Wednesday, January 27, 1993 2 5 PAGE InNtON S Harrison Editor Bob Proctor Marketing Manager Mickey Read Composing Room Foreman Warren Chernoff Accountant Mary Ann Fullerton Circulation Manager Burt Campbell Publisher Emeritus LV.c OurWiEWS AdrianRAESIDE A caring Castlegar t 2 p.m. today, five Castlegar and area residents received ong-overdue recognition. Pillars of the community in their own rights, Mayor Audrey Moore, former News editor and publisher Burt Campbell, Alexia Turner, Peter Kalesnikoff and Pete Oglow were honored with special medals acknowledging their outstanding service to Castlegar and Canada. The contributions these people have made to the well-being of Castlegar can’t be understated. Nor should it. Their dedication and commitment to the lives of the people they have touched is a statement about the very community they proudly call home. There is a certain measure of pride in seeing our fellow citizens honored by Ottawa. For, as much as it is an acknowledgment of their special contributions, it is also a statement about the quality of life in our corner of the world. That quality of life is continually improved by the many people that have put themselves at the forefront of Castlegar living through their silent and unheralded efforts. These are the Celgar workers who contribute Christmas toys to those in need, the Hospice Society volunteers who help ease the pain of a lost loved one and the minor hockey coaches that spend hours chasing pucks and tying laces. This is Castlegar. And, as the five citizens accept their medals, rest assured that they couldn’t have received such distinction without the support of an entire community. Street( TALK HERE UE HAE Beleaguered buddies look lost I had a reunion, of sorts, last Wednesday at the Fireside Inn. A couple buddies of mine bused into town to take part in the lumber remanufacturing hearings that were conducted in Castlegar. You might know them — Liberal MLAs Wilf Hurd and Ken Jones. The three of us go back a ways, to a time when White Rock city council had its hands full with a small but s.D.HARRISON Harrison Comparison embarrassing White Rock city council. I was that reporter, working for a paper know as the Peace Arch News. Wednesday marked the first time I’d seen Hurd or Jones since their surprising election to the B.C. Legislature some 16 months prior. I say surprising because neither Hurd nor Jones really expected to win their __| respective ridings of persistent group known as the White Rock Residents Association. The association was a collection of dedicated and defiant citizens and council wannabes who made life miserable for White Rock’s elected representatives. Hurd and Jones were two of the more vocal members of the WRRA, dogging council for this, that and the other thing and running to their local council reporter with document after document aimed at Surrey-White Rock or Surrey-Cloverdale when they tossed their hats into the ring. But they did, and that victory appears to be taking its toll. ie See, I happened to catch up with Jones the same day that he had become the subject of Vancouver Sun columnist Vaughn Palmer’s wrath. In a not-so-kind column, Palmer referred to Jones as “the member from Mars.” Hardly a flattering statement. | please see HARRISON page 7 ——— soca ane eens meena | ‘Aug. 7, 1947- Feb. 15, 1973 Member of the B.C. Press Council ecvena Saturday at 197 Columbia Ave., Columbia by Castle News Ltd. for Canwest Publishers Lid. Question: How do you feel about B.C.’s minimum wage increase of $5.50 to $6 ? Sarah,DeRosa Pass Creek “It’s not enough, because everything is going up.” Sheila Dunn Castlegar “With the cost of things there should be an increase.” Wendy Smith Robson “It should be more. It’s not much if you’re a single parent.” Bryan Deadmarsh “I think it’s great — it’s better than $5.50.” Kevin Gay ) Fruitvale Castlegar “It’s adequate for now.’ if Wednesday, January 27, 1993 ithe News OtherVIEWS Please address all letters to: Letters to the Editor Castlegar News P.O. Box 3007 Castlegar, B.C. VIN 3H4 or deliver them to 197 Columbia Ave. Letters should be town of residence only will be published. Only in exceptional cases will letters be published anonymously. Even in those cases, the name, address and phone number of the writer MUST be disclosed to the editor. The News reserves the right to edit letters for brevity, clarity, legality, grammar and taste. Letters :coWHE : EDITOR Recently, there has been quite a bit of talk and news coverage about the Columbia River Treaty. Unfortunately, one of the areas that people should be most concerned about has not been discussed. The reasons for this is because it does not fall under the Columbia River Treaty but falls instead under the Free Trade Agreement. Canada’s fresh water resource is included in the Canada/US Free Trade Agreement and the North American Free Trade Agreement. Water is in the tariff schedules as Article 22.01 in the FTA, where it is defined as “natural waters of all kinds (other than sea water)” and as Article 2201.90 in NAFTA, as follows: ice, snow and potable (meaning drinkable) water not elsewhere specified, not containing sugars or sweeteners. Water is also included in the text of the FTA under article 711 as an agricultural good. The inclusion of water as an agricultural good presents a major problem for As you were unable to attend the RDCK meeting on Jan. 16, 1993, you have apparently have found it necessary to again resort to second-hand reporting and speculation as to what, in fact, occurred. First of all, your headline conclusion that “tempers flared” was wrong. In fact, there was no “heated exchange” you described. Moreover, while we asked that the letter be considered by the board, it was entirely the decision of the chair to place this matter on the public agenda. Because we were offended by the tone of the letter generally, we would have preferred that it had been dealt with otherwise. You should be aware that there was a series of some 13 different articles published by The News which were also presented to the directors for their I wish to draw the attention of Castlegar residents to the upcoming construction of a fire hall in Blueberry Creek. I feel that this is a complete and total waste of money and a duplication of resources that are already basen Blueberry Creek is within the five-mile diameter response area of two existing fire departments, the Kinnaird and Genelle Fire Departments. These fire halls are both more than adequate for the needs of Blueberry residents. The problem is that the City of Castlegar refuses to supply this much needed protection. Biueberry Creek fir Canadians in general, and in Kootenay West-Revelstoke in particular. Under Article 601 of the FTA, we are allowed to restrict the sale of certain goods where necessary to protect public health, safety, essential security, the environment for consumer interests. However — Article 609 of the FTA is very specific, that the restriction apply only to goods other than agricultural. In other words, we can’t restrict the sale of water for any reason. In 1989, the 6,000 member agricultural Institute of Canada submitted to the federal government a unanimous resolution requesting that, since government officials continually assure us that only bottled water is included, the FTA be amended to specify that water is included only as a bottled beverage. The government has refused to comply. Article 105 of the FTA says we must allow both parties the same rights with respect to trade in goods and services. With consideration and also been referred to the Inspector of Municipalities. It was also noted that you had released our original letter to you, directly to Mr. Cady as well as to Mr. O'Connor, prior to actual publication in your newspaper. ‘inally, as to Director Cady’s reaction, so you may understand the implications of writing that letter we are providing you with a summary of factors which were presented to the board prior to its decision to withhold endorsement of this unfortunate communication. Why, when none of the media who actually attended the meeting published this letter, you would take this step is beyond comprehension. You might consider whether you, too, have adhered to proper standards of journalism. The Genelle Fire Department (Regional District of Kootenay Boundary) was willing to cover Blueberry Creek if the City of Castlegar provided mutual aid, as they do with the airport and other local fire departments. Someone within the city of refuses to provide this assistance to Blueberry. The City of Castlegars’ only concern is to expand its municipal boundaries. The residents of Blueberry spend most of their money within the city and already support area me ts. As well, Castlegar seems to be overlooking a possible source of Canadian water could be flowing south water listed as a good, American (and eventually Mexican) consumers and farmers could demand the same right to Canadian water as Canadians enjoy. It is argued by government officials that domestic legislation will protect our water supply, but under Article 103 of the FTA, we are required to ensure observance of this agreement by all levels of government. Our own legislation is therefore overridden. The Reform Party of Canada has made a commitment to sustainable development. This is an inter-generational commitment; it is a promise to future Canadians that we protect and save Canada’s resources for their use. There is a potential for a safe, viable and highly profitable water export industry in Canada, but only if we maintain full control of our water resources. Jim Gouk Kootenay West-Revelstoke Candidate Reform Party of Canada Local RDCK directors want apology from chairman, News Perhaps the flaming arrows which Chairman Cady now dodges are the ones which he, with your assistance, first fired. We suggest that both of you owe apologies for your conduct. Ken Wyllie, Area J Director John Voykin, Area I Director eee Editor’s note: Chair George Cady did receive a copy of the Wyllie-Voykin letter prior to its publication in the hopes he would comment on its contents for a news story. He chose not to. The Cady letter was published because it became part of the public record. In the interest of the public, the Cady and Wyllie-Voykin letters were published unedited. As for Mike O’Connor, he was never sent a copy of the letter by The News. e hall ‘a complete waste of money’ revenue — the cost to provide fire protection to Blueberry residents. I have spoken with my regional district representative, member of the Blueberry Creek Fire Committee and with the Genelle Fire Department and all point to the City of Castlegar as the stumbling block in roviding fire protection or Blueberry. I ope.this letter will make some residents to their city or regional representatives and stop what I perceive as a waste of over $100,000 by residents of Bluebe: Wayne Fairview Subdivision Harrison continued from page 6 To his credit, Jones took the shot in stride, saying that kind of thing happens when you get into politics. (OK, so he also knew that he was talking to a journalist who wasn’t about to critique another’s work — kind of a journalism code of honor, so to speak.) Regardless, the two-hour gab hepony ed pint to me that the two men really changed. Namely, they Ft more than they. bar- gained for when they won the =. represent their respective Not only have the troubles of their own party took the wind out of their sails, but they also ex- pressed frustration at the de-. mands placed on them by their own constituents and the media. I found that odd. After all, these are the same two individuals that loved to see White Rock city coun- cil squirm every time they stood up with a question and loved to feed me with information while I covered civic events. It’s almost ironic that they would now find themselves frus- trated by similar demands they placed on White Rock city council and tight-lipped with information. Poetic justice, some would say. Political reality, I would say. And it’s that that saddens me. See, I think of Hurd and Jones as = first and politicians sec- ond. So, I was taken a little aback that the enthusiasm they ap- proached their mandates with had been somewhat derailed by the sea sopalp abyss of their own y and Victoria. which brings me to a letter to the editor I received from Cres- cent Valley's David Lewis last week regarding my editorial titled ‘Laughable Liberals.’ Lewis took exception to the edi- ‘al, calling it politician bashing. To some extent, he was right... it was easy to take a poke at the Liberals woes. After all, their fol- lies have been well documented. Follies aside, Lewis made one statement that has stuck with me. He simply wrote, ‘I wonder what people would like instead of politi- cians? Dictators?’ Food for thought, I say. After all, a politician’s life isn't easy and it’s not getting any easier. One look at Wilf Hurd and Ken Jones told me that.