Wednesday, June 8, 1994 The Castlegar Sun

Letters to the Editor |
You're going to do what?

they'll wall between the railway
tracks on the main ‘bridge. This can be
P but such hand wringing won't stop
this from happening and won't make it any

EDNESDAY.

‘be costly

low the same rules as the mayors

On a more personal note, it may interest
you to know that one of our area's remaining
pi i 90-y 1d W.T. (Bill)
‘Waldie of Robson, walks this bridge—sum-

The following letter is a copy of one sent to
the District Highways Manager, Ki y
Boundary Highways District, regarding the

no money, used your own

by Sterting oP Ud
‘st 465 Cohunbia Ave. Castiegar, B.C. VIN 1G8. The Castlegar Sun
and ot ‘Service.

“ ac,
Newspapers Assocation, and the 8.C. Press Council. Established
28, 1980. 10420. ~

the reg

were changed quickly; and, we
weren't adequately informed, are
the two ones.

Unfortunately for Profili, his
excuses hold about as much water
as a spaghetti-strainer at the
Colander restaurant.

money only, lost the election or
withdraw, candidates still

of Kamloops or Victoria.

I don’t buy the argument that
paperwork and rules are chasing
away potential municipal leaders.
If people are genuinely motivated
to run for office, they should have

proposed removal of the Castlegar CPR

Bridge footpath.

I am writing to protest the removal of this

My main ‘concern is one of safety. The CPR

iP ministry likely
by the placing into service soon of the new
Robson

to Castlegar via the ferry, I was looking for-
ward to doing the same utilizing the two
bridges and know that many, many others

mer and winter—cvery Tuesday night to
attend meetings of the Castlegar Kiwanis
Club, of which he has been a charter member
for 47 years. I urge your reconsideration of the

decision to remove this footpath.

Dressing well doesn't need to be costly. Let our knowledgeable
staff help you with your clothing needs.
1100-3rd St., Castlegar * 366-0212
Monday - Friday * 9-4 p.m. Saturday * 10-4 p.m.

bridge will continue to be used by pedestri-

<7

would begin to do the same.

editorial comment

This land
is my land

It’s my land and I'll do what I want with it!
If you're a land , who the gi is leg-
islating to death, you will most certainly appreciate

us to claim land and declare it as our own. People
have been known to shoot others over land dis-

dilemma

Does the government have a right to tell you what
you can or can’t do with your land? If you want to
‘ear cut it, build a gravel pit on it, or just do nothing
‘with it, is that your undeniable right? If you're the
landowner you might just say yes.

But if you're the neighbor who has to put up
with fouled water supplies, noise, dust and the ulti-
mate view of raped land, your opinion might be a

@ 2

lot different.
So...there should be some sort of legislation to

mean the go
you are allowed to do with land for

worked hard to earn. And besides that; ance we
allow the g' to start legislating such issues
are we not then inviting them to cross over the line
and become our mother? Or even worse yet, become
Big Brother?

The answer isn’t pat. There is no one answer.
Where do your rights stop and the right of the gov-

« ohh
en

But if we don’t give them a modicum of power
-will we then be allowing landowners to write their
own laws? We ail know from history how that works

honesty, and a lot of work.

It would be great if we all lived by the Golden
Rule “Do unto others as you would have them to do
unto you”.

But unfortunately there are those who live by their
wn Gdiden Rule “Do onto others before they have
a chance to do unto you.”

Somethixig to think about.

ERRORS:
‘The advertive: agrees that the publisher shall not be lable for
damages arising out of errors in any advertisement beyond the
space actualy ccoupied by tthe
in which the error occurred, whether such error is due

paid by June 30. All together,
approximately 130 candidates from
across the province failed to file.
‘Trail Mayor Sandy Santori has
been fined, but has admitted pub-
licly that he will pay up by the

Disclosure forms are needed—
after all, they're completed for pub-

in
and candidates had‘ until March , lic tecord. They confirm or deny

potential conflict-of-interest and
they keep politicians honest
their election

term. Ver-

deadline. In 4
Mayor Bill Profili and three of his

politics they have to clean up the

Maybe Profili believes people
running for office in smaller com-
munities are immune to backdoor
politics, and maybe he thinks that
if you're the mayor of a small city

utes out of the day to strike a line
through a disclosure form, signing
your name at the bottom and hand-
ing it in to your municipal clerk
must be a gruelling experience—it's
a small exercise in the public's
interest that could have saved Pro-
fili, his councillors, and other delin-
quents like them each $500.

But rather than admit his mis-
take, graciously pay the fine and
go on with running his fine city,
Profili and his councillors are
refusing to pay. Their obstinacies
will affect Rossland taxpayers
directly, since it will be taxpayers
who pick up the cost of holding a
new election.

Ignorance isn’t always bliss. It
can catch up with you. And when
it does, it’s a poor, and in this case,
expensive excuse.

or town, you shouldn't have to fol-

Don’t ‘just say no’, say ‘yes’

Due to the sensitive nature of
this column, and the writer's

i within the communi-
ty, The Castlegar Sun has made
an exception and won't be pub-
lishing the writer's name or pho-
tograph.

For the last few years we have
been inundated with a constant

in the fast lane (or contemplating
it)?

I would like to address this
message to them even if only one
person reads and benefits from
this column. Think of it instead

as “Just say ‘yes””. Yes to being
a productive contributing person:
Yes to having a health and long
life.

Contrary to any of the images
projected by music videos.or
movies, the fast lane is fullof
danger. It is not exciting to Know
that the person across the table
has a gun stuck down his pants or
that the man next to you is a
white slave trader. Yes, kids—
that is a for real thifig and it is
still a thriving black market

industry.
How about this for a thrill—

ing, or caring, who the person is
next to you. Isn't that a memory
you want to share in later life
with your children? I think not.

Tn the fast lane you get phone
calls telling you that someone

“you deeply care for is dead. That
happens

more than once. If you

really want to get disillusioned

you'll have the opportuni-

ty tor party with one of your
favorite musicians.

It’s sure fun to see him passed
out in his own vomit and certain-
ly makes you listen to the cas-
sette with a different mental
image of him.

These stories could go on, but
they're not pretty, and certainly

live with the memory of saying
“yes” for the rest of your life.

Twenty years later, it is nei-
ther cool nor hip to know that in
only a few moments of thought I
can remember how it felt to
have the needles going into my
arm and the warm rush envelop-
ing my body. It makes me very
uncomfortable.

Who am I? Just someone's
middle-aged parent who hap-
pens to have walked the walk.
I’m fortunate that I had the

not worth repeating:

I looked in the mirror one day
and made a conscious decision
to walk down a different road
Saying no in the first place
would have been a lot easier
because sometimes you have to

h of ch to remove
myself from the danger zone and
never return. Most don't.

Just say no is more than repeti-
tious kid stuff.

It’s a life-altering decision and
only one person can make that

It’s a regional

Dear Editor:
Speaking as a health care
worker who lives in Castl

j

of the very many specialists
who are based in the Trail
Regional

and works at the Trail Regional
Hospital, I must say that I
found the “booster message” re
the Castlegar Hospital in your
paper's May 25 editorial very
disturbing,

This is certainly not the first
time your paper has p d

g' pital,a total of

three social workers are cur-
rently employed there to per-
form a multitude of services for
the nts.
We do everything from
arranging transfers and care for
people going to Vancouver for
kidne: or

editorials and articles with a
similar bias and I feel the under-

y P
for cancer—to counselling

patients and their families—or

lying of
with other hospitals in the
ging to the

‘ing to arrange follow-up
support for people about to be

region is very
long-term interests of health
care in the West Kootenay.

You are helping to create
foster attitudes of smugness and
superiority in your Castlegar
readers that then feed into and,
help to build up the tensions
that already sadly exist between
the cities and hospitals in this
region.
In effect you are doing exact-
ly what you accused Trail of
not too long ago.

You fail to recognize and
acknowledge in a sincere way
that we are indeed related to
and dependent on each other
within the region and no one

Trial or Nelson and vice-versa.

We are one region in fact and

need to learn to think that way.
You also fail to recognize

compare
attempted to do in the editorial.
The situation is certainly
much more complex than you
have indicated when it comes to
“balancing budgets” while still
providing quality care.
For example, partly because

One of us also per-
forms a variety of services for
people in the psychiatric unit at
the hospital.

Many, many people from

‘Castlegar who have beeg..

referted to the Trail ital for |
care have been assisted by us at
one time or another. On the
other hand, the Castlegar Hos-
pital has, because of the partic-
ular level of service it offers,
chosen not to have a social
worker on staff.

What is important here is
the fact that social worker ser-
vices are not “billable” to the
Ministry of Health. They do
not bring in any money to the
hospital.

Therefore, the service is an
added direct cost to the Trail
Regional Hospital. But because
the hospital administration
knows that social workers add
to the quality of care for its

patients, it is doing all possible
to maintain service despite the
recent budget cuts.

I would also like to add that
we are going through a very
difficult time in this province
with regard to health care
restructuring, I personally ques-
tion whether spending less
money and “being more effi-
cient” will necessarily ensure
better quality care.

The corporate model that is
being introduced to hospitals
might work at Celgar or Comin-
co, but doesn’t seem to me to be
very appropriate in creating a
healthy climate for sick people
and their caregivers.

My observation is that as more

more is being expected of
r and fewer health care

simply impossible to deliver

ity health care within the lev-

els of funding and available staff.
In conclusion, I ask you to ©

concentrate on the long-term

g

is up to date.

the Yellow Pages every day.
So

The Yellow Pages

section of
the Trail/Castiegar & Area Directory
is closing soon.

If you've expanded your business, taken on new
product lines or made other i

m improvement
time to make sure your BC TEL Yellow Pages advertising

Consider the facts. We are found in 99% of
B.C. homes and 860,000 British Columbians turn to

double check that all your businesses are
included so your customers can find you easily.
Remember, time is running out. Call Dominion
Directory Company toll-free at 1-800-268-6680.

“a

its, now's the

f

question with a regional solution

interests of quality health care in
the West Kootenay and stop
making what is already a tense,
difficult and conflictive situation
worse.

Bud Godderjs
Castlegar

‘workers, many are finding it is fe
L

ie HOME GOODS

HG

Selkirk College Foundation/Sunshine Radio
Golf Classic

. Sunday, June 26, 1994

~

Birchbank Golf Club
Trail, B.C.

tiki

Entry Fee: $90/person ($50 tax receipt)

includes bag tag, towel, team photo and the following:

7:30 a.m.
8:00 a.m.
9:00 a.m.
2:00 p.m.

AN

Cars from Ford and

Entry forms are available from your local
Pro Shop, or call Fae Lee at the
Selkirk College Foundation, 365-1240.

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a1) spose

re Warehouse

Tel: 693-2227 +

Located Halfway Between

Trail & Castlegar

Floor Covering Centre
‘Genelle

Fax: 693-2388
Open 9:30 am - 5:30 pm

Tuesday through Saturday

ution