OPINION Castlégar News PAGE A4, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1990 MEMBER OF THE 6.C. PRESS COUNCIL ESTABLISHED AUGUST 7, 1947 TWICE WEEKLY MAY 4, 1980 INCORPORATING THE MID-WEEK MIRROR PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 12, 1978-AUGUST 27, 1960 LV. CAMPBELL ~ PUBLISHER, AUGUST 7, 1947-FEBRUARY 15, 1973 PUBLISHER — Burt Campbell EDITOR — Simon Birch PLANT FOREMAN — Peter Harvey ADVERTISING MANAGER — Wayne Stolz OFFICE MANAGER — Linda Kositsin CIRCULATION MANAGER — Heather Hadley EDITORIAL Crisis should teach lesson Now that Canada’s 98-pound Navy is in the Middle East to help the American bullies kick some desert sand back in the face of Iraqi bully Saddam Hussein, we should pause to think about the real reason we're there. Oil. While international thugs like the Iraqi president need to be shown that the world won’t stand by as they terrorize and take over neigh- boring countries, it’s naive to think U.S. President George Bush would have garnered so much support so quickly if Kuwait didn’t have any oil which, of course, keeps the economic motor of the Western world well greased. Cut off the West’s supply of oil and you bring it to its knees. We didn’t learn our lesson after watching the Arab oil embargo against the United States in 1973 and we probably won't this time either. But we should. As each day passes it makes less and less sense to rely on a polluting, non-renewable resource such as oil. At current production levels, even countries with the largest oil reserves, such as Saudi Arabia with an estimated 255 billion barrels, will run out of oil within 150 years unless new reserves are discovered or world oil consumption is drastically curtailed. That may seem like a long time but once it’s gone, it’s gone. In the meantime, expect to see pressure from oil companies to devtlop untapped sources such as those in the Arctic or off the west coasts of Canada and the U.S. now that the Gulf crisis has driven up the price of crude. But that’s not an answer because, like the oil reserves already developed, the supply is finite and drilling in such environmentally sen- sitive areas is begging for a disaster. < Instead, what needs to be made, and we in Canada could set an MORNIN’ TOM ... HOW WAS YOR SUMMER? “iJ YY" Ui LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Look into future Dateline Castlegar, B.C., year 2050 — a look into the future. Among the ruins of Selkirk College (nestled on an overgrown clump of useless barren land) sits a lonely bearded and bedraggled former professor. He gazes across the mighty Columbia River to see the ghost town of Castlegar, once a thriving metropolis that housed a hard-working class of citizens known as smelter workers and pulp workers The town now lays in ruins as the deer and vultures browse in the vast forest that has now covered the area. Gone are the students, the mill workers, the hospital, schools and the tax base that gave us insurance and welfare. example to the rest of the world, is a serious commitment to ping alternative energy sources that are clean and renewable. Potential sources for automobiles, some of which are already being tried or considered, include alcohol-based fuel produced from vegetables such as corn, electricity and, further down the road, hydrogen. Although that won’t eli i H like Sadd: Hussein, it certainly would help eliminate oil as a resource which Western leaders currently feel is worth spilling blood over. VIEWPOINT Opinions differ on native help By BOB COX OTTAWA — Do taxpayers really pour barrels of pockets of fndjans? Depending bn who’s answering, Canadian natives wallow in a trough of public money, or struggle in pover- ty while bureaucrats grow fat. The federal government estimates it spends $4 billion a year on aboriginal programs. Prime Minister Brian Mulroney said recently that natives cost tax- payers $13,000 a year each, and also enjoy special benefits. Ottawa, Mulroney said, spends ‘‘much more than any other government in the world spends on native peoples.’”” However, native -groups say nowhere near $13,000 goes directly to Indians, and the benefits they enjoy are far less generous than popularly believed. “If the prime minister says it is $13,000 per person, I know that less than $2,000 is what every man, woman and child on reserves reccives,”’ said Bill Wilson, British Columbia regig6Bi chief for the Assembly of First Nations. “*So what happened to the $11,000? I'll tell you where it went. It went into the pockets of the bureaucrats that think they know what is best for us."” The amount spent on bureaucrats is hard to determine. Indian Affairs has 3,000 employees working on native programs, but nine other federal departments also deliver programs to natives. “When is the Canadian public going to wake up and realize that the Indians are not the enemy here?"’ said Wilson. “It is those bureaucrats spending your money and my money wastefully.”” The Department of Indian and Northern Affairs has a budget of $3.5 billion this year. The department estimates $3 billion of its budget is spent on programs, and other depar tments spend $1 billion Using that $4-billion figure, Mulroney and Indian Affairs recently came up with different per-capita spending on natives money into the Information sheets the department prepared in August said Ottawa spen- ds ‘‘over $8,000 per capita in direct benefit to status Indians on reserves and to Inuit.’’ This was arrived at by dividing $4 billion by the 500,000 people with Indian status in Canada, However, after Mulroney used the $13,000 figure Aug. 28, the depar- tment released new documents sup- porting the prime minister $4 billion was divided by the 309,000 status Indians who live on reserves. Natives not on reserves still qualify for federal help such as money for health and dental care and_post- secondary education But the department said not enough is spent on off-reserve Indians to consider them in calculations of per-capita spending Specific federal spending includes $736 million for Indian education, $224 million for band management, $550 million for native health ser vices, $213 million for housing and $138 million for native employment programs. Smaller expenses include $3.7 million for a native court .workers program and $300,000 for legal studies for aboriginal people. Even the Department of National Defence is included, saying it spends $2 million a year on programs of direct benefit to natives. Indians enjoy a number of benefits other Canadians don’t. They are generally free to work and live on either side of the Canada-U.S. bor- der Those living and working on reser- ves pay no income tax, no sales tax and no property tax. Outsiders cannot seize goods from a reserve to pay deb- ts — for instance, a merchant could not repossess a car that was not paid for Natives also get subsidized housing, special employment and_ business programs, free dental care and free university education. Some bands have special treaty rights. However, many benefits end once a native leaves a reserve Bob Cox writes for The Canadian Press The once-fine Selkirk College has long closed its doors as even the forestry studies and the aviation departments are no longer required. The mainstream of workers are now working in the. stone quarry, some 40 miles to the southeast. Here they are busy turning out pieces of slate by the ton and shipping it by horse-drawn carts to the Valhallas. Once arriving in the area, it is used by the society’s scholars to write their messages to the rest of the world. Pulp, which was used to make writing paper, had outlived its usefulness and slate is now the environment-friendly form that must be used. The slate, once used, is shipped to the recycling depot (the former sawmill at the ghost town of Slocan City). Here it is made into a type of brick that is then traded (beads, etc.) to the people of the Valhallas. It is then used to make a form of a stove which, when fuelled, is used to heat their caves in the winter One scholarly old fellow (formerly of the village without a ferry) invented a tool he called an axe. He noticed that the piles of male bovine droppings that were once very prevalent in that area had dwindled to a very small amount and-a new source of fuel for their stoves would soon be needed. “Let us cut down some trees and use the wood 4, to burn in our stoves,’* he said. **Good idea,”’ came the response from the rest of the cave dwellers. A few years went by and the skate mine ran out of material and had to close down. Someone in Valhalla had the bright idea that trees could be cut down, squashed, pressed and colored and the finished product could be used for writing their messages on for the rest of the world to read Soon a small industrial revolution took place and lo and behold a pulp mill was built on the north end of Slocan Lake. This brought in loggers and chip-truck drivers and rail cars and soon a college would be built in the old town of Sandon. Dateline Rosebery, B.C. — year 2090. A thriving populous area known as the Valhallas in the province of Washington has just signed a new 00-year pact with forestry products as the number one industry Nuff said sary Hyson “astlegar Format troublesome Has anyone else noticed that the ‘‘open house’’ rather than a ‘‘public information meeting” is the vehicle now favored by most corporations and governments to satisfy the growing requirements to ‘‘inform the public?"* That's how Westar recently chose to let us know about its five-year plan to log the Lower Arrow Lake and, of course, most of us have by now heard about Celgar’s current round of open houses regarding thegompany’s expansion plans. So why choose “open houses’ rather than the old-fashioned ‘‘public meetings?" Think about it for a minute, and about which approach better serves the interests of the questions and concerns of their neighbors. They also get a sense as to whether or not their concerns about the proposal are shared by others or are at all valid. On the other hand, the open house is usually conducted over a much longer period of time and people trickle in at intervals. As a result, few, if any, individual citizens (other than company officials) can get a sense of how many others are even interested in what's being proposed, much less being able to hear what the concerns might be. It’s also very difficult for the ordinary lay Person to know what to ask the attending “*experts’’ because he or she never gets a chance to hear someone outline the project in detail. At an open house it’s ‘‘one on one’’ regarding any questions or comments and ‘‘five on one’’ if the questioner proves difficult. For most of us that’s a pretty intimidating Prospect. I would say that if a corporation already has a good reputation in a community, that is, there’s a shouted at, jeered and insulted with every. ified and iliati these people could think of. We feared for our safety after half an hour of the venomous assault. T have been in the presence of anger and bigotry.in a public place before, but this was a first ? for my children who were born and raised in the valley. It was very difficult to accept that I could not protect them from the hate and malice of the Celgar crowd whose lives are evidently so unhappy they needed to vent their rage on three unknown aftd virtually helpless people. It broke my heart to experience their pain. I went to the open houses in love and partnership. I was given hate and domination. I was labelled enemy by folks who still think war and conquest will make the world a better place. I went thinking even Celgar bullies are entitled to a clean workplace and a dignified life. Now I’m wondering if they deserve it Whoever is responsible for pressuring the people of Castlegar to travel into Kootenay ities to harass and it i the local history of *-"st and mutual respect, the open-h route might be an acceptable way of informing the public about future plans. In the case of Celgar, however, there is no basis of trust and no history upon which the community can assume that the company is acting in any but its shareholders’ interests for i citizens had better clear up their act. Taking photos of people's homes without their permission, vandalizing property, writing down licence numbers under cover of the night and bullying women and children are unconscionable acts and totally It’s 1990. War and return on investment. In fact, the company has a history of using ‘‘job-loss blackmail’’ whenever it has been challenged about its refusal to meet pollution standards. Asa result of this, the open houses have, if anything, created more controvérsy and bad feeling in the region affected by the proposed expansion. Many Castlegar people I know are feeling manipulated, frustrated and angry. Some are also feeling isolated, intimidated and silenced by the vigilante-like fervor of those who, once again, believe the same old threats of mill closure unless the company gets its way. I was very pleased to hear that the City of Castlegar’s Celgar Expansion Advisory Group will hold a public meeting at the Castlegar Recreation Complex on Sept. 10 at 7 p.m. It’s really the first opportunity for us as a community to get together and hear some informed and hopefully balanced opinions and facts about the impact of the proposed expansion. Thank you to the committee for taking this initiative. Thope all those who care about our community, about not only jobs at the mill, but also about the long-term health of our people, the environment and our local economy, will attend I would lastly add that I hope that those who attend thé meeting will have the good sense to respectfully allow others who may hold a view different to their own to participate in a free and full way. Trying to silence your neighbor isn’t a very useful way to reach understanding and compromise in a democratic society. Ann Godderis Castlegar Grave mistake I noticed your coverage of Celgar’s open houses failed to tell the whole story, so perhaps your readers can learn somthing from my experience 1 attended three of Celgar’s open houses thinking their purpose was to provide public involvement and an opportunity to ask questions of management and technical staff about the proposed mill expansion. I went with serious concerns about fibre supply, chip transport and the colossal scale of the proposal. | came away with far more serious concerns about the stability of society itself. My questions to the technical and management people were left unanswered by patronizing and condescending lectures and grins. The gist of the information given to me was, “you're entitled to your opinions, but you are not capable of and we intend to bulldoze this corporation to limit organized opp to its a fact that development consultants such -based Desmond M. Connor strongly advises any of his corporate clients to use the open house route in order to help ‘‘prevent and resolve public controversy about major projects."” At a public meeting, all concerned and interested people are together under one roof for the same length of time. They all get the same overview of the proposal and also get to hear all the domination are the dregs of adversity in society and will not create a positive and healthy social system and environment. Celgar has made a grave mistake in allowing, if not encouraging, its supporters to employ intimidation tactics to achieve its goal of a new pulp mill. If Celgar can’t do it right, it mustn't be allowed to do it at all. M. Colleen Bowman New Denver No one hot We read with interest statements by Mr. Ed Conroy referring to a group of people who are in favor of modernizing the Celgar pulp mill ‘‘at any cost.”” Who are these people? Did Ed say who these people are? We in the CCCM (Citizens for a Clean Celgar Modernization) haven’t found any. If there is one thing that everyone we have talked to at the Celgar open houses are in favor of it’s an environmentally sound mill. In'this grouping I include CIPE (the Coalition for Information on the Putp Mill Expansion), the Valhalla Society, CCCM, the IWA, PPWC, Castlegar and District Development Board and the Celgar staff. We have found a few who would prefer to see the mill shut down period but these number less than a dozen. On the whole, we have found most people, when they talk one on one to people on the “other side,” find they agree on far more than they disagree. Cool off? Who's hot? We're not. Ron Ross Director CCCM Castlegar More letters, page A5 Please address all letters to the editor 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 project over you all anyway.”’ I was purr iritimidated by literally busloads of imported Celgar supporters. At the Appledale open house Aug. 28, my daughter, another young friend and I were physically surrounded by $0 or More Celgar supporters as we exchanged information with Tom Barker, the CITIC representative. An atmosphere of gang rape ensued as we were of 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. ee ee LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Threat false - Until recently, your paper provided fair coverage of both sides of the Celgar expansion ¢. But lately, the Castlegar News has begun to mis-characterize our legitimate intent in working to ensure that the development of a modernized Castlegar mill is matched to the available long-term wood supply and utilizes the best available anti- pollution technology. I hope that your ethics of journalism will allow us another opportunity to refute these mis-characterizations. You first printed an article entitled ‘Threat of delay draws mayor’s anger’’ in your Aug. 18 edition, We pointed out in our letter to you, which your newspaper printed in your Aug. 29 edition, that it was Mayor Audrey Moore who manufactured a false threat from what actually constitutes a legitimate opposition to the flawed federal-provincial review process. Mayor Moore falsely implied that we were threatening to hold up the hearing process when what we actually requested was full consideration of the issue of sustainability. We also made it clear that the provision of.intervenor funding would speed up rather than delay the process, Because our requests to include sustainability and provide intervenor funding are both required in the proposed revisions to the Federal Environmental Review Process, our actions can hardly be termed unreasonable and certainly cannot be perceived by rational thinkers to constitute a real threat. Regrettably, by repeatedly turning our legitimate and reasonable requests into a perceived threat of forestalling and perhaps killing the proposed project, it is your paper which joins Celgar in holding the Celgar workers at ransom. After all, what has actually happened is that Celgar has come out in effect saying, If we don’t get approval of our expansion in our way and on our time, We'll shut the whole mill down and lay everyone off. If this isn’t extortionate, I don't know what It makes the same mockery of the review process as Celgar tacitly approving local open-house meetings stacked with bused-in supporters. To make things even worse, in your editorial (Sept. 1) you associated the work of the Valhalla ociety with a ‘*verbal attack on Mr. Sweeney"’ and a ‘woman carrying a sign ‘Recycle or Die,’ " two examples which totally mis-characterize what most environmentalists are saying. I don’t know what David Lewis said and 1 don’t know who carried the sign. Although you claim that most environmentalists ‘‘are people with intensely felt beliefs that mankind must stop abusing the i so that our do not inherit a planet stripped of much of its natural beauty and resources,’ you only gave bad examples and associated the work of the Valhalla Society with these bad examples, Having been threatened by the company that it will shut down operations if it isn’t soon allowed to proceed with its proposed project, it is not difficult to understand that some of its workers feel threatened for their jobs. But please try to understand that this false threat has been manufactured by Celgar, the mayor of Castlegar and taken up by your paper, instead-of responsible environmental activists. I can assure you that all of us involved in the work of the Valhalla Society join you in condemning hatred. I for one very much feel the danger created by hatred after my life was verbally threatened by the angry mob outside the meeting in Appledale last week. So let’s proceed to determine what the facts of sustainability are in an open, fair and expeditous process free of intimidation and the non-productive editorial flaunting of false, manufactured threats by the mill. Grant Copeland Truckers pay more The citizens of the West Kootenay are opposed to the use of their highways by chip trucks, The chips, they say, should be hauled by rail or barge at additional cost to the Celgar pulp mill. If the chips can’t go by truck, then maybe Safeway and Labatt’s should be made to switch to the railroad too. If the pulp mill is not allowed to use the cheapest lable form of transportation, why should anyone else? I am sure those people who oppose the chip trucks would not mind paying more for their groceries and beer in order to get a few more trucks off the road. These people say that the taxpayers pay for the highway system and they are correct — except they forgot to check to see exactly who paid the most taxes. According to the B.C. Trucking Association: **In B.C. in 1987/88 motorist related revenues exceeded motorist related expenses by over $110 million. The trucking industry paid the majority of the $68.6 million in provincial diesel fuel taxes. Truckers also paid the bulk of the $136.8 million in license fees that year."’ It is the taxpayers that pay for our roads and truckers are the biggest taxpayers you have as far as roads are concerned. People seem to forget the millions and millions of dollars the federal government has given the railways over the years. Smile the next time a truck goes by. He paid for the road you are driving on. Andy Roberts McRae Creek Transport Castlegar Editor's note: Because of space limitations and the large volume of mail received last week on the proposed Celgar ulp mill expansion, several letters have een held for publication next week. REMEMBER WHEN 40 YEARS AGO From the Sept. 7, 1950 Castle News The paving operation now being carried out on the main highway at present will be extended to include, according to information received at the Municipal office, Maple and Main streets of Castlegar. These streets will be surfaced with blacktop as far as Eighth Ave. (formerly Cobalt) and will include that section of Eighth between them, thus forming a large loop with the highway. . * * Tuesday the children of Castlegar and District went back to their desks after two months of holidaying. This brings back into force the traf- fic speed regulation of 15 mph in school zones from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on school days, and motorists should remember and respect these zones. On the first day’s registration in the elementary schools on which infor- mation is available, and the high school all show a marked increase in school population 25 YEARS AGO From the Sept. 9, 1965 Castlegar News Mines Minister Don Brothers yesterday advised the Castlegar News in a telephone interview that the provincial government has ap- proached Education Minister Leslie Peterson to enter into an agreement with the West Kootenay Regional College to provide financial assistance for the construction and equipping of technical training facilities in the regional college to be built here. Prime Minister Pearson’s Tuesday announcement that a federal election will be held on Nov. 8 will likely see Castlegar as the inatii conven- sday from the possible to the postulated and nearly vanished altogether into the ethereal. The government-controlled Canadian Cellulose Company, in evidence to the royal commission of forest resources, all but disowned the suggestion for a 750-ton-a-day mill contained in its written submission to commission chairman Dr. Peter H. Pearse. oO; ition leader Bill Bennett is to tion headquarters for the West Kootenay riding. The Village of Castlegar is writing the department of highways requesting an ‘urgent meeting’’ with department engineers to discuss the recent flooding of residential and business properties at the foot of Sherbiko Hill on Columbia Ave. . . . Angle parking is to be reinstitued on certain downtown streets “‘im- mediately.”’ This action was taken on a unanimous vote of council Tuesday 15 YEARS AGO From the Sept. 11, 1975 Castlegar News A proposal for a $200 million pulp mill here retreated in Nelson Thur- be in Castlegar for a Strawberry Sociab being held at 6 p.m. today in the Kinsmen Park. . . * The dispute enters its 57th day today. ° 5 YEARS AGO From the Sept. 11, 1985 Castlegar News An early morning fire Sunday destroyed four of the six buildings and many irreplaceable artifacts in Castlegar’s Doukhobor Village. There were no injuries in the fire, though caretaker Harley Taylor lost all his possessions. Arrested at the scene and charged with arson was Mary Astaforoff, 71, a Sons of Freedom Doukhobor from Grand Forks. YOUR CASTLEGAR SAFEWAY Proud to be Your Favorite Food Store GROUND BEEF Regular. 10 Ibs. or Over $1.94/kg...........0000000bb, @ PORK BUTT ROAST Boneless. Or Stuffed. $4.39/kg. ...... __ IN-STORE DEL! — ROAST BEEF With or Without Garlic © 100 G- MARKET FRESH. PRODUCE MUSHROOMS $ 1 66 ~ ” GRAPEFRUIT B.C. Grown Celgor Expansion Review Panel TAKE THE TIME TO TELL THEM! The Castlegar and District Development Boord urges residents of the Castlegar area to express their support for the proposed Celgar modernization to the Public Hearings Will Be Held In Castlegar, September 20 & 21 We ask thot you take the time to tell the pone! how you feel. It is not necessary to make a verbal p ota ae written p Should you need assistance with your presentation. or require an appointment fo meet the panel please call our office at 365-3959. We would be pleased to help CASTLEGAR & DISTRICT DEVELOPMENT BOARD ore ¢ The prudent home owner who spruces up his property betore selling will clean up in more ways recent national pole 80% of jate brokers said a good clean most important she your Over 25% of brokers recommended decorating and new wallpaper. 20% would advise new broadioom if car peting was worn and 15% believed yard cleon up ond landscaping would improve the curb appeal. Close to holt of the brokers strongly recommend against major improvements os © strategy to in crease your asking price. | agree: in the long term major improvements may have a positive impact on selling price but they are not protitable in the short term. As a guide for return on your investment clip and keep the following: “What you con expect chert eal . Estate CLEAN UP FOR RESALE WITH BARRY BROWN WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT CHART — New carpeting ($4,000) 90% 4 return — New shrubs and trees ($2,000) 90% return - gorage return — Room Addition ($20,000) — 65% return Bathroom addition ($8,000) — 60% return Fireplace ($5,000) — S0% return — Deck oF patio ($5,000) — 50% return Remodel Kitchen ($15,000) — 50% return 10,000) —80% 18 anything | can do to hel ycu in the held of real estore please pinat NATIONAL REAL ESTATE SERVICE Agencies itd. rr Phone 365-2111 or 365-2757 An insurance bill of approximately $3,800 has been paid by the city to protect its interest in the Castlegar Arena, a building which is valued at $180,000 and had been turned over to Regional District of Central Kootenay, ARROW LAKE ELEVATION 1444.88 on Aug. 24 Forecast of Elevation 1445.38 on Sept. 15 An attempt by the B.C. gover- nment to bring about a resumption of talks in the province-wide forest in- dustry dispute met with little success during the past week ONLY * PLUS $3.50 REGISTRATION SAVINGS OF $13.00 TO SEPT. 22 50 Jeanie Darnell Lost 77 Ibs./maintained for 2 years. 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