OPINION ESTABLISHED AUGUST 7, 1947 Castlégar News PAGE A4, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1990 MEMBER OF THE B.C. PRESS COUNCH. TWICE WEEKLY MAY 4, 1980 2, INCORPORATING THE MID-WEEK cAnCULATION MANAGER — Heather Hadiey EDITORIAL Senators wrong Although we feel the Liberal senators trying to block passage of the Tory government’s goods and services tax are on the side of the angels, we hope they don’t succeed. Despite our grave reservations about the proposed tax, it’s simply wrong for 'a bunch of appointed senators — many of them a legacy of Grit patronage appointments from past Liberal governments — to block the legislation of a democratically elected government. “*We got elected, and all democratic principles require that this be respected until the next election or until the government is defeated in the House of Commons,”’ Prime Minister Brian Mulroney commented. “*If the public disagrees with us, in two or 2% years in the next general election, they'll know how to deal with us.’" The prime minister is right. Some are comparing the Senate’s current obstinance on the seven- per-cent GST to its previous blockage of the Tories’ free trade deal with the United States. But that was a different situation. Mr. Mulroney had opposed a deal with the U.S. but changed his mind after the 1984 federal election and the Conservatives went on to negotiate the pact with our southern neighbor. But the public had not had an opportunity to express its opinion of the deal in an election. The Senate, to its credii in that case, decided to stall the bill until the Tories called an election on free trade. They did, and although more Canadians voted for opponents of free trade than for candidates who backed the deal, the Tories nevertheless won a majority and the Senate allowed the bill to pass. Although Mr. Mulroney and his colleagues didn’t lay out in any great detail the goods and services tax during the last election cam- paign, tax reform was in the works before the election and therefore should not come as a great surprise. You don’t have to like the GST — and more than 80 per cent of Canadians don’t, according to polls — but the Tories won a majority in the Commons, they proposed the tax, it was debated in the House and passed. As much as we dislike it, it’s the government’s right to vote it into law. The people of Canada, not an unelected Senate, should be the ones to fight the goods and services tax. And the weapons they should use are the ballots in the next federal election. VIEWPOINT Advertisers pressure paper Editor's mote: Newspapers and other media often face pressure from advertisers who try to exert influence over the way news stories are repor- ted. The following is an example of what happened when an Ontario newspaper offended local real estate companies. By ALEC ROSS On Saturday, May 12, the Kingston Whig-Standard published a story en- titled ‘‘Selling it Yourself’’ on the front page of its Homes section. The story, by staff reporter Murray Hogbey, profiled Dr. Lynn Larabie, autho of a book called Sold By Owner!, a do-it-yourself manual for People wanting to Sell their house privately, without the help of a real estate agent The piece outlined some of Larabie’s common-sense home-selling tips — from sprucing up your home so it’s as clean, warm and inviting as possible, to hiring a lawyer and setting a realistic price “*You don’t need a real estate agent to sell your home,"’ Larabie was quoted. as saying. “‘You're the one who has cleaned, the one who has paid the mortgage on it, who's paid the hydro bills you're the one who has lived in that house. You're not the stranger — the real estate agent is.”” Before the story ran, Ray John- ston, The Whig-Standard’s director of advertising, warned editor Neil Reynolds of a possible backlash from real estate companies over the placement of the story. Reynolds didn’t expect much reaction and, refusing to be pressured by adver tisers, insisted that the story run as planned. That decision has cost the newspaper more than $100,000. As Johnston predicted, the reaction from Kingston real estate agents was swift and vitriolic. Word soon got around that the incensed agents were planning to protest the story, perhaps through some kind of boycott of the newspaper On Thursday, May 17, Reynolds, Johnston and publisher Michael Davies attended a weekly gathering of about 150 area real estate agents. During a question-and-answer session, some agents complained, among other things, that the Hogben story was in poor taste, that it was a non-story and wasn't worth running in the first place, and that it seemed to though The Whig-Standard was trying to put already hard-pressed real-estate salespeople out of business. Davies said that while he under stood why the agents were upset, the newspaper could not sacrifice its editorial integrity by promising that such stories would not appear in the future “There was no question that these people took deep offence at the publication of this story,"” Reynolds says of the meeting One prominent broker who was there offers a more graphic descrip. tion of what transpired: **Davies was like chicken in a pitbull farm,”” he “*They tore him to ratshit."’ That same day, the newspaper's ad department realized that the number of pages in the next Saturday's Homes section would = shrink drastically. Sales agents from five major real estate co jes, plus agents with a handful of smaller fir. ms, had withdrawn their ads to ex- Press their displeasure with Hogben’s story The exodus wasn’t a complete boycott of the newspaper — nobody pulled any Monday to Friday ads, and agents decided individually on Satur- day ads — but the mass ad with- drawal from Saturday's Home section exacted a hefty toll on advertising revenues. General manager Fred Madden estimates that the newspaper lost $14,000 on May 19, and a similar amount on the next two Saturdays. The loss was particularly painful in light of the fact that the newspaper was already under some financial Pressure, as evidenced by a hiring freeze imposed earlier in the year The beneficiary on the protest was Kingston This Week, a twice-weekly Paper owned by Torstar’s Metroland subsidiary. It prints a weekend real estate ad supplement with ad rates roughly half those of The Whig. Standard. One Kingston broker, Bill Murray, of Pratt and Murray Realty Lid., in- sists that the partial boycott was not an attempt to exert influence over the editorial content of the newspaper The issue for real estate companiés wasn't so much the content of Hogben’s story — which Murray ad- mits was fairly innocuous — but its please see ADVERTISERS page AS 227 MO SACRED PARTY H.Q tty, ee ee 4 een \ae n LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Conclusion wrong Recent statements in the local press and to the Ceigar Expansion Review Panel have indicated that “Castlegar district school children showed elevated mortality rates from cancer of the stomach, gallbladder and kidney."” A review of the Atlas of Cancer Mortality in B.C. 1956-83 from which this information apparently was obtained was conducted with one of the authors, Dr. Mary McBride of the B.C. Cancer Agency. The atlas is compiled from all the death certificates that were reported from 74 B.C. school districts. While this atlas is useful in portraying broad trends in cancer mortality in the provincial and national populations, the type of information on which it is based is of a nature that makes it difficult, if not impossible, to draw accurate conclusions about cancer incidence in specific geographic areas or p&fticular age or socio- economic groups. For example, the atlas shows only the location of cancer victims at the time of their death — it does not show where, in fact, the cancer may originally have been acquired. Someone who may have acquired cancer in Castlegar may have died from that cancer in another part of the province, or vice versa. Likewise, by recording only actual deaths from cancer, tha atlas does not take into consideration any cancers which would have been treated and either gone into remission or been cured. Therefore I must conclude that there is no evidence, from this document, that there is an increased incidence of death from cancer among school children in this, or any other, school distrie# A review of the document shows that there were 31 cases of stomach cancer in males and females reported in the 1956-83 period On a population basis, this shows a significant increase over the provincial average. This increase is not observed in any other B.C. communities adjacent to pulp mills. In addition, there are 13 cases of kidney cancer and 22 cases of gallbladder cancer reported for the same 27-year period representing a slight increase over the B.C Provincial figures. However, due to the small number of cases, the significance of the slight increase is questionable. A review of the world literature by the B.C. Cancer Agency fails to reveal evidence of a causal link between residence in close proximity to a pulp mill and the chance of developing stomach cancer. The risk, if any, may exist for occupational exposure at pulp mills and this is a subject of current investigations. Therefore, the broad conclusions made by a local society are, in my opinion, based on a misunderstanding of the facts and the population of the Castlegar area should be assured that there is no increased risk of cancer developing in their children. Dr. Netson Ames Medical Health Officer/ Director Central Kootenay Health Unit Old-growth myth Every time carrots and other vegetables are Pulled out of the ground a small quantity of soil Sticks to the roots, and when it is shipped out of the area for washing and processing that soil is gone, gone for good Some soil experts estimate that the Holland Marsh in Ontario, for instance, loses about one- quarter inch of topsoil a year. Fortunately, we do not dig up our trees and wash away the soil elsewhere. With proper forest management and soil conservation, it remains right there at the clearcut. The 1984 Forest and Range Resource Analysis of the Ministry of Forests puts our forested area at 43.3 million hectares out of 94.9 million hectares total. Out of the total, the working forest was estimated to be 21.3 million hectares. Excluding the irmanah, the Stein and many other areas, the working forest is now estimated to contain 5.5 billion cubic metres of wood. The annual allowable cut is about 75 million cubic metres from public lands and in addition another five to 10 million cubic metres per year is cut on private lands. For thousands of cycles, our forests have gone through growth, maturity, decay and disease or bug infestations, fire and then new growth. Thus preserving old growth is a myth consumed by the masses in the belief they are handing on something to future generations. Over a third of the annual harvest is harvested by disease and insects. This loss represents 27 million cubic metres annually and it is all in mature and over-mature timber. Preserving trees for the spruce budworm or the pine beetle doesn’t make much sense to me. No one could argue that a clearcut is very pretty but with time the visual impact lessens both the people who work. for the Ministry of Forestry and those who cut the trees are trying their level best to harvest our forests in a5 environmentally sound way as possible. Given the constraints of rising costs and the prices for finished products dependent upon world markets, I defy anyone to define selective logging with reforestation of desirable species to be harvested again 80 years from now. International Woodworkers of America rates are $15 per hour; tourism less than eight. Which families buy computers, etc.? Fred Peitzsche Ross Spur Project needed The cleanup and expansion of the pulp mill must be allowed to proceed for the following reasons: © The health of the environment, both past and future; © The economy of the area and the province would suffer to a point not acceptable by the people of this province if the mill were to be shut down; © The continuing monitoring, both before and after the expansion, is a necessary part of protecting the environment; © When new processes become available, the company must be given the incentive to put these processes in place — whether they are voluntary or not; © The discrimination against chip trucks must not be allowed to take place. The highways are for everyone — commercial and personal; © The exporting of raw materials, including chips, must stop. It is time to stop exporting jobs that we so badly need here. The future health of our country depends upon it; © There is enough raw material left in the forests every year to support the expansion of the pulp mill. If the sawmill waste is not processed, we have no-choice but to burn this waste. In this environmentally aware era in which we live, this is not acceptable. John D. Scott Robson Dog wanted back We are appealing to the person who, without any feelings for the owners, or the well being of the animal, snatched our dog from our property on Sept. 13 in the Woodland Park area of Castlegar. He is a pure bred male terrier with black and white markings and friendly. His name is Bucky. He is also registered and wears a tattoo. The person who did this cruel injustice doesn’t know the heartache and misery he has brought to us, an elderly couple whose whole life was the joy this little guy brought to our home and made our latter years something to wake up for. We have notified all authorities connected with missing animals to be on the alert. If anyone has seen this dog in their neighborhood, would they please call us. Jim and Dorothy Hardy Castlegar Area renewed Getting into Trail from the north has been an intimidating experience for many years. The road through the Cominco plants and the hair-pin turn with the steep drop into Trail has kept a lot of visitors out of the Trail area If you haven't been in the Trail area recently, 1 would suggest to all of the people in the Castlegar area that is it time you took a drive to sell all that has happened. Start at Rossland, enjoy and view the revitalized downtown area, then take the new asphalt all the way down the mountain to the Trail bridge. On the way, pay attention to the marvelous job the Village of Warfield has done with landscaping the side of the highway through the village. Take a peek at the new Haley Park, one of the best in the interior of B.C. When you start down Rossland Avenue (The Gulch) the new asphalt continues and pay attention to the new street lighting, planters, sidewalks and special centrepieces at Po the top and bottom ends of the gulch. Of course, the new highway past the Cominco plants is part of the change. All I can say is, ‘Wow what a difference.”" When you are in the Trail area and come across Mayor Marc Marcolin and former Mayor Chuck Lakes, their respective council members and all members of the Rossland-Trail Social Credit Party executive, thank them for a job well done on the West Trail approach. The entire greater Trail area now reflects the pride in our community that we have always had and will create a ning: impression on all visitors. Cari Price Rossiand Food for thought I'm writing this letter not to express my Personal point of view but as ‘‘food for thought”’ on the proposed pulp mill expansion. I haven’t particularly kept up with the latest developments of letters published in the paper, but have often heard it stated that Castlegar will die if the expansion does not go ahead and the mill is shut down. I've often wondered about that statement. Can it be true? Or should we perhaps look at Castlegar now. Isn’t it already dying? The air and river are extensively polluted. Any fish caught below the Hugh Keenleyside dam should not be eaten. The forests are being logged extremely fast, and the rate of cancer deaths is high When you look at all these factors, it becomes evident that Castlegar is already dying — and nota natural death. Aren't we killing it ourselves? Maybe we should let it live Max Chernenkoff Crescent Valley Fear mongering I believe the information in the Valhalla Society Newsletter No. 18 is factually flawed. 1 am speaking specifically of a Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers of Canada study purported to have studied Castlegar school children and showed a high rate of mortality from cancer. In fact, the study did not specifically study school children, but merely used the school district boundary to define the study areas. At the Castlegar hearings, Calvin Him, to his credit, dgew specific attention to this inaccuracy. The Valfialla speakers in Nelson spoke as if the information were accurate and only acknowledged the error when questioned. I submit that this use of information is not only misleading but constitutes fear-mongering of the worst sort. The mothers and fathers of Castlegar deserve more responsibility from organizations such as the Valhalla Society who Pretend to serve the public interest Andy Roberts Castlegar Please address ail letters to the editor to: Letters to the Editor, Cast ir News, P.O. Box 3007, Castlegar, B. 4N 3H4, or deliver them to our office at 197 Columbia Ave. in Castlegar Letters should be Leap nile double- Spaced and not longer tha: Letters MUST be Priscoleyed pci bee 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 residerice 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. COMMENTARY Advertisers continued from page A4& placement, right in front of all the real estate ads, Murray also says many indepen- dent agents felt ‘*betrayed’’ by the \\ newspaper. He says that when Whig- the Homes section idea to local real estate companies a year ago, they in- dicated ‘‘it was a complement, you know, to complement the real estate industry, not to knock it . . . If they wanted to put that story in another section, hey, there was nothing wrong with that. But to put it in the section that was supposed to be designed to complement the industry, then I think that was what really caused the furore."* (Madden and Johnston say no such promise was made) Qn May 29, Davies printed a front- page Publisher's Statement which said there had been ‘‘some friction’”’ between Kingston real estate agents and the newspaper, but denied that there had been a boycott. He acknowledged that many agents felt the publication of the May 12 story fi that as a result, some had “‘exer their freedom of choice’* and stopped Advertising director Johnston says that by mid-July, the Saturday ad volume still hadn't returned to the levels before the story, although some of the agents have started buying “token” ads on Saturday. He figures still believe that the stoi +++. What! really believe ry was a legitimate story is that advertisers buy space. It's that space they buy, and they don't buy influence over the paper.’ — Ki ingston Whig-Standard editor Neil Reynolds advertising on Saturdays. Davies concluded: ‘The Whig- Standard will publish the Homes sec- tion every Saturday. It has proven it- self in the past as the area's most ef. fective vehicle for bringing real estate buyers and sellers together, and I hope it will soon return to its normal mix of stories and advertisements."” Not yet. that the newspaper has lost ap- proximately 65 pages of ads since May 12, representing $120,000 in ad revenue. But Johnston says that real estate companies’ ire over the story may not be the’only reason for the drop-off in ad sales. First, he says, the housing market is soft and interest rates high, so companies may simply be placing fewer ads. Second, companies may have chosen to stick with Kingston This Week, which has cheaper ad rates and ‘‘a less rigorous editorial stance."" Fred Madden says that despite the financial setback incurred by the newspaper during the episode, he’s confident that The Whig-Standard will “‘come back over the next six months."" Reynolds says he doesn't regret running the story, but he regrets the aftermath. think the response was unfor tunate. I don’t think in the end, that it will have helped the ageriis sell houses. 1 still believe that the story was a legitimate story... . What | really believe is that advertisers buy space. It’s that space they buy, and they don’t buy influence over the Paper.” Alex Ross is a freelance writer in Kingston. REMEMBER WHEN 4 YEARS AGO From the Oct. 6, 1950 Castle News The Castlegar Commission met Monday under the chairmanship of Mr. W. Rigby. A letter from the Board of Trade urging that further work be carried out on sidewalks and roads was — since the Village has already spent $5,000 on road improvements this year — set aside as a 1951 works project. Finally, it was decided (and this has been done) to approach the police on the rigid enforcement of local bylaws regarding speed limits on Castlegar streets. Since some of the roads have been paved some drivers have been grossly abusing traffic speed regulations and so endangering lives, particularly children’s lives. The driver who speeds is a potential and actually a thoughtless criminal who endangers not only his own life, but the lives and happiness of his neigh- bors. * 8 6 At the three masses on Sunday, Father Barnes paid tribute to the late Rev. Thomas Finnegan, the zealous issionary priest who built 13 chapels in the Kootenays. * 8 6 The Kinnaird Badminton Club is again getting under way. A work par- ty gathered at the hall on Tuesday evening and have given the lines of the court a fresh coat of paint. 25 YEARS AGO From the Sept. 30, 1965 Castlegar News If Castlegar council is not satisfied with the Macbeth and Moroso examination into the Village’s sewer construction program then the firm is Prepared to reopen its examination. . . Water Resources Minister Ray Williston was scheduled to meet this morning with executive members of the Arrow Lake Property Owners Protective Association to hear com- plaints from the association about B.C. Hydro’s policies in the region. The! centenary next year of the union of the B.C. mainland with Vancouver Island is to be observed in Castlegar on May 23 with a grand parade. ry George Cady, the Liberal candidate for Kootenay West, held his first meeting in the greater Castlegar area on Tuesday evening at the Marlane Hotel. ey Major repairs are to be carried out on the Blueberry Creek bridge and in anticipation a temporary detour road has been built around the structure. The bridge is not to be replaced since it will likely be eliminated when the new highway located in the Blueberry AEROBIC CLASSES — MONTH OF OCTOBER — Tues. & Thurs. 9a.m. INSTRUCTOR: Sharon Wigen $3 drop in fee. 1810-0th Ave... Costleger Locoted in the Fireside Motor I area is constructed, a highways depar- tment official said this week. 15 YEARS AGO From the Oct. 2, 1975 Castlegar News Fundrai to help pay off a $37,000 debt was one of several topics dealt with by -the Kootenay. Society for the Handicapped at a_ recent special meeting. . * The implemetation of a complete bulk water supply to serve com- munities along the Columbia River is something which Rossland-Trail MLA Chris D’Arcy wants very much to see. . . The Bob Brandson Memorial Pool ran the city a deficit of approximately $9,000 for the past season. . . The Castlegar and District Athletic Association is to be reorganized. No resident is to be without water for any duration of time exceeding four hours. This was the stand taken by council Tuesday night when the relatively quiet meeting was intrrupted by telephotie calls. Residents on Connors Rd. protested that the water had gone off at eight that morning and was still off. The disruption of service became necessary when sewer contractors began digging to put in lines. 5 YEARS AGO From the Sept. 2, 1985 Castlegar News The Castlegar district United Way’s annual fundraising drive gets in gear this week as it hopes to speéd toward this year’s goal of $60,000. * 8 6 The financially troubled Kaslo Credit Union has merged with Kootenay Savings Credit Union. . . The director of the B.C. Pesticide Control Branch says pesticides registered in Canada are safe “1 am not aware of any pesticides registered in Canada that are not safe to the environment and to humans,”* Ron Kobylynk told the Central Kootenay Regional board Saturday. September 29, 1990 Castlegar News AS Your Ca stlegar SAFEWAY Brings You... eal As you are driving around Castlegar you will notice a variety of real estate signs with many different realtor’s names on them. People have asked me who to call or con- tact if “Mr. X's” name is on the sign If you are presently working witha realtor, you should call that salesperson, and ask him/her to obtain infor- mation for you. Most listings are listed with the multiple listing service (M.L.S) Therefore, your realtor can usually supply information on any listings. If you are not working with a particular realtor, then you °F’'sta te WITH BARRY BROWN WHO TO CALL! can either call the salesper- son noted on the sign, or any realtor of your choice. PLEASE REMEMBER — If you tre loyal to your chosen realtor he will likely reward you with top-notch service and professional advice if thece 1s anything | can do to help you in the field of real estate. please call or drop in at NATIONAL REAL ESTATE SERVICE ww Agencies Ltd. THE FIRST MONDAY OF EVERY MONTH! If you're 65 or over. Zellers will give you 15% OFF every purchase* you make, all day, on the io Monday of dang month! ertiticates, Pharmacy s at at VALUABLE Beef Standing RIB ROAST Bone In $747, 348 Ib. Always Fresh Produce! BRUSSEL SPROUTS Fresh. 86¢/kg. 39 GRAPES Red Emperor. Imported. No. 1 Grade. $1.94/kg. Ib. .88 Bakery Pumpkin PIES 8-Inch 999 Bargains! Sourdough ROLLS 12 For 1 49 From Our In-Store Deli! Premium Beer, Summer or Beef SAUSAGE 100 g. 89 LYONER SAUSAGE 100 g. 79 Coke or SPRITE Regular and Diet * 2L. Laundry Detergent ABC TOL. 525 V-8 Vegetable JUICE 1.36 Li Tin 1} 46 Ovenjoy BREAD White or Wholewheat 570 g. Loaf Advertised Prices in Effect Sunday, Sept. 30 through Saturday, Oct. 6, 1990. Mon. to Wed. & Set. Thursday & Friday Sunday Va.m. to 6 p.m. Fam. to 9 p.m. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. We reserve the right to limit sales to retail quantities. SAFEWAY ($) We bring it all together #