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The Casts gar Sun
ATS.

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editorial comment
Freedom-of-the-press
means
freedom-of-the-people

_ Just how sacred is the cliche, freedom-of-the-press
in today’s media.

It’s important enough that the CBC, along with a
national association of journalists (relying on the
Charter of Rights and Freedoms of course) have
asked the Supreme Court of Canada to place restric-
tions on the ability of. police officers to seize material

hered by news

There are a number of reasons for the plea, all of
which are highly valid.

First of all, the media cannot be seen as an inves-
tigative arm of the police. If police could seize note
books, audio and video tapes at will, people with
valuable information would be less likely to come
forward with their information for news stories. Not
only that, the impartiality of the press would be
“severely compromised” if people felt that talking to
a joumalist was the same as talking to the police.

As a news reporter for a community paper, the
opportunity to “break” an important and highly
influential story does not present itself everyday—
not even close. But in the same breath, that opportu-
04 lanier investigative instincts

wear it’s small town print, or a big city
blowout, the mules for the reporters working the beat
remain the same—to provide accurate information to
the public, while at the same time, allow a requested
confidence to remain for the private.

If RCMP were given the authority to conduct a
news search at any time, both of these are jeopar-
dized.

Not only would the media be impaired in its abili-
ty to gather news, sources of information would no
longer talk anyway due to a lack of trust.

The CBC believes that in order to get a search
warrant for a newsroom, police should first have to
convince a judge there are no other ways to obtain
information.

If there are other possibl of inf i
the ‘udge must be convinced the police have taken
“all reasonable steps” to obtain it before authorizing
anews search.

Freedom-of-the-press in other words, also means
Sreedom-of-the-people.

By Don Addis

THIG LOXKS LIKE
A Good PLACE
To LAND, ZMLAK!

“4 POLITICALLY INDEPENDENT AND A
MEMBER OF THE STERLING NEWS SERVICE
Established N. 28,1

When Jean Chretien d his fellow c

opposition MPs retum to the Com-

mons tomorrow after a week in'their

‘ridings, they should follow, Prime

Minister Brian Mulroney’ ‘3 examp!
and “put Canada first.”

party, something the opposii
showed by its actions over.the'
week it was not prepara todo.

interview with reporters in Kam-
loops. {

Riis admited Oppo:
Mulroricy will. work out an agree-
ment. in principle with Quebec in
March-and then use it as a spring-'
board for a June federal election.

fi and ‘putti ing Canada first

‘They thought Mulroney’ might:
quit, immediately after a deal is'-
signed, throwing. -_ reing ot power ;

y
seek election in\Quebec as-a gesture
Of national unity, y and neatly avoid the

“the best chance the Tories have of”

making a comeback, but Mulroney

:,told me in a CTV: Sunday Edition
‘i interview a'1992 election ‘is'just not

on.
: “No. In point of fact the one thing ':
t ought not to’ take place.is that :,

"The answer, you will probably
guess, is to do with taxes, but it
doesn’t hurt to make some compar-

isons.

. Let's look at two situations, one
in-1955, one in 1991.

It’s 1955, A man earns $500 a

~ month, He buys a house for $15,000

and takes a 7% mortgage over 25
years. His monthly cost for princi-
pal and interest is $106, which is
20% of his income.

Ever wondered why the money
feces seem to go as far as it used
to’

Why i is it that thirty years ago, a
man’s income was sufficient to keep
a family without the necessity of his
wife working outside the p Home, but

‘Thirsty. six years later, in 1991, his -

/ son, who eams $50,000 a year, buys *
‘the same house. Today’s market -_
value is $100,000. The son has a °

$10,000 down payment and he gets
a 25 year mortgage for $90,000 at

10%. His monthly payment is $805,

which is a litle less than 20% of his

Now ne i! lin around with

there ought not to be any panisanship
Jin regard to the question of national
unity," he sald.) 1

The prime minister insisted the
‘unity issue must.be resolved first:
“Let's get it behind us and then have

‘the election in 1993,on a serics:of '
matters and 'not tic the question of °

national unity into it in that way."
‘What could be clearer?

But tie the wheels fell off.
A‘week ago. yesterday, Chretien

‘: read:a high road text to a group of:
Montreal lawyers, But in a news con- '
' ference: later, he went to the gutter:

\ and demanded Dobbie’s head'as the
| price: of continuing on with commlt--
teens)

Chretien had abandoned the: fun.

It won't make Mulroney popular. ‘

with his caucus.They're anxiously

. looking for any way to get out of the
. bottom of the public opinion polls.

’ By throwing away his unity-elec-
tion ace, the prime minister. has
removed the last excuse the Opposi-
‘tion has for refusing to participate’ in
the joint Commons-Senate' commit-
tee,

Now the ball is in the opposition’s

court,

The events of the last seven days
should serve as an important lesson
for Jean Chretien.

~ When the Liberals met in caucus
10 days ago, they ssiented the:rat
‘pack's. prop

“the party in Power for most of this

“Look out for Canada, and Cana.
dians will look out for the Liberal
” ee

He spent the rest of last week
being forced by public opinion to
retreat from his “all or nothing”
stance. ©

The New ‘Democrats were as
as the Liberal to derail the
committee, but were smart enough to
hide their intentions behind Chre®
tien’s tough line.
‘Now Mulroney has given Chretien
a chance to get out of the corner

the
thetoric. over the coniinitice’s prob-
ete 8 embarrassing

the figures, especially the interest
Tates and come up with slightly dif-
ferent answers but the Percentage of
income that is devoted to paying for
a home is'going to-remain fairly
similar, not least because banks and
mortgage companies have never
been comfortable with people
putting very much more than 25%
of their income into house pay-
ments,

You can play the same game with
cars, which is for many people the
next biggest expense after buying a
house. You will find, that cars
require if pnything, aslightly smaller
percentage of income to buy today

than they did 36 years ago. Likewise

food and other major expenses.

percentage of one’s income represent-
ed by taxes. Back in-1955, the gov-
emment was able to get by with about
12 to 15% of your income, which was

not bad considering that they were »

still paying. off the: saree debts

The “old Jean” would have been
smart enough to take it.

Bes

incurred by the Second World War.

Now however... well, it’s payday.
Go look at your cheque.

They're in my pocket for about |
30%. That's just the deductions, By
the time the little Hannaford flock
has paid its GST and gas taxes and
so on and so foith, the figure is
probably over 50%. As I fall in that
tax bracket which is considered mid-
dle average, I would suppose that I
am no worse off nor better off than
several million other people, all of
whom are wondering where the hell
the money’s going these days.

Well, the difference between

" 1955 and’1991 is that today, the

government feels obliged to provide.
far more services than it did thirty-

six years ago. Some of it is neces-
sary enough no doubt, as it picks up
the pieces after families shatter, but
we have all heard enough tales of
government waste to know that
in

Ottawa have much to answer for

Wednesday; November 20;

1991

Fetters | to

| Dear Editor, 2 4
While waiting in the line-up
on Columbia Avenue this after-

noon, I pondered how many othér'

“were‘also’ P
by the never-ending queue of tur-
tle-motion: cars. We soothe our

the Editor —

The' Castlegar Sun

* ber is likely Genet to 2,000 today.
Have you noticed how the traffic

thins out south-of the, Kinnaird |,
¥ interchange? Ever. wonder where i
d'.) all those, cars turning left ‘are .‘

bound for? I'd. bet: the majority.

by telling we
have no alternative, right?

‘Right! Ever since VanderZalm
& Co, ‘closed the Robson Ferry in
April of 1988, some, 1650 vehi-
cles a day (by 1988 statistics)
have been forced onto Castlegar’s

busiest street. Add to that figure °
the construction workers now. liv.’

ing in Robson and the general
incredse i in traffic, and thet num-

r

“Recently I was in a public
building in Trail. A woman who,
works there recognized me and
said, “I’m so glad it looks like
Robson is going to get the ferry
back.” She then told-me about an
incident where her face was
severely cut when she was living
in Robson. The doctors told her
that the only reason she was not ~
in‘a life threatening situation |
(bleeding to death) was because”

she-had reached the hospital.so .

quickly. She was able to get to
the hospital so. quickly because at

friend's son who swallowed a
straight pin which became lodged
in his throat and abut the horrify-
ing twenty minute trip to reach
the hospital. :

are headed’ for Brilliant,’ Pass.
Cree!

ry and Robson. -
But the Robson Ferry has gone

up the Arrow Lake, you say, to.be.
s-used at Arrow Park. Well, did you
know that there is:a 28-car ‘ferry,

) sitting’at Shelter Bay this instant,

op its engines Funhing? No, it's:
waiting for Passengers,

only to keep from’freezing up, -,
The:M.V. Shelter Bay’ (formerly a
at seule is: kept in réserve >

“Robson ferry would help solve
the traffic congestion problem on
Columbia Avenue in Castlegar

_ Not to mention the obvious
improvement in general. traffic
safety: by removing 1200.vehi-
cles. daily from an already
overused intersection.

Closing ‘the Robson ferry was ‘ i

one of Bill Vander.Zalm's BAD
decisions; but he is: no longer part

of government. [hive & sugges-";
tion for the local politicians‘ who. z

still seem to ‘cringe when they
hear Vander Zalm’s name. Get
out your pens arid write Victoria
(yes, Again!) explaining the mag-
nitude of the problem created by
closing the Robson ferry and
actively lobby for it’s retum.

We have been patient and per-
sistent for three ‘and one half
years. It is time to work with. our

At this point a i
intelligent and well dressed man?
walked into the room. With no'-

ion he simply i
ed and assumed we were talking
about the Robson ferry. He sim-

new gov
to resolve this very long out-
standing issue.

ply said, “We don’t want the.

Robson ferry back.2,.1'm not sure. .

who he was referring to as ‘we’. T
thought his comments were inap-
propriate to say the least. I found
it astounding because after the
election, I assumed that we had
left this mentality behind.

MORE LETTERS

The Robson-Raspberry Ferry”

Users Ad Hoc Committee has

government figures that show the
Arrow Park Ferry (formerly the
Robson Ferry) costs the BC tax-
payer more money and carries
not even 5% of the traffic it car-
ried at Robson. Reinstating Gea

1050 COLU!

365-6505

I | READER RESPONSE |
QUESTIONNAIRE

ZESI! !
: PRI
November 17 to 23 is Drug Awareness Week in B.C. We'd 9

like to hear about the Positive. ‘drug-free activities you at
Ke engage in or are aware of in our. community, % as well as

. ‘Conroy made, the ferry issue a:

: beagrs exists.

CATHERINE ARNST

“Green labels” awarded.to consumer goo ,

that meet environmental targets are fast gaining

favor in industrialized nations.

They are a way of encouraging environmen-
tal awareness throu i free market forces rather
than legislation. °

Granted to’ products that measure up to a'set
of g green
labels are. currentl: offered i in only nine coun-
meh 1p led by Germany, ‘Canada and Japan,

labeling programs could be in place in at
lent 22 contin byte hd of 192, nccortng.
to the Organi:
and Development. on Dee. 10, Eugen Com-
munity environment: ministers are widely
d to approve a C ide pro-

ram to start next'yeats:
EC Environmental Commissioner Carlo Ripa

li Meana sald the plan represents a new phase of
“EC policy that will t

‘emphasize market forces, |) {
2 Up" to now we: ‘have taken the legislative
cof.

limits, he | nid _when proposing the so-called

‘role must be. viewed as a modest one as a part of
*“a broader environmental policy.” It found: label-

ing progr do not ran and
trade-offs are involved.

Germany ’'was the first country;to enact a’ -

labeling program — its “Blue Angel” scheme
dates from 1978 — but sees it as a soft approach
amid’ some ¢f the toughest environmental regu-
lations in the world.

The German plan démossnaies acne of the
pitfalls. More than 3,600 “Blue Angel” labels
have been ded to prodi

‘happens. Most legislative :
3 penalize ‘a polluter, ‘rather than:

ald pay as much as 10 percent more for envi-
ronméntally sound products.

Consultants say industry's record of making
inflated claims of. sf ecological soundness is a driv-

“ing force behind government labeling plans

label

- British, politi
scheme, now y before parliament, after t the Friends
of the Earth ecology group started giving a wide-
ly. publicized “Green Con” award for products
that carry false or grossly. chaggeraicd claims
about their environmental frien

Cees aiid ey tan erase of cowiake
goods are’ increasingly seen as just another

. advertising hype in Britain.

‘A ‘recent survey. found that seven out of 10
British consumers think companies only use the

in 64
-but over half of these fall into only” four product

issue as an excuse to higher
prices, while six in: 10 are confused as to the

sion gas cunee Stripping agents bt waste
water treatment a and recycled Paper)...
“Japan d the same ph ion of a

claims being made. «
°*Most official labeling schemes have a precise
set of criteria for cach product category and take

small ‘group | of products a accounting for more”

than half the labels, indicating that many: indus-
tries largely ignore the label.
°““The German experience shows that eco-

oe labeling does not Bimainate the need, for: other,

» talists -when it: switcl
from a competition that endorsed only. ‘the best

a “cradle h ~— 1 aspect ‘of
a product’ gif cycle’ from production through

: disposal i is corisidered when awarding a label!

eee Oe ee edie cite nee
ts origi

% movement in,

; regard 'to
sand disposal,” said Franz 1 Joseph Fraundorfer, of
Asthur D: Little management consultant

en C sumer’

said a rising gre

1990s should ‘spur industry
involvement in; ‘ec0-labeling schemes for com:
petitive reasons. Their

d in each Category toa general set of

‘st standards which many products could meet.

ined that

1 groups he
would have fostered inno- ‘

ctitive approach
and provided: comparative information.
Ei icials said industry lobbyists! had
dthe

was
ed by.anationwide Canadian survey whi
20 percent, of thot polled ‘said

i ‘what you'd like to See more of, :
| Please answer the following questions:
oO What can you do for fun in or around Castlegar?

4-2. What would you like to see more available here?
(eg. dances, youth activities)

Other comments:

q All responses will be entered ina random raw

A prizes will be presented:
e Dinner for two at Gabriel's.

“Castlegar Community’ Services” é
1007 - 2nd ‘St, Castlegar, B.C. VIN 1Y4

only | to relicve the
fic in.the summer monthg.,The,
only obstacle in the way. of ‘this
ferry relicying the Robson, Ferry.
of its present duties so. it ‘could
resume being the Castlegar-Rob-
son ferry was the stubborn Social
Credit government \f the'day.'

\ But the Socredsiare now gone
like last week's, mushrooms, so
what's thie’ problem? Mike Har-
coust was préparéd back in 1988
*to restore the Robson Ferry. Ed

plant in his eléction platform, and
hasn‘t altered his stand, Th
problem lies with all the:
willing to be herded daily '

don’t voiceia p

sheep, séek
for the Robs
the Regional

e 1991 GNC S15 Jimmy 4x4 |

fully loaded including air conditioning
and all power options

¢ 1990 GMC Extended Cab 4x4
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e 1990 Chev Scottsdale 4x4 _

Kootenay. Ask the to iol
Ministry of Tabata in
Hiehweya to return the Robso:

Or eighbour’ S epnse plate...
get used to seadng your. valuable ‘Yours truly, i
ig

for the next few years re

ac

George Stein

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