Dave McCullough ‘Council Safurday, Janua' OurWiEWS Adrian RAESIDE Opening the doors “Nastlegar city council is putting the word out: show up or shut up. With all the flair of a homemade birthday card, city council has put out an invitation to the public to show up at its Jan. 7 session. The invitation is a sincere gesture | on the part of our city council, which has no doubt made a fair number of new year’s resolutions. Topping the list of city wishes for 1992 is to develop open lines of communication with its citizenry. After all, can the city afford another embarrassment like it experienced with the ill-fated road referendum? It’s easy for citizens to be critical of their elected representatives, be they federal, provincial or municipal. In our winner-take-all political world, there is the underlying perception that politicians could give a damn about the will of the people. Brian Mulroney’s Conservatives come to mind. But this is not the case in Castlegar. While it’s:true there are problems that must be addressed, they’re hardly as mammoth as the GST, the Meech Lake Accord or cutbacks in transfer payments. City council is taking a bold baby- step forward by opening its already- opened doors to the public on Jan. 7. is seeking an honest exchange with the public, complete with fiery words. Let’s hope the people who sit. back and criticize take this opportunity to stand up and talk. NDP KEEP EVERY ‘canyt\N ConeBary 8° eta u aac It’s the first column of CAMPAIGN PRO owt | add MISE t CR TEACHER F116 1992 SUPERMARKET TABLOID PREDICTIONS... ASN Ke QA “HY g AWG G Z Ba: = sma the new year and that can only mean one thing: time to break out the crystal ball for a sneak preview of 1992. Predicting events for the coming 12 months is a the hell am I?” Although Charbonneau will stand by his decision that Robson can’t have its ferry, being a tough but fair-minded socialist, he newspaper practice steeped in tradition and shared by all the great papers. Heck, you need look no further than the local supermarket checkout stand to see what I mean. So, in a bid to put this paper right up there with out!) will decide to take the ferry off its Upper Arrow Lake run and move it to the Tswwassen-Swartz Bay route, making it the longest cable ferry in the world. “It’s got the makings of a Comments from the Crossroads Ron NORMAN the likes of the National Enquirer and the Police Gazette, I submit the following prophecies. (Jeanne Dixon eat your heart real tourist attraction,” Charbonneau will be quoted as saying. ' Feeling bad about. the ferry, Charbonneau will make up for it by announcing his government is extending - 1, Transport Minister Art Charbonneau will reconsider the Robson Ferry issue. But before making a decision, Charbonneau will embark on a tour of all the ridings to determine highways priorities, after which he will ask the crucial question... “Where ALRT to Robson instead of Richmond. “They both start with ‘R’”, is how Charbonneau will justify the decision. 2. The Robson-Raspberry Ferry Users Ad Hoc Committee will shift its sights to please see NORMAN page 7 Circulation Manager Burt C: b Street( TALK Publisher Emeritus L.V. Campbell Aug. 7, 1947- Feb. 15, 1973 Carolyn Dowell Castlegar “It shouldn’t be taken down. There’s a lot of history there.” “No, it’s getting too old. It’s just an eyesore.” _Question: Should Kinnaird Hall be declared a heritage site? Robert Nicholson Castlegar “Not a heritage site, it’s not old enough. But it should be fixed up.” Nt Ernie Berger Jason Stupnikoff Castlegar Blueberry “No, there’s no architectural significance to the building.” comssinnenestnenecseananeconunesasaaamamaassiiini y 4, 1992 5 Other VIEWS!) Please address all letters to: Letters to the Editor Castlegar News P.O. Box 3007 Castlegar, B.C. V1N 3H4 or deliver them to +97 Columbia Ave. Letters should be typewritten, double-spaced and not longer than 300 words. Letters MUST be signed and include the writer's first and last names, address and a telephone number at which the writer can be reached between 9 a.m. andS p.m. The writer's name and city or town of residence only will be published. Only in exceptional cases will letters be published anonymously. Even in those cases, the name, address and phone number of the writer MUST be disclosed to the editor. - The News reserves the right to edit letters for brevity, clarity, legality, grammar and taste. Letters tobh\HE EDITOR What’s the score? Ihave subscribed to your paper for the past 11 years and have enjoyed its format and in- sightful articles. ; . ‘However, since The News has changed over to a tabloid paper, I was shocked to find you have omitted all of the professional sport scores. Your entire sports section consists of lo- cal sports stories. I don’t know how other peo- ple feel, but I want to know how the Canucks, the Lions and the Blue Jays are doing in the standings. Also there is no mention in your paper of na- tional or international news. Surely you could devote a small section in your paper to urgent and important news on the international front that effects us all to some extent. You seem to want to keep us isolated from the rest of the world. Both Trail and Nelson papers are not so lo- cally oriented and I think if Castlegar is to maintain its place as the hub of the West Koote- nay your paper should reflect amore expanded form. #: ; Terry. Lakevold , Castlegar Ed note: The Castlegar News is commit- ted to putting the community first. The reason sports scores and international news is no longer run in The News is because we no longer subscribe a wire service — un- Saying Grace wou like Nelson and Trail. Instead, we have put the money towards hiring one extra reporter to concentrate our coverage on Castlegar and area. _ Weare committed to providing our readers with the best local news and sports coverage and it’s a challenge we do not take lightly. Charbonneau must listen The Globe and Mail of Dec. 27 carries a short item about some remarks made by Peter Jan- son, Canada president of Asea Brown, Boveri, the manufacturer of high quality electrical equipment. In giving his thoughts on the economic im- portance of a country’s infrastructure, Janson quotes the economist David Anschauer who - calculates that “$1 spent on infrastructure adds as much to U.S. workers’ productivity as $4 of private investment. Improving the in- frastructure also increases the return to pri- vate capital and thus stimulates business in- _vestment, giving an added boost to economic growth. Janson goes on to give his own opinion that because of the great importance of transporta- tion and communications in Canada return to investment in infrastructure here should be even higher, and points out that in the long run it will pay for itself as increased earnings from One of the top jobs the B.C. gov- ‘ part in shaping our communities — higher productivity will generate higher tax revenues. ; When Janson’s thoughts on infrastructure reach me not much is accomplished: he is preaching to the converted. I already know these things, just as Sir John A. Macdonald knewthem when he worked so hard to push his beloved railway across the land. Somehow Janson must be helped to reach those who allow our streets to deteriorate to the point of needing extensive and immediate re- pairs; to talk sense into those who persist in de- priving us of a ferry that has been part of our way of life for 70 years, that has playedalarge . d by do- ing so have not saved money but have shifted the expense of operating the ferry from the highways budget directly to the people of Rob- son and of Castlegar and burdened us with mil- lions of dollars in extra costs of travelling back and forth across the river; to show the error of their ways to those who are now stripping out the arteries and veins of our heavy transporta- tion system, the railways that our grandfathers built for us. ; : Our Minister of Transport, Art Charbon- neau, has promised to visit us early in the new year. : Perhaps we may be able to help him to un- derstand. Fred G. Marsh Castlegar Id be the best for our province her abilities are legend. nomics. During her stint as ernment has to offer becomes va- © cant this year, and I’ve got just the person to replace the incumbent. Garde Gardom, agent general at British Columbia House in London, will soon pack his bags and come home. His five-year _gstint-is_over, and Premier Har- | court has, no doubt, been casting about for a suitable successor. One of the names bandied about has been that of Mark Rose, retired Social Democrat, excellent orator and very affable chap, in- deed, but regardless of how much I like him, he would be the wrong appointment. Sorry Mark, but what we need in London is someone with formidable skills as a sales person, someone who can put British Columbia on the map of the Euro- pean Community and keep it Victoria there. Someone like — Grace Mc- Carthy. Ah, but Grace McCarthy is a super-Socred, you say. What would she be doing with an NDP appointment? Serve British Columbia’s interests to the best of her ability, that’s what she would do. And make no mistake about it, And by the way, it isn’t the first time a premier would appoint someone with opposite political leanings to the London job. When Bill Bennett became premier, af- ter whipping the pants off the NDP in 1975, he appointed former NDP leader Bob Strachan as ral in London. Europe will not come knocking low and undignt on our doors. We'll have to pene- trate their defenses and try to make ourselves indispensable. That takes salesmanship, political instinct, and energy. Grace Mc- Carthy qualifies on all three counts. - ©.K., so I like Grace. What's wrong with that. The point is that she would be perfect for the Lon- don: job. She knows British Columbia like few others. She knows the politics and the eco- . tics, tourism minister, she put all pre- decessors and successors to shame. She also has an IOU or two Premier Harcourt might consider paying. When Bob Williams, long- time NDP MLA, retired from poli- former forest minister Claude Richmond launched a very in the legislature. McCarthy de- fended him against the better wishes of her party. ; The question is, of course, not only whether Harcourt will ask her to serve as agent general, but whether she will accept. My guess is she would. Appointing Grace McCarthy as British Columbia’s agent general makes sense every way you look at it. : Think about it, premier. Norman continued from page 6 bringing back the Canadian dollar bill. “It was a tragic mistake to do away with the dollar bill,” a committee spokesperson will tell the local media the morning of a freak snowstorm on Friday, duly 13. The spokesperson will point out that former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney promised it would be “a frosty Friday in July” when he brings the dollar bill back and the committee plans to hold the new Prime Minister, Joe Clark, to that promise. _ 8. The Ministry of Highways will present a new option for the Highway 3 _ interchange: eliminate it altogether. “It’s the perfect solution to all our problems,” the ministry’s regional manager of planning will tell the CasNews. “No fuss. No muss.” 4. A paving referendum for the City of Castlegar will get the green light after voters were asked to vote no if they DO want the paving and yes if they DON’T want the paving. “We decided to change the way we word referendums because the old way was too confusing,” a city spokesperson will say. “This way it’s simple: No means yes and yes means no.” 5. In an 11th-hour decision, Kinnaird Hall will be declared a heritage site and saved from the wrecker’s ball. _~ But a few weeks later it will be torn down anyway when a developer’s: plan for a new mall for the property - is overwhelmingly supported by local residents. “What the hey,” a spokesman for a civic group seeking to preserve the hall will tell the media. “It’s not like mall, proposals come up every day around here.” 6. Despite the mall proposal for the Kinnaird Hall site, Castlegar’s first mall won’t be built until several months later: It will be on what was once the west ramp of the Castlegar- Robson ferry. It will feature two “majors”: a 7-Eleven store anchoring one end and an Esso station holding down the other. And none of it ‘will be covered.