Se
Castlep

—
PAGE A4, SATURDAY, AUGUST 3, 1991

gar News

ESTABLISHED AUGUST 7, 1947 TWICE WEEKLY MAY 4, 1960
THE MiD-' PUBLISHED 12,

27, 1000

LV. CAMPBELL ~ SHER, AUGUST 7, 1947-FEBRUARY 15, 1973
BURT CAMPBELL, PUBLISHER EMERITUS ~ PUBLISHER, FEBRUARY 16, 1973-MAY 1, 1901
PUBLISHER —Dave McCullough
EDITOR ~ Simon Birch a,
PLANT FOREMAN —Petor Harvey “WY
OFFICE MANAGER —Warren Chemoft
CIRCULATION MANAGER ~ Heather Hi

ladloy
SENIOR SALES REPRESENTATIVE — Gary Fleming

Avene Cestoger_ Cantoger News Las mctiahers Lid
ee nana ———

EDITORIAL __
Partnership
necessary

During his remarks to the Castlegar Chamber of Com-
merce last week, Colville restaurateur Ray Howard touched
off a bit of soul-searching in the local business community.

Perhaps, he told us, blame for Canada’s cross-border shop-

2=
‘=

* Cattlegar Now!

REMEMBER WHEN

ping problem shouldn't all be dumped on the should
those nasty politicians who dreamed up the Goods and Ser-
vices Tax.

Instead, he suggested, we'll find some of the r ibility

s of

VIEWPOINT

pare to trundle off to work.

It may sound blasphemous — or at the very least, unCana-

. dian — not to blame the government for what ails us, but

when the president of the Colville Chamber of Commerce

speaks, we should listen. Mr. Howard’s diplomatically

phrased comment to the effect that he often gets lousy service

: when he comes to Canada rings true. It’s part of a new reali-

i ty | over the Canadi : if we’re going to sur-

: vive in the ’90s, we're going to have to change the way we do
business in this country.

Many Canadian companies are proving that they can be

: successful if they’re willing to adapt. Bata Shoes is taking
? the offensive with a bold promise to match or beat American
: prices, and Radio Shack has recently announced a more ¢om-
petitive price structure for its product lines. Locally, the
Safeway store is one good example of what it means to offer
> service with a smile.

Unfortunately, a revolution in the way Canadians do busi-
ness won't be enough to reverse the tide of traffic at every

: border checkpoint. The government does have a role to play,
and must become an active partner in our bid to sway the bal-
ance of trade.

It must, for example, undertake a thorough review of the
thinking behind both the GST and the various levies which
cause gasoline prices to soar in this country. In countries
where there is no alternative — New Zealand comes to mind
— or where the neighboring nation is charging similar taxes
— Europe, for example — taxes like these make sense. Loca]
businesses aren’t affected by the punitive taxes, because con-
sumers have no choice but pay them.

Canadians (and would-be American tourists) do have a
choice. It’s called the United States, and evidence is mount-
ing that we're heading there in droves.

That same evidence is also telling us that the Canadian
dollar is valued too highly. We could add 10 per cent to the
price of every American purchase by allowing our buck to fall
to 77 cents, and reap extra dividends in our tourism and
export industries.

Unfortunately, eliminating the GST, slashing gas taxes and
dropping the value of the dollar are painful decisions for our
governments. The first two would force them to cut costs
(God forbid) or find an alternate source of revenue, and the
third would boost inflation.

But the status quo isn’t good enough any more. For Cana-
da’s retailers, exporters and hospitality industry, the govern-
ment cure is far worse than the disease. High taxes and a
high dollar are slowly but surely killing us, and action is
urgent.

There is, as Ray Howard told the local business community,
much we.could be doing to help ourselves. service, our
selection and our prices all need careful scrutiny.

But when all is said and done, there’s a major role for gov-
ernment in bringing about a turnaround. The need for a
strong partnership is evident, and the time to act is now.

staring out at us from the mirror every ae ey we pi

Consultation in Ontario
called ‘a bit of a sham’

Critics of NDP government say it rams through legislation

By SUZANNE STEEL
The Canadian Press
TORONTO — Consult, con-
sult, consult. Ram it through.
That's how some of Premier
Bob Rae's less-ardent admirers
describe the way legislation is
written by Ontario's new NDP
government.
When he formed his majority
government nine months ago,
Rae promised no-holds-barred

lines of communication and it
was very frightening to watch

this happen,” Nykanen said.
In the first few weeks, the
aa t

gov

ic legislation including extra
leave for new parents, making
company officers financially
liable if a company goes
bankrupt, and an environmental
bill of rights that would make it

they've decided to do.

“Now, I think there's more of
a risk of analysis paralysis by
getting input from every imagin-
able group.”

Rae concedes he may be in a
no-win situation, trying to
assuage public concerns and
deal with a flagging economy hit
hard by recessin-and sharply
rising provincial budget deficit.

public input into policy

But one Toronto lobbyist says
the whole consultation process is
a bit of a sham.

“It's more of a public relations
exercise than an honest attempt
to take into account different
points of view,” says the lobby-
ist, whose business clients have
been trying unsuccessfully to get
an audience with senior mem-
bers of the government.

“There's a feeling that there's
an open door to labor and there's
not an open door to business.”

Some anti-Rae activists have
taken to wearing pins with the
caption Premier Bob written
over a picture of Bob White,
head of the Canadian Auto
Workers union, an ardent sup-
porter of the new government.

Paul Nykanen, Ontario vice-
president for the Canadian Man-
ufacturers Association, said he
felt excluded from government

1 her after the Septemb
election as a flurry of legislation
—much of it written by the NDP
as private members bills in
opposition—was introduced in
the legislature.

“There were no established

‘It’s more of a public relations
exercise than an honest attempt to
take into account different points
of view.’

— a Toronto lobbyist

easier for individuals to sue pol-
luting companies.

Nykanen says he's encour-
aged that the government has in
many cases abandoned its initial
schedule and made more time to
hear from business groups.

"They now seem to be much
more aware of the importance of
our input,” he said.

“We will have to
things evolve but at le:
getting the opportunity.”

Tom Corcoran, president of
Ontario's Chamber of Com-
merce, shared Nykanen's frus-
tration in the early going of
NDP rule: “Their idea of consul-
tation was telling us what

ee how
we are

“We have to face the reality
that we have to consult more
than democratic,” Rae said in an
interview, adding that he has
had more than 100 meetings
with business groups since he
became premier last fall.

“It's a very tough time to be
in government.”

(But he said no amount of con-
sultation is going to make every-
one happy.

“Some people have to come to
terms with the situation we're
in.”

The ironic twist is that while
Rae has, at least temporarily,
scored sorhe points in the busi-

ness community, some of his tra-
ditional allies in social service
circles are bitterly disappointed.

“I've certainly had access in
an unprecedented way,” said
Gerard Kennedy of Daily Bread
Food Bank. “But we've also got
some rather spectacular non-
résults to point to.”

During the first few months
of the NDP term, Kennedy met
Social Services Minister Zanana
Akande four times. Much of his
correspondence with the minis-
ter's office was answered by the
premier's office.

Then, he said, the govern-
ment ignored all his advice and
took the opposite tack. *°

“All the meetings in the world
don't add up to a hill of beans if
you don't see results,” he said.

“We've had high level commu-
nication but it’s basically been a
dead end.”

Kennedy says he no longer
can afford the time or the trou-
ble of consulting with the gov-
ernment.

"There's a general malaise
now—a feeling that it’s just not
worth the effort.”

Conservative Leader Mike
Harris says business, pleased
with the new open-door policy,
may find the same pitfall wait-
ing for them that Kennedy has.
“There's a big difference

getting an i
with a minister and making 10
points that go in one ear and out
the other,” Harris says. “It's not
that you can't get a meeting it's
that their minds are already
made up.”

\o live by water and not go paddling is
unthinkable — water is not just for
drinking and swimming, but i

about in boats.
I could resist the temptation fo jump in a
canoe or kayak when I.was living by the shore of
the Slocan River because it looked like one of
those midway rides that makes

Few line up to paddle kayaks on river

ner, Karen Rose, I'd been dreaming about pad-
dling on the lake for an entire season. During my
ded sojourn in Silverton and New Denver, I
would walk along the shore, gazing at the water,
longing for bluer pastures.
Roy and Karen were the first kayakers I'd
ever seen on the lake. New to Silverton (they

arrived in the

you forgive all your enemies. The
lure of paddling Slocan Lake was
not so easy to ignore.

If the mountains looked that
good from shore, imagine their
charms from the water! Everyone
warned me about sudden storms,
cliffs without mercy, outflows

could create wicked cur-

‘Everything moves in siow motion,
and it takes a while to get people to
trust you. We really haven’t made any
money at all this summer.’

— Roy Throssell on starting a business
in the Slocan Valley

fall of 1990),
they were
indulging their
own dream of
setting up a
business. They
planned to sell

that
rents, and deaths by drowning.
Yet there were pictographs on the Valhalla side, If-

», and lead ad

waterfalls, and wilderness campsites — all
by boat.
By the time I mét Roy Throssell and his part-

tours.
For a variety of reasons, I never got to paddle
with Roy and Karen on any of the days we made
tentative plans. But in getting to know them, I

Business venture slow to grow in valley

Catherine
Shapcott

in the valley.

Unlike ourselves, Roy and Karen weren't com-
ing on a whim and a prayer. Roy had roots in the
area: his mother was born in New Denver, his
great-grandfather, George Trickett, owned the
general store, and Trickett’s sons were an elec-

trician and a plumber who built many of the

even nger than
messing about in boats — making a living in the

Slocan Valley.

Motivated by the spirit that challenges a char-
acter in the film Field of Dreams to pursue
dream, Roy and Karen came to the Slocan Valley
via Princeton and Vancouver, where Roy drove a
school bus and Karen was attending the Emily

Carr College of Art and Design.

“We wanted a house, garden and pussycats,”

explains Roy.

a three years he

The

I could relate. I already had a house and cat;
the garden was only waiting to be resurrected.
Mainly, what we needed was a way of making
e money to support these things and the
simpler lifestyle which all of us — Roy and
Karen, my partner and myself — were seeking

Ss.

“As I was growing up, I heard a lot about New
Denver,” Roy recalls.

Karen's sister Susan was living there, and he
heard plenty about Valhalla Park during the

instructor in Keremeos. In 1982, he toured the
village on a cycling trip and “always wanted to
go back to see if I could make a living.”

place, even
inspired Roy's belief that the desire to be there

a |

more than

as an Outward Bound

the people,

40 YEARS AGO
From the Aug. 2, 1951
Castle News

The Canadian Pacific Rail-
way is planning more improve-
ments at its station here, it was

this week. Plans call

for a new concrete platform
which, it is understood, will be
the same width as the present
wooden platform, but will be of
greater léngth. Work should
commence on it this month.

Sunday, August 5th, will see .

some 2,000 Doukhobors gather
at Brilliant to celebrate their
Declaration Day. Visitors are
expected from as far ai“Califor-
nia.

» Each year this celebration is
held on the Sunday between
August 1st and 7th.

Grand Forks and local choirs
will sing during the festivities.
25 YEARS AGO
From the Aug. 4, 1966
Castlegar News

With the coming on duty of
the Arrow dam graveyard shift
at around 12:01 a.m. Monday,
the “storm in a coffee cup” that
halted work on the project sim-
mered down after five days of
labor unrest, walkout and pro-
longed negotiations.

Yesterday, Sam Walker, B.C.
Hydro’s construction manager at
the dam site, reported that
“basically everyone is now back
to work.” He added: “Work is
progressing without the stop-
pages having had too great an
effect on the whole project.”

The incident that triggered
off the whole affair took place on
Tuesday afternoon of last week
when truck driver Tom Easton
was fired by Columbia Hydro
Construction Ltd., at the request
of prime contractors Founda-
tion-Dravo, for “ ding his

Five years ago this week, the City of Castlegar p!
sance unless the owner of the property at the time,

and that the flow of has

a

by plainclothes policemen on

been steadily increasing.

15 YEARS AGO
From the Aug. 6, 1976

jews

The Castlegar ferry is expect-
ed to be out of commission until
sometime next week following

an early morning accident this_

week.
Sometime around 2 a.m.
a bundle of pulp logs is
believed by highways depart-
ment officials to have caught the
cables which guide and drive the
ferry.
eee

The large contingent of
le clu

10-minute coffee break by a sig-
nificant period of time.” .
eee

Visitors from as far afield as
Denmark, Sweden, Germany,
Holland and Central America
have been among the some
22,000 tourists who have visited
the Arrow dam site since May 1.

B.C. Hydro officials at the
viewpoint report they have even
had one visitor from Malaysia

CASTLEGAR
CHAMBER OF
COMMERCE
365-6313

1955-6th Ave., Castlegar VIN 487

NOTICE

Castlegar Veterinary Hospital
Dr. Williams will be on vacation from
Saturday, Aug. 3
to Monday, Aug. 19
Boarding Services ONLY will be
available Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to
5p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

bers who
passed through Castlegar on
Monday caused no problems for

number, passed through en

route to Nelson with no laws

broken. .
The bikers — members of

their trip through the Interior of
the province.
eee

British Columbia’s Depart-
ment of Recreation and Travel
Industry has accepted an invita-
tion from the Kootenay Bound-
ary Chambers of Commerce to
send a delegation to the Koote-
nay area to discuss tourist pro-
motion plans with the area’s
business community.

Though arrangements for the
visit are still in the prelimi

CasNews file photo

lanned to declare the old Castlegar Hotel property a nul-
Webchris Enterprises Ltd., cleaned up the property.

and Ki Boundary direc-

DINING LOUNGE
OPEN DAILY AT 4 P.M.
* LICENCED * 365-3294

CELGAR, WESTAR & COMii
Located | Mile South of Weigh Scale in Ootischenia

ARROW LAKE
ELEVATION
1442.00 ft. on July 27
Forecast of
Elevation
1442.30 ft. by Aug. 3

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SLOCAN PARK
Highway 6
226-7216

tors earlier passed a motion to
enter the deal only if all four
boards agree.

The Central Kootenay region-
al district has decided to go it
alone — at least for now. The
regional district has submitted a
letter of intent to Cominco Ltd.
The deadline was Friday.

eee

One local party member said
some of his fellow Social Cred-
iters are calling him Zalmbo,

y
stages, the focal point of the trip
will be a travel industry seminar
to be held at Creston on Sept. 21
or 22, which will be open to all
people interested in the future of
tourism in the Kootenays.

Two of the four regional dis-
tricts which proposed purchas-
ing West Kootenay Power from

Satan’s Angels from V
and the 101 Knights from
Nanaimo — have been followed

Bluetop

HOURS: 10 a.m.-9 p.m.
1521 Columbia Ave. 365-8388
Call Ahead Drive Through Service

JEWEL OF THE WEEK

home features a fireplace, 3-pce.
basement.

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Michael's Nuggets

. ensuite,
kitchen with ogk parquet floors and a fully finished
$106,900
GEM OF THE WEEK — NEW LISTING
Also on the bench in S. Castiegar. A 3 bdrm. home on
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NEW HOME OF THE WEEK
Brand new 3 bdrm. family home in desirable High

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MICHAEL KEREIFF
365-7825

365-2166
1761 Columbia Ave.
Castlegar, B.C.

Kendrick-Twidale Optom
wish to announce t

Alfred P. Semenoff, O.D.
Optometrist

will join us as a

n associate in the

ctice of optometry at
Qu

INTMENT, PHONE:
364-2020

Cominco have backed out.

The regional districts of Cen-
tral Okanagan and Okanagan
Similkameen decided to opt out,

after Sy ’s tough,
shoot-from-the-hip-and-ask
questions-later movie character
Rambo.

But the nickname is suppos-
edly not an indication of con-
frontations to come, and the
election Wednesday of former
cabinet minister Bill Vander
Zalm as leader of the Social
Credit party and premier-desig-
nate of British Columbia in fact
bodes well for Rossland-Trail
and the rest of the province, say
Socreds in the West Kootenay as
they come together behind their
controversial new leader.

Gs)

j

You Better

Summer
Hours:

Open til 8 p.m.

Tues. to Fri., July 30 to Aug. 30

.
In Order to Make )
Summer More

713-17th St., Castlegar
DL. 7956 CALL NOW COLLECT 365-7241

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