OPINION
Castlégar

Sar News
PAGE A4, SATURDAY, MARCH 9, 1991

MEMBER OF THE 8.0. PRESS COUNCHL

ESTABLISHED AUGUST 7, 1947 TWICE WEEKLY MAY 4, 1980
THE MIO-WEEK ISHED SEPTEMBER 12, 1978-AUGUST 27, 1980

LV. CAMPBELL — PUBLISHER, AUGUST 7, 1947-FEBRUARY 15, 1973
PUBLISHER — Burt Campbell
DITOR mon

EDITORIAL

Dramatic saga
now playing

Now showing at the Provincial Theatre: Against All Odds, the
dramatic saga of a plucky captain (Bill Vander Zalm) who refuses to
relinquish control of a huge ocean liner, the Good Ship Socred,
floundering in rough seas and plagued by a growing lack of confiden-
ce in his leadership among crew members and Passengers.

Capt. Vander Zalm battles onward despite what appears to be an
increasingly mutinous attitude among his formerly loyal officers.

In one of the movie’s most dramatic scenes, the captain’s chief
petty officer (Mel Couvelier) resigns, citing his belief that Capt. Van-
‘der Zalm shouldn’t attempt to navigate the treacherous Legislative
Passage while he’s under investigation for allegedly violating the

S

Yeas
oe
Ss

company’s code of conduct when he sold his castle and ig!
theme park, Fantasy Garden World, a side occupation the captain
said his wife looked after.

Following the trend begun in the mid-1960s with anti-heroes like
Clint Eastwood’s Man With No Name in’ the so-called Spaghetti
‘Westerns, it’s hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys in Against
All Odds.

In fact, the audience is left completely polarized, with some
viewers believing Capt. Vander Zalm is an almost Christ-like figure in
his purity of beliefs and Purpose, beset by unbelieving and disloyal
followers.

The viewers in that camp believe several spy ships, called collec-
tively ‘“‘The Media,’’ are on the payroll of a competing cruise liner,

the Good Ship NDP, and are evil personified in their relentless houn-
ding of Capt. Vander Zalm.

However, other filmgoers, after watching the movie, which has
:been in the making since 1986, have a distinctly different view of
Capt. Vander Zalm, viewing him as an egotistical zealot who insists
on keeping command in the face of scandal, mismanagement and in-

=competence, believing only he can save the ship — a character in
some ways reminiscent of Capt. Queeg in Herman Wouk’s The Caine
Mutiny.

Against All Odds is rated PG — parental guidance suggested.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Celebration planned

The Castlegar and District Heritage Society
will be holding a Collector’s Faire in early May to
celebrate the grand reopening of the old CP Rail
Station downtown.

The restoration of the old building is finally
nearing jon and of
safety and security have been satisfied.

Before the staff begins to set up permanent
displays for the summer tourist season, tyhe
society would like to have an entire day for
collectors — amateur, professional, all ages from
children to seniors, to come down and display
their collecti and share their ki ige,
expertise and interest with other collectors and the
general public.

It will also give everyone a chance to come
down and admire the culmination of four years of
work devoted to renovations made while trying to
maintain the character and charm of the original
structure.

If anyone is willing to help with the planning
and of this event, or has any

VIEWPOINT

Suggestions or. experience.in events of.this kind,
Please call the station. As well, dust off your
and tell your friends and neighbors.

Leaks getting
harder to plug

This could become an annual celebration.
Carolee Fitz-Gerald

on behalf of the

Castlegar and District Heritage Society

Future uncertain
In Si 1939 — at the beginning of the

By GERARD YOUNG

VICTORIA — Bill Vander Zalm
no sooner plugs one leak when
another springs up.

The latest is the resignation of his
well-respected finance minister, Mel
Couvelier. The resignation Wed-
nesday was the 11th since Vander
Zalm became premier in 1986.

“Incredible,” said Norman Ruff,
a University of Victoria political
scientist. ‘‘The personal pressure that
he’s (Vander Zalm) feeling must be
enormous.

“Any ordinary mortal would be
thinking hard about his position.”’

Vander Zalm is hoping to get his
party in fighting trim. He has
recalled the legislature for Monday,
desperate to find that one issue to
springboard him to an election.

Things just don’t seem to improve
for the premier, whose critics warned
in the leadership race that he was
more style than substance.

And Couvelier’s resignation may
be the worst blow of all — getting
close to budget time, a session of the

BILL VANDER ZALM
.+. under pressure

letting another judge his integrity.

Second World War — those of my generation
were just children, five or six years of age. Even
SO we were surprisingly aware of the tragic battle
going gn. ~

At newstime every night — in our early day log
cabin — we huddled with Mother and Father
around the old battery-powered radio to hear the
tragic ups and downs of the war — as gloomily
announced by the deep, resonant voice of the late
Lorne Green.

At that tender age we were sad and depressed
to hear of the little children being hurt and killed
in far off England — too young to know that the
hurting and dying of German children was no less
real. We were innocent, naive, trusting creatures
then. What does a child of six know about
“double talk’’ or censhorship or war Propaganda?

The German surrender came six years later in
the spring of 1945 and the Japanese gave up in
August — very suddenly! Though in our early
teens then how could we comprehend the
instantaneous nuclear genocide done to those
many thousands of innocent civilians in
Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the terrible power of
the atomic bomb? How could we know, for
example, that three orders of Catholic nuns were
“‘vaporized”’ in Hiroshima? Eyen the joyful VE-

Day celebrations themselves took an ominous turn
when one of the generals announced: ‘Now is the
time to-go after the Russians. We have been
fighting the wrong People.””

Despite numerous assurances that this was “‘the
war to end all wars’’ only five years later the next
“military adventure’ — the Korean War — was
underway. Atom bombs were not used in this case
but — now ing high school i
— we were well aware of the ominous reality of
Einstein’s E equals mc’,

Instead of being bold and confident in those
days of youth — as we should have been — we
were inclined to be hesitant and afraid — ever
fretful of the dreaded “‘nuclear holocaust.’” No
wonder we tended to live just one day at atime
and made no serious plans for the future. We
didn’t expect to live out our lives.

The 1980s ended — much to our surprise — on
@ more hopeful note because of Soviet president
Mikhail Gorbachev. Largely through his efforts
the Iron Curtain was “‘rent in twain” and the Cold
War ended. But our newfound hope was not to last
for long. During the winter — Much to our dismay
77 we have just witnessed a disastrous, one-sided
war in the Middle East — a supermodern military
trouncing of a Third World power by the combined
efforts of three major world powers and 27 minor
ones!

Though truly grateful that the war is over, we
know that both sides were guilty in the complex,
long-term chain of events leading up to it. Many
thousands of innocent civilians — beautiful,
intelligent, cultured people — were killed both in
Iraq and Kuwait. Up to 100,000 young Iraqi
soldiers died because of ii

The war could have been avoided altogether if
only U.S. President George Bush had been willing
to allow Saddam Hussein to save face by agreeing
to try to find a solution to the Palestinian
problem.

But George Bush chose to make war, and
Prime Minister Brian Mulroney followed him like
a dog.

The air war was the greatest snuff film ever
made. The Iraqis clearly had no chance, but
George Bush continued to bombard the country,
killing human beings by the thousands with his
dog at his side, all the while praying to God (who
he obviously believes is an American) to keep
American troops safe.

The peace plan which was put forward by the
Soviets to avoid the ground war was agreed to by
Iraq. It was basically a complete surrender, but
George Bush would not allow the Iraqis to
surrender. It was not enough to win. He wanted
to completely decimate the Iraqi army, and
completely demoralize the country to put Saddam
Hussein in his place.

The ensuing butchery of tens of thousands of
essentially defenceless and fleeing Iraqis was
clearly unnecessary.

Now George and his dog are telling us that
we should be proud of what we accomplished. I
am not proud. I have never been so ashamed of
our nation.

The people who agreed with this war continue
to direct the blame at one man, Saddam Hussein.
I hope that one day they will all awaken and
realize that they are the real monsters.

After the last Great War, war was no longer

Sadistic Saddam Hussein who foreed them to fight
on against impossible odds without food, water or
any semblance of unified command.

Need I say any more? We are cynical now as we
approach the twilight years of life. When they
asked us to support this war our answer was no.
We called for a civilized solution — to no avail.
Now that the balance of East-West detente is gone
and the United Nations has been hijacked by the
“*Western camp’ who knows what will happen
next?

Harry F. Killough
Castlegar

Ashamed of Canada

I have considered writing a letter to the editor
opposing the Persian Gulf War since it began, but
up until now I was too horrified by what the
United States was doing to find the strength to put
pen to paper.

1 simply could not believe that so many
educated and so-called civilized people could be so
easily duped into believing that we were justified
in murdering thousands of Iraqis to re-establish
the previous dictators in Kuwait.

to-be-at ‘way 10 solve our
Problems. Now war is again legitimate, the U.S. is
all powerful, and it will do whatever it wants,
wherever it wants and whenever it wants. That will
be the New World Order.
Rod Retziaff
Glade

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.

legislature and an election with a
makeshift finance minister, Ruff
Suggests.

“This has to be the most
devastating development, the timing,
the position,’’ he said. ‘It’s falling
apart. It’s collapsing in on itself.””

There is speculation Couvelier
won't be the last minister to step
down.

. Six candidates have given up their
nominations and there have been
resignations among party regional
directors and riding presidents. Some
suggest Vander Zalm is destroying
the party.

: Vander Zalm, who must call an
election by the fall, has resisted
challenges to his leadership,
struggled with government scandal
and most recently come under

= scrutiny himself.

= The province’s conflict-of-interest

= commissioner is investigating whet-

= her Vander Zalm breached his own
guidelines in the sale of his biblical
= theme park and home to a Taiwanese

= describe as an oversized ego, Vander
~ Zalm is thought to have gambled by

But he has been judged constantly
since he came to power.

Vander Zalm’s honeymoon was
short ‘after he captured the Socred
Party leadership in 1986 in the resort
town of Whistler north of Van-
couver. A toothy grin and disarming
chatter swept him to election victory
months later.

But soon
enough.

In June 1988, Brian Smith quit as
attorney general, saying his honor
and his job were being threatened by
the permier’s interference.

A month later, longtime Socred
Grace McCarthy gave up her cabinet
Post because of what she described
as the arrogance of Vander Zalm’s
hand-picked, non-elected officials.

McCarthy, who some see as the
heart and soul of Social Credit, -has
said she won't run in the next elec-
tion. On Wednesday, she was saying
little about Vander Zalm, but subtly
made her point.

“I’ve been waiting for some time
for someone in cabinet to stand up
and be counted,” she said. ‘It sets a
dramatic tone for the Political events
in B.C.”

Gerard Young writes for The
Canadian Press.

the charm was not

Couvelier brought consistency

VICTORIA (CP) — Mel
Couvelier brought stability and con-
sistency to Premier Bill Vander
Zalm’s cabinet as finance minister
from Day 1 until his resignation
Wednesday.

While ministers were shuffled or
returned to new jobs after resigning
amid controversy, the former San-
nich mayor, onetime accountant and
Victoria clothing store owner held
the high-profile finance portfolio
from appointment as a rookie
minister a month after the October
1986 election.

His first victory at the provincial
level was a comfortable 3,500-vote
win in Saanich-and-the-Islands, a
two-member which

split into two
single seats.

A president of the moribund B.C.
Liberal party in the 1970s, Couvelier
was @ new face in the Socred camp
when he challenged Vander Zalm for
the party leadership in the summer
of 1986.

He told delegates his new face was
an advantage for a party bent on
Political renewal.

“I’m the one who comes to the
Position with the respect of his ¢lec-
torate in the sense that in 15 years I
have never had anyone accuse me of
doing any self-serving act or being
anything less than totally circumspect
in personal-relations."’

He finished 11th on the first
ballot and swung his support to
Vander Zalm.

Couvelier, 60, brought in a series
of balanced budgets

restructure incentives and do away
with artificial grants and subsidies.
“We want to put together a
Philosophy that would make these
kinds of incentives available to every

Couvelier, a five-term Saanich
mayor, is known for a forthright

manner but tended to be selective
when it came to answering reporters’
questions — especially ones about
Vander Zalm’s leadership.

“I don’t want to get into that right
now,” is one of his favorite respon-
ses.

But he was seen as critical when
Vander Zalm orchestrated the recent
settlement for B.C. doctors, a deal
that included an unprecedented
Provincial contribution of $25

in the forest industry, the key to
British Ci ‘8

When the United States sought
higher taxes for softwood lumber ex-
Ports, he tended to agree.

“We have to recognize . . . the
forest industry is basically an export
industry so the attitudes of our
customers obviously have to be an
important aspect of our global
outlook,’ he said in a 1987 inter-
view,

Last week, British Columbia
Joined the federal

Couvelier’s ministry was also
responsible for securities

Prosperity.

PERSPECTIVES

By DANIEL SANGER

QUEBEC (CP) — The Quebec
Liberal party begins a long
weekend of q
and voting oaey to will see it
emerge — perhaps split, perhaps
just slightly frayed — with a new
constitutional policy by Sunday.

As the policy of the party in
power, it should theoretically
become government policy.

But things in politics, especially
when they) involve Quebec
Premier Robert Bourassa, are
never that simple.

It has been suggested that
demands emerging from this
weekend’s congress will be the
blueprint for what Quebec will
ask for when it next sits down to
bargain with the rest of Canada.

But Bourassa himself has said
that will not necessarily be the
case.
Never one to allow himself to

his

government's stance in the next
round,

“It’s the basis, the framewor!

Liberals meet to decide future

Bourassa mentioned the report of
the Belanger-Campeau Com-
mission, due by the end of this
month.

That was no surprise. Had he
suggested that the blue-ribbon
commission’s findings would be
ignored, the premier would have
lit @ political fire that would have

Lame}

out of Ottawa in the three federal
commissions now studying
Canada’s future,

Furthermore, he said, "s
demands might have to be
modified to suit the government's
negotiating strategy.

While sounding eminently
the

The commission, headed by
busii Michel Belanger and

for future nt

said recently of the
Allaire report, the draft version
of the constitutional policy that
was released in January.

“But nobody is saying ‘This is
the Bible’,""he added em-
phatically,

Among the other factors that
will have to be considered,

Jean Campeau, was struck to
study Quebec’s political options
in the wake of the death of the
Meech Lake constitutional ac-
cord,

But Bourassa also said -that
before drawing up a firm gover-
mment policy, Quebec would
have to wait to see what comes

cautious premier’s qualifying
words gave him much needed
room to move — and more time
to let the pro-soveriegnty wave
recede before taking a firm line
himself,

It’s room and time Bourassa
needs: he has consistently got
himself into trouble by commit-
ting his government to. a policy
and then not following through.

REMEMBER WHEN

# YEARS AGO
From the March 8, 1951
Castle News

At a special Airport. Commission
meeting of the Associated Boards of
Trade of Eastern British Columbia,
held in Trail, Feb. 28, a resolution
was passed supporting the Castlegar
Airport as the major airport for the
West Kootenay area airline air ser-
vice.
Copies of the resolution were for-
warded to the Canadian Pacific
Airlines, the Federal Department of
Transport and to all MP’s and
MLA’s.

en

A letter was received from
Canadian Pacific Railway Company
supporting the Commission in its
campaign toward the removal of out-
side toilets and promising the
removal of such structures -on their

y.
A letter of thanks was sent to the
CPR for their cooperation.

Because of lack of interest among
the membership and financial

naird Improvement Society is con-
sidering asking Kinnaird council to
take over the KIS hall, council was
told by a Society delegate Tuesday
night.

The delegation had been asked to
meet with council because chairman
Carl Loeblich felt unfair criticism
had been made of the council’s snow
removal policy at the hall. However
the conversation quickly shifted to
the failure of the hail.

. . .

Mountain Park Zoo at Robson is
to close to the public, its curator
Allan O. Woodrow

15 YEARS AGO
From the March 11, 1976
Castlegar News

Campaign receipts for the
Castlegar Unit, B.C. Heart Foun-
dation, to date show a total of
$4,536, plus $726 for In Memoriams.
With donations still coming in,
Castlegar and area is showing a sub-
stantial increase over last year’s
total.

ee ee

The “‘pusser’’ rum allocated to the
Castlegar Liquor Store didn’t last
long on Saturday morning.

The store’s doors were opened
promptly at 10 a.m. and within 10
minutes its allocation was gone.

The lineup started at 8 a.m. for
the special shipment of surplus navy
rum, says vendor Bill Shay. He said
the two early arrivals drank coffee for
a while in the cab of their truck and
then ‘took their places at the start of
a line that eventually wound its way
around the corner on to Ist Ave. and
contained 80 to 100 people.

The Central Kootenay regional
board wants the provincial ferries
system declared an esséntial service.

The board agreed Saturday to
write to Highways Minister Alex
Fraser requesting that ferries across
the province be declared essential
services and that they continue
operating in the event of a strike by
the B.C. Government Employees’
Union.

. 28 6

Delegates to the 24th annual Pulp,
Paperand-Woodworkers of Canada
convention in Castlegar this week
voiced strong opposition to free
trade with the U.S.

A di: toa PPWC

recently.

“Highway changes in the area,’’
he said, “‘are responsible for the
decision. Although area residents
have continued to patronize the zoo
there has been no great tourist in-
terest. The zoo is too far off the
beaten track tourist-wise.””

Mr. Woodrow said visitors to the
Arrow damsite last year made only a
slight difference to the zoo and that
when the dam was completed Moun-
tain Park would be too far out of the

AUTOMOBILE

We require on individual with ex-
sotiont Seles alt, goed w habs
end high integei

used vehicles at our General
deolership.

We provide on excellent work!
vironment, vehicle

release, delegates ‘‘expressed surprise
at the lack of comment by any

Castlegar barber Glen Carew won $100,000 fee yours ago this week
ic

from a ticket like the one he's holding in the Pac

—CosNews file photo,

FB

Federal Business
Development Bank

national leaders.

Express lottery.

A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE BANK WILL BE IN

+ On March 6, 1991

++On March 26, 1991

To discuss your business’ financial and management needs.
Why not call us today at 426-7241 to @rrange an appointment?

to offre ses servi:
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de developpement

Canadit

PLEASE NOTE: Copy changes taken once per month only.
Deadline is the last Wednesday of each month, for the following month.

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209 Merry Creek Rd. 365-3430
PASTOR: BOB MARSH
— SUNDAY MINISTRY —
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Growth Groups (Bible Study
rayer) Various Weeknights
Youth Nights Friday & Sunday
EVERYO! LCOME

ae

UNITED CHURCH
4S OF CANADA

2224-6th Avenue
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ROBSON COMMUNITY
MEMORIAL CHURCH
1st & 3rd Sundays 7:00 p.m
2nd & 4th Sundays 10.a.m
No Service 5th Sunday

CHURCH OF GOD

2404 Columbia Avenue

Church School 9:45 a.m
Morning Worship 11 a.m

Pastor Ira Johnson * 365-6762

ST. DAVID’S
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8 a.m. Holy Communion

10.0.mm. Family Eucharist

‘and Church Schoo!

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365-2271 or 365-6720
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2605 Columbia Ave.

Morning Worship
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Rev. Murray Garvin
365-2438 1-226-7540

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