a8), cs _ Castlegar News —_ Morch 11,1990 “Lord thou knowest better than I know myself that I am growing older and some day will be old."” — 17th century Nun's Prayer There are two things that everyone has in com: mon bellybuttons and birthdays. Last Saturday | had my 74th (birthday, that is) and my strongest reac- tion was surprise In the first place, I didn’t feel any different from Friday when I was 73. In the second place, since | was already living on two years’ borrowed time (statistically), I hadn't expected to make it past my 71st birthday, the average lifespan for a Canadian man My friends assure me that only the good die young. Others will suggest it’s because the Devil doesn’t want me. On the other hand, there are a number of lively Castlegar citizens who at one time or another have ap- peared in this column who I know for certain would not meet either criterion and who publicly or privately consider me as the kid. While I respect their mature and considered opinion, and envy their durability and love of life, | am not always ready to accept their evaluation Age is relative. To the preschool child, the high school student is already over the hill, while the high schooler knows that anyone over 30 is hopelessly decrepit and so it goes. Birthdays are just chronological milestones; age is timeless, a state of mind. Lewis Carroll’s mocking parody You Are Old, Father William puts the business of aging into Alice in Wonderland perspective: “You are old, Father William,” the young man said, ‘‘and your hair has become very white; and yet you incessantly stand on your head. Do you think, at your age, it is right?” ‘In my youth,” Father William replied to his son, “I feared it might injure the brain; but now that | am perfectly sure I have none, I do it again and again."* Worth looking up for all ages. I have never taken birthdays too seriously — per- haps in part from earlier experience. When | was a young boy I loved Scotch mints, so much so that when my mother rashly permitted me to help make my bir- thday cake, 1 insisted-on_putting ina special layer of Scotch mints. It was not a happy experience. On another occasion, I had a joint birthday par- ty with a little neighbor girl, a pretty maiden with long, blond ringlets. We had a huge, well-iced layer cake for the occasion. I sat on one side of it and she-on the other—Her father, a former cavatry officer, insisted on cutting the cake with his long, curved cavalry sabre from her side of the table. I sat like a snake- mesmerized bird as that great gleaming icing-flecked blade slipped through the cake then glided slowly, inexorably toward my face, stopping just inches from my terrified nose. Of course, it was a joke and everyone laughed. I was not amused and to this day remain unimpressed with blond ringlets and improperly used weapons, regardless of their beauty. However, as the card which Gordie and Alida Hill gave me said, (with appropriate pictures), “Birthdays Reflections on growing older are like baths, you have one every year whether you need it or not."* Thus, on the fateful day, | acknowledged, cards from out of town by phone and local cards directly. 1 accepted with paid the cash gifts to the Charters camera-enhanceMment fund from Bruce and Bunny. It will be used to cover the proposed fall invasion of Britain + Orkney to Channel Islands — with monasateries and Melton Mobery pies in between. Then I went to Zuckerberg Island for the morning dog walk and park inspection. When I arrived at the Chapel House, I was met by Verna Keraiff and Darlene Love and greeted with a Happy Birthday duet. I was touched. Verna had already let the cat out of the bag with a birthday call to the CKQR birthday program so that I was the happy recipient of yet fur- ther good wishes for which my sincere thanks to one and all John Charters Reflections and recollections Later I had tea and borscht at the Doukhobor restaurant with master carver Pete Oglow and Rossland-Trail MLA Chris D’Arcy. Pete is one of those people who relaxes by being busy and by so doing had carved a number of borscht ladles and a couple of special children’s spoons. I was presented with-one for my birthday and andéther-to present to the monks at Westminster Abbey as a gesture from the community. The spoons were presented to Chris for his two sons, Nathan, 2, and Winston, | and the circle was complete. One of the greatest tragedies in -our North American culture is the growing absence of ritual and ceremony in our lives. Births, christenings, marriage and deaths and special events in the experience of in- dividuals and groups get less and less, sometimes no recognition-so-that-many_people have few sign posts marking their journey so that life for many has become a kind of homogenized, featureless plain. Children’s lives should be dotted with special ceremonies and ritual so that they have a strong anchor on their past to uphold them in their future, and mementos to mark them. Those carved, wooden spootis, for example — the baby spoon for a baby fist to grab (you don’t see them anymore) — and the regular straight-shafted spoon miniatures of the adult model, are a subtle ritualization of the skills of maturation. Even at 74 one learns a little. Thanks friends. LETTER All should be equal Everybody claims that they want a united Canada, but ii looks like verything depends on what the frien. dly French province can wheedle out of the réSt of Canada It appears that if the rest of Canada does not go bilingual, Quebec will decides in flavor of Quebec and On- tario. This would mean a better and language question Capt. Angus Thodeson Robson able to call ourselves true Canadians or whatever the four provinces decide freer deal in the West on. At least there wouldn't be a We in the West would be finished with subsidies paid to Quebec. We would be rid of Bill 101. We would be LETTER “ News the same We arrived home from an exten- ded, peaceful holiday and were ravenously “hungry” for news about happenings in our home town of Castlegar but our expectations and appetite fell short. To begin, the news of last Novem- ber (when we left home)- featured much talk about the Meech Lake controversy. When we returned on Feb. 25, the headlines on the CBC news was still talking about Meech Lake. I have learned also the sad siory about the demise of the Robson post office. This service, which had served the pioneers well, had survived the First and Second World Wars as well as the Great Depression. Even the slippery piracy of the faithful ferry service has been sacrificed to save Canada from the deficit I hesitate to mention the Pass Creek bridge out loud for fear that it will be spirited away in the blackness of night Not since the days of Capt. Kidd, Henry Morgan and possibly Long John Silver have such acts of piracy been performed. It was fortunate that no crew or passengers were involved because they would certainly have ee forced to “‘walk the plank.”” The othér current topic is the ex- pansion of the pulp mill. This issue is facing some stiff opposition because people have heard all the ‘sweet talk’’ before from the days when the tree farm license was first_granted. Surely the present company can appreciate the cynicism and fear among people-who have memories like an elephant T love Castlegar for its mild climate, the good people, wonderful caring neighbors, for its delicious fruits (our golden peach trees), its garden produce and ample soft water, for our great library, Selkirk College and the niew Aquatic Centre. We also have one of the best hospitals in British Columbia. However, I am concerned that we shall have to consider ‘‘selling out’’ and moving to a place with a far less poisonous environment. Perhaps I can locate on Meech Lake? Pat Romaine , Castlegar Castlegar: INTERIOR VACUUM CENTRE SALES ® SERVICE ALL MAKES & MODELS! ARROW LAKE ELEVATION 1399.60' on March 10 Forecast of Elevation 1393.93' by March 17 Closed Soturdey & Sundays! 365-2512 2181 Columbia Ave. ISPLAY Lack of funding stifles plans By CLAUDETTE SANDECKI Staff Writer No significant changes in class sizes or locations will be made in September to alleviate overcrowdin; Castlegar schools because the funding the provincial omes--° ON at } Northwest MW ™ Moduing (aah = The all new 1990 Hampton 14'x70' Mobile Home — Best Deal before the GST takes effect! © Qualifies for CMHC Financing government plans to provide through its new block- funding program will only allow the Castlegar school board to maintain the status quo in the district, board chairman Gordon Turner said. The Ministry of Education's announcement that it will provide Castlegar with $12.3 million for the 1990-91 school year has’forced the board to abandon proposals for creating more space and. smaller classes that included reopening Blueberry Creek elementary school, Turner said. > Parents concerned with plans to reopen the rural School and.possibly convert the Twin Rivers elementary School music room into a classroom can stop worrying, he said, referring to a letter the board rectived Monday night that was signed by 15 parents, most identifying themselves as having children at Twin Rivers. The parents are concerned about the propdied changes and suggested moving Grade 8 students to Stanley Humphries secondary school and Grade 6 studen- ts to Kinnaird Juniop secondary school as a low-cost means of creating more classroom space in the primary schools. Turner said the board does not plan to move new students into SHSS when major renovations aré planned for the coming year. And he said the opening of Blueberry Creek school would not have affected children at Twin Rivers because only students from the Blueberry Creek area would have been housed in the rural school. The board will likely deal with the lack of space at Twin Rivers by creating a split class and possibly moving a class next door to the Annex, superintendent of schools Terry Wayling said. The challenge program which is currently housed at the Annex would then be moved, he added. However, Turner said district classrooms will remain crowded. “We will function with some tightly packed classrooms,"’ he said. The $12.3 million from the provincial government looked good initially but items such as $600,000 for teacher pensions that used to be funded Separately must now come out of the single sum being provided, Turner said. The government says the funds are eight per cent more than the board received last year through the old funding method, known as the fiscal framework, which allowed the government to determine how much of the board's budget Victoria would cover, Wayling said. The rest of the money the board determined it needed to run the district was then made up through local taxation. But Turner said the eight per cent figure is “‘to the ministry's advantage’’ and the increase is actually about 6.1 per cent. “One could say we're okay,"’ Turner said, since the funding will mean no layoffs will be necessary and current programs will be maintained. However, the block funding, which provides the district with a set amount of money for each student registered, will not include funds for new programs or coritinved on page A2 SEE: NORTHWEST HOMES OR CALL FRITZ AT 365-3551 4375 COLUMBIA AVE., CASTLEGAR * DEALER 6583 365 -7454 If you rented your property to tenants this past year, our specially trained tax return preparers have the answers to your questions. At H&R Block, we look for every deduction you're entitled to. We take all the necessary steps to do the job accurately because we want you to pay only the lowest tax or get the biggest refund-you're entitled to. Don’t be confused by the ever-changing tax laws. Put us to work for you. HOURS: Monday ‘fo Friday 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday 9a.m.-5 p.m. 1761 Columbia Castlegar * 365-5244 HR BLOCK CANADA'S TAX TEAM & Canon Nelson: 354-3855 Trail: 368-3644 separate. On the Meech Lake deal, the rest of Canada has to give Quebec a special deal. Why? I am bilingual, but I don't speak French. If Quebecers were fair to the rest of Canada, they wouldn't be burdening us with this bilingual crap and behave like Canadians should If they keep throwing dirt at the rest of Canada, they might must as well get on with their plan —- the break up of Canada into different MAIL LETTER RECEIV CASNEW parts. The rest of us in Canada are really tired of their patter and we can do without them It’s as if the nine other provinces don't mean-anything- twas born-on the Prairies and raised in British Columbia, and all my life all provin ces and the territories have been get ting along and = most French Canadians in the West got along fine until the federal government went bilingual against the people's will and now we have people in the West that are showing a lot of miserable preferences and bad manners. It’s get ting so that if you meet a French Canadian and he starts pushing Fren ch, you either walk away or it ends up in a very bad argument. This is not the Canada I knew, or the Canada we want We don’t want Meech Lake the way it is, we want Meech Lake on the basis of 10 provinces and an. equal split for the territories. They also are a part of Canada You can't go by the old treaties anymore. When these treaties where made, Canada was a colony. Today Canada is a country and we have ieee © CANADA 39 39¢ UPVOBSEUMLIIN tay. pics ere wl 7 Castlegar News whedon a, ’ wag dit 45¢ grown up. Today we should have to share equally and make no mistake about it. Quebec separates, the four western provinces could just as well separate. At least we wouldn't have this miserable question and threat of blackmail. We wouldn't have a federal government that always Castlegar News home delivery only 45¢ a copy. Subscribe today ! 365-7266 Sk Castlegar News Vol. 43, No. 21 75 Cents Celgar to meet panel By CasNews Staff “Cigar Pulp Co. officials have been informed they should be prepared for a meeting in Victoria today or soon after with the provincial committee overseeing the major project-review Process the company is undergoing to obtain approval for its proposed ex- pansion, pulp mill manager Jim Browne said. Celgar has also been told by the committee to prepare responses to “‘obvious concerns’’ over the expan- sion plans such as changes in tran- sportation patterns in the area and environmental impacts, Browne said. The committee held its first meeting on Celgar’s plans Tuesday afternoon, he added. - Be Meanwhile, Browne said he was ‘‘a little disappointed by the turnout”’ at last Friday’s open house in Nelson on the expansion. About 60 people tur- ned up, compared to the more than 160 who attended the Castlegar open house, he said. Browne said ‘‘a friendly, pleasant atmosphere”’ prevailed in Nelson but continued on page A2 . INSIDE PCB worry page A2 Lottery numbers The winning numbers drawn Tuesday in the B.C. Keno lottery were 4, 14, 17, 26, 31,35, 46 and 49. SKIPPING LUNCH .. . Carey Nichvalodoff, 7, 7, (skipper front) Amy Makaroff, 8, and Devon ~ +t LEGAR, BRITISH COLUMBIA, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 1990 WEATHERCAST Tonight: Cloudy with clear periods lows -2 to -4. Thursday: Mainly cloudy. Highs near 10. The outlook is for an unsettled weekend Probability of precipitation is 20 per cent tonight and Thursday 3 Sections (A, B &C) + S Bi ¢ ~ mabey hy * *® (left) Dawn edison. 7, (back) Neva Rezansoff, 5 taki of the to catch up on their skipping during lunch at Twin Rivers Slecnannare school Tuesday. CasNews Photo by Ed Mills City swings $20,000 towards new ballpark By SIMON BIRCH Editor Castlegar city council voted Tuesday to spend up to another $20,000 to complete the softball field at the Community Complex despite a cry of foul from one alderman who said the city is spending too much money to complete a project that will serve just one group of users. Ald. Lawrence Chernoff noted that the extra $20,000 will bring to almost $50,000 the total cost of the ballfield which he said was originally supposed to be built with public donations and not cost the city a penny. “That concept has completely Bozek interview page B1 ,’’ Chernoff said. He ad- ded that other recreational needs such as new turf for the soccer field at the complex are being ignored “Other recreational users are being neglected,’’ Chernoff said But Ald. Patti Richards, chairman of council’s parks and recreation committee, said she took offence at Chernoff's statements. “1 don't want anybody to get the impression ball is the only thing we're looking at in our budget,” Richards said She added that the city has always been committed to developing a com- plete recreational facility at the Community Complex and the ballpark is just one more piece to complete the project “Council has shown a commitment to complete one total recreation area in our city,"’ Richards said. ‘*Once that is completed as top-notch as we can afford it I think it’s going to be something we can be very proud of." Ald. Marilyn Mathieson noted that council has earmarked funds for one major project each year with the biggest commitment of funds last year going to improvements at Zuckerberg Island Heritage Park “That's a totally different type of recreation,”” she said. ‘*Our hockey people are well looked_after_and_our swimmers are well looked after. Other recreation users will be looked after.”" Ald. Terry Rogers said he is also concerned about the amount of money the cityis-spending on the ballfield, especially since council must continued on poge A2 NDP supports ferry By CasNews Staff A resolution supporting the reinstatement of the Robson Castlegar ferry was passed unanimously by about 900 New Democratic Party delegates during a provincial convention last weekend in Vancouver, said Ed Conroy, who attended the convention as a Rossland-Trail riding delegate. “Be it resolved that the Robson ferry be immediately reinstated and that it be reaffirmed that alternate routes are wholly inadequate,"’ the resolution States, The resolution also considers ferry service in general in the province and states that ‘inland ferries in B.C. must be maintained and operated as integral and essential extensions of the high ways and that the Highways Act (should) be amended to reflect the change.” Conroy, who is challenging MLA Chris D'Arcy for the Rossland-Trail candidacy, said he was pleased to see so many _-People in the province support an issue that is important to the people of this riging “| think also that most peopte lize (what happened to the Castlegar-Robson ferry) is just the tip of the iceberg” vice in B.C., he said for ferry ser The ferry resolution was originally passed by a Kootenay regional NDP convention last year in Creston and was one of many resolutions from all over B.C. that were incorporated in a 165-page list of resolutions brought before the provincial convention delegates, said Katrine Conroy, another local delegate and wife of Ed Conroy. AK suppor- Moore eyes cha of district By SIMON BIRCH Editor Saying she is concerned that the Regional District of Central Kootenay board. is_interfering with economic development in Castlegar as-a result of the board’s recent stand on the ex- pansion of the—Celgar—pulp— mill, Mayor Audrey Moore said Tuesday it’s time Castlegar city council studied the possibility of the city and the southern part of the RDCK becoming Part of the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary. Castlegar also has more in common with Kootenay Boundary, which in- cludes Trail, because both cities have a major industry — Celgar in Castlegar and the Cominco smelter in Trail — and share the. Columbia River, Moore said at Tuesday night’s council meeting The mayor also noted that Castlegar houses 20 per cent of Cominco’s workforce and is home to “‘a great many’’ Cominco retirees. ““We have, as a council, to take a close look at which regional district we fit in,"" Moore said. “We, in this southern portion of the regional district (of Central Kootenay) seem to have an entirely different orientation from the Nelson part.”* The RDCK board at its last meeting March 3 called for a thorough reviex of the Celgar expansion proposal and recommended the federal government step in with its own environmental review of the project if the provincial government does not fully complete its major project review process for the expansion “I was concerned with what I Gairns t thought was interference with an economic initiative within the City of Castlegar,’’ Moore said today. She added that Castlegar is ‘‘the biggest contributor to the regional district’s tax base’’ and noted the squabble earlier this year between €astiegar; Nelson and the RDCK over lack of representation from the two cities on regional district standing committees. Regional district board chairman George Cady has since revised the committees to include Moore, Castlegar’s representative on the RDCK board, and the director from Nelson, Ald. John Neville. “The city has played a big role in the development of the regional district,’’ Moore said. ‘‘But we don’t seem tobe getting that support in return.’” Cady said today he is *‘surprised”’ Moore raised publicly the idea of changing regional districts before talking with other RDCK directors. “I'm surprised that the mayor has taken the action she has without con- sulting with the rest of the regional district,’" Cady said.. ‘‘She speaks perhaps for (Castlegar) council but she doesn’t speak for the rural areas.” Neither Area J director Ken Wyllie nor Area I director John Voykin could be reached for comment today before the CasNews went to press. Cady said the loss of the tax base in Castlegar and areas | and J would hurt the RDCK ‘ He noted that Castlegar’s debts to the regional district involving such commitments as the Castlegar continued on page A2 o resign as administrator By CasNews Staff Castlegar city council announced Tuesday the city’s administrator, Dave Gairns, will resign as soon as the city hires a. replacement for him, probably around June 1 Gairns, who has not formally sub: mitted his resignation, said Tuesday he intends to stay in Castlegar to do administrative work for municipalities on a contract basis with a specific focus on bylaws He told the Castlegar News he has been thinking about entering ‘‘semi retirement’ for the last couple of years “I'd be happy to work part time,”’ Gairns said, although he noted there is probably enough work available on a contract basis to keep him busy full time He said he is discussing doing some work for Castlegar council on city bylaws. “They're considering it at this point,”’ said Gairns, who has held the ting affoff™ble high-quality: lic ensed or monitored child care was also passed, said Katrine Conroy, coordinator for the Kootenay Columbia Child Care Society which sponsors the Hobbit Hill Children's Centre in Castlegar ‘ator’s post for the last: six years. Ald. Doreen Smecher, chairman of council’s administration and finance committee, said the resignation of Gairns is just one of several changes to the city’s administrative structure which will take place over the next few months. | a DAVE GAIRNS . - resigning She said city clerk Betty Price has proposed changes to her job at city hall which would see her take on @ role as executive assistant/deputy clerk. The person hired to replace Gairns will be classified as an ad- ministrator/clerk and the city will hire a full-time treasurer to take over that portion of Gairns’s current job. continued on page AZ