Rp gyiwes » aT OPINION Castlégar News PAGE A4, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 1990 ESTABLISHED AUGUST 7, 1947 THE MID-WEEK L.V. CAMPBELL — PUBLISHER, AUGUST 7, 1947-FEBRUARY 15, 1973 PUBLISHER — Burt Campbell 7 EDITOR — Simon Birc! PLANT FOREMAN — Peter Harvey ADVERTISING MANAGER — Wayne Stolz OFFICE MANAGER — Linda Kositsin CIRCULATION MANAGER — Heather Hadley TWICE WEEKLY MAY 4, 1980 EMBER 12, T 27, 1980 EDITORIAL Fall candidates ‘must be dedicated Local municipal, school board and regional district elections are ! going to be particularly interesting this fall. Every position is up for j grabs. Opposition was only slight a few years ago when the pr ial {| government legislated the changes which saw the switch from elections held each year with half the positions open to elections held every three ears with all positions open. WM ATS YOUR OWN FAULT! atk ASNIT AND THROWING OUT ALL YOUR a CLOTHES DURING COLD SPELL! ~ naciciaemett NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL NEWS Massive strike underway in steel industry By MICHAEL MacDONALD The Canadian Press Workers honked car horns, chan- ted and ignited fireworks in Hamilton early today to mark the start of a strike by 16,000 Stelco and Algoma steelworkers in Quebec and Ontario. Pickets went up at 15 plants owned by the two Canadian steelmaking giants at mid: it Tuesday cutting the country’s steel-producing capabilities by more than half, said Leo Gerard, Ontario director of the United Steelworkers of America. About 6,800 workers at Stelco’s Hilton Works in Hamilton, the largest plant in the Hamilton area, are now off the job. Stelco has-two more Hamilton plants, as well as one on the north shore of Lake Erie at Nanticoke, Ont., and another in Burlington, Ont. In Gananoque, Ont., about 50 We were among those who didn’t see all the i at the ime. We thought the savings in election machinery costs, the longer terms available during which councils and school boards would be able } to implement election platforms and so on would be definite benefits. Now we're not so certain. A ing that all iti are in N ber, it will be ecessary to find at least 21 people to put in their nomination papers for he 16 vacancies that will exist (seven for Castlegar municipal council, even for School District No. 9, and one each for the Regional District t of Central Kootenay electoral Area I and J, to ensure elections. (The figure of 21 is derived by adding a nominee to each contest in addition to the number needed to fill the seator seats, ensuring no one take a seat by acclamation. The mayor is elected in a separate contest and not as a council member.) The availability of such a large number of interested, dedicated i citizens at any one time is very doubtful. And as for the incumbents, they have some very difficult personal decisions to make: Do they really want to serve another three years? After all, a three-year commitment after two, four-or six years of community service is asking a great deal of them. Pretend you’re considering running. Think hard about a three-year } commitment. Previously, you could run and, if after a year you felt you Shad made a wrong decision, you could either resign (causing a byelec- = tion at the time of regular fall elections) or — as was more likely — you would decide to serve the remaining 12 months of your two-year term and reassess your thinking at the time your term expired. . Now potential candidates must be very, very sure they want to ¢ make a three-year commitment. To find out the job isn’t really one you S enjoy after a year or a year-and-a-half means looking at 18 months or Stwo years more of the same. And a resignation would necessitate the expense of a byelection because there are no longer regular yearly elec- 3tions to hold byelections in conjunction with. H It’s only Aug. 1, and Nov. 17 may seem a long ways away, but we need at least 16 people (including any i d inc to start } now to give serious consideration to running in the elections which will + be held the third Saturday of November. ; And the more people who start to consider running now, the } greater the likelihood that those who do decide to put their names for- } ward will be those prepared to give the kind of commitment needed. 3 We don’t need candidates who "‘think’’ they might be interested in : being on council, school board or the regional district. We don ’t need i chair warmers. We need, as candidates, people who are prepared to } make waves, who are prepared to get things done and implement their | ideas for the betterment of our community and area. 3 The years ahead are going to be challenging ones. We need elected ? representatives after Nov. 17 who are prepared to meet those Hh LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Stop cutting trees Robson residents are very unhappy with the person or persons who have systematically cut down trees along the river, in front of the Robson townsite: This has been happening almost every night for at least two weeks. The Ministry of Highways and Bel Maintenance have all been notified. If this has anything to do with Sunfest boat races, it is leaving a very bad taste and very hard feelings. Cease and desist, please. Alice Sanford Robson Public opinion ignored The forest industry and the B.C. government keep denouncing civil disobedience by residents concerned with their water supply, visual quality and public safety in areas being clear-cut, but refuse to amend their conduct. For instance, when Slocan Forest Products held their open house in New Denver on June 6 to present their five-year logging plan, an overwhelming majority, numbering over 100 residents, turned out to voice their objections to clear-cut logging in their watersheds and the visual corridor of the Slocan Valley. Yet, on June 28, Slocan Forest Products responded without the slightest change, offering their tape-loop assurances — “‘trust us’? — just as if the protest had never been heard. This is the same stone-wall given the demands of all three village governments in the valley, the Regional District of Central Kootenay, the Slocan Watershed Alliance and the Valhalla Society, all of which demanded an end to clearcutting two years ago. It is clear that SFP has no intention to and When I took the first load of refuse to the regional dump I was approached by the equipment operator and told that I would have to pay $6 to dump the load or leave with it intact on the truck. I told him that I was a taxpayer and paid for garbage removal. I was then informed the dump was for household refuse only. The load I had consisted of only badly deteriorated wood. Unlike most ‘‘household refuse’’ my load was 100 per cent biodegradable. I paid the $6 and left. I returned with a second load, also wood, only to be charged another $6. The $12 was not a financial hardship, but as a taxpayer, I really don’t think that I should have to pay extra to maintain my property. I realize that the fee is likely to discourage additional dumping and increase the life of the landfill. But tell me. . . if I can’t take it to the dump, just what am I supposed to do with it? Keith Watkin More bureaucracy A new layer of bureaucracy has descended upon Castlegar. Jill Bodkin, chairman of a federal- provincial review panel for the Celgar pulp mill, got a bit of media attention when she opened up an office. Bodkin claims that although the panel has existed for almost a month they have barely had time to wade through the mountains of paper associated with the project and have just been inundated again. She is talking about ways to make things move along a little faster. Justice delayed is justice denied, and if Bodkin wants to expediate this process she has my support. However, she made it crystal clear that anything remotely resembling justice is not what is going on when she said: ‘‘The expansion is the key to and help make Castlegar and district a better and more prosperous : place in which to live. VIEWPOINT Pocklington back publicly acceptable logging practices in the Slocan Valley nor will the Ministry of Forests demand that they do so. Unfortunately, this situation can only lead to litigation and to even more civil disobedience in the province, as total disregard of public demands by the forest industry and the Ministry of Forests leaves residents no other option. Grant Copeland, director, Vathalla Society proving the | quality for the area.” Imagine a judge saying before a trial that the process should be expedited because the safety of the community depended on hanging this rotten murderer. Ever heard of an open mind? Innocent until proven guilty? No one has even read the stage two report yet. This process of reviewing the ‘environmental’ impact has been a sham so far because Celgar is being allowed to get away without even mentioning carbon dioxide. Whoever is the part-time federal environment minister as this goes to print will confirm that global warming caused by the buildup of CO2 in the atmosphere is the greatest reading the stage-two documentation, without noticing that CO2 was omitted from stage one, without noticing that the provincial government position on CO2 has changed sinced stage one, Bodkin has announced that she already knows that “the expansion is the key to improving the environmental quality for the area.”’ I’ve never seen an advertisement looking for someone to sit on one of these panels. Inthe absence of hard facts, I imagined an ad in the Melbourne Daily Sleazette: Wanted for foreign political damage control Pp healthy kangi No i necessary. Must be able to deny with a straight face that they are sitting on a “‘Kangaroo court’’ and be able to handle a large rubber stamp. Excellent pay and benefits package. David Lewis Crescent Valley q Words meaningful While I have sympathy with our native peoples and agree that we have a great moral debt to them, | have never been comfortable with the concept of land claims. My fear is that acceptance of land claims, together with special status for native peoples, will constitute two more steps toward the balkanizing of our country, a road down which we have already gone too far. But I am a little less sure of my position after reading the letter of Chief Francis Laceese, Toosey Indian Band, Riske Creek, B.C., in the July 21 edition of The Globe and Mail. Laceese cannot understand how the government of British Columbia can have problems ith native land claims and at the same time “allocate land areas the size of some European countries to foreign interests,"’ a practice blithely accepted by most of us Canadians to more recent off-shore ancestry. I am not sure whether I should invite Lacesse to join the Council of Canadians or whether I should apply for membership in his band. Perhaps both Fred Marsh Castlegar Please address all letters to the editor in Alberta news EDMONTON (CP) — Say what when Pocklington, its owner, : you wish about Peter Poc Just don’t accuse him of being dull. The millionaire businessman and sports tycoon with the neatly trimmed beard and soft eyes is back in the news : im Alberta, the province that loves to hate him. Things had been pretty quiet on the Pocklington front since the day two years ago when he earned a dubious spot in history by selling Wayne Gret- ! zky to the Los Angeles Kings. {That deal inflamed emotions in the Alberta capital, where Gretzky — the record-setting superstar who led the Edmonton Oilers to four Stanley Cups — was akin to a priceless jewel. Pocklington was hanged in effigy, } threatened and accosted in public — ! prompting the Oilers owner to assume an unusual low profile. But lately he has been back on the front pages with his sale of Palm Dairies for $100 million, in a two-part transaction involving the Northern *Alberta Dairy Pool and Ontario- : based Beatrice Foods. The deal left some Albertans won- dering if taxpayers will once again be footing the bill as a result of the i province backing one of { Pocklington’s enterprises. Alberta’s Conservative gover } nment, which once had a cosy on a $6-mill gover- nment-backed loan. It was part of a $67-million financing package the province had provided Gainers. The province wants to unload the company but hasn’t found any buyers. Some critics say Gainers isn’t worth the money Alberta put into it. Competitors are screaming that they can’t compete with a government- owned business. Not surprisingly, Conservatives are sensitive about other deals the provin- ce struck with Pocklington. Alberta Treasury Branches, the only gover- nment-owned bank in Western Canada, lent him more than $50 million to buy Palm Dairies in 1987 Treasurer Dick Johi insists Dump fee challenged I was born in the old-Trail hospital in 1942 and spent all but five years of my adolescence in Kinnaird. During all those years in Kinnaird everyone worked together for the good of each other. If someone was in need people pitched in to help. I was married and spent the first few years of my first marriage in Castlegar. I left the area in 1972 for the Cariboo, but still have some roots in the Kinnaird area. As | own a home in the area, I am also a taxpayer and garbage collection is a part of the tax bill. When I was there during the first week of July, I did some clean-up and removal of an unsafe building for my mother, who at 77 is not able to do it herself. As I have been a volunteer fireman for the last 17 years. I know burning the refuse during hot, dry weather conditions on a lot with trees and bush would have been dangerous. the atmosphere. entertainment. Look what’s happening already. Without environmental problem that Canada faces. After the stage one docu! the provincial government stopped stonewalling and now they say a determined effort will be made to reduce CO2 emissions in B.C. Now Celgar will have to explain how shredding the forests twice as fast for the same number of jobs and moving everything around on trucks instead of trains is going to improve the environmental quality of the area. Pulp becomes products that have a short life before they become carbon dioxide in Or, the provincial government will have to tell us they are serious about carbon dioxide even though they allow a half-billion-dottar investment without considering the implic: cycle at all. Either way we are in for some rare to: Letters to the Editor, Castiegar 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. ents were written, jons on the carbon Pocklington won't receive “‘one nickel”’ from the Palm sale until he pays back that loan. But NDP Leader Ray Martin made political hay out of it just the same, charging that a sweetheart deal with Pocklington has once again left Albertans in the lurch. In announcing the Palm sale, Pocklington said he planned to use the proceeds to build a new arena for his Oilers, who won the Stanley Cup again this spring. He estimated that it costs him $8.8 million to use the community-owned ie hip with the unbashedly free-enterprise Pocklington, is strill trying to justify an earlier deal that { went sour. ! ‘The province took over the Gainers } Inc. meat-packing company last fall Coliseum each season. ington figures he could build a $60-million arena of his own, install dozens of lucrative private boxes and reap a revenue windfall from parking, concessions and advertising. By KEVIN WARD CP News Analysis TORONTO (CP) _ Capitalizing on a clear advantage, Ontario Premier David Peterson has called an election when the opposition parties can least afford it Political analysts believe the NDP and Conservatives don’t have time before Sept. 6 to build the muscles they need to effec- tively campaign against the premier and his powerful Liberals. “They're taking advantage of the relative vulnerability of the two opposition -parties,’’ said Prof. scientist University in Waterloo. ‘I don’t see the opposition parties catching the imaginations of the media or the general public. There really is no opposition.” The election call comes three years since the last one, flouting a tradition that majority gover- nments don’t call elections until they have served four years. Election call opportunistic Peterson said Monday he needs a new mandate to tackle the problems facing the province. Prof. Vaughan Lyon at Trent University in Peterborough said he doesn’t blame Peterson for for spending $40 million on what the opposition labels an un- necessary election. But Prof. Allan McDougall at the University of Western Ontario in London doesn’t believe the op- going out on the hustings three Position will be able to exploit the years into his mandate to protect snap election call. his majority government. “I think it is an excellent ‘The premier would be labelled Position that Peterson ign,"” said an inept political strategist if he McDougall, adding that, on didn’t take advantage of the average, Premier John Buchanan presen situation,” fee a. of Nova Scotia has called an elec- jerson risks a sh from sola mart at Oe os : toa banal yeaa years without pickets gathered at one of two Stelco Inc. plants there. Many workers said they were frustrated by the company’s refusal to grant wage increases in two previous three-year contracts. . “People are fed up with the way they’ve been treated in Gananoque,” said Bryce Vincent, one of 183 striking steelworkers there. About 6,000 Algoma workers in Sault Ste. Marie and Wawa, Ont., have also joined the strike. At the main plant in Sault Ste. Marie, about 150 steelworkers milled around gates outside the sprawling Northern On- tario complex. Nine locals, including 475 workers in Edmonton, voted in June to strike to back contract demands. Talks between Stelco and the union representing its 10,000 steelworkers broke down Sunday and no new negotiations are planned. Union officials predicted a long walkout when Stelco workers voted 95 per cent in favor of a strike. “It's unprecedented to have that many people so angry,”’ said Gerard. The union is prepared to strike for two weeks to six months to win a fair contract, John Martin, president of Local 1005, representing workers at Hilton Works said today. An attempt by provincial mediators in Sault Ste. Marie to bring together Algoma Steel Corp. and the steelworkers failed Tuesday morning. The union said it will not resume talks until Algoma presents a new wage proposal. The company, however, refuses to talk about money until the issue of contracting out is settled. At Stelco, satisfying union deman- ds would cost $20 per hour for each said i BRIEFLY From Wire Service New twist for Germanys BONN — Moscow has introduced a new twist in the path to Ger- man unity by insisting the all-German parliament ratify an agreement with the Second World War Allies before a return to full sovereignty, western diplomats said Tuesday. The Soviet demand, which diplomats said is supported by the other three Allies who divided Germany at the end of the war — the United States, Britain and France — could mean West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl's dream of full German sovereignty at the time of unification Dec. 2 may not be fulfilled. It could take several weeks before the new parliament, due to be elected Dec. 2 just after the two Germanys unite, can meet and rush through an agreement on Allied rights, “The political directors are struggling with this one right now,” one diplomat said of the unity agreement. “There are options but it is too early to say what they will work out.”” Rebels advance halted MONROVIA — Troops loyal to President Samuel Doe, who has pledged to fight to the death, recaptured large parts of Liberia's capital in a violent counter-attack-that halted rebel forces advancing on the besieged leader. As many as 500 government soldiers, advancing behind one Fred Telmer. However, Gerard said the $20-an- ate — which includes in- for wages, benefits, pension and vacation programs — is ‘‘con- siderably higher’’ than his. Stelco’s most recent offer consisted of a 2.5 per cent annual wage increase over three years. Stelco workers in Edmonton decided against joining the strike Tuesday because the Alberta Labor Code’s t | oa ling-off"’ tank, surprised the scattered rebel troops Tuesday and retook séveral blocks of streets in central Monrovia, witnesses said. The counter-attack broke the pincer advances of two rival rebel groups that had been closing in on Doe, holed up in his heavily fortified seaside executive mansion and apparently on the brink of defeat in the seven-month civil war. Gun amnesty planned OTTAWA — The federal government is planning a firearms am- nesty so Canadians can hand over their illegal guns without penalty, a spokesman for the justice minister has confirmed. The declaration will likely come in early October, when a Com- mons committee begins public hearings on proposed gun-control provision forbids them from striking before Aug. 5. Both~companies say the strike comes at a critical time because a sour economy is squeezing their earnings. Algoma, a subsidiary of Dofasco, this week reported a second-quarter loss of $10.1 million, compared with net earnings of $7.6 million in the same period last year. And Stelco reported earlier this month that its second-quarter net in- come fell by 77 per cent. While the company had earnings of $6.4 million, it still lost money in the first half of the year. Tension lessens in Trinidad PORT-OF-SPAIN (AP-CP) — A Muslim militant said in a radio inter- view today that the coup attempt he is leading in Trinida a ‘‘small family squabble’’ and that an accord has been reached to end the standoff. In an interview with the BBC, rebel leader Ysin Abu Bakr indicated that 40 people being held prisoner by his followers in the Caribbean country and former British colony would soon be released. “The negotiations are over. We in effect throughout most of Trinidad following earlier widespread looting. When the interviewer expressed disbelief that only the curfew was stopping the prisoners from leaving, Bakr mentioned that bus service had been disrupted. He said of the coup attempt: ‘“‘It was a small family squabble . . . I'm saying that em- phatically.”” Prime Minister Arthur Robinson was allowed to leave the besieged Parliament building on Tuesday. tabled last month. John Maddigan, press secretary for Justice Minister Kim Cam- pbell, confirmed plans for an amnesty. **We want to clear as many guns out of the system as possible,”’ he said. The amnesty would follow similar programs by the Ottawa and Metro Toronto police forces and comes after a request by Toronto police officials for a national amnesty. ‘ Rocker denies suicide message RENO, Nev. — The lead singer for Judas Priest says the heavy metal group once recorded a phrase backwards but didn’t bury subliminal messages promoting suicide in an album blamed for the deaths of two young fans. Tob Halford was the first of four band members to testify in a lawsuit brought by the parents of the two fans. “There are no subliminals of any nature’ on the 1978 album Stained Glass, he said Tuesday in a Reno courtroom. Halford testified he recorded a backward phrase in the song Love Bites on the British band’s album Defenders of the Faith in the mid- 1980s. Halford said he recorded the phrase ‘‘in the dead of the night, love bites’’ backwards and played it simultaneously with the same words recorded forwards. Welcomes... HAIRLINZ See RONDA DUTTON Casnigger 3as-a700 to our staff! % ALL HER SERVICES (cuts, perms & colors) OFF WHEN you present THIs coupon. already have a signed he said. ‘‘We are making preparations now for the evacuation of all the people, all the people at the television house and the people who are at the Parliament building.” Earlier, the government suggested that any agreements reached ‘‘at gun- point’? may not be considered bin- ding. The captives were seized Friday in an armed assault on Parliament and the state television station. The cap- tives initially included the prime minister, but he was freed after of- fering to step down, to call new elec- tions, and to grant the rebels amnesty. At least 20 people were reported to have been killed in violence and looting associated with the coup at- tempt. Although Bakr said in the interview everyone being held would be freed, he also denied that the people were in fact hostages. “*We don’t have any hostages, sir. We never had any hostages,”” he said. “You'll have to rephrase that question.”” Asked whether the people in question were then free to leave, Bakr responded: ‘‘There’s a curfew. They can’t walk about in a curfew.” A 6 p.m.-to-noon curfew remained POOR BOYS Corpor COUPON SPECIAL On Cor LIMITED ONE PER CUSTOMER Expiry Dote August 3, 1990 Living & dining room, 3 bdrms ST ight stairs, hall tree 365- 367-6234 5-248 OS — BUT NEED HOMES TO SELL Col JORDAN WATSON 365-2166 © 365-6892 For a Free Market Evaluation Costiegar Realty Ltd. * 1761 Col. Ave. ‘Now that I lost 70 Ibs. with Nutri/System I can play with my grandchildren without getting tired.’ >" Horet Our client, Doris Horeth of Medicine Hat, Alta., lost 70 Ibs. Our comprehensive weight loss program will help over ONE MILLION clients this year! It includes: * Safe easy and permanent weight loss Professional Supervision No Calorie Counting No Gimmicks! OVER 1700 CENTRES WORLDWIDE nutri/system PAY FOR ONLY HALF THE WEIGHT YOU WANT TO LOSE’ Call today for a FREE no obligation consultation! 68-8555 1435 BAY AVE., TRAIL “Special olter dows not inctude cost of exchuuive Nutri System tood meponeng New chant only Offer wold ot port Conwes Your satistaction is our main concern CASTLEAIRD PLAZA “Better you bet" Get all 4 every $25.00 in groceries purchased entities you to get all 4 of these products at th: get! of each with of wach with, $25.00 $50.00 THE MORE YOU BUY, THE MORE YOU SAVE! f SuperValu ice aa crea 2.99249 MEAT cut from Canada grade A beet * wing or, wing or t-bone steak © family pock * kg. 8.80 tb. | | bulk gov't inspected poultry * fresh * fomily pack * back attached barbeque 9 7 chicken 1 69 wieners breasts te kg. 3.73 th. as BAKERY —————= 99 A 99 PRODUCE Washington grown * no. 1 corn on the cob imported © red ripe whole watermelon California grown * no. 1 kg. 40/Ib. = 1 8 large tomatoes torn 9 California grown * no. 1 green seedless grapes |. 99 SuperValu hot dog or hamburger buns apple turnovers 5/.89 GROCERY 12 pack coke © Canada Dry ginger ale * coke classic or sprite © regular or diet A uy a) 12-355 mb plus deposit a © regular or extra spicy Motts clamato juice see r ] © ‘4's or soft tub © limit } per customer © overtimit 2.49 Kraft parkay ? ? G) margarine a * all varieties Old Dutch potato chips 200 . a Northern Country * reguler frozen pink | lemonade 341 mt a pi areca ry a Kraft cheese slices 500 9. a 2 Weetern Conadian Company ADVERTISED PRICES IN EFFECT WED., AUG. 1-SAT., AUG. 4 “Open Monday for your Shopping Convenience 0a.m.-6 p.m." “WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO LIMIT SALES TO RETAIL QUANTITIES.”