inV . This revolting item should have shocked and alerted the fishermen who depended on fish from those areas for their food. However, the chief medical officer of the City of Vancouver was quick to issue a statement: ‘‘There is.no danger in eating cancerous fish.” This incredible pronouncement upset me. T~ wondered, **Am I crazy, or is it the rest of the world?”’ Then I asked my friends and neighbors this simple question: ‘*Would you be willing to eat these fish with visible signs of cancer?”’ Everyone answered with a strong ‘‘No!’” I had been impressed by the statements in Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring. This book was published in 1962 and accurately predicted the consequences of chemicals on the health of people. The author herself was a victim of cancer. I would suggest that all of us would find it more prudent to go out to the garbage dump for a gourmet meal rather than willingly accept an invitation from the Vancouver medical officer for a *‘fi Yours truly (for safe dining): Pat Romaine, George Worobey, Dave John, Kris John, Sandra Groepler, Pete Zibin, Donna Peppard, Antonio Guglielmi, Ed Conroy Jr., Pauline Romaine, Judy Wearmouth, Kay Mealing Castlegar and area Please address all letters to the editor to: Letters to the Editor, Castlegar News, P.O. Box 3007, Castlegar, B.C. VIN 3H4, or deliver them to our office at 197 Columbia Ave. in Castlegar. Letters should be typewritten, double- spaced and not longer than 300 words. Letters MUST be signed and include the writer's first and last names, address and a telephone number at which the writer can be reached between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. The writer's name and city or town of residence only will be published. Only .in exceptional cases will letters be published without the writer's name. Nevertheless, the name, address and telephone number of the writer MUST be disclosed to the editor. The Castlegar News reserves the right to edit letters for brevity, clarity, legality, grammar and taste. Georgetti says law flawed | By KEN GEORGETTI President B.C, Federation of Labour For the past three years, working people in B.C. have been living under Bill 19 — a labor law that many consider to be the most unfair legislation of its kind in North America. Recently, Premier Bill Vander Zalm hinted that his government is considering more heavy- handed measures for working people — wage controls and other changes he didn’t specify. The minister of labor added fuel to the fire when he announced that he is having his staff review Bill 19 and advise him on adjustments or changes tothe legislation. Bill 19 was the personal gift of Premier Vander Zalm to some of his friends who wanted to ‘‘put labor in its place.’ The premier ignored his own minister of labor and set aside all of the input he had received from industrial relations, union and business experts. Instead, he relied solely on the advice of a few hand-picked management lawyers and government insiders to draft a law that severely restricted the rights of workers to organize and to bargain freely. Bill 19 was so flawed and so confrontational that working women and men throughout B.C. were forced into a one-day province-wide protest. To this day, I am still overwhelmed by the support we received from business people, from our communities and from our families in our battle for child d by two midwives in British Columbia. A key. issue is whether the un- born fetus. had constitutional rights — a matter the Supreme Court didn’t deal. with when it struck down the previous federal abortion law in 1988 as a violation of the rights of women. fair A poll taken shortly after our protest showed that 73 per cent of British Columbians opposed Bill 19 along with us. Did Premier Vander Zalm listen to the majority of British Columbians who were opposed to Bill 197 No. He forced the bill through the legislature, despite the confrontation it created. Bill 19 is so unfair that the labor movement has been forced to boycott it since the first day it became law. It is time for a change to the way industrial relations work in our province. We need a legislation that ensures labor peace so that our economy can thrive and grow. We need a labor law that is balanced and fair, not one that is so bad nobody will use it. The Social Credit government's threats to introduce wage controls send a clear signal that they intend to continue to attack working people. The government won't admit when it’s wrong, and won’t change, so I predict that it’s gearing up for more confrontation. The government would rather risk economic stability than encourage a climate of co-operation. The labor movement wants a fair and balanced law that treats us and our employers as equals. We want to be a partner in making sure that we have a i with good pi ive jobs for today and for our children. A climate of confrontation will not bring that about. It is time we had a government in B.C. who will sit down with us and with the business community to honestly work our fair labor legislation for everyone. When that is achieved, the resulting economic stability will be good for us all. Premier Valder Zalm has shown that he won’t listen. He’s more interested in imposing his own views, even if that means starting fights and creating confrontation. He just has to get his own way, at any cost. He doesn’t know how to co- operate. It’s clear to me, after the chaos and confusion created by the Social Credit government, that Mike Harcourt and his team of New Democrats are more in tune with today’s economic realities. They have the kind of co-operative spirit we need in B.C. to achieve stability and attract investment. The choice for working people in the next election will be between more confrontation and unrest with Vander Zalm, or co-operation and stability with Mike Harcourt and the New Democrats. Rev. Ted Bristow (left) of the Castlegar United Church takes advantage of Castiegar’s HandyDART bus for the disabled while taking part in National Access Awareness Week. Above, Twin Rivers elementary school principal Paul Phipps round a ph ier. Bristow and Phipps were among five local residents who volunteered to spend a day in heelchair t to the difficulties the disabled Photos by Kris Stdnbra jo draw face in day-to-day life. REMEMBER WHEN 4 Years Ago From the June 1, 1950 Castle News The Kinnaird-Robson-Castlegar welfare and recreational society voted $150 to the Winnipeg flood relief at its regular meeting held Tuesday night. Mrs. G. Cornwall has accepted the position of local canvasser for the Society and will commence can- vassing immediately. Mr. P. Daniel, popular instructor at Castlegar high school, left by train this afternoon for Toronto, where he has accepted a position as Canadian secretary for the International Student Service — a world-wide university student organization. s—_*s 2 The Castlegar District School Board met this week. The meeting was a long one and, among those things discussed, was a proposed plan for a school cadet corps in - this district. The need for a physical education teacher for the new high school was brought up and the Board made it one of its main objectives to obtain a suitably i i for the Castlegar ratepayers. The bylaw would see all streets paved to a 22-ft. width. 15 Years Ago From the June 5, 1975 Castlegar News An appeal to residents to turn out for work parties Monday and Tuesday to put Pass Creek Park into shape has gone out to area residents from Regional Recreation Com- mission No. 1. The operating this summer of the park depends enirely on the success of these work parties which begin each day at 4:30 p.m. The Western Canadian Women’s Festival, which earlier made ap- plication to hold its activities at Pass Creek Park, will now be held in Kaslo. . 8 6 A post office will be built at Slocan under a $61,700 contract awarded to Dallas Construction of Kamloops. This was announced Friday by the Minister of Public Works, Charles M. Drury. oo. The committee, working toward a revised form of KC Days, the annual event for this area, is now seeking a ce for lead modernization, Brisco said Model AP100... Model AP200 Model AP280 Model E2000 .. Model 2100.. System 90 WE ALSO CARR’ ELECTROLUX SUPPLIES 1 YEAR GUARANTEE PARTS & LABOR INTERIOR VACUUM CENTER setirsey and Sunday Ph. 365-2512 2181 Columbia Av June 3-June 5 PRIME RIB ROASTS