August 20, 1989 OPINION sy August 20, 1989 Castlegar News AS Aa Castlégar News Praiseworthy trait noted in Smecher There. were some awkward moments, during Tuesday after noon's city council meeting when Mayor Audrey Moore revved her engine and tried to drive horne changes to the city’s new downtown parking plan Aldermen seemed a little taken aback at the mayor's insistence that council change the time limit for four angled parking spaces in front of Machado's grocery store to 15 minutes from the current two hours To her credit Mayor Moore was trying to carry out assurances she gave to downtown business people that their concerns about parking in the downtown core would be addressed by the new parking plan However if she made a, specific promise to the owners of the grocery store that the time limit for parking in front of their store would, in fact, be changed, perhaps she did, as she mentioned at the council meeting, misiead the store owners. At the same time perhaps she misjudged her influence over the works and services committee which oversaw the drafting of the parking plan At any rate, what should have been a quick and easy discussion and adoption of the parking plan became a drawn out debate over amendments that would changes to the plan incorporate Mayor Moore's suggested Suggestions that a revised plan be subject to review by the owners was quite rightly dismissed out of hand | have a problem with a local business said Ald. Doicen plan for downtown Castlegar approving the parkin, Smecher, who seems to be warming to her job after a tentative start In fact it was Mrs. Smecher who rescued the parking plan from being run over with amendments at Tuesday's meeting Mrs. Smecher a long-time Castlegar school district trustee who holds on to that job while serving as alderman, has been pegged by some observers of Castlegar politics as Mayor Moore's protege especially after receiving the chairmanship of council's powerful ad ministration and finance committee in her rookie year as alderman But Mrs. Smecher was clearly in no mood to accede to the mayor's inclination to table the plan to give downtown businesses time to Jook it over ‘and let people react to it Mrs. Smecher noted that the works and services committee on which she also sits had put in a lot of work on the plan and that it had been circulated downtown It was clearly Mrs. Smecher's assertiveness that cut short the confusing debate and finally got council to adopt the plan as submitted As she said earlier in the meeting person, then. we've done a good job. We don't always agree with her on issues Smecher isn't afraid to say what's on her mind and take a If we've only dissatistied one but obviously Mrs stand That's always nice to see ina politician SuperValu closing no surprise It should come that the downtown SuperValu store as no real surprise will close its doors. It was only a mai ter of time until the plaza stores picked up the customers who used to shop downtown by way of the ferry Add Super Valu to the growing list downtown businesses closing oul or moving south I'm not about to say, “I told you so,”* but this trend was predicted by the Robson Ferry Committee over a year ago. Another prediction come true was that of plunging property values in the Robson-Raspberry area One closures and dropping property values is that on to the remainder rocket scientist to understand that any serious effect of business the burden of taxation is shifted It doesn’t take a community requires a certain budget made up of tax dollars, to maintain the tandard of services Truck troubles solved I would like you to pass ona word of thanks on my behalf to Glen and his wife of Iggies Restaurant and to Ken of Ken's Auto and Wheel Alignment On July 27, 1989, my wife, four kids and | troubles west of had truck Castlegar and without the assistance and co-operation of Glen and Ken, we could have been stranded for quite sometime Again, thanks. odman and fan ey, Alta If anyone cares to dispute the fact, just ask yourself why your taxes don’t go down proportionately with your property's Value. Ironically, we are additionally paying for a service which we don't even have any more he Rob: that of on ferry The Hon. Mel ¢ and the Hon ouvelier Rita Johnston minister of fiance . Will be in minister of municipal affair Castlegar on Aug. 29 to hear from the public how our property taxes would be best spent I would encourage anyone who feels concerned with the state of things in this area to bring those concerns to the Sandman Inn, between 9 a.m. and noon After all show! you're paying for the George Stein Robson Last Spike Remember When? 40 YEARS AGO From the Aug. 25, 1949 Castle News Cliff Wanless, Publicity Chairman ofthe Castlegar Kiwanis Club, revealed today that the Club is actively investigating the possibility of developing a playground centre for Castlegar and district At present a committee is looking over the possible sites for such a project and have had preliminary discussions with community-minded property owners as to the suitability of property available for such a park site. Last Sunday the Canadian Legion Band, families.and friends took a boat trip on the Elco and barge and played concerts at Renata and Deer Park On arrival at Renata, the party was taken by truck to Mr. J, Ulmi’s where a picnic was had on the grass in his or- chard. Letters to the editor my wants to save VIA child knows the cree erp “ Every school The picture shows a score of f people in top hats standing around a tall, stooped, bearded man with a sledge The image of driving in the last spike’’ of CPR at Craigellachie has been part of Canadian history for 104 years. Brian vatives hammer Mulroney and the only been a part of Canadian history for five years, but they are trying to ‘undo many of the achievements Canadians are proud of Conser have Just last. month, dismantle Ca the government's move to nada’s only national passenger rail leaked to the media. The plan is to drastically cut the Atlantic and Western regional lines, and even the transcontinental line is threatened sysiem was The elimination of this vital tran sport link is a reminder of the kind of Canada Brian Mulroney and his Con: servatives want It was a telling coincidence that the gutting of VIA passenger services was made public on the same day the Con servatives announced plans to fully privatize Air Canada — VIA"s biggest =. Brian Milroney wants big BUsitessro-cat the shots in our transport sector The Conservatives are doing everything possible to keep the VIA Rail cuts out of the public hearing Instead, they hope to pass cabinet orders in council — behind closed doors — to avoid hearing the process views of Canadians. In public hearings, Canadians would remind the Conservatives that dozens of European governments in vest heavily in passenger service. That investment has resulted in rapid, safe, fuel efficient public transport, which addresses worsening air traffic and congested highway conditions Government subsidies to airports over the last five years amounted to more than $3 billion. At the same time, many VIA Rail lines are forced to use equipment from the 1940s and 1950s. Faced with expensive and time consuming breakdowns, it is little wonder that VIA can’t turna profit Trains are still the safest, efficient, and least-polluting means of most fuel public transport available to Canadian families. land my New Democratic colleagues want to stop the Conser vatives from gutting our passenger rail service And important West Kootenay-Revelstoke communitie: VIA Rail means direct jobs, and a service that we need and use. Unlike many in big city Canada, we of ten don’t have a reliable choice. The Conservatives like the Liberals before them promised to expand passenger rail service with modern dependable equipment. That was their mandate from the people of Canada and they don't have the right to break it You can help by writing your con: cerns and sending them to me, I will present your views to the prime minister. Mail to Lyle Kristiansen, MP, House of Commons, Ottawa, Ontario, KIA OA6. Don't let Brian Mulroney and his government kill system here in business, our passenger rail Lyle Kristiansen, MP Kootenay West-Revelstoke Threats cruel | am writing to express my strongest objections to the recent decision of the provincial government to. threaten welfare recipients with loss of sub sistence unless they can prove they are looking for work I agree with those who have called the action and humiliating. | that it is oppressive, unfair also believe cruel Nowhere in the government's statements or in the news stories regar ding this move have | seen any suggestion as to where people on I have seen no 130,000 currently registered unemployed or where the welfare will find jobs reference to the lack of jobs for these workers can be translated into jobs for the welfare Indeed, there are in that recipients dications unemployment is Band won't give Editor's note: The Arrow Lakes Band is involved in the dispute over the Highway Ministry proposal to build a bridge and road next to the band's an- cestral burial ground near Vallican in the Stocan Valley. The band, along with the Vallican Archaeological Park Society, is fighting to preserve the site which they say is ed by the threate: nstruction. We, the Sinixt of the Arrow Lakes are the descendants of the nd occupants of this land. The tile to our land is the most ancient, aboriginal people pure, and absolute known to man Its date is beyorid the reach of oS. Castlegar News PUBLISHER EDITOR OF THE B.C. PRESS COUNCIL Burt Cai Simon Birch PLANT FOREMAN ADVERTISING MANAGER OFFICE MANAGER CIRCULATION MANAGER Peter Harvey Gary Fleming Linda Kosits: Heather Hadley human records; its validity is confir med by possession, occupation and en joyment — long before any pretense of claim by any portion of the human rave All of these creations given by the Creator have never been knowingly ceded, defeat in war relinquished, sold, traded, or lost through These creations have never been a subject of treaty, nor have they ever been surren dered willingly by the Sinixt/Arrow Lakes people excegt as taken by fraud Aboriginal title to these creations cannot or will not be dissolved by ex Sinixt/Arrow Lakes nation of people from its own territory pulsion of the by the legislative precepts of federal or provincial governments of Canada and British Columbia, or any other foreign government We will not be accountable to nor in with by any other terfered gover nment. The one who gave us these gifts that are in dispute in this case is the only one who can change that — the Creator We have our territory through coparcenary by virtue of descent. And, Creator has put together, inherited these gifts and what the let no man put asunder growing and will continue to grow 1 must assume that the government is so enthralled with privatization and the business sector that it is unaware as to what is happing to the poor, the elderly and the disadvantaged who live Social Credit policies have clearly put the value of property above among us. that of people There is ample evidence to show that poverty is Statistics Canada, at the end of 1988, stated that 3.5 million Canadians live below the poverty line. Other studies have placed that number at million. When 15 10-20 per cent of this country’s population must spend all of endemic in Canada five its time just to survive, there is a great with forcing people off looking for that ob deal wrong welfare, jobs viously don’t exist up land Finally, a quote from your Bible that you do not seem to follow. It can be Old Testament, Deuteronomy 19:14, Boundaries “You must not displace your neigh bor’s boundary mark, found in the set by your for bears, in the inheritance you receive in that land Yahweh is giving into your possession."" Bob Campbell, Ambassador Sinixt/ Arrow Lakes Band Castlegar borscht goes north Hey Castlegar, we are famousin the north! getting On a recent family visit to Prince George, we all went out for supper one evening to the McCloud 9 Eatery restaurant and I was quite surprised when I read under Vegetable Castlegar dered some soup of the day, Bor The Recipe. Naturally we or it was delicious Bob Rivers Castlegar Original Hungry school children, food banks and other manifestations of inequality in our province point directly at a government that tas failed. Gutting programs and bullying people will solve the deficit problems of British Columbia. It only panders to the prejudices and paranoia of the well-to-do and privileged. It widens the gap between rich and poor Itdemeansall of us. There are poor not many groups in this who have a great deal of knowledge and experience in the field of welfare, unemployment and pover ty. Without exception they have con demned what the government has They should certainly have been consulted before the government moved in the way it has in this matter Ihave spent most of my adult life in community activity. | have always felt that the first role of government was to protect the weak from the strong and to prevent people from injuring one another province done. | urge the government to withdraw this edict. | am sure that the vast majority of citizens of our province would support such a move. We expect and We expect govei compassion consideration of government Ament will not create further divisions in our We do not expect actions that will create further problems for those who already have trouble enough surviving province, Francis De Vito Fruitvale Kinnaird Village| News: It was decided to proceed with the gradings of roads as soon as possible, a grader to be obtained from Trail, and failing this, from Tadanac Mr. E. C. Ackerman was appointed Pound Keeper. Rough estimates will be requested from contractors for the construction of the proposed Fire Hall. Sufficient lumber is to be secured for the. completion of the railway crossing at the south end of Kinnaird 25 YEARS AGO From the Aug. 20, 1964 Castlegar News ——€astiegar-commissioner Leo Bosse has resigned as chairman~ of the village's traffic and safety committee. He remains, the municipal council Comm. Lorne Zinio was appointed to head the committee in Mr. Bosse’s place. Mr. Zinio is also recreation committee chairman in the village. however, on Tenders will be called during the present fiscal year for the $1.5 million Brilliant bridge across the Kootenay river near the airport here, Premier Bennett announced at a Creston lun- cheon on Saturday prior to the official opening of the Kootenay Skyway. Proposals for two new apartment buildings in Castlegar, involving 23 apartments and a total investment — including financing — of some $190,000 were disclosed at Castlegar's council meeting on Tuesday night Mr. and Mrs. Pete Soberlak have plans for an apartment building with 16 units that is estimated to cost with financing in the neighborhood of $130,000. It would be built behind the B.C. Forest Service office near Juniper and Third 15 YEARS AGO From the August 22, 1974 Castlegar News The Castlegar Bronco All-Stars are Western Canadian Bronco Baseball champions. They won the title at Delta this past weekend defeating another B.C. team ina hard fought 5-3 game. The local lads now leave next Wed nesday for Sidney, N.S., where they meet teams representing Cental Canada and the Maritimes for the Canadian championship. the Once again the Regional District of Central Kootenay will advise the government that it’s a bit upset with the fact that B.C. Hydro is not con- tributing to the local tax structure Board chairman Hank Coleman was asked at the RDCK’s last meeting whether he felt B.C. Hydro would pay taxes no matter how much pressure was applied by the regional district He said he doesn’t think B.C. Hydro will allow itself to be taxed 5 YEARS AGO From the Aug. 18, 1984 Castlegar News In something of a surprise, the Green Party will not run a candidate in Kootenay West Only the three traditional federal political. parties met Tuesday's nomination deadline in this riding, ac- cording to returning officer Helen Fairbanks local Bob Brisco will carry the Progressive Conservative banner, while Jean Tur- nbull will run under the Liberal label Please address all Letters to the Editor to: The Castlegar News, P.O. Box 3007, Castlegar B.C. VIN 3H4, or deliver them to our office at 197 Columbia Avenue, Castlegar Letters should be typewritten double-spaced and not longer thon 300 words letters must be signed ond include the writer's full name and address. Only in very exceptional cases will letters be published without the writers Nevertheless the name and address of the writer musi be disclosed to the editor . The Cestlegur News reserves the right to edit letters tor brevity, clarity. legality ond grommar and incumbent Lyle Kristiansen will try to retain the seat for the New Democratic Party. The Castlegar Aquanauts proved over the weekend that they have a lot of team depth as they travelled to Kim- berley with only 20 swimmers and finished a respectable third in the six team meet Coach Vince Mikuska elected to rest the majority of the team’s top swim mers for the upcoming Regionals and brought swimmers to Kimberley who he felt required a chance to gain more ence by competing against the other team’s top swimmers expe: Library receives government grant By JUDY WEARMOUTH Head Librarian The Castlegar library has received a bonus from the provincial nment! On top of the regular book grant of $11,043, the library has been given an additional $1,277 unconditional grant from the Ministry of Municipal Af fairs, Recreation and Culture This is Municipal Affairs Minister Rita Johnston's preliminary response to the New Approaches Task Force recommendation that B.C. libraries be given higher per capita provincial assistance. The Library Task Force also recommended the establishment of a provincial inter-library loan net work, trustee orientation and training and the secondment of proféssional staff from large public libraries to assist in local library development gover Johnston has announced that these programs will be implemented using lottery revenues and her first priority is the interlibrary loan network. All B.C, library boards will be receiving provincial assistance to ensure full par- ticipation in the project A writers-in-libraries program has also been initiated and the Castlegar Library has applied for funding to bring in B.C, historian Bill Barlee during his West Kootenay visit in Oc- tober Through the secondment program, library boards will be able to apply for assistance up to $1,000 to bring in professionals to help train local staff The Castlegar board and staff are pleased to see the task force recom mendations being implemented by the minister and look forward to reaping the benefits promised. New forest office gets approval VICTORIA — startin September to upgrade and add to the regional British Columbia Forest Service office in Nelson, Forests Minister Dave Parker and Howard Dirks, Nelson-Creston MLA and Minister of State for Thompson: Okanagan and Kootenay nounced “The combined projects will cost _$1.5 million and create 15 direct and 33 indirect jobs in the construction and associated industries,”’ Parker said ina news release Kelowna developer Hans Berger is constructing a two-storey building at $20 Lake Street, alongside the existing Forest Service office. The 6,000. square-foot building will interconnect with the existing office, the says. “The architects for the new building — Ted Thomas Design Consultants Lid. of Kelowna — styled the building to match the neighborhood, in keeping with Nelson’s heritage theme,” said Construction will have an release GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY Jim and Lila Hood celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary Aug. 6 at the Fireside Inn Children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren were all on hand to congratulate them The Hoods received a trip to Hawaii from their family friends and relatives. They wish to express their love and appreciation to all fora memorable anniversary. Some call him a great teacher a .. God. What will you call him? See this movie and decide. tiving Waters Faith Fellowship 2320-6th Avenve Sunday, augue 20 Admission is F Air Conditioned VERYONE WELCOME Dirks. **Nelson architect Chris Fair. bank is now completing the working drawings for refurbishing and upgrading the current office.” In late October, the B.C. Buildings Corp. will advertise to invite tenders for the upgrading work, the gover nment says The new building will be leased by the British Columbia Buildings Corp on behalf of the Forest Service, for an Tnitial period of T0years: = **Part of the existing building dates back to 1945, so renovations are badly needed,"’ said Parker. ‘The total completed project will more efficiently meet our requirements in this area.’ While the renovations are under- way, the regional office will be split between the new office at $20 Lake Street and an office on Vernon Street that is being vacated by the Assessment Authority of B.C The Nelson regional office expects to be in the interim accommodation for approximately six months SCHOOL FASHIONS. . A back-to-school fashion’ show was the highlight of the Castlegar Christian Women's Club meeting held Thur sday Approximately 40 women attended the continental breakfast meeting at the Fireside Inn. The theme of the meeting was **School Daze."” 4 Aerobics and men’s and ladies’ fashions from Bennissimo were the—models__Bre! Bergen, a school teacher Rossland, was the guest vocalist while wear, from . The Castlegar Christian Women's Club held a back-to-school fashion show entitled "School Daze’ featured aerobics wear and men's and ladies’ tashions Back-to-school fashion show INTERNATIONAL K-9 CENTRE Offers DOG OBEDIENCE Classes ", advanced DATES: Thurs TIME: 7 p.m LOCATION: Arena Complex FOR INFORMATION CALL CHRIS AT 399-4121 OR LEAVE A MESSAGE. Sept. 7 to Ihurs,, Oct. 12 Soccer Field EVERY DAY OF THE weak CENTRAL FOODS BLACK FOREST HAM 99° SLICED/SHAVED 29° 100 g. The show Marlene Quapp of Calgary was the guest inspirational speaker The theme for next month’s meeting is, “‘It’s a Frame Up.”” The meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 14 at Is now taking registrations for options are available OFFICE CLERK BOOKKEEPING lege OFFICE ADMINISTRATION PROGRAM Selkirk College — Trail Campus CLERK-TYPIST COMPUTER COURSES Pre-testing will take place on Monday, August 28. For information or registration, please call after August 21 900 Helena Street the Fall 1989 class. The following SECRETARIAL LEGAL SECRETARY UPGRADING PRICES EFFECTIVE SUN.. MON... TUES., WED. TRAIL CAMPUS Trail, B.C. VIR 456 — 368-5236 Vacation Bible School THEME “Jesus and Me’ August 21-25 9a.m.-12 noon Ages 4-14 Everyone Welcome Resker Ag Robson, B. 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If you purchase a con: dominium as @ second home, you and your tamily might find that you 2 bought a whole y choose what is reterred to as split residence, when one chooses to live part of the year in-one location, ond the other part in a different location jany_northeners during the sun north, and choose o second home @ southern climate where they | eal “Estate WITH BARRY BROWN A HOME AWAY FROM HOME! during the winter months Betore choosing a second home. you may want to evaluate your litestyie and ask yourself the following questions. If you answer yes to one ‘or more of the questions, you might be a candidate for a second home. Do you enjoy leisure time ac tivities such as skiing, boating < hunting? Have you buying o ski chalet, a log cabi woods, or @ cottage or condominium near the lake? Does you job cause you to live n two different y recently retired homework? Have you buying a condominium or residency? Have you considered invesime real estate? 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