ESTADO AUG. 7. 1947 sARAABER OF THE 8.C. PRERS COUNCR TWICE WEEKLY MAY 4. 1980 1G THe MK WEEK LV CAMPO, — PUBLISHER AUG. 7, 1947-408, 15, 1979 + 12, BAUS. 274980 Give up the game Steve Fonyo's problem is that he doesn't know when to quit. It's characteristic of many who achieve greatness and it served him w: on his Journey For Lives run across Canada. His stubborn perseverance took him through the Maritimes, Quebec and Ontario when he was largely ignored by the Canadian public and the media. Others would have given up. 1t also carried him through a freezing Prairie winter that would have forced others to turn aside. And it was there when he was threatened mid-run with another bout of cancer. Millions of Canadians were touched by his heroic efforts enough 86 to donate $11 million to cancer research. Now, Mr. Fonyo is showing another side of that stubborness in his decision to retain a Toronto businessman, Morris Friesner, os his agent and manager. The man — perhaps unknown to Mr. Fonyo — has been convicted of fraud arson and possession of stolen . and has been linked to organized crime. if Mr. Fonyo'’s business arrangement with this man was ‘private, it wouldn't be ybody's Mr. Fonyo apparently doesn't realize that his ability to raise funds lies in large part on his good name. As he becomes associated with people like his new manager, that name loses some of its lustre. The public — who after all is putting up all the money — begins confidence in Mr. Fonyo. more troublesome than the relationship with Mr. Friesner is Mr. Fonyo's apparent attempt to keep his name in front of the public with another cross-country run — this time through Scotland and England. Like an aging athlete who can't give up the game, Mr. Fonyo doesn't seem to be able to put his Journey For Lives behind him and proceed with his life. He has to try to keep the Journey alive. And in doing so, like an aging athlete he simply tarnishes his earlier feats. It's time for Mr. Fonyo to give up the game and get on with his life. Fast is blackmail Liberal Senator Jacques Hebert's hunger strike in support of the K business but theirs. But the arrangement is much more public. Mr. Friesner handles the media and legal contracts for speaking engagements and agreements with charities. For that he receives 30 per cent of the fee Mr. Fonyo receives for speaking engagements. Already one .charity — Toronto Rotary Club — expressed concern about rel and is co id g @ $30,000 di That is likely only the beginning. the has the ing Please address all Letters to the Editor to: The w News, P.O. Box’ 3007, Castlegar, B.C. VIN 3H4, or liver them to our office at: 197 Columbia Avenue, Castle gor, B.C. Letters must be signed ond include the writer's full name and address. Only in very ex cases will letters be published without the writer's name. Nevertheless. the name and address of the writer must be disclosed to the editor The Castlegar News reserves the right to edit letters for brevity, clarity, legality and grommar prog! is another case of using an end to justify the means. The senator says he will continue fasting until the federal youth volunteer program is reinstated. It’s basically the same approach used by the two Sons of Freedom women in Matsqui prison on arson convictions. The Irish Republican Army's Bobby Sands tried a hunger strike as a way to achieve his demands and eventually died in a Belfast prison. That quickly put a stop to other IRA hunger strikes. It's unlikely Senator Hebert would agree with either the Sons of Freedom or the IRA hunger strikes, so why would he carry out his own? He could have great an impact by plunking himself down in the House of Commons and saying he would fast for a week to protest the end of the Katimavik program. The protest would have brought to light the plight of the program and wouldn't have created a situation where Senator Hebert is literally trying to blackmail the federal government. made just as In The House HEBERT S HUNCEK NS ITEM: SENATOt ARTS A STRIKE ... NO ANCHOVIES. AND USE THE SIDE Letters to the Editor the Legion Hall on March 21 with Mr, J.A. Charters in the chair and 16 mem- was appointed and a grant voted to assist in meeting costs of the trip. . 6° 6 Adam Berg and Griffith, contractors, started work on the airport this ing, grading and gravelling of the field. . 8 «@ Miss M. Musselman who is teaching in Cranbrook, spent a few days at the home of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Musselman. . 28 *@ Last Thursday evening Miss Leone Letcher, 18-year-old Trail high sehool student from Warfield, was chosen to be queen of Kinnaird’s Rose Ball. Six contestants took part in the beauty contest, conducted on the stage of the Strand Theatre in Trail. 25 YEARS AGO From the March 29, 1961 D.W. Brooks, resident manager of Celgar’s sawmill division, was re-elec- ted a director of the Interior Lumber Manufacturers Association at the group's annual meeting in Penticton. 8 @ Behind 3-1 at the halfway mark in the game, Castle Motors came on strong to defeat Bob's 4-3 to tie up their best of five series at two games each Poverty isn't divine Editor, Castlegar News: The problem of poverty is all too unholy to be given divine sanction as Pastor Soltys has done in a recent letter to the editor (“Poverty here to stay,” March 23, 1986). “There is no way poverty can be eliminated from the earth due to the fact of man's deprived sinful nature,” he reasons, because “Jesus Himself said: “You will always have the poor with you.’ ” Few would dispute the existence of a dark side to human nature, but only a fool would nod agreement when Mr. Soltys suggests to the reader that it is the “deprived sinful nature” of the poor that leads to poverty. Besides throwing unnecessarily a spirit of pessimism onto an unhappy condition of the world, the pastor uses suspect logic to make his point. Proposing that prosperity is a “result of one’s relationship with God,” he quite deliberately and erroneously concludes that the poor are responsible for their own poverty. This bit of church dogma smacks of a conservative premise that the victim is to blame. A similar principle of assumed perversity operates in the legal system, where victims of crime Excerpts from Hansard, the official record of the House of Commons debates. March 20, 1986 Mr. (John) Redriguez (Nickel Belt): Mr. Speaker, it is with some sadness that I listened to the Minister of National Health and Welfare (Mr. Epp). I thought that there would be a new era and a new atmosphere in this place as a result of our approval of the reform and new rules introduced by the committee chaired by the Hon. Member for St. John's East (Mr. McGrath). One of the changes is that Opposition Day motions such as this one could be voted on freely, without involving confidence in the govern ment. It was in that spirit that I brought this motion forward . Mr. [Charles] Mayer Portage Marquette): What a windbag. Mr. : Why don't you go back to sleep? Why don't you get up and make a speech? Mr. Mayer: Why don't you open your eyes and stop trying to suck and blow at the same time? Mr. (Ray) Skelly (Comox-Powell River): When did you wake up? wee e Mr. Skelly (Comox-Powell River): Mr. Speaker, my question is directed to the Minister of the Environment. American acid rain has poisoned many of the water systems in eastern Canada. The special envoys’ report indicates that 90,000 jobs are at risk in the Atlantic fishery. Will the minister tell this House who is going to pay for the loss of those 90,000 jobs? Is the Canadian taxpayer again going to pay for American poisoning of our water systems? . . . Will he now tell the House who the hell is going to pay for the loss of those jobs? Some Hon. Members: Order! Mr. Speaker: Order, please. Mr. (Ray) Hmatyshyn (Saska‘ West): That shows the lack of a voca- Mr. Skelly: May I withdraw that? Mr. Speaker: The Hon. Member wishes to withdraw the last Mr. Skelly: I wish to withdraw that and ask who in heaven is going to pay for those 90,000 jobs? Hon. Tom McMillan (Minister of the Environment): Mr. Speaker, this is as probably as close as the Hon. Member will get to that place. Mr. (John) Turner (Vancouver Quad- ra): Which one? Mr. Hnatyshyn: He is with the NDP; that is purgatory. Mr. Me! : The Hon. Member asks me who is going to pay. I will tell him who is going to pay. To begin with, the federal government is going to pay $300 million over the next four years. The seven provinces concerned are participating in the great national acid rain effort, which was put together as a result of initiatives of this government. The total price will be $2 billion, of which industry will be required to pay about 50 per cent. are Ives put on trial on suspicion of causing the misfortunes that befall them: elderly mugging victims are thus suspected of bringing it upon them- selves, helpless women of inviting rape. Now, how é& that for Christian com passion? ¥ There are $9me individuals who opt for poverty because they place more worth on spiritual values than on material possessions. But these cases in the higher income brackets. Poverty is a human and not divine creation. It is absurd to suggest otherwise. bean think of two reasons for laying the blame of poverty on God. For one, it is the old Protestant belief that God rewards his virtuous children with wealth, so that it gives you a nice feeling of smug superiority to consider yourself one of the chosen ones if you happen to be well off. Secondly, it lets you enjoy the comfortable living with no moral discomfort, seeing that the poor don’t deserve any better on account of their wickedness. God's judgment determined their poverty in advance on the basis of their predeter- mined future wickedness. If it doesn’t seem to make sense it is because it really doesn't. God's plan, according to Pastor Soltys, involves turning to God for help. Here is how this helpful, helping deity wants to be approached: “If my people . . . shall humble themselves and pray, and seek my face . . . then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sins, and will heal their land.” By coincidence I heard the same biblical instruction early last week (possibly at the same time that Mr. Soltys was writing his letter) at a community prayer meeting held in Trail for Cominco and the government in their negotiations. A deacon quoted the same passage, insisting that God wants us to humble ourselves and seek his face if he is to save Cominco and Trail. I may be forgiven if I disagree with the need for false humility before an abstract entity that never shows his face and has demands that sound much like the forbidden sins of “pride, greed, ” As. far as I'm con- of ethical poverty are rare. For the masses, poverty is not a matter of choice. Whenever there is no alternative there is no virtue in being poor. There is no joy in it, either; only oppression and misery. Because views like Mr. Soltys’s are not guided by logic or common sense, such disregard for both makes it possible for the good pastor to reverse himself and write confidently about a “plan to eliminate poverty” contained “with specific guidelines” in the Bible, after first stating and restating his leading idea that poverty is inevitable and can never disappear. This “God's plan” for the poor consists in part of “eliminating pride, greed, and selfish ness from their lives.” Regardless of evangelical wisdom which replaces critical thought with uncritical acceptance of dogma, the documented reality is that “pride, greed, and selfishness” of the rich are the reasons behind the poor people's poverty. The way society works, if the shared these traits of character with the rich, they too would prosper and enjoy God's blessings that those of Mr. Soltys’s would have Him bestow only on the deserving ones and cerned, the thing called God by the theologians is an invisible, indivisible divinity in the human soul and we are all part of it. But there are some who find it to their advantage to call it the Almighty God so that they could have a share in his power and glory. The God of Mr. Soltys's description is a cruel, vengeful god that he presents to us to impose a stern inflex- ible morality based on fear. It is a sel- fish pagan god exacting tribute from his creation for small favors. He insists on humility and abasement and expects personal worship as a condition of his favor. When he gives, he gives conditionally Perhaps the tradition of corporate paternalism and capitalistic inequality has perverted religion to come up with this picture of God as unresponsive corporate boss. More likely, however, it was hierarchical religion that served as the basis of the system of social inequality. Even though the theologian prom oters can offer no solid facts on God's i is certain that Mr. Soltys's Hiding behind church dogma, pastor fails into the same trap when he fails to recognize that poverty is a social problem and not a religious matter. ~ It is a-sharp departure from the teachings of the New T moreover, to take this particular position. It is, furthermore, a misuse of authority when a religious man uses the tricks of his trade to give holy sanction to social injustice. By selec- tively quoting chapter and verse, he conveniently ignores the truly Chris- tian principle of being your brother's keeper If poverty is a person's own private problem — and no one is his brother's keper — it becomes acceptable for an employer to exploit his workers and fire them at will. There is then no moral obligation for neighbors and friends to shoulder each other's bur- dens. Result: Exploitation, poverty. Final result: Alienation. Led by an interpretation of the Bible Mr. Soltys's style, people develop a curious condition of consciousness: Blind, unthinking worship of the Chris- tian God and an unChristian, unfeeling inhumanity to fellow humans. If Chris- tian dogma replaces personal consci ence and turns compassion into in- humanity, what good is it, anyway? I'd rather remain an agnostic. Barbara Tandory Castlegar Thanks for the memories Editor, Castlegar News: Thank you so much for thinking of me and printing me in your Remember When? column. It makes me feel so proud that my city remembers the small contribution that I made for the community. There was a great deal of training and dedication involved in my skating and I am so pleased to be remembered. I did not actually find the article myself, but it was sent to me by my parents. I have, since the event, completed my skating and also com- pleted two years at UBC. I am now living in Montreal working for a large warehousing firm, learning the French Society last Thursday night for her years of service which started when a hospital for the district was just in the talking stage. Continued disruption in rail service will make it necessary to curtail local pany Ltd. A spokesman for the company said Nick Oglow and Jack Scott were each elected to another three-year term on the hospital board at the District ported another year of operation in the black with revenue at $699,733.27 and expenses of $683,514.72. 5 YEARS AGO From the March 29, 1961 News Preparation of a plan for the Slocan The plan, which will be a regional land use plan, an economic develop- ment plan and a Crown land use plan, will guide future development of Crown land and private land in the valley. s 8 6 Sandman Inn Ltd.'s i $11.6 million last wet bee Vancouver hotel will not affect the hotel chain's plan to build in Castlegar. The hotel chain’ still hopes to “get around” to Castlegar sometime this year, probably towards the end of the language as well as much I was so proud to represent Castle- gar (and would never have competed for another club) in both the B.C. sec tions and Western Divisionals and am so grateful for being remembered. Lynda Johnstone Cote-des-Neiges Quebec More letters on AS MORE LETTERS | Never argue with a fool Editor, News: . Castlegar It is great to be back in Castlegar, in the spring time; to be alive and to greet couldn't resist the temptation to write and comment and reject the belief that “poverty is always with us.” It is said that one should never argue with a fool because someone listening would not be able to tell which is which. But I accept the risk, and challenge the writer's philosophy. George Bernard Shaw once said that Brisco Report By Kootenay West MP Bob Brisco On Sept. 18, 1984, just one day after the new government was sworn in, Prime Minister Mulroney announced to Canadians that there would be a review of government For one, a vast array of govern- ment programs are seen to be sub- sidizing activity, rather than re- sults. Past governments shown little reluctance in using sub- sidies as a blanket solution to many of the problems of society. That kind of action has resulted in snowballing government spending, and ever inereasing dependency on the gov- ernment. Another problem identified by the power of the status quo. While there may be general agreement that the status quo is undesirable, . reaching any kind of a consensus da reform often proves to be extremely difficult. Even when a program is Upset, fustrated over jobs issue News: For $100,000: 183598; For $50,000: 214358; For $10,000: 049878. is often next to impossible. In too many cases, it appears the tendency has been to do nothing. The recommendations of the indi- vidual study teams have been turned over to the various standing committees of the House of Com- mons, to be closely examined by members of all parties. They will, in turn, provide advice to the govern- ment on the eventual adoption or of the one I believe we have already begun to address, is in personnel, where “effort” is rewarded, rather than “success.” In his February budget speech, Finance Minister Michael Wilson stated, “to encourage ex- dati The work of the Task Force on Program Review was conducted in a * climate of openness and public dia- logue, and that openness will con- tinue as the recommendations make their way through the standing committees. As the deputy prime minister said in his speech to the House, “we have opened the win- Bonus for $6 07 or 32; for $10 129 or 144; for $100 4736 or 2615; for $1,000 45096 or 45874. For $10,000 063185 or 374341. Winning numbers drawn in the Lotto West lottery Wed- nesday night: The jackpot of $407,544.30 was won by one winner. The eight numbers drawn were: 2, 8, 14, 21, 25, 27, 49 and 53. The bonus number was 7. One winner of the five correct plus bonus number category wins $8,410.60. 81 winners of the five correct category win $415.30 each. In the event of a discrep- & i f t i F it ARINE 3°11 tAsos corres _ 9 Bee SHE in ‘ A : (ti | i satk Tuesday, April 1 7:30 p.m. Cominco Gym, Trail Premiere Showing of Kootenay Savings Credit Union's Film ‘Where You Belong” its Members, Its Staff, its Branches, Its Services Door Prizes and Refreshments and Demonstrations on © FINANCIAL PLANNING « renewal given by the Canada in September of 1984. The report of the Nielsen Task Force represents a basis, an important first step in improving the manage- ment of government, and providing better service to the public. oe Congratulations to the EASTER COLORING CONTEST PRIZE WINNERS Winners of the Castlegar News Coloring Contest are pictured above left to r Ist Prize $10 — Prize $5 — Risha Gorkoff. Category B: 8-10 yrs. 1st Prize $10 — Kevin Markin; 2nd Prize $5 — Jeannie Switzer it. Cai A: 4-7 yrs. je Bri ; 2nd ial Thanks to the following businesses who helped sponsor : Chang’ , La Maison, Castlegar Mohowk, Heart campaign a success By CasNews Staff The Castlegar unit of the B.C. Heart Foundation had a successful campaign in Feb- ruary, surpassing its goal by some $4,000. Campaign chairman Mike Kurnoff said the local cam- paign raised about $10,500 through canvassing, a curla- thon and donation cans placed in local businesses. Kurnoff said the heart fu curlathon held March 1 at the Castlegar Curling Club, raised $2,082. Organizers hope to make this an annual event in Castlegar. In addition, the heart fund had 63 canvassers in Castle. gar and district. Kurnoff noted that the cadets, as well as a sorority group helped * 10% Discount to senior citizens * ICBC Cloims 278 Columbia Ave., Castleger 365-2888 MOUNTAIN (47 & Sports WE’RE BACK AND N EVER Wilson A2601 Ladies and Junior Glove. Reg. $54.95. Save $15. Other gloves in stock by Wil- son, SSK & Rawlings. 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