Wednesday, March 8, 1995 The Castlegar Sun Letters to Restore ir rhs i a Kelowna aper that cardboard and the Editor our faith | Truck traffic plays ‘Simmeraent! Navoc with sleep OPINIO HAIR-4-U and the UPPER ROOM GIFT SHOP Featuring Seniors Discounts every day and browee! Serving the 10,000 people of the Castlegar Area, The Castiegar Sun 8 every by Sterling Lid. at 465 Columbia Ave. Castlegar, B.C, V1N 1G8. The Castlegar Sun is pollti- News Service, PUBLISHER MARILYN STRONG RON NORMAN CHRISTINE MOYER ACTING EDITOR PRODUCTION MANAGER KAREN KERKHOFF TRICIA LAKTIN REPORTER PRODUCTION ASSISTANT JEFF GABERT CATHERINE ROSS SPORTS REPORTER/PHOTOGRAPHER © ADVERTISING REP. MARGE LALONDE NICOLE SeeTeTRA ry FRED JACK ADVERTISING REP. CARI ROHN CLASSIFIED ADS" editorial comment Don't drop the ball After 48 years the Castlegar United Way might be forced to close its doors. While this might not seem earth-shattering to most people, there are those who depend 6h the support of the United Way, or other local agencies it serves such as the Red Cross, the Canadian National Institute for the Castlegar i ices, and Koote- nay Columbia Child Care Society While United Way officials recognize that Kootenay residents are uncommonly generous with cash donations, they have had to face possible clo- sure due to lack of volunteers. After all, it’s volun- teers who canvass for donations—and if there are no volunteers there will be no donations. It’s that simple. While the directors serve the United Way because they enjoy doing so, they must be awfully tired of always having to carry the ball. It’s a phe- nomenon which is often seen in many groups. A handfu] of hard-core committed volunteers sched- ule thé game, carry the ball, play the game and clean up the locker room afterwards. But there’s always armchair athletes ready to put iin their two cents worth. Simple math tells you that if only 2,000 residents spent half an hour canvassing there would be a total of 1,000 volunteer hours. That could be all it would take to keep the United Way alive. It’s time to pick up the ball and run with it. Karen Kerkhoff Off toa good start Last Thursday evening at the Cominco Gymnasi- um in Trail was interesting, to say the least. Castle- gar and Trail residents were joining together in an unusual display of comraderie. The reason? The inaugural meeting of the Trail-Castlegar 19960 Summer Games Society. It was a wonderful example of how the two com- munities can work together when they want to. That theme was touched on by many Thursday night. Castlegar Mayor Mike O'Connor, for example, stressed that the best people were nominated to the society directorship regardless of where they live. Rossland-Trail MLA Ed Conroy noted that parochialism is one of the many problems he encounters in his job. “Anything that can bring these two cities togeth- er will be good." Even newly-nominated society president Ken Smyth commented on the relationship, suggesting that joint hosting of the Games could be the way of the future. There is still a year to go before the Games begin, and the two communities have a lot of work to do, but judging from Thursday's kickoff, the Games are beginning on the right foot Ron Norman ERRORS: j The advertiser agrees that the publisher shall not be liable for ‘damages arising out of errors in any advertisement beyond the amount paid for the space actually occupied by that portion of the advertisement in which the error occurred, whether such error is due to the negligence of its servants or otherwise... and there shall be no Jiability tor non-insertion of any advertisement beyond the amount paid for such advertisement. All advertising subject to publisher's approval. Contracts must be completed within one year trom contract date. No contingent orders accepted IVE BEEN HEARING ALOT OF NUMBERS... ..-BUT THAT DAMN THING 15 STILL THERE. Common sense finally prevails The Mike Normington case gives cause for hope It’s not often that common sense prevails in our federal gov- ernment these days, but the case of Mike Normington gives me cause He fought the ruling. It took him five long years of tangling with Immigration red tape. In the end, the Immigra- tion officials is the "49-year-old Castlegar cabbie who was ordered deported by Immigration Canada, but then allowed to stay. Immigration officials initially tuled that Normington had no right to be here. They told him to hop the next flight to England and not come back until they told him to. And if you went strictly by the letter of the law, without any regard for the individual or the sit- uation, Immigration Canada was probably correct. Not right, but correct. There’s a difference. But don't go by my word. Judge the case for yourself. Here are the facts: Normington emigrated from Britain to Canada in 1957 with his mother, fathér and sister. He was 11 years old at the time. He lived here 10 years when he returned to England to visit his grandmother. Once there, he fell in love and married. He was 21 He stayed ip England for 23 years until 1990. By that time his marriage had failed and the test of his. family—his mom, dad and sis-‘*” ter—had become Canadians. So Normington moved to Castlegar to work and take care of his mother, Betty, who was then 70 years old and had a heart condition. The problem was that Norming- ton had lost his landed immigrant Status when he married. Immi; ordered him to leave. Normington appealed on com- Passionate grounds, noting that he cared for his now 75-year- old mother. But Immigra- tion officials were adamant. I suspect that the Normington case is a lot like most of the appeals that come before Immigra- tion officials every day. The cases are not black and white. Instead, they are many shades of grey. Trying to figure out just which side of the line they fall can be difficult. Still, in Normington’s instance, it was pretty clear on which side of the line he fell. He did live here for 10 years. His parents both became Canadian citizens. His sister became a Cana- dian citizen. He is living and working here now. But he tived in Britain for 23 years. And it is on this point, I believe, that the Normington case turned. Yet I wonder how many people born in Canada live abroad for that long and return with their citizen- ship in tact? Plenty, I would bet. There is no statue of limitations tion Canada ruled that he had no intention of returning to Canada. on Canadian citi p. So why for Normington? The fact that he supports his mother and could make a case on compassionate grounds only strengthened his appeal. What also strengthened his appeal was" the outpouring of community support for him. The role it played in convincing Immigration Canada to reverse its decision can't be overemphasized. Here is a man whose communi- ty made it quite Clear that it wants him to stay. How much more basic does it get than that? Forget the rules. Forget the regu- lations. Forget what the book says. Take a look at the individual and the situation. His family wants him. His friends.want him. His neighbors want him. His co-workers want him. His community wants him. He has a job. He is a sharehold- €f if 4 Company. What better way to determine whether someone should be allowed to remain in the country? In the end, it took just two hours for Immigration Canada to come to the same conclusion. But only after five years of bat- tling and an 11th-hour reprieve. Sure, common sense prevailed, but it took its sweet time. * * RON NORMAN * Rumours this week had Premier Mike Harcourt planning a trip to the Kootenays in the near future. And depending on which rumor you heard,"he was coming March 6 (which was Monday and guess what? He didn’t show). Or he was coming in a week. Or in two (I tend to believe that he was here and gone already without speaking to anyone.) I can’t help but feel a little like one of the characters in Waiting for Godot who waits and waits and waits for Godot. And at the end of the play is still waiting. And then there's poor Ed Con- roy, the Rossland-Trail MLA, who has been answering countless inquiries about the Harcourt visit for the last month (and listening to others tell HIM when the premier is coming). The visit — yes, Mr. Harcourt is coming; just when is another matter — will be to. announce funding for the Kootenays from the Columbia River downstream benefits. Mr. Conroy has been pushing for a fair share of the millions of dol- lars in downstream benefits from the new 30-year agreement reached with the United States last fall. Mr. Conroy's hope is that Mr. Harcourt will announce that the money will be used to invest in the Keenleyside dam generating pro- ject, creating short-term jobs and long-term returns from the sale of the electricity. Now if only Mr. Harcourt will agree to it. And what is Mr. Conroy's best bet on the premier’s arrival with the good news? Anytime between now and the end of the month. Don't.believe the crocodile tears Colleen McCrory labels as “outrageous scare tactics” TWA Canada’s suggestion that 5,800 jobs are at risk due to the com- bined effects of current forest and land-use policies. * McCrory indicates that she is confused and ill-informed about forestry issués: workers in the Kootenay-Boundary region should not be fooled when she cries crocodile tears for their jobs. She starts out acknowledging that we were referring to the com- bined effects of the Forest Prac tices Code, Protected Area Strategy, Timber Supply Review and Commission on Resources and Environment. But by the end, she implies that we were referring only to CORE’s impacts. It’s ironic, indeed, that McCro. ry then cites the CORE report in support of her position: CORE actually suggests that the com- bined effects of current initiatives will be much higher than does IWA’s analysis! ° In fact, for the whole region CORE'’s “base case”—already adjusted up to include the expect- ed impact of the Timber Supply Review and Forest Practices Code—projects a provincial job impact of 6,800 to 8,100 for its West Kootenay-Boundary Plan and 4,200 to 5,000 for East Koote- nay! CORE's impacts —120 to 140 in East Kootenay, 660 to 800 for West Kootenay- Boundary—need to be added to that. CORE, then, notwithstanding a difference between the commis- sion and us with respect to the “true” job multiplier, predicts much greater devastation than does TWA Canada. Contrary to McCrory’s asser- tion, this sort of job impact cannot be handled through a transition strategy. When jobs are wasted to that degree, with the resulting damage to our communities’ and our region’s economy, you need a full-scale disaster plan. But is it any wonder that McCrory and other environmental MY TURN WARREN ULLEY extremists are now running scared on the issue of jobs? After all, most of them pushed relentlessly at CORE for mas- Sive protection of working for- est lands and heavy-handed special man- agement zones where little logging would be permitted. They knew this was a killer of jobs and they were wamed that the public would not submit to such an unbalanced plan They knew that government's support for a transition strategy was lukewarm and that govern- ment would not commit to specific levels of transition spending. In fact, many of the same groups that supported massive protected areas and special man- agement areas refused to support the West Kootenay-Boundary CORE transition strategy! Their lack of support is recorded in an appendix to that report. So it’s ironic and sad to hear McCrory now suggesting many of the job-creation measures [WA Canada has always supported and Claiming she and her friends are “ready to work with the WA”. Where was she during CORE? While her friends supported mea- sures that would kill jobs, close mills and gut communities, she was hiding in the weeds. Now the crocodile has surfaced, crying wet, salty tears about our jobs. Give us a break! We will continue to work for a balanced, “made-in-the-Koote- nays” solution to disagreements over land-use We will even Negotiate with Colleen McCrory and others who are primarily concerned about the environment. But we don’t believe she is concerned about jobs and no one else should be fooled into thinking 80, either. Warren Ulley is third vice-presi- dent of the International Wood- workers of America-Canada : "t have to pay the extra $13 recycling fee on our city _ water and sewer bill. é restore our faith in them, ' Christians don't | / hate homosexuals 4 Dear Editor: Do Christians hate h homosexuals and bisexuals in feating a motion in its biennial als? No we do not. As Scarbor- ough West MP Tom Wappel said: i that convention in May, 1994. The motion was to support legislation Ya iages “Finally, let me my aversion to homosexuality, which is shared by the vast majority of Canadians, does not mean that we hate homosexuals, and cer- and common-law relationships. The Bible, in Leviticus 18:22 says: “You shall not lie with a male ‘as with a woman. It is an tainly not any i homo- sexual simply because he or she is a homosexual. “Logically, one can abhor war without abhorring the individual The Koran in 7:80-84 says: “And there was Lot when he told his people: "Do you indulge in a sexual practicé such as more in the'wal . ip in the war. Similarly, one can abhor homosexualit without abhorring individual homosexuals.” There is already an impact on Canadian Society by amended human rights codes. In Ontario there have been attempts to teach this lifestyle to our children (Toronto Board of Education), il i 4 ~ children that parents who tell their children otherwise are suf- fering from-a-“neurological dis- order” call “homophobia” and a disease called “heterosexism.” Who is discriminating now? If sexual orientation is includ- ed in the Canadian Human Rights Act these potential conse- quences may follow: ~* + legalization of same sex marriages; + immigration—no mandatory testing for AIDS, as it may be seen as discriminatory; + conflicts with freedom of religion—it will become unlawful for religions to preach that homo- sexuality is a sin and unnatural; * conflicts with freed of has ever indulged in previously? You approach men lustfully instead of women. Rather, you are dissipated folk...We sent rain down on them: look how the outcome was for such criminals.” Why then make an issue of homosexuality if we don’t hate them, because God said he will Dear Editor; Afier residing over 20 years at the junction of Pass Creek Road and Broadwater Road we are now barraged with all kinds of heavy- truck traffic that at one time went through downtown Castlegar. Because of the speed limit and living on a comer, the truckers tend to use their engine brakes to quite some extent. But by using ear plugs we were managing to get some sleep. Still, it seems that someone in the Highways Ministry figured that was not enough of a disrup- tion so they put in two ramps (tapered, of course) with a break between the two. This wasn’t too bad, what with winter conditions and some of the trucks still using downtown Castlegar for access to the pulp mill. The trucks were hitting the Tamp with all their wheels 50 per- cent of the time and the rest of the time with 50 percent of their wheels. The other wheels would hit the space between the two ramps (like a speed bump). This.kind of rattled the dishes a bit, but we still managed to get some sleep, Low and behold, the weather is now getting better, the truckers are speeding up and the two ramps are breaking up. Now, not Only are the dishes rattling, the whole house is rattling. Sleep as we knew it is a thing of the past. The house is getting cracks in the drywall, stucco and fireplaces. We can’t blame the truckers, but it would help if they would refrain from using their engine brakes and maybe go a little slower. We blame the ministry's lack of wisdom in the way the ramps were constructed and where they were placed. Of course, when the weather gets better they will fin- ish the last, layer of blacktop. Meanwhile, we must endure, We sympathize with all the. other people whose sleep is inter- rupted by truck noises. It is not our nature to complain, but when we're lacking sleep, it plays havoc on our nature. William P, Harshenin Robson Rilkoff honorable citizen Dear Editor: I would like to take this oppor- tunity to thank Walter Rilkoff of Remax Realty. He never sold me a house, nor did he ever sell a house for me. What he did do was boost my belief that there are honest people in the world. is-sin—t-don't— personally want anyone under judgment. One more fact: life is short enough as it is. Homosexuals live .on the average 46 years, accord- ing to analysis of 986 consecu- tive obituaries in a homosexual newspaper. A total of 6,574 homosexual obituaries/death notices were examined from 18 homosexual journals over 13 years and com- pared with two conventional newspapers. Is there not a reason? Val Leiding Castlegar dent”. He gave me a written esti- mate for damages and I gave him money to pay for it. Just recently I received a call from him. His car had only cost half the esti- 301 - 11th Ave. (Tulips Sis 365-51 mate and he was returning the remaining money to me. Had he not phoned, I would never have known. I feel he should be thanked for his honesty and recognized as an honorable citizen of Castlegar. Theresa Oelke Castlegar fx home delivery pagers enig Just Ev's CHocotaTe 314 - 10th Ave. Girt Sop 365-2213 & 1114 - 4th St, Castlegar 365-754 THE ROYAL CANADIAN LEGION Castlegar - Robson Branch 170 4, A NIGHT OF ST. PATRICK'S DAY FUN Friday, March 17, 1995 6.p.m. - Leprechan Contest Iris Stew $2.00 7:30 - 11:30 p.m. Dance to Don Hollis Members & Guests Welcome Be there all the years they need you Take care. On and off the job. speech—it will become unlawful to publicly avow that homosexu- ality is abnormal and should not be condoned; * tax benefits to same-sex cou- ples—why not provide these ben- efits to everyone living together, eg. two brothers, son and moth- er? Why not everyone in a loving relationship with anyone, eg. boyfriend and girlfriend? + adoptions by same sex cou- ples; + legalization of present illegal perversions, such as pedophilia. 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