OPINION Castlégar News PAGE A4, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 1990 MEMBER OF THE B.C. PRESS COUNCIL ESTABLISHED AUGUST 7, 1947 TWICE WEEKLY MAY 4, 1980 INCORPORATING THE MID-WEEK MIRROR PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 12, 1978-AUGUST 27, 1980 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 Election message becoming clearer Residents of Castlegar sent a message to city council during this month's municipal election that they don’t want it to be business as usual down at city hall. If the defeat of incumbents Albert Calderbank and Patti Richar- ds doesn’t make the message clear then the large turnout at last night’s public hearing on several rezoning proposals should. In particular, people seem thoroughly fed up with the ad hoc development patterns of the past which has resulted in Mf ™ incu yy Cenrgyrestonere a4 sppdrnngpetrvagile atonenygrelellfilllas tage hivyyw Drcrageon toe Te aes canes pn SS ee aa A Z nergy ret VlrAtTY fw ee eas CRETE he Martin 77 } ee a (hdd: PF QSOs Lad 5 yates \;, me y school children jockeying for position with huge semi-trailers on city street and single family homes kitty corner from bulk fuel plants. And people apparently aren’t going to put up with it anymore. Last night, the most vehement opposition arose over a proposal to build two 30-unit apartment complexes at the west end of Merry Creek Road in an area where industry already coexists somewhat tenuously with single family residences. The thought of adding a third use — multi-family housing — to the mix is more than most people who live there appear willing to take. As long-time resident Harry Killough said at the public hearing, ‘Multi-family dwellings and truck terminals are not a good com- bination.”’ Castlegar desperately needs housing and it’s too bad a proposal for 60 apartment units has gotten caught in the backlash against mixed development. But it would be a mistake to create another area of the city with problems such as those which currently exist along 6th Avenue near the Community Complex where the mix of industrial and residential zoning is a constant headache for council. What’s going to be interesting is how council deals with this proposal. As is council’s custom, it chose not to make a decision on the rezoning application for the project until it has had time to review the minutes of the public hearing. Council will therefore likely make its decision on whether or not to approve the rezoning at its Dec. 10 meeting. However, three of the five council members present last night — aldermen Calderbank, Richards and Terry Rogers — won't be on council at that meeting. And two re-elected aldermen — Marilyn Mathieson and Doreen Smecher — were absent, although they will, of course, be able to read the minutes of the public hearings and discuss with their colleagues the sentiments expressed by those who attended the hearing, as will the new aldermen elected earlier this month, Jim Chapman, Kirk Duff and Bob Pakula. Mr. Chapman and Mr. Duff were at the hearing but Mr. Pakula was unable to at- tend. Voters spoke with their ballots earlier this month and last night they spoke directly to council. How council deals with this proposal could set the tone for the next three years. VIEWPOINT Protesters make others look soft By TOM SPEARS Ottawa Citizen OTTAWA (CP) — They've been called anarchists, nobodies, radicals and important contributors to ecological dialogue. They try to be arrested, especially when there’s a television camera to record it Yet they spend a lot of time trying to dissociate themselves from American activists who burn bulldozers and chainsaws to stop logging in the wilderness. Earth First! is now in Ottawa, without an office, fundraisers or many of the other trappings of en- vironmentalists in the 1990s, but with a sudden butst of visibility In early November, members took part in a demonstration at National Defence headquarters where 116 people, including some Earth Fir sters, were arrésted. On Oct. 22 they chained themselves to the gates of the Malaysian High Commission to protest Malaysia’s logging of tropical rainforests. Last spring they took over two Ontario MP’s offices to protest logging in Tenagami. It was a polite invasion; they sat there all night, but didn’t cause any trouble beyond sleeplessness for the office staff who stayed to keep an eye on things. Nobody called police. The protesters went home in the morning “Earth First! takes (protest) another level entirely,"’ says David McRobert of Pollution Probe “They try to make G look like their old grannies.”’ The quick-hit protest tactics are very effective, says Gary Gallon, a the planet,’’ he says. “I was member of Greenpeace and it like a coroner’s for five years chief adviser to former report. I needed personally to do Ontario environment minister Jim Something to stop that." Bradley. He’s self-employed, giving courses “We call them window-breakers,’"” i" ecology and the environmental he said. ‘They throw rocks at you ovement to churches, schools, from the street, ically. They are the madding crowd that focuses attention.”” “They don’t have to have the an- swers. That’s not their role,’’ he says. Their job is to “‘raise alarms,”” and let mainstream groups do the lobbying afterwards For a small group that didn’t exist in Canada before 1989, it has quickly acquired a high profile. Mike Kaulbars, a founder of the Earth First! chapter in Ottawa, says his gropu has about 20 ‘‘hard-core’’ members, and perhaps 80 who are drawn in for special events such as protests. A second chapter has started at Carleton Univeristy in Ot tawa Kaulbars says Earth First!, a group with no_ formal * structure, believes in the fundamental need for change in society The movement believes in each in- dividual’s duty to act personally to save the wilderness. “It’s a crime to do nothing if you know a crime is being committed,” he says That means protests, especially civil disobedience such as sit-ins. The group’s next big project, Kaulbars says, will probably be some sort of action at the U.S. border, possibly blocking bridges with help from American activists to protest. Hydro- Quebec's hydroelectric dams near James Bay. The dams will supply to Power to northeastern states. Kautbars, 34, had worked six years toward a PhD in biology when he c ja and became a full-time activist “IL was witnessing the demise of pl page As LETTERS TO Mischaracterized A few days ago, I received a letter from David Lewis of Crescent Valley, B.C., in which he enclosed a letter about Colleen McCrory, which he said he was distributing to all the editors of newspapers in the Kootenays. Mr. Lewis, in his cover letter, referred to my 's to gain special pi under the law, for environmentalists who have been subjected to incitements of hatred and violence in different parts of Canada. Lewis grossly mischaracterized the attitudes and conduct of Colleen McCrory, a leading environmentalists. 1 have determined his use of the word ‘‘intimidate’’ or any language describing such an endeavor as completely untrue. However, what is of specific concern here is that Lewis ends his letter stating: “*Your call for special protection suddenly makes sense. NDP ‘environmentalists’ will need it.”” This last statement is clearly a threat by Lewis to incite hatred, and the letter he enclosed is eg: of the of such ac: ign. I have enclosed a copy of both these letters. I take his statements very seriously and believe you should study anything sent to you in this connection in the light of his intent Jim Fulton NDP MP Skeena Last time You printed a letter hy Andy Roberts, who accused the Valhalla Society of reversing its position on the Celgar mill. He also said “I “adamantly refused to apologize’’ for a mistake in the society's newspaper on the impacts of the expansion. All this is totally false. Upon hearing of the mistake, I rushed my correction to all the local newspapers. It appeared in the Castlegar News on Sept. 26 Nevertheless, several readers continued to claim I deliberately falsified the facts to scare residents. Again | answered it in the newspapers. Either these people don’t read the newspapers, or they can’t find any other excuse for attacking the Valhalla Society, so they are running this one into the ground. They should consider that Celgar’s mistakes take up a bound volume. Ordinarily we try to answer all such charges, but in the future we will have to ignore any further repetitions of this one and hope the public will remember our several refutations. Incidentally, Mr. Melnachuk, the union representative at the technical hearings, confirmed that a study by the Cancer Control Agency showed that the Castlegar school district “‘is amongst the highest in B.C., the most significantly high for stomach cancer for both males and females and for all gall bladder cancer for both males and females and kidney cancer in males.”’ (pages 920-21, Vol 4) That's the general population, not school children. Throughout the hearings I asked questions, made press statements and a radio interview which are all consistent with our opposition, all a part of the public record. Just hours before Mr. McGee's final summation, I submitted a small brief to the panel entitled Presentation of Material on the Corporate Ownership of Celgar. It urged the necessity of cleaning up the mill without expanding, and presented evidence that it might be well within the financial capacity of Celgar’s corporate owners to do so. I was too exhausted to stay until the end. Before going I told the lawyer of our total opposition to the expansion and gave him a written statement to that effect, at the end of THE EDITOR an appeal in every possible public forum: Looking back, I remember Mr. McGee with my written statement — that was given to him at the last minute — in one hand, wolfing his lunch down with the other, and rushing back to the hearings. More than anything, the confusion was the result of the horrendous rush Celgar has put on this whole process. Mr. McGee has worked very hard and very well for us. Neither Celgar, nor the panel, nor the press, nor ourselves has gotten by without mistakes. Even before the end of the hearings I had begun work on a 51-page final submission to the panel setting out our reasons for refusing the expansion. Among other things, it emphasized Celgar’s long, sorry history of noncompliance on the waste discharge limits, obtained by the Freedom of Information Act. I sent the brief to all the local newspapers. There is an old saying that if you can’t deny the message, discredit the messenger. I would estimate by the virulent and baseless attacks currently being made on me and the Valhalla Society that the facts of our message are irrefutable and powerful. Anne Sherrod New Denver Lewis off base I am familiar with what happened between Andrea Wright, Colleen McCrory and Grant Copeland and it didn’t go the way David Lewis tells it (CasNews, Nov. 17) nor did it have the tone which he describes. Another off-base aspect to what he says has to do with the NDP and environmental issues. I'm sure every environemtnalist remembers Jack Munro travelling the province during the South Moresby crisis claiming that environmentalists wanted to turn all of B.C. into a park. He aroused much bad feeling with this baseless claim which contributed to the polarization in small communities. And he didn’t change his tone at all even after the Valhalla Society determined only 6.5 per cent of the B.C. landbase was sought for preservation after spending two years polling all the environmental groups in the province. Munro kept on fighting against any deduction from the landbase for wilderness preserves or parks. Well, you can’t say the NDP isn’t capable of policital miracles because they got Mr. Labor- leader himself, Jack Munro, to sit at the same table with George Watts (representing the native people) and Colleen McCrory (representing environmental concerns) with Mike Harcourt for the NDP, and they all signed an agreement pledging to protect 12 per cent of the province from any and all resource uses should the NDP get into office. Not only that, Harcourt introduced a bill in the legislature (the text of which I just saw) which mandates the protection of 12 per cent of every eco-region in the province. This, and the recent NDP positions on women’s rights, abortion, native rights and environmental safeguards, woke me up to what the NDP really represents. Lewis says nothing about this. Madeleine McCarthy Silverton Panel knows Some confused preservationists who are trying to kill the Celgar pulp mill, and recklessly eliminate something like 2,000 jobs in this area, continue to show that they think nothing of misrepresenging scientific evidence, thereby bringing dishonor to their cause, Susan Hammond, claiming to represent the Kootenay Coalition for an Environmental A which were some other The first of these was to warn the panel that if it did approve the expansion, it should set a long-term limit of 1,000 tons on production rate. We would consider it just plain fraud if the mill got approval on the basis of 1,200 tons and then went up to 1,600 a few years down the line, which would cause much more pollution and impacts of all kinds. Mr. McGee and I agreed that there was a likehihood the would approve the expansion. But I don’t think he understood that we would never accept that because it ignores so many important facts. We would object and seck Review Process, quoted a snippet of evidence given to the Celgar Expansion Review Panel by Dennis McDonald, regional director of the Environemnt Ministry, in her Nov. 21 letter to the Castlegar News. Ms. Hammond claimed it was Mr. McDonald, speaking on behalf of Environment Ministry staff, later told the panel: . . . we see no outstanding environmental concern in relation to Celgar’s proposal that we do not feel cannot be resolved at the permitting or licensing stage of dealing with the proponent’s project. And, therefore, we have discovered nothing in the course of these hearings, or in our examination of the evidence put forward by the proponent, or brought forward by anyone else at these hearings, that would cause us to recommend to you any further delay in reaching your decision as it relates to approval in principal as far as environmental grounds are concerned.”’ (Vol. 10, page 2459) The Canadian government's experts were equally supportive. A joint federal ministry submission to the panel had this to say: The Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Department of the Environment conclude that the Celgar expansion proposal does not pose unacceptable risks to water quality and fisheries and wildlife resources in the Columbia River.’” (Doc. 53, page 48) These positive expressions of support for the clean-up and expansion of the mill are part of the public hearing record — a record that some preservationists, feverishly writing letters to editors as part of a determined disinformation campaign, would rather hide from the public. Fortunately for all of us, the independent review panel knows the full story, having heard first hand all of the evidence, which was overwhelmingly in support of the project. Dorothy Bagg Castlegar Body bag rumors Questioned about a contract just put out for bids to supply the Canadian Forces with 800 body bags, the government noted that the purchase was “routine restocking,’’ and didn’t indicate any unusual expectations that Canada has over the Persian Gulf. This denial caused the Ottawa press corps to investigatge other possible uses the government may have in mind for these items. “They weren't sure what size Joe Clark was and they've got it covered now,”’ speculated one informed source who described his belief that Joe has announced to the inner Cabinet that he will invade Iraq all by himself. Maybe they’ve finally decided to go for #iberals in the Senate,"” said another, who noted that in the packed Senate of today any operation mounted to finish off Liberals would be bound to decimate Conservatives also, which would be sure to overwhelm existing stocks of bags. No one will confirm or deny persistent fumors that one of the bags was a special order for Environment Canada and is big enough for the entire planet. Environement Minister Robert De Cotret would not comment when asked if delays in announcing what his green plan is were due to problems in deciding what to do with the planet after it has been stuffed into the bag. “The average Canadian has nothing to worry about,”” said an official government spokesman, who went on to suggest that everyone go back to sleep. David Lewis Crescent Valley Please address all letters to the editor tor Letters to the Editor, Cast r News, P.O. Box 3007, Castlegar, B.C. VIN 3H4, or deliver them to our office at 197 Colufhbia Ave. in Castlegar. Letters should be typewritten, double- spaced and not longer than 300 words. Letters MUST be signed and include the writer's and a telephone number at which the writer can be reached between 9 a.m. and od get The writer's name and city or town proof that the B.C. neither app nor disapproved of the expansion of the Ceigar mill. Well, Ms. Hammond is twisting the facts — again. Mr. McDonald actually told the panel that no evidence whatsoever had been introduced to justify delaying the project at this stage of approval. Since Ms. Hamomnd won't admit it, let me quote from the same transcript where the same or only will be 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 Castiegar News reserves the right to edit letters brevity, clarity, legality, | grammar and taste. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR | Let sanctions work ; During the Remembrance Day cememonies Nov. 11 I sat before the television set as usual with ‘hat off’’ for the young men and women who made the supreme sacrifice in two world wars. But this time the mood seemed more tragic than usual — once again we have our scarcely grown up children mobilized on foreign shores ready to be sacrificed in a war that is concerned mainly over greed for oil. This is not 1914 or 1939, It is 1990, a time of great progress on human rights. We are too civilized now to accept thousands of our young people — yesterday’s children — coming home in body bags because of the shortcomings, belligerence and greed of adults who send them off to fight their wars. Civilized people no longer consider it an honor to die in war"— the idea ‘‘will not fly."’ Have we learned nothing from the tragic, useless, wasted efforts of the foreign interventions in Vietnam and Afghanistan? In both cases these meddlings produced nothing but massive human conflict after another ever since, When will we learn that if we want an end to this barbaric behavior we must completely change our ways of thinking and acting. Otherwise, there is soon going to be another armistice day and another Flanders Fields somewhere in the Middle East. Harry F. Killough Castlegar ‘Union replies Although reluctant to enter into an ongoing debate with the management of Sterling Newspapers, we feel the letter from Steer Jorgensen (CasNews, Nov. 17) deserves some response. ironic for Mr. Jorgensen to accuse someone of ‘‘half truths and innuendo’’ when he seems to stoop to these tactics himself. Yes, it is true that CasNews reporters start at $9.45 per hour as compared to $10 per hour at the Sun. What Mr. Jorgensen neglects to mention is that rate increases which the Castlegar News has a suffering and age of the . Then, as soon as the foreigners withdrew, inevitable history took its course. Are we looking at another Vietnam? Have we forgotten so sogn about the hippies’ ‘‘peace rebellion’’ that had so much to do with the American withdrawal? Young people will rebel-again if pushed into another war. The only civilized way to deal with the crisis in Kuwait is to maintain the sanctions that are already in place thanks to the surprisingly swift and unified action of many nations. Mr. Saddam Hussein is walled off on all sides. In the long term, he cannot possibly win. If the anti-Hussein consortium exercises the military option now it will surely be a case of unnecessary ‘‘overkill’’ with many thousands of casualties, both mil y and civilian, and particularly. great risk to the lives of the hostages. I would urge Mr. Joe Clark to concentrate more upon his diplomatic role as minister of external affairs and less as ‘‘minister of war.’” Although the people in our armed forces are second to none, Canada is not a major power and could not under any circumstances be a major player in a showdown with Saddam Hussein. Therefore, our role should be one of trying to cool tempers down rather than adding fuel to the fire. It is terribly tragic that while 11 million people are facing starvation in Sudan, even a fraction of the cost and effort of the mobilization against Saddam Hussein could save their lives. Something is dreadfully wrong with our priorities! Both world wars were claimed to be ‘‘the war to end all wars."’ Yet we have seen one violent to pay provide a reporter with three years’ experience $14.24 an hour effective Sept. 1, 1991 (approximately nine months from now). Mr. Jorgensen states that non-ticketed production employees at the Castlegar News and the Sun receive approximately the same starting wage. The only non-ticketed producted employees our contract provides for are apprentices and a first year apprentice will be making approximately $9.68 per hour, ($367.28 per week) with guaranteed pay increases every six months. Also, under the terms of our contract, the number of apprenticeship positions relative to journeyman is strictly regulated. This not only ensures the job security of higher-paid journeyman, but it also provides opportunities for people entering the trade to receive quality training, carefully monitored by both the union and the company. Since he has compared the two, we can only assume that Sterling has set up a proper apprenticeship program, hired journeyman presumably at journeyman rates and the company’s trainees can expect to be paid journeyman rates after four years. As for our ‘‘longer’’ working week? Well, we work 38 hours compared to the Sun’s 37% hours. Mr. Jorgensen also states that the Sun’s employees will receive ‘‘all the benefits’’ we currently receive. One benefit not mentioned by him is a pension plan paid for by the employer. While Mr. Jorgensen may feel this is i ial, some of our may disagree. All Communications Workers of America members are either currently enrolled or will be enrolled in a pension plan during the term of our existing contracts. Another, most important, part ‘of our union contract with the CasNews is the grievance procedure provided for. In the case of unjust firing, reprimand, etc,, we have access to our union arbitrators and legal advisers. In an non- union shop, the employee has no recourse, other than to hire a lawyer (not a cheap proposition). It is true that CasNews employees do not share in the profits of the company, but we have no hesitation in stating that we believe our overall wages, benefits and job security are far greater compensation than any ‘‘profit sharing’’ offered to Sun employees. It should also be pointed out that our iti of in writing and cannot be arbitrarily terminated at the employer's discretion. As for how the Sun ‘‘strengthens the security of employees in Nelson and Trail’’ at the Daily News and Daily Times, this is also a matter open to conjecture. We wonder if those employees agréé with this reassurance. In closing, we would like to say our first letter was not an attack on the employees of the Sun. Rather it was questioning Sterling’s move to operate a non-union paper when the Sun’s sister papers in Nelson and Trail are both union shops. Peter Harvey For CWA members at the Castlegar News Change rules We live in a free society in Canada and | don’t think too many of us would want to change that — when you see what is happening in other parts of the world. Yet people continue to try and dictate to the Celgar pulp mill how it should transport its wood chips. If companies have the freedom to choose how to ship their products, then all companies should have that freedom. Don’t try to penalize one company because you are afraid of chip trucks. Change the rules for everybody, don’t be prejudiced. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that if the Ministry of Transportation and Highways budget comes out of general revenue then fuel taxes, licence fees and probably stumpage fees all go into general revenue. Fuel taxes are probably subsidizing the health and welfare plans in B.C. as well as looking after our highways. Andy Roberts Castlegar THE ONE FOR CONV ENIENCE the west. GONE TODAY. BACK TOMORROW. 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