| OPINION

WEDNESDAY,”

March 20, 1991

WE
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editorial comment

Where do we
go from here?

You just can't get there from here. :
This comment might be kind of cute if a person is
out in the toolies and lost and the locals are

Ron
Jeffels

Syndicated
Columnist

Earlier this year Corrections
Canada wanted to sponsor a national
conference for those of us who are
doing life in a federal slammer for
Murder One: meditated, premeditat-
ed, casually considered or just spur-
of-the-moment, u

Ottawa cancelled it — reluctantly,’
head down, foot on the drag, no
explanation offered - when a group
of taxtrated citizens fulminated,
raged and stormed against the cost
i $70,000, plus inci -
GST not included.

Those uncivil disobedients proba-
bly had Canada’s vast, hovering
national debt in mind: 400 billion
this week ~ and counting. But what

the hell! What's seventy grand! I call -

it minuscule. Wouldn’t pay the bar
bill for a night at Rideau Hall to
entertain the ambassador from East
Tonga.

Let’s be reasonable. We all like to
meet, mingle and natter on with other

people, people we respect and..

admire. So why not a conference for

amused, even though sympathetic to the situation.

However, if the situation happened to be downtown
Castlegar and a train carrying hazardous commodities
had just derailed p ing a real live opp ity fora
life-threatening disaster this comment is no longer cute,

It's deadly.

And that, unfortunately, is the situation anyone who
resides, works, or just happens to be, in downtown
Castlegar lives with on a daily basis.

There is no quick, safe way to get out of this city in
the event of a railway disaster.

A pretty scary thought, when that railway runs right
through the center of town.

‘What is worse is that this situation is not unrecog-
nized,

“We know a lot of hazardous chemicals go through
this city every day,” said the Mayor, adding that an
alternate route through town had been "talked about"
but was "very costly" and "various things have to hap-
pen before that takes place."

What "things" are we waiting for?

A fire that releases deadly gases into the air?

An explosion that would obliterate several city
blocks?

No doubt it would be costly, nothing comes cheap
these days, but what price do we put on human life?

Perhaps it's time some hard questions should be
asked.

And some answers demanded.

‘We need to have a way to get there from here — ina
hurry, if needs be.

While we still can.

et engineering, what
ajor river flows into

‘© chemicals ignite spontaneously on contact,
aid to be hypergolic. The rocket motor that pow-
: Me 163 fighter was fuelled thus: | -
2) The biggest one would be the Nelson River.
‘The North West Mounted Police.:
'5),50 years. The loco was built in-1940 and a smaill cele:
ion held in Squamish to mark the event last year, ;

By Don Addis

ie.

FORGET IT.
1 GoT A Look
AT HER
Face!

There’s a con-
ference, a retreat, a panel, a seminar,
a symposium, a workshop or a week-
end think-tank dealing with anything
and everything these days.

Even a Citizens’ Forum with a
national registration fee of 25 mil-
lion, 18 thou-a month for seminar
leaders and a no-host bar. Marriage
counselors and morticians meet to
dine and discuss, so do clairvoyants,
bagel makers, economists, high court
judges and commemorative stone

+ carvers.

All conferences are cloned: same
genes, same bloodlines, same DNA.
So somewhere there’s a master refer-
ence manual — available in 10 major
1 - to which organi

Slings
and
arrows

Nigel
4 Hannaford
5 “8 Syndicated

Bs} Columnist

Here in Port Alberni we were fortu-
nate enough to see a contract settled
between the school district and its teach-
ers without an accompanying strike.
‘The fourteen per cent pay raise over two
years was certainly not un-generous and
one would hope therefore that a strike
would not have been necessary,

It does however highlight one of the
recurring themes of political speechify-
ing in BC. Govemmments and opposi-
tions challenge each other continually
over their commitment to education.
The defense against a charge of weak-
ness in this direction is to be able to
point to how much you are

Conferences do

» other one: “On The P:

have access, no matter what confer-

- ence they’re planning. Say, .. say,

But if a conference involves mem-
bers: of the federal cabinet and their

one in 1994 for the I

> Association of Newt and’ Eft Breed-

ers,
Don't laught I'll betcha it exists,
In fact, I think I attended one of its
mectings last year. Or was it saat
0)

aides, lytes and deputies (assis-

tant, associate or'some other grada-

tion), a prudent and careful organizer -
will ensure that the. venue is outside .

Canada, away from the baleful eye of
the television camera,

nothing for budget

and burgers when Beaujolais and
baron of beef are available.
You'll need an appropriate stable
of sp for your conft e
Never pick locals. Who would
believe a psychologist or social
worker from Digby Neck, N:S,?
Import them from a professional
k bureau at $3,000 a head. I

Meaningful Dialogue between Close-
‘caring, Significant Others in Leam-
ing Situations”. Can't remember, but
then I can't remember any confer-
ence I ever attended, Neither can
you. But I do recall the bafflegab and
psychobabble. .

Chapter one in that manual
decrees that any conference, no mat-*
ter how trivial or inconsequential it
is, must be held at a site furthest from
where the majority of conferees live.
So, if 98.2 per cent of them come
from B.C., the best place for the
mecting is Digby Neck, Nova Scotia.
In real life, the part-time authors of
that manual are full-time employees
of the. airlines. z

ing
to freedom.
Say Bonn, Bali, Seville or any-
where in Sweden. Better pick Swe-
den: alone among the nations,
Sweden seems to have found the
solution to all the major problems of
this world, That's why it's visited so
often by parliamentarians on the

and other imp

’ prowl. The. fact that it has trouble

balancing its own budget is of no
consequence. Anyway, I hear that the
fjords are absolutely gorgeous at this
time Of the year, :

And all conferences funded by the
public purse must be beld in four-star
hotels. To select a two-star hotel is to
degrade and diminish the importance
of the deliberations, Don't serve beer

mean, give the conference some
verve and panache! And find things
to give away at the registration desk:
plastic bags, ballpoint’ pens, decals,
liquid ‘soap in' pouches, mono-
grammed mugs, coasters, dice, ouija
boards. . . that kind of thing. Confer-
ces love beads, trinkets, toys for boys
— old gold if they can get it.

And when it's all done, you'll
need a report: coil-bound, Jaser-print-
ed, 400 pages minimum, with graphs,
charts, and executive summaries,
Proves that the 70 grand was well
Spent, y'know.’ « ~

RR, Jeffels is a Richmond free- .
tance writer and former principal of
The Open Learning Institute. i

Wednesday, March 20, 1991

The Castlegar Sun

“Page

Letters to the Editor

To the Edifor: ie

Going through my files recent-
ly, I found a copy of a letter to the
Castlegar News by yours truly, at
the time the Socreds had closed the
Castlegar-Robson ferry.

Our newly elected Premier Bill
Vander Zalm, had visited Castlegar
for a few hours after landing at our
airport. He was booed at the airport,
S.HLHLS., the hospital and at ‘our
new library, no wonder a month
later the Robson ferry shut down
for good. At least Vander Zalm had
the decency to apologize, according
to the editorial in last weeks’
Castlegar News, I did not see ‘any

penny

apologies fruin ihe loco! yokels,

Now these same residents along
the Columbia are begging our gov-
emment for another bridge over the
river, If a bridge is built where the
ferry was the Socreds should rnise
Robson residents’ taxes, to coincide
with Castlegar taxpayers, or charge
them a yearly rate for the use of the
bridge. Computers would easily
take care of that situation. :

The free ferry across Kootenay
Lake should have applied'a toll as
soon as the Salmo-Creston Skyway
opened. That ferry was therein
1920 and is still free. Ridiculous!

Lower mainland residents pay

Trail’s telethon article
needs to be clarified

To the Editor: :

iT, and many otber readers found
the article that appeared in the Trail
Daily Times on March 13, 1991
“TELETHON DID NOT BENE-
FIT. CASTLEGAR" to be very

toh, ‘Ch
BS 3)
KH

declare how much more you will spend,
Thus we get to the conventional

wisdom ‘that 4 government which ‘

spends more money on education must
be delivering better teaching to the stu-
dents. Unfortunately, it isn’t necessari-
ly so.

Fast of all, simply paying teachers
14 per cent more doesn’t make them 14
Per cent better teachers, nor will it pro-
duce 14 per cent better grades in socials.

It is true that extra funding can pay
for extra programs, but again, this can
be deceptive, Is it really contributing
much to the general level of education
for-a school to have its own foundry,
desktop publishing centre and automo-
tive repair shop? Granted it’s easy to
trivialize a good idea and I wouldn’t
for a minute want to suggest that the
People running these things are any-
thing but highly qualified. Stil, when
we are faced with such numbers of
young people who finish twelve years
of schooling and aren’t able to read
Past a grade five level that we have to
have adult basic education courses in
colleges and open Jeaming, one has to
question the relevance of some of the
add-ons.

It might also be argued that more
funds means more teachers and that
means smaller classes, which has to be
better, Again, it isn’t necessarily so. A
lot depends upon the students. Thirty

iant and well i

ig. If
you are not in office but want to be; you

'P young-
Sters is a breeze compared to twenty, if

Battle for national

Now that we’ve put the Persian
Gulf war behind us, Canadians can
Tetum to the never-ending battle for
national unity,

9 Mike
Duffy

& Syndicated
Columnist

In Quebec, a vigorous debate in the
provincial Liberal Party on tactics, but

‘virtually no disagreement on their

minimum bottom line, a Tadically dif-
ferent relationship with Canada.

+ But if Quebec knows what it wants
does TROC - the rest of Canada?

Far from it.

Keith Spicer’s Citizen's Forum on
National Unity, an effort to get Cana-
dians talking with each other, rather
-than shouting at each other, is getting
blanket media coverage.

But instead of treating the Forum
as if it were about the very future of

ition, joumalists come out to

hear about the latest foul-up, real or
imagined.

And when that impression is not
being fed by one of the commission-
ers, it is being alleged by those sup-
posed champions of tolerance and
national unity, the federal Liberals
and New Democrats.

Day after day in the Commons,
acting Liberal leader Cheila Copps,
(who was beginning to look like a
future Prime Minister), goes after the
commission like it were “The Gong
Show.” :

Sure Keith Spicer is a bit off tbe
wall, he’d have to be to take on this
job. Sure Brian Mulroney blew it
when he made his “roll of the dice”
comments last year,

So what. ~

At this point in our history, Canada
doesn’t need more cheap political
thetoric.: A

Canada needs leadership.

And most of all we need to show
the people ‘of Quebec that we have a
country worth remaining a part of... >

There is an-old tactic in'politics.
When you can’t’attack the absence of

a proposal, attack the process by

half of the twenty are borde: delin-

Squent) tees oe wen es ters

* As any teacher would happily admit,
there are a heap of intangibles involved
in whether Little Johnny leams. What's
the attitude of the parents? Will they
see that homework set becomes home-
work done? Do they make sure the
child has enough food and sleep? Is the
student challenged sufficiently or is he
out of his depth? Can the student be
controlled in the classroom to the point
that he knows he has to work? What's
the leadership like among the staff?

None of this is terribly sensitive to
the level of funding, but it has a lot to
do with the efficiency of an education
system. Judging ‘BC's system by
results, we have cause to be concemed.
While there are some youngsters who
will fly high no matter how poor their
school (and others who will flounder
no matter how good it is) the great
mass of the bell curve is much
and scems to be coming out as
mediocre when compared to say the
products of Germany or Japan.

The difference is that these impor-
tant and successful industrial countries
favour an elitist system, while we seem
to think there’s something unethical
about it. Perhaps even the word ‘elitist’
is misleading; as in the England of my
youth, people are channeled to where
their natural talents Seem to point and
then developed. And a lot of home-
work is required.

For the sake of the future of the
country, it is time that we started pour-
ing fésources into those students best
able to use them and bringing out of
the next generation a highly qualified,
world class minority which will aspire
to leadership and excellence in Canadi-
an industry and goverment. (Heaven
knows, the latter could use some.) *

It will not matter whether these peo-
ple can pour a bronze casting, design a
neat flower on a tv screen or fix their
carburetors, It will matter that they can
communicate with clarity and precision,

in both official and
one other, that they explore their chosen
field of science or computer technology
to the full extent of their time and ability
and above all learn to apply rigorous
logic to the making of decisions.

‘The bad news is that this concept
strikes at the core of the wamn-fuzzy,
uncompetitive, wishy-washy dream’
and draw philosophy of teaching which
has many a powerful supporter today.
‘There is many an educator who would
prefer a generation of amiable idiots to
a generation sprinkled with brilliance.
(We hope they would continue to be
amiable when they keep missing out
on the good jobs.)

The good news is that it doesn’t
have to add anything to the budget; it
merely requires the reallocation of
some existing resources.

Next week: Could @ voucher system
help education in BC?

unity never ending

which it was created.

That’s what the Liberals’ and their
pals the New Democrats are doing
now.

Their approach is a thin disguise
for’ the fact they have no policy on

says one thing, its only elected Que-
bec MP, Phil Edmonston, believes,
something quite different. .

In fact other than the separatist |

Bloc Quebecois, and the few Trudeau
loyalists still around the Hill, it is dif-
ficult to find anyone in any of the par-
ties with a clear view of where the
country should be going. There is no:

shame.in that. The ambivalence is a,”

reflection of the nation.'séme argue

TROC should do nothing, that if Que-
bec is unhappy, we should tell them to . ©

Jeave. 2! 5

' This country is'too. special to be!

allowed to fall apart. Too special to
allow the extremists to win simply
because we're tired of hearing about
Quebeo’s problems. :
Quebecers like minorities every-

where tend to be immersed in them-
selves. And yes some Quebecers have
thought about little else for much of
the past quarter century.

We who live outside Quebec, must
do some of that. Sort out. what kind of
a country we want for ourselves and
our children.»

* The goverment has ‘Senior bureau-

“ crats examining what powers are

essential to Ottawa, and what powers
could be ceded to the provinces with-.;
out criti a ing the foundation ;

y
- Of the nation.

The Spicer task force is to. provide
an idea of what the people want, and |
the joint Senate-Commons committee
will poll the academics and legal),

(Then this fall, the government will
put it all together in’a series of consti- 3}
tutional Proposals..." a

wilt seems a ‘reasonable approach to}
the problem, and ‘the’ Opposition ins
4

’ Parliament would better serve the S
{mation if they put focussed on policy #

rather than ‘on the thing partisan poli-

¢ tics of process;

“Mike Duffy host Sunday Edition o

Se are

I would like to clarify this very
misleading article.

services the Castlegar School Dis-
trict children. Occupational Thera-
Py is provided to the Hobbit Hill
Centre on’ a weekly basis by the
Children's Development Centre.
The 8th Annual Telethon was
widely advertised that-all funds
would go directly towards the
Children’s Development Centre's

The Chi "s D

Centre is the only Child Develop-
ment Centre in all of the East and
West Ki Our Physi

Br and opera-
tional costs.
We feel that Ms. Conroy, Co-
di of the Child Care Centre

Py and Occupational Therapy
Departments provide weekly ser-
vices to the Castlegar ‘area to sev-
enteen (17) disabled children —
four of them are receiving direct
services at the Hobbit Hill Centre.
The Annual Telethon which is
sponsored by the Knights of Phy-
thias produces revenue-to allow the
Children’s Development Centre to
Provide operational costs and ser-
vices to Trail and District, Castlegar,
Slocan Valley, and to Cranbrook.
The two programs which bene-
fit the most from his annual
Telethon are the Speech Therapy
Program, and the Outreach Physio-
therapy Program which directly

in Castlegar must be unaware as to
the sole purpose of our annual
telethon.

We very much support. the
Castlegar expansion of their Child
Care Centre and wish them every
success in their endeavor to

“budget and no GST for widows.

nearly $100. 00 round tip to Van-
couver Island and Gulf Islands
‘dep gon vehicle IP f
besides waiting in line for hours
before boarding the ferries in the
hot summer sun, and windy cold
winter months, I know, I've been
there many times. They still pay
the tolls and accept it, Every year,
the toll rate goes up. He

Women know more about bud-
geting than men ever will, My male
hairdresser always tells me I should
shave been a politician instead of a
wife, mother of five, and grand-
mother of 19, plus two great grand-

i His $8.00 haircuts fit my

Budgeting is my hobby, I have
done it all my life. My handbags are
purchased at the thrift shop. They
are my style for $1.00.

I could be sitting pretty by now
with senators, making one hundred
and fifty-nine dollars a day; those

G

pinching grandma

ed all her life, and knows more about
budgeting than Michael Wilson’ and
fiis co-horts, If I can feed myself
one hundred fifty-five dollars a
month and feed a lot of friends, they
love my homemade soup and fresh
fruit salad, and even my leftovers.

on

T would not need a million dol-

lar budget for a Canadian Forum.
T’d manage quite well on one thou-
sand dollars, I have friends and rel-
atives in-every province, if I
Phoned them about my thousand
dollar budget survey, they would
gladly do it for me for nothing,
Besides BC Telephone could give
this grandmother preferred cus-
tomer a toll free number; if I told

all T had is a thousand dollars.

I'm always calling long distance,
even to the middle East Arab Emi-
rates, for over 2 years having a
daughter and son-in-law there and
two grandchildren,

old senile senators would wake up
and sit up and take notice. of this

+ great grandmother who has-budget-

Fern Schwar

+78

“Your Castlegar

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_ Letters Policy

Letters to the Editor are welcome on any topic of local or general
interest. Letters should be double-spaced, typewritten, or legibly hand-
written, and no more than two pages if possible. Letters will be edited in |
the interests of brevity or taste if necessary, All letters must be signed,
with address and telephone number, although names may be witheld
from publication for valid reason by the approval of the editor. Send
letters to: The Castlegar Sun, 465 Columbia Ave., Castlegar, B.C.,

344 mi.

UNSWEETENED
ORANGE JUICE

‘otch Buy.
Frozen Concentrate.

48.

TASTE TELL
MUSHROOMS

Stems & Pleces.
284 mi.

The Children’s Devel

Centre, at this time is making head-

way towards their new facility

which will provide many new ser-

vices for the area, as well as the
existing programs.

Lillian Michallik

Executive Director

Children’s Development Centre

Thanks Castlegar for
giving so generously

To the Editor: 3
The Heart and Stroke Founda-
tion of B.C. and Yukon would like
to thank everyone in Castlegar for
making February’s Heart Fund
‘Campaign the most successful ever.
A big bouquet to all our dedicated
volunteers, who gave so selflessly
of their time. A special thank-you
to Bill Moore, Cherri Carlson and
Rob MacPherson for their commit-
ment and dedication to the Founda-
tion. We are also grateful to the

Where to go

To the Editor:

I will believe it when I see it.
How can you trust an individual
that illegally serves eviction notices
to renters on the proposed mall
Property, wen in fact, he does not
have title to said properties? The
eviction notices, after going to arbi-
tration, have been withdrawn. If
you remember last year, we all

Parents wish |
to applaud the.
school district

To the Editor:

It is unfortunate that the majori-
ty of those interviewed by the
‘Castlegar Sun reporter during edu-
cation week felt dissatisfaction
with the educational system. We,
as parents who are actively
involved in education, find the
many changes in education excit-
ing and progressive for our chil-
dren. The new school system is

people of Castlegar, who responded ......

SO generously to our appeal.

Our tally now stands at $10,000
and still counting for the door-to-
door campaign. Castlegar Curl-a-
thon raised $3,942. A fine effort
from the City of Castlegar in the
ongoing fight against heart disease
and stroke.

Sharon Kemball
Regional Coordinator
West Kootenay Region

from here?

beard the same stories by the same
people. Sold signs were posted and
before anyone knew it, the plans
were cancelled. And the properties
stayed in the hands of the original
owners. The same could happen
again this year, I think the only
ones gaining from this are the real
estate people so often mentioned in
the paper.

. Where are four families, some
with children, supposed to go in
Castlegar with a zero Tat-
ing and highly inflated rents? I
believe the city should take all of
these facts into consideration before
granting any permits, if they ever
are applied for.

Permanent Castlegar Residents
Joe, and Clemmy Duke.

helping promote flexibility, cre- ;
ing skills. understand!

ativity, thinking skills; un

ing and an enthusiasm fot leaming.
The world is changing and our

children must be prepared to

change with it. We applaud our

school district for their willingness

to keep step with the times.

Yours sincerely, :’
The Executive KJSS
Parent Advisory Council

‘oA CAST,

SA) INVITATION TO TENDER
Janitorial Services

Sealed tenders will be received at the
office of the Superintendent of Public
ea

Works, City of Castt 460 Col

the tender.

VIN 1G7 until 3:00 pm on Friday, April 12, 1991

* Cc 5
for Janitorial
Services at City Hall Engineering Services, Kinnaird Hall.

The City reserves the right to reject all tenders, or to award the
contract to other than the lowest tender received.

Previous employmént history ‘and references must accompany ; Ss

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We bring itall together %