September 18, 1988 Castlégar News MMAAAGER OF THE B.C, PRESS COUNCH ESTABLISHED AUGUST? TWICE WEEKLY MAY 4, 1900 INCORPORATING THE MID-WEEK MIRROR PUBLISHED SEIPEABER 12, 1978. AUGUST 27, 1900 LY. CAMPBELL — PUBLISHER, AUGUST 7, 1947 FEBRUARY 19.1979 Burt Campbell OFFICE MANA’ CIRCULATION MANAGI Sr 5 ° = > ® “~ a Q oO x ® < o 3 The ruckus the provincial New Democratic Party and the Vic- tOria legislative press gallery are making over the electronic fflonitoring of proceedings in the legislative theatre is almost much Ao about nothing. Almost, but not quite. : The NDP and the legislative reporters are upset with the Rrovincial government for bugging the theatre, where news con- fprences are held. Their concern isn't so much with official news con- ferences, which are pretty well open to anyone who wants to attend them, but with the off-the-record conversations between. the media dnd MLAs. : H For example, NDP MLA Moe Sihota, his party's critic for the at- frney-general’s ministry, said he has made some off-the-record jatements to journalists after news conferences that were never in- tended for the ears of those in the premier's office. & Similarly, Sheila Fruman, spokesman for the B.C. Govern- ‘Bent Employees’ Union, says the union's “background” session with idurnalists earlier this year was meant only for the media. 2 But surely, in Victoria: off-the-record remarks aren't neces- Sgrily confidential — especially in the close-knit goings-on of: the legislature. And there is no better example of that than how this bugging issue came to light in the first place. After a Sept. 2 news coriference by NDP privatization critic Dale Lovick, a government official confirmed to Mark Collins of Th N papers that he had listened to the pr ings trom the office of Bill Bachop, public affairs counsel in the government's public affairs bureau Collins said he could not identity the government official because the conversation took place in the press gallery, which is an off-the-record area. Still, that didn't prevent him from making public the government bugging. So it isn’t as if off-the-record remarks aren't made public or that anything in a union background session won't somehow get back to the government with or without electronic devices. No, the real issue is the way the government went about bugging the legislative theatre. # !t would have one thing for the Vander Zalm team to inform everyone that it planned to run an electronic feed into government offices so the premier, his staff and whoever else wanted to listen to proceedings could do so. Similar lines are already in place for ac- credited members of the press gallery in legislative radio studios (to allow journalists who may not be in attendance to nevertheless monitor and report on news conference held in the news theatre’ But it didn't. Instead, the government took the clandestine, sneaky route. And it has added yet another black eye, to the govern- ment's much-touted policy of “open government”. You can bet Lyle Kristiansen is seeing green these days — as in the Green Party of Canada. The Greens’ announcement this week that they plan to run a candidate in Kootenay West: Revelstoke in the upcoming fed eral election is a blow for the former NDP MP from Nelson. You see, despite the Conserv- ative government's newfound support for the environment (thanks in large part to recent polls that suggest the environ- ment is’ a big issue among Canadians, or as one Toronto pollster said, “It’s hot, hot, hot”) Green Party members are more closely aligned with the New Democrats than either the Lib- erals or Tories. That means a Green candidate will likely siphon off votes from an NDP challenger. This isn’t the first time the Greens have considered running in this riding. In 1984 they tried to run a candidate here. They couldn't find anyone locally, so they decided to parachute in then-party president Adrianne Carr of Vancouver. But as the nomination deadline passed, Carr's name was absent from the ballot. Word is local NDP heavyweights in the environmental movement made some quick phone calls that caused Carr to rethink her candidacy. It seems the message wasn't clear enough, because the Greens are back again threatening to stomp on Kristiansen’s turf- They held a constituency association meeting in Nelson Saturday to get the party off the ground and attract a local candidate. In 1984 the local Greens numbered about 20 or so. This year their ranks could swell, thanks to the fact that the environment is a much more important issue for Canadians as a whole, and in particular because of the Spike herbicide spraying issue this summer in the Kootenays. But don't bet on it. People like Colleen McRory, a longtime environmentalist from New Denver, are also New Democrats. McRory, for instance, happens to be secretary for the Kootenay West-Revelstoke NDP constituency association. | And you can be sure she and other environmentalists within the NDP will be once again pressuring the Greens to pull out of the riding. Whether they will be as successful as they were in 1964 remains to be seen. Kootenay residents are taking their environment more seriously now, and a party whose philosophy centres on the environment just may attract more support this time around. To get an idea of just where the environment stands on the political agenda, take a look at Kootenay West MP Bob Brisco’s latest householder. Brisco devotes a full page to the International Conference on the Changing Atmosphere held in June in Toronto. He asks constituents to give their opinions on ozone depletion and the greenhouse effect. A page later he discusses his role in initiating a federal inquiry into the use of herbicides and pesticides. Certainly, the environment has come of political age. Just how much of a role a minor party like the Greens can play in a federal wi = yee Ny He alii Letters to the editor Postal shenanigans I think it’s time that Canada Post customers are made aware of the shenanigans perpetrated in the name of progress and cost efficiency. Firstly, Canada Post intends to close down Ainsworth Hot Springs Post Office, a rural post office which is easily accessible to all community residents and highway travellers. It then proposes to give a retail postal outlet money to install counters and partitions in order to provide the same service that is given at the present post office location, with nowhere near the convenience of easy access. When pressed for reasons why, representatives of Canada Post Corp. gave us these: 1. It will be more-cost efficient to Canada Post; 2. We will have longer hours of service; 3. Canada Post Corp. has been given a mandate to operate in the black. Our response to these “reasons” are: 1. Canada Post is cutting the cost of operating a postal service and throwing the burden onto a private business to deal with. How long will it be before the business, realizing it is not a money-making part of their enterprise, decides to get rid of it? Then where will our service be? We were told directly that if a retail postal outlet was operated in the present location it would not pay. How, then, will it pay for a private business? If a private business decides to shut down postal opera tions it need only give 30 days notice Howard call home It seems we must once again turn to the media in order to invoke a response from certain of our duly elected politicians. I refer to a request made on Aug. 8 to Howard Dirks, Minister of State for the Kootenays. The request was that Mr. Dirks grant an appointment with this writer to discuss the funding and operation of the Robson ferry Having received no reply by Sept. 2, I again wrote Mr. Dirks to state my position that if he did not respond within seven days, I would assume that he was not prepared to meet over the ferry issue. Well, Sept. 9 has come and gone, and I have yet to hear from Mr. Dirks. In the interim, I reviewed previous correspondence and dis covered that Mr. Dirks did, on one oceasion, respond to a letter when I sent copies to the editor. So here we go again, as publicity seems to elicit reaction. A strange reaction, I think, from a politician who, after encoun tering picketing Robson ferry users, was reported to say that he pre ferred to meet behind closed doors. R.S.V.P., Mr. Dirks. George Stein Robson election would be questionable in most ridings; but not in Koot West-Revelstoke. In 1984 Brisco beat Kristiansen by just over 700 votes. But that was the old Kootenay West riding. In the redrawn boundaries, which include Revelstoke, Kristiansen would have won the election by 111 votes. So it is clear that in a riding where environmental issues are obviously important to voters and where the margin of victory — or defeat — is a mere 100 (or 700) votes, there's little doubt a Green Party candidate would throw a wrench into the New Democrats’ plans. That's why we'll see intense behind-the-scenes lobbying over the next few weeks by local New Democrats hoping to keep the Greens out of Kootenay West-Revelstoke. 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 Ave nue, Castlegar. Letters must be signed and include the writer's full — ond Ler yo Only in exceptional cases wil published without the writers, nome Nevertheless, the nome and address of the writer must be disclosed to the editor. The Costlegor News reserves the right to edit le jor brevity, clarity legality and gra: of the intention to the customers. The only one convenienced in the in- tended move is Canada Post Corp. 2. Some time ago a work study was done on this location, assessing a requirement of 14.3 hours per week for the amount of business done through it. Canada Post, in the name of service, has it operated for four hours per day, six days per week, paying the postmistress on the basis of 17.33 hours per week (the remain- ing 6.67 hours are worked gratis). Why would they expect a private business to offer eight hours of service given these details? 8. Canada Post has reported that it will make a profit this year. Why does it have to continue on with the quest to convert small rural post offices to retail postal outlets? What, is it going to do with the profits? Can you imagine the voice of the unions once they know there is money in the bank? It is up to all of us as Canadian citizens who wish to have our network of rural post offices kept in place to take the time now (before the upcoming election) to contact our members of Parliament to tell them it is not acceptable to close down small-town post offices as part of the corporate plan. The Ainsworth Post Office, oft described as “the smallest post office in B.C.,” enjoys the history of having the longest continuous service on Kootenay Lake, stretching back to the trusty sternwheelers. It is relatively unique in being owned by a community. Ainsworth residents built it onto the existing community hall in 1980, using volunteer labor and donated materials. This was done in an effort to keep it in dependent of business conflict or rivalry and to offer an ongoing, reliable service. A letter dated July 18, 1988 from Canada Post was received by the residents. In it Canada Post states it “is committed to providing a mini mum of 90 days consultation before finalizing any change in service.” This was received July 20, announc- ing that it planned to establish a retail postal outlet in the community. It was then Aug. 18 when another letter came inviting us to drop in to discuss the proposed changes in postal service on Aug. 24. The resi- dsents at the hall at 4 p.m. had to demand as a group that the repre- sentatives tell us exactly what their plans were. All questions were skirted very professionally with no response to the overwhelming de- mand to have postal services remain where they are and operated by Canada Post with an official appoint- ment to postmaster instead of a three-month term contract. Our service has been extended to Oct. 18, which is 90 days from the original letter. We are thus effec- tively being cheated of 37 days, of consultation time since we were not informed until Aug. 24 of exactly what the proposed plan was to be. Having experienced Canada Post Corp.'s consulting and negotiating tactics first hand, perhaps this small community can better understand why we so often hear the refrain “Canada Post workers are on strike again.” How long can we continue to say that we live in a democratic state when the obvious wishes of the majority of the population are so blatantly ignored? Shirley Hansen reitred postmistress Ainsworth 1980-87 Editor's note: This week Canada Post announced it will keep the Ainsworth post office open for at least another year. The post office was to have closed Oct. 19, however, the contract of postmaster Sheila Clare has been extended to Sep- tember 1989. The retail postal outlet proposed for Ainsworth will still open as planned, but Canada Post officials ate not sure when. Time to halt mass forestry wastage I would like to add my voice to the growing number of people aghast at the looming clearcutting threat to our beautiful Kootenays. Being busy with my own life and family, I haven't really been paying much attention to what has been happen ing to the forests in this province. I have rather blindly trusted that the ministries of forests and environ ment have been responsibly over. seeing logging practises on our Crown lands. The blinders have come off. Ugly clearcuts are showing up at an alarming rate in the Slocan Valley and in the West Arm. My own watershed, Perry Ridge, is scheduled for clear-cutting in the near future. I understand that the forests through. out the province are being decim ated. It is clear to me that it is time to halt the mass wasting of our beautiful Crown lands. It is easy to think that the elected government is in charge and that once it is in office, we have little effect on decision-making and policy. It is harder to accept the fact the government is us — you and I. G.K. Chesterton once said of democracy: “It is not that true democracy has been tried and found wanting, rather, it has been found difficult and not tried.” If we don't stand up and save our wilderness, our trees, the alarming truth is that it is going to be gone. Contrary to the slick little Forests Forever display I saw in the mall last week, clearcuts are not regrown in “just a few short years.” If this was true, why are they not busy recutting their earlier clearcuts today, rather than risking the public controversy they find when en- croaching on a communities’ view and watersheds. And there is an Remember when 4 YEARS AGO From the Sept, 16, 1948 News Arrangements are being made for the improvement of Milestone Road. A footpath is being prepared for the children going to the new school, this to keep them off the road. * e.. 9 The Lillian Killough Chapter IODE held their first meeting of the fall season on Tuesday evening in the Cononation Hall, The Regent, Mrs. K. Magee, resided at the meeting, with 15 members present. . * « Mr. H.W. Herridge, MP opened the Canadian Legion Ladies WA Fall Fair held last Saturday in the Coron- ation Hall, Mr. Herridge was intro- duced. to the gathering by Mrs. R. Kerr, president of the WA. * . * The matter of the unsafe condition of the road to the Kinnaird school was discussed and a request is being sent to the Commissioners of Kin- naird asking that something be done about it. There are still two vacancies for teachers of the Pass Creek School. . . * Castlegar was without water and electricity yesterday afternoon. A water main broke near the CPR and the West Kootenay was busy in- stalling wiring for street lights. ' 25 YEARS AGO From the Sept. 19, 1963 Castlegar News Schools in District No. 9 opened their doors in September 1963 to a population increase by roughly 7.4 per cent over the June 30 figures. An all-time high has been reached this year with latest available num- bers being 1,509 elementary pupils and 833 in secondary classes, making a total of 2,344 pupils in the entire district. . . Members of the Fall Fair Associ- ation and representatives of organ- izations were busy from Monday morning Sept. 16 making out entry tags, receiving entries and recording same. The association expressed their appreciation for all the assis- tance the representatives gave them. It was stressed during the morning that exhibitors must have their ex- hibits in the Arena Thursday evening between the hours of six and -nine p.m. . . 8 At the first fall meeting of the Kootenay Society for Handicapped Children, several directors reported with enthusiasm on the weekend camp held last June for Handicapped Children. Even the soggy weather could not dampen the camp spirit. . . The Castlegar and District Cham- ber of Commerce will review its de- cision of two years ago in which it stood in agreement with the Colum- bia River Project but opposed High Arrow. 15 YEARS AGO From the Sept. 20, 1973 jar News A $633,090 money bylaw will be presented local taxpayers at the Dec. 8 polls. The board of trustees for School District No. 9 announced at its Monday meeting it has met with a building survey team from the department of education to discuss the building requirement for School District No. 9 for the next three years. . * The strike at Can-Cel’s pulp divi- sion here has entered its 5ist day. No essential discussions have taken place since last week's vote when the Pulp and Paper Workers of Canada rejected a company offer by 63 per cent. . * The Western provinces are jubi- lant over Canada reversing its de. cision to participate in Expo "74 at Spokane, but none more so than the Castlegar and District Chamber of Commerce who spearheaded the protest here. 5 YEARS AGO From the Sept. 18, 1983 Castlegar News Bob Stansbury’s number one pri ority as new manager of the Castle- gar Chamber of Commerce will be to funds in order to get the able between a natural forest and a “tree farm.” I am angry. I was born in this province and it belongs to me and to my children’s children’s children and wherever did anybody get the idea they could set about destroying it? I think that every person who cares about beautiful B.C. needs to follow his heart (as opposed to fearing for his. security) and act in any way he can to speak for the trees, to speak up for what is right. If I may borrow some lines from Earl Hamilton . . . “no use dusting off the mantle, it's time to gut the beast.” Linda E. Morris Appledale More letters, AS chamber on financially solid ground. . . * The Operation Solidarity Coalition plans to rally in downtown Castlegar Tuesday afternoon to voice its opposition to proposed provincial government legislation. The rally is being held in conjune- tion with Women’s and Children's week, Sept. 19-25. . . It's the pot calling the kettle black, when the provincial government complains that municipalities have been loose with their spending hab- its, says Castlegar Mayor Audrey Moore, new president of the Union of B.C. Municipalities. eee LIBRARY WINN! Participants in the Cas: and District Pul Library's summer readin; Program read a total I 1,705 8 in two months. Winner of the contest to guess how many books were read was Hongthong Seneyavong, with the nearest guess of 1,700. Seneyavong was awarded @ prize of a children's book. Council protests job loss - By CasNews Staff Castlegar council plans to write to the Ministry of Social Services pro- testing the transfer of two family child social workers. Ald. Patti Richards told council this week that the Social Services Ministry moved the two workers from Castlegar to Trail. The workers will return to Castlegar for half days, five days a week. “So if you're going to have a family crisis, you're going to have to have it in the morning, when there's a worker here,” she said in an inter- view. Richards said the move was apparently part of some sort of ministry reorganization. However, she says she is annoyed that council wasn't informed of the transfer. “Associated agencies didn't get notification or explanation,” she said. Council agreed to ask the min By CasNews Staff The City of Castlegar plans to close the one-way section of 13th Avenue at the intersection with Columbia Avenue. Ald, Albert Calderbank said the city engineering department has had_ problems with the City to close road one-way section “for quite a few yea Calderbank, chairman of the works and services com mittee, said some drivers use the section as an entrance to 18th Street, going down the one-way street the wrong way. Calderbank said the city has istry’s area managers in Kelowna and Nelson to speak to council. As well, council will write to Howard Dirks, Minister of State for the Kootenays, expressing concern about lack of notification of the transfer and asking him for some explanation about the restructuring. polled nearby businesses for their reaction and they have supported the closure. He said the traffic island at . the intersection will be altered Our Action Ad to allow easier exit on the Number is 365-2212 two-way portion. MORE LETTERS Travel bag went e ° MISSING We enjoyed your interesting write up on the Mel Deanna Trail called “Happy Trails — the perfect day hike.” I had been on the trail several times, but my husband hadn't, so your article triggered our hike there a few days later with our three grandchildren. And we took a picnic lunch. We enjoyed a leisurely walk in and looked for the frogs in the mud ponds beside the path. Then we stopped at the first shelter to eat our lunch. We had cheese sandwiches, fresh toma- toes, cucumbers, peaches, cookies and drinking cartons of juice. As we ate we noted how quiet it was. The only sounds were that of a train in the distance and a chipmunk scurry. ing in the leaves close by. Three people also had passed us on the way in and had taken the long trail, came by just as we finished eating. We decided to carry on to the viewpoint which overlooks the Col. umbia River and Blueberry. We didn't want to carry the travel bag with our leftovers and a few other things, so we left it on the shelf at the shelter. It took us about half an hour to walk up and return. When we got back — what a shock! Our travel bag was gone. We hadn't heard anyone or anything and wondered why anyone would take it? Was it a joke? I had left my prescription glasses, sunglasses, a finished film, a salt shaker and a paring knife in the bag with the garbage. In the pocket on the outside were two face cloths. We took a quick look around in case someone had thrown it in the bushes, but we didn’t find it, and we had to leave. When we got home I phoned the people we had seen on the trail to see if they had met anyone coming in. They said all they had seen was a grouse. There was no empty car at the lookout. I was upset about losing my glasses and the film particularly, as it had pictures of a recent trip. on hike I reported the loss to the police, who said it might have been a bear. That was an idea, so my husband and I went back the next day and searched the surrounding area. We made sure we made lots of noise but we found no travel bag. After a day of worrying, I phoned the forest service office and told them of our mystery. He said it sounded like a bear. It must have picked up a scent, taken the article in its mouth and shaken it as it went. He said a bear would take the easiest route and go about a thousand feet before it would rip the bag open. He suggested it would be best to take a group of people and fan out to search the area. I felt a bit leery about going, but he said as long as you make lots of noise a_bear will run away. My brother, his wife and son, and a friend arrived that day, so I told them of our mystery. They were all gung ho to go. We did as the forest service man suggested. With the hiking path running north and south, we decided west of the shelter would be the best way to go. I was suprised to find one of the face cloths in some brush a short way away. We knew that it must have been a bear and that he went that way, but we found nothing. We went back to the shelter and started out again, a little more to the left of where we had been searching. Suddenly the friend yelled: “I found it”. I yelled, “You're kidding! Really!”, and we all ran to the spot. He was right, there it was — ripped open. All the plastic bags with the little bits of leftovers were torn and my glasses case was very chewed from the mice, squirrels and chipmunks, but everything else was there. It was a happy day! The ripped travel bag and my glasses case are conversation pieces and a reminder that even if you don't see them or hear them, the bears are there. Beware! Marjorie Culley Castlegar CENTRAL FOODS SPECIAL PLAYERS FINE CUT TOBACCO We reserve ine de gia to limit quantities Prices limit jock on hand. CENTRAL OPEN SUNDAYS Community Owned & ated 10 .m.-5 p.m. 2717 Columbia, Castleger PRICES EFFECTIVE SUN., MON., COME FLY WITH US Join the Castlegar No: 581 Air Cadets. The progtam- me offers leadership, citizenship, training in the field of aviation. If you are between the ages of 12-19 years, male or female and are interested in our programme, phone Jan Neumann — 365-3692 or Michelle Feeney — 365-7854 es Try us first for AFFORDABLE (filing and typing services only) FRIENDLY (uncontested) DIVORCES Inquiries welcome! * Resumes ‘* All custom typing * Referral services * Office overload KOOTENAY SECRETARIAL SERVICES Cranbrook Out-of-Town Call TOLL FREE: 28-8th Ave. S. 1(800) 633-4305 489-6221 ead NOW SERVING EAST & WEST KOOTENAYS wns te Give the United Way Compliments of . . . Castlegar N -.. andall should be well! Yes, by 9.a.m. Sundays, you should be enjoying your Sunday Castlegar News. Ht you're not, we want to correct the matter Ht you fail consistently pope aad eS Castlégar News 197 Columbia Ave. 345-7266 FUSION GLASSWORKS WORKSHOP October 1 & 2 in Kelowna Fee - $80 Includes everything you need to make two finished products - a lamp and a window - in two days PLUS tuition, use of tools and equipment NEXT WORKSHOP “Have Glass Will Travel” can be held in your community “Fusion Glassworks But we'll give it back anytime they want. Isn't it time your children grad uated from the "Piggy Bank” approach to savings? Kootenay Savings has launched a program to encourage your kids to “stash their cash” with us whether it's money they earn or gifts from grandparents and relatives. Wry tell you first? As parents, you should have a say in how their account is set up. You see, the “Kootenay Kids” account is first of all for savings — it earns the Maximizer interest rate. But it can be much more. While your kids are earning, they can also be learning about chequing, term deposits, and automated teller ma chines. These services are ail available as no-charge options E’RE TAKING MONEY FROM Kootenay Savings Where You Belong e@trai @ Fruitvale Castlegar @Salmo mSouthSlocan @ Nakusp 'm New Denver @Waneta Plaza @ Kaslo Plus your kids also receive the other benefits of our Maxirr monthly state- ments, no minimum balance. A Dite what we said about taking money, there are absolutely no service charges on the Kootenay Kids. Since you know your kids best. you're the pe: should decide when they're ready to handle any service option responsibly Well let you pick which services they start with say when youid like us to show them about writing cheques. using an ATM card, term deposits and more By the way, this may be the very best time to introduce your children to Kootenay Savings. Right now, the first $50 Put into their account puts a Kootenay Kids T-shirt on their back. (One shirt per account holder while quantities last.) And coming soon, a monthly draw. T ACCOL on who Then, you