OPINION WEDNESDAY, Novemb — The jar Sun - ‘Serves the 10,000 people of Castlegar and the surrounding area, and is Ld. at 465 Columbia Ave, Castlegar, B.C. VIN 1G8. The Castlegar Sun te politically independent and a member of the Sterling News Service, Cone BoC. Newspapers Assocation, and the B.C. Press Council. Established 28, 1990. Mail 10420. PUBLISHER MARILYN STRONG 4 editorial comment The bomb has dropped Let's hope that Stephen Owen has big shoulders — he’s going to need them as he hears criticisms from both pro-log- gers and environmentalists. CORE C issi phen Owen released a land. 4 plan for the East and West Kootenays on Monday. While ‘| this column is not meant to either agree or disagree with his | findings, it is a reminder that the process leading up to his Screamers on the far right and far left are making a lot of noise: “Too much land set aside” or “Not nearly enough” are the arguments Kootenay residents will be hearing for awhile. Let’s hope that the clear-thinking middle ground will read his report and jon it in an and calm manner. More treats than tricks Parents in the Castlegar and surrounding area should give themselves a pat on the back. It’s because of their direct i in their chi "s activities that Hal- loween 1994 went off without a hitch. Oh sure there were some minor disturbances. But for the most part, the orga- nized parties that occurred in Robson, Castlegar and in other communities keep kids off the street when they have It’s also great to see so many parents accompanying their children as they went from door to door. Many of them lurked in the shadows, as their kids approached homes and yelled “Trick or Treat”. ions to these parents, for caring about your kids and their safety on what could be a night of horrors. ERRORS: The advertiser agrees that the publisher shall not be liable for i the CORE VICTORIA — The Commission on lan When public issues hit a private agenda Think fast, What's the name of the man who, for close to two years, constantly hounded and accused the then-city council-of-the-day of being secretive, close-minded and out-of-touch with the public? If you answered Mike O'Con- nor, you have a good memory. “Watchdog Mike’, as he was then affection- ately known by those who anonymously belonged to Castlegar's version of The Untouch- ables, the Coalition U ing Rash Bureau- cracy, was the biggest thorn in then-mayor Audrey Moore's side, In his eyes, the former mayor and her council couldn't do a thing right — particularly when it came to keeping the pub- lic informed. In his campaign for mayor, Mr. O'Connor concentrated on this fact, and spoke eloquently of the need for openness. In fact, every person sitting at the council table today touched upon ideals of an open council where information flows freely. It was cliche-filled campaign, but it worked. Mr. O'Connor was elected. Now, it’s amazing what can happen in one year. I like collecting things. And since the begin- ning of May I thought it might be interesting to collect the agendas from our city council's in- camera meetings. Keep in mind that ‘In-camera’ means private. Now the rules of municipal government clear- ly outline what should be discussed in-camera, and for all intents and purposes, the criteria is e NewS Tem. QUESTIONS, APUSE AS TO THE “TRUE HATURE” OF CASTLEGAR. CoOdULe SS “yw CAMERA” MEENNIGS ... & A have every right to see them. Especially Vine k appears that more and more public information is conveniently being placed there. For a mayor who was all-consumed by the s * before election, Mr. O"Connor's itself and the people it serves a colossal disser- vice. "re us in the dark. ar ee iromarsia e of a serious nature or not, are really not the point. It doesn't matter if you're talking about a new Draft Resolutions Policy, the safety of a local park or the cost of Christmas decorations, or where you plan to hang them for that matter. ‘What's important is that we hear council's dis- cussion. Alll of it. The serious. The comical. And foot-i But wait! There's more! the stick-y y uth kind too. Consider this: promising to be an open council and then placing more items on the as the safety of Kinsmen Park (the Staff Serge was in attendance for this one), city hall renova- tions, the central fire hall issue and even a restric- tive covenant. All behind closed doors! Hey, if you don’t believe me, go to city hall and ask for your copy of the in-camera agenda meetings yourself. As a citizen of this communi- agenda, out of or fear, will do more damage than a foot-in-the-mouth discussion ever will. By doing what they promised they would not do — and continuing to do it, the mayor and councillors have sur- passed the foot and are now cramming down the entire shoe store. IT HwkK he SacdS WILL released for the Kootenays Wednesday, November 2, 1994 Letters to the Editor Sleep I'm sleepless in Castlegar, though not from lack of a rela- tionship — from the lack of mp I am in p i of a trade qualification ticket in the field of rigging, fitting and steel erection, (eg. pulp mills, , dams, etc.), but I find it confusing that I am unable to secure employment. This in an area where construction is flour- ishing (just look at Cominco, Nelson City Dam, Coralyna Dam, Keenleyside Dam and Waneta Dam). Every time I see an office trail- er and heavy i ivi less in Castlegar me feel that I have a pretty good shot at a position. But to my dis- may after many applications and Upon my departure from one of many on-site parking lots, I noticed the vehicles parked there and that 90 per cent of the employee vehicles are from out of province - Again I feel this warmth enveloping my being but this time it’s not a feeling of hope but a feeling of anger and rejec- tion. Why after paying taxes, supporting local businesses and at one of these sites I get a warm feeling of maybe they will hire me for one of the positions I am i in. qualified Being available for work : " a local resid ‘i g and helping to better my community in every possible way a citizen can, am I or any other local trades le denied an income from all these employment ities in our ity? having 25 years experience make We helped build this Dear Editor: It’s not that simple! For those who have not closely followed Attempts were made many times for Doukhobors to leave this . As late as the 60s, with the efforts of Mr. S. Sorokin, a country was found that was willing to accept these abjects of Canadian society. A delegation was going to Brazil to finalize arrangements, but But the authorities put a heavy timber in the wheel, for they had a major plan to assimilate these people and keep them in this country. They were not ready to lose face and this strong labor forced those who helped Build those who werent edu- could be used, without Resources and Environment has dropped two more shoes: Land use plans for the East and West Kootenays were released Monday. 3 CORE chief Stephen Owen said ay ion of the plan needn’t result in any job losses in either region. “In fact, both plans provide recom- mendations for th creation of more jobs 2: through initiatives like value-added 5; forestry, increased timber utilization, for- est rehabilitation, enhanced silviculture and other forms of economic diversifica- tion,” Owen said. Among the benefits of the plans, Owen lists are “long-term economic P ity based on inabh use; protection of critical ecological i and cultural Cer tainty and stability with respect to future use and continu- ing public involvement in future land use lanning, and effecti gies to sup- port economic and social transition.” That probably sounds logical from where Owen sits, but based on the reac- tion to his two previous reports — the Vancouver Island and the Cariboo- Chilcotin land use plans — there’s no reason to believe that the in These new proposed protected areas : bab las water- the Kootenays will jump for joy. Initial criticism to the reports came from the mining industry in the East Kootenays and the forest industry, as well as some environ- mental i in the West Kootenays. The old maxim that you can’t Please everybody applies once again. The forest industry in the Golden area, for instance, has already Hubert been hit hard by a recent Beyer reduction of 17 per cent in the annual allowable cut. Needless to say that any further removal of active forest land won't be viewed with great enthusiasm. Because of the East Kootenays’ glob- ally significant wildlife and wilderness Tesources, the area’s parkland will be increased to 16 per cent of the total land base from the current 13.1 per cent, a good chunk more than the 12 per cent on Vancouver Island and im the Cariboo. falls to vital habitat for grizzly, bear and wolf, mountain goat, caribou, mule deer and elk. And anyone who ever visited the East K need not be inded of its awesome beauty. The West Kootenays’ protected area is to be increased to 11.3 per cent from the current 5.2 per cent of the total land base. Both the East and West Kootenays are to have Special Manage- ment Areas for sensi- tive resource development. Activities such as mini and forestry will be allowed in such areas, but will be subject to more strin- land is to be fully protected as parkland. The CORE report states that without an economic transition strategy, as many as 400 forestry jobs could be lost in the West Kootenays and an estimated 70 in the East Kootenays. To offset these potential job losses, the report recommends that aside from greater timber Part of the forest industry, the govern- Ment step in with an effective economic transition strategy. Such a strategy, the report says, should include skill- training programs to help workers broaden their employment PP ities, as well as p ion-bridg- ing for older workers whose jobs are at risk and who choose to retire early. Owen is quite emphatic on that point: gent regulations than in the Use Areas. In the West Kootenays, nearly 19 per cent of the region would be in the Special Management Area category; in the East Kootenays, only 12. 3 per cent. The lower figure is due to the fact that more g should not adopt this Plan without a solid commitment to this transition strategy, which is designed to neither the East Kootenay table nor CORE committed itself is the lower Cammin ns River. Although hailed by environmentalists as having great potential as a protected area, the CORE report says its future use should be left to a special “Community Adj C i to be ished in Golden. The lower Cummins is a largely undis- turbed watershed which has never been logged and contains large volumes of old- growth timber, considered of high value to the forest industry in Golden. There are similar areas of concern in the West Kootenays, but judging from the eventual resolution of Problems Taised by the two previous reports, I have no doubt that the two Kootenay land use plans will, in the end, be implemented in some form or other. Say what you will about the CORE Process, it has, so far, provided British ensure no net loss of jobs as well as pro- vide significant opportunities for increased : employment. One of the areas on whose future use tu bia with sol to song: mering land use disputes while, at the Same time, providing fairly solid recom- mendations to offset the impact of their implementation. Fire Dept, “It doesn't take a very smart person to realize that all the monies earned by both the com- panies and employees are not in the er to any of our many local businesses. It's not just myself or the many local tion of this money is coming from our provincial government by way of low-interest loans and grants and from future export of hydro power. I hope I have created mass insomnia for the business com- munity and our local MP and MLAs. And while you're all awake, maybe voice your con- cerns and enact our legislated country were robbed of in Sask very to live in one of the and again in B.C.. Sorokin tried to find a place to relocate these people, but all his managed to convince Judge Evans to arrange for the purchase of 233 acres near Krestova for the purpose of homesteads and gardens for people returning from Agassiz—people who had sacri- ficed a great deal to uphold their principle against the private own- ership of land. The land was held by four trustees, and each family who built homes and lived on the land agreed that New finest countries of the world. Our beef is mainly with a few minor 1 politici rl NOW DOES RADIATORS local hire policies. Maybe we could all use a good night's sleep soon. In clos- ing, I would encourage all our tired and concerned locals to Phone your MP and MLAs and voice your concerns. Ray Fraser A MATTER OF j HIGHER INTEREST T-Bill | “Sn | Bond 9.36% 6.60% | 2228 | 9.71h Rates as of October 31, 1994 and are - URNS soup of Companies For detalls cal 1-800-416-2882 Anyone can see that it was not the tax money that the govern- ment was after when they took action against residents of the New Settlement. They spent far more on this show of force than they could ever recover from New Settlement taxes. As for the “hardship” of accepting welfare checques, old age security and child tax bene- fits; it should be noted that we helped build this country and land was not to be bought or sold. Now the authorities have man- aged to split the community (divide and conquer) and are making their final attempt to assimilate the remaining few, with the help of those thetthe- chairman of the KCIR managed to break away from the leader- ship and to use for his final goal. ..“to make one - I have no ill feeling about Cana- da. It is a good country, founded on the princi the y all the money for these credits, just the same as other Canadians. All we ask is to be left alone to live in peace since our requests for a public hearing to resolve our differences have been ignored. » ~Yes, it was a shame torsee the government spend so much money needlessly, but the author- ities obviously think their con- stituents are too dumb to notice the stupidity of the whole thing, and will naturally blame the New of God. We are all Canadians by birth; we love the country and feel Mike Chernenkoff, New Settlement Pryce has a bird Editor: I was surprised and delighted to see a real Blue Jay at my bird bath Friday moming. The Blue Jay is an eastern species that has only recent- ly crossed the divide into B.C.. It is differently colored to our resident black Topknotted Stellar’s Jay; the Blue Jay has a head with a blue top- knot and white cheeks and throat outlined in black. 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