ee | : popes OPINION | 7 \ iy Hi TE: sy. r : \ i e HP it Castlegar News ) i \Y | AEs ne belt PAGE A4, SATURDAY, JULY 28, 1990 ne HH iM ALL PRICES SLASHED TO SELL Castlegar MEMBER OF THE 8.C. PRESS COUNCH. ESTABLISHED AUGUST 7, 1947 TWICE WEEKLY MAY 4.8980 12, * Playmor Junction © Voykin Subdivision * 9th Avenue So * Ootischenia LV. CAMPBELL — PUBLISHER, AUGUST 7, 1947-FEBRUARY 18, 1973 : y/ Y 2% : f ite le date Ute al Hat iat i it vagld : it stil iran giSexhs gliee Fee si! ig tial + dil i a fat THT ij i! i i ial Hila ‘li! fi Hi ile! ial | Ren ie PUBLISHER — Burt Campbelt rut eaten ee Lf bij | — fl ht idle ae ‘a | ae nati ii i Lari et gt MANAGER — Linda Kositsin ee ateplets| feasccceeceee os #3. OFFICE loosest’ CIRCULATION MANAGER — Heather Hadley << EDITORIAL Why take chance on dioxin rules? The fact that some American scientists now believe the danger of dioxin is far less than previously believed is an opening through which we expect some polluting industries — and probably some governments — will try to sneak in an effort to avoid costly measures to clean up the envroomant. Washi P Y y Before jumping to conclusions, those reading the Washington Post story (see page C1) about the re-evaluation of the cancer- causing pot- me ential of dioxin are advised to take a close look at what it has to say. For one thing, the re-evaluation is not complete and even those scientists leading the r ion stress that dioxin is far from benign and so ede LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Even though one scientist, a toxicology and risk evaluation adviser with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — one of the growing ile ie rch t Hid i eit l ty ita Re ae ae ile an et sede Mi Li 7 ; isnt er esceeee Boi oe e e 4 fasseihietaceccseee ae ei priest "Ht airs number of scientists pushing for more relaxed standards for dioxin — says the present levels of the chemical ‘‘should not be of particular con- cern,”’ she qualifies her position with a pertinent statement: bat! certainly wouldn’t want to get more of this stuff into the en- vironment,”’ she said. Nevertheless, because dioxin is already pervasive in the environ- ment and because some scientists now believe it is a tow level car- cinogenS$he conclusion is that millions of dollars are being wasted trying to eliminate dioxin from the environment. The story notes that Canada, Australia and a number of European countries have estimated that dioxin remains safe at levels hundreds of times higher than the EPA estimates. However, what the story overlooks is the fact that dioxin is bioac- cumulative. That is, once in the food chain it doesn’t break down, so low levels of dioxin emissions can build up in fish, plants and animals — in- cluding humans — over the years. If standards are relaxed and the amount of dioxin currently emit- ted into the environment is allowed to continue or is only slightly reduced, humans exposed to the chemical will continue to absorb it. Even if dioxin proves to be ‘‘just”’ a low level carcinogen, we'd rather not be exposed to it. Therefore, it seems to us that other countries — including Canada — should be eyeing the stringent American standards rather than the other way around. Five, 10 or 20 years from now we don’t want to hear scientists say, “Oops, we were right in the first place.’ As Mark Floegel, an official with Greenpeace, says, ‘‘The only ac- ceptable standard for dioxin is zero.”” We agree. Why take the chance? Throw out Tories It is time to throw out the Conservative government in Ottawa. The Tories have not lived up to their mandate to bring down the deficit. Instead, they are throwing money around like it was going out of style. They have lost the confidence of small business who are going to be hurt by the goods and services tax, by labor, who see its gain of the past being eroded, by the French Canadians, who are dissatisfied by our system of government, and by the first nations, the Indians and Inuit. The latter are Canadian and what are the Conservatives doing to protect them from Quebec? Now, as never before, they want their lands Protected. All this furore (in Oka, Que.) over a golf course expansion into land that belongs to natives. Since French Canadians want to govern themselves they have no right to govern the Indians and Inuit or take their lands away. The new Parti Quebecois wants its own armed forces. Why? Leila M. Nixon Nelson Feeling despair Attention loggers and others paying high VIEWPOINT Workers C. rates. Are you under the impression that the Workers Compensation Board will be supportive and retrain you in the event of a serious injury that prevents you from returning to your former type of employment? I lost most of my right arm function in a take career through Canada Manpower, set goals and it would fund a retraining program and cover the cost of relocating from Salmon Arm. After achieving my academic Grade 12 level, | was accepted into a forestry program at Selkirk College. The WCB started pressuring me to find funding from other sources as it suddenly decided it would only pay for one year of the two-year program. The WCB paid for my trip to this college for an interview and a deposit was required to hold a space for me at the college. My wife and I then purchased a mobile home in Castlegar as no rentals were available. After holding our life on a thread for months, James Watson, manager of rehabilitation for the WCB in Richmond, called for my wife and I to fr ion to realize our goal, which was our silver lining on a dark cloud. Here we are, now in Castlegar, and thie WCB is trying to worm its way out of its commitment to this retraining program. Words cannot express the despair we are enduring. We plead only for cooperation i in our ae of b inga , i ng family ‘My family would like you to speak out against the atrocity by forwarding your views to your MLA and to the WCB. The contact person is James Watson and my claim number is NC87260064. The toll-free phone number is 1-800-972-9972. Gerr y Goodman Castlegar meet with him eight days before the i Geadiine. He apologized profusely for the Workers Board mi and iving us, ie retraining is not on the agenda for us at this time. Career assessment was to be done by the WCB and it would choose whatever retraining necessary to suit its needs. The WCB had cancelled the agreement with the moving company three days before speaking to us and we had to be out of our home in eight days. It was impossible on such short notice to find another moving agency for the July 1 weekend. Due to pressure from available sources, the WCB authorized the move by the original moving company. My wife deserves a medal for her selfless struggle caring for three children and living in the waiting room of the intensive care unit while I was in a coma for a month. Their love and support nursed me from near death through a year of Please address all letters to the editor to: Letters to the Editor, Castlegar News, P.O. Box 3007, Castlegar, B.C. VIN 3H4, or deliver them to our office at 197 Columbia Ave. in Castlegar. 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. and 5 p.m. The writer's name and city or town of residence only will be published. Only in exceptional cases will letters be published without the writer's name. Nevertheless, the name, address and telephone number of the writer MUST be disclosed to the editor. The Castlegar News reserves the right to edit letters for brevity, clarity, legality, Monday, July 30 through to Sunday, August 5 News Supplement to the Castlegar News > gar e of Saturday, July 28, 1990 Castl joyager’) jomic-bomb attack in “Hiroshima: Out of the Ashes coping with the aftermath of the first at Monday, Aug. 6, on NBC. ,Max von Sydow stars as a German Jesuit * (‘The Greatest ‘Show on Earth”) 110 @ SHOWBIZ THIS @ KEEP IT IN THE Fa. WEEK 1:30 @ SHOP AT HOME lu eacelesecte @ SIMON IN THE LAND OF CHALK DRAWINGS @ ALE PREVIEW 3:30 @ BODIES IN MOTION @ AWA CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING (FRI) @ DENNIS THE MENACE $147 Carl's Drugs Castleaird Plaza Information act causes ruckus @ SIMPSONS © APPLIANCE NEEDS SALES & SERVICE 1008 Columbia Ave., Castlegar SEE US FOR ALL YOUR logging accident two and a half years ago. The unrelenting pain. My family restructured their lives grammar and taste. WCB encouraged me to immediately upgrade my to accommodate hundreds of hours of study and TANAMERA LION OF EXCITING WORLD OF SPEED AND BEAUTY ‘Leap of Faith”) 5 ‘TWIN PEAKS MOVIE rker Kane") LOUISIANA © PERFORMANCE! SINGAPORE © MOVIE * (Earth’Star V @ CIRCUS FESTIVAL OF @ BILL DANCE our. @ SPORTSDESK O @ CREW OF THE ENOLA Doors 18 BIGGER THAN A CAD- £:00 @ @ MURDER, SHE WROTE @ @ AMERICA’S FUNNI- 6:05 @ GOODWILL GAMES CONTINUE @ NATIONAL AUDUBON @ OXFORD SCIENTIFIC @ MAGICAL WORLD OF SOCIETY SPECIALS. DISNEY @ GENERATION GAP ews @ LIFE GOES OND MONTE CARLO @ IT |S WRITTEN @ CRICKETS — Monday, July 30 through to Sunday, August 5 CASTLEGAR PLUMBING & HEATING Maun Ie Mee vette Se etre Old-g rowth forests protected to get the names of new Collingwood _ spirit of open exchange of infor- residents for her Welcome Wagon Newcomers Club from the local public utility commission the way she has for 21 years. Not unless Tim Fryer, the com- mission’s manager of finance, asks the new neighbors if he can release their names and addresses. But collection agencies will still be able to use the utility commission to track down delinquent ratepayers. “That's silly,"” Aldridge said in disgust in a telephone interview from Collingwood, a popular ski and summer resort town of 12,500 in south-central Ontario. Silly or not, the provincial Municipal Freedom of Inf mation.”’ The effect on welcome wagons is only one of the quirks of the new bill. A few of the others: ¢ Under some circumstances, police may be able to withhold the name of a person accused of a crime, a witness to a crime or a victim of a crime. The government is working on guidelines which should be available this fall. * Police forces will be able to give criminals a list of their crimes, in case they’ ve forgotten. ¢ If an individual didn’t like something in a personal file kept by any municipal board, he can write a i: to be in- Act that takes effect Jan. 1, 1991, considers a person’s name and ad- dress private — unless a bill collector asks. The act, known as Bill 49, extends the Ontario Freedom of Information and Privacy Act — which has covered 300 provincial government ministries and agencies since 1988 — to 3,000 municipal government agencies. Only Quebec has similar legislation. Bill 49 means local utilities will be faced with more time-consuming papetwork if they want to help groups like Aldridge’ s, “Technically, you're to of cluded in the file. © Taxpayers can find out why a city council turned down a request for a stop sign at a corner or raised water bills. By the Ministry of Parks British Columbia possesses some of the best old-growth temperate rain- forest in the world. The size and longevity of its trees have captured the public’s interest and imagiriation, both across the Province and around the world. We all are clearly aware that, if logging continues on its present course, much of the coastal old-growth will be gone within 15 to 25 years. As this realization has grown, so too has the of old-growth forests. Foresters estimate that about 2,570,850 hec- tares of trees of sufficient size and ac- cessibility (operable forests) still stand outside of parks at present. Thus, B.C."'s provincial parks and ecological reserves provide protection for five per cent of the coastal operable old- growth forests. The largest area of protected old growth occurs within Strathcona Park which retains 47,600 hectares, or 24 Per cent of its area, as this forest type. public demand for the establi of old-growth can of more protected areas of old-growth forests. The provincial parks and ecological reserves of British Columbia make an important contribution toward the Protection of old growth. Coastal parks and ecological reserves encom- Pass approximately 135,900 hectares For example, tiny remnants of original Douglas fir receive protection in MacMillan Park and Nimpkish Island Ecological Reserve. More of this forest type should be protected. Unfortunately, very little remains, making the task much more difficult. Good examples of western red cedar and yellow cedar forests also continue to be und . In light of hectares, Tweedsmuir Provincial Park encompasses seven of the 14 major plant communities and one- half of all naturally occurring plant species in British Columbia. Wells Gray, on the other hand, boasts of over 130 plants with breathtaking alpine floral displays in the Trophy Mountains. Other superb alpine and flower shows can be ex- these gaps, B.C. Parks is working with the Ministry of Forests, forest companies and public interest groups to identify additional areas for also be found in T ir, Cape Scott, Gi ix and i as as i parks and well as near the coast in Manning. Despite the contribution made by B.C."s provincial parks and ecological reserves toward the protection of coastal old growth, several gaps remain. ical reserves. Old-growth forests, whether coastal or interior, however, only make up a small component of the plant communities protected by B.C."s provincial parks and ecological reserves. Covering almost one million perienced at Mount Assiniboine, Manning and Cathedral Parks. B.C. Parks recognizes its respon- sibility to protect and maintain these plant communities. Throughout the Provincial park system, management attempts to follow the principle of y. Guided by this principle, management seeks to allow vegetation to naturally evolve while protecting wildlife habitat and recreation values. Sections of the act concerning police forces are already - sial. People need to know the names of those charged with crimes so they can hold police accountable for the fair application of the law, says Alan Borovoy, a lawyer for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. “The decision to prosecute have a written confirmation each time someone contacts us (for infor- mation),”’ Fryer says. The act is designed to give people more consistent rights, says Ann Cavoukian, Ontario's assistant in- formation commissioner. But it might juggle the right to more information about local gover- nment, a person's right to infor- mation on file about him or her, and the right to privacy. It also gives people a right of appeal if they don’t like the answer they get when they.ask for information. “Up until now, I think the tenden- cy has been — if you're not sure, an he said. “If you have to wait until convic- tions are ultimately registered, you * wouldn’t know who didn’t get Prosecuted. It would also enable corrupt officials to cover up."’ But others argue that People acquit- ted after being charged would be saved embarrassment if their names were never released For example, a public school prin- cipal would have been spared the humiliation he suffered when he was accused of sexual assault if police hadn't released his name to the media, says Patti Grand, a school trustee in nearby York region Post leaves businesses in dark By TERRY O'SHAUGHNESSY (Canadian Federation of Independent Business On the surface, it would appear that it’s business as usual at the post office this summer. Colorful postcards of beaches and mountains and other ~ tourist destinations are busy travelling back and forth across the country among the usual batch of bills, letters and junk mail. Even the posties them- selves are adding a festive air to the i in their new shirts. It’s summer time and, at the Post office, the living looks easy. But, of course, much must be going on behind the scenes. For one thing, Canada Post’s annual announcement of new rates, a regular feature of the dog days of summer, has hot been seen yet. And there has been vir- tually no information released about how the proposed seven per cent goods and services-tax is going to af- fect post_office rates and services if and. when the GST is implemented Gan. 1, 1991 is the scheduled im- plementation date of the hotly con- tentious tax). What is certain is that the price of a stamp will definitely be affected by the seven per cent GST. But when and how the tax will apply is anyone's guess at the moment. And when the Canadian Federation of Independent Business requested some answers on how the so-called ‘‘consumer savings’ were to be passed on to the public via the GST, the response was far from clear. Canada Post’s delay of the new rates has already started to create problems for small businesses, said Bill Parsons, CFIB’s director of national affairs. “It’s very difficult for small- business owners to plan ahead when they don’t know what the new Postal rates will be or how the proposed GST will effect those new rates. Further delay of the announcement means even more confusion as businesses try to guess what the projected cost of Postal service will be, post-GST,”’ Parsons said. Just about the only thing we've heard this summer from the folks at Canada Post concerns the new service called ‘‘Confirmation Post."’ For an extra 90 cents (on top of the price of the stamp) customers can now con- firm what the 39-cent stamp promises — to deliver the mail properly. The extra 90 cents entitles any customers to phone a ‘‘toll-free’’ number one day after the letter was to have been delivered to discover whether it reached a letter carrier. The service does not guarantee that the letter has been delivered, it simply ensures the customer that the letter has reached the appropriate mail bag. Small-bu3iness owners across the country are either howling with laughter or raging at the absurdity of this latest gimmick: charging extra to ensure that a paid-for service was ac- tually performed seems to point to a question within Canada Post itself as to the adequacy of its service. As the owner of any small business can tell you: healthy competition guarantees a superior product — something Canada Post has never had to deal with. FOR UNLICENCED STORAGE INSURANCE @ AMERICAN, SPORTS @ WOMEN’S TENNIS @ MEETING PLACE @ CHABOT SOLO rd MERCHANT OF VEN- E DAY 12:00 @ CBS SPORTS SUN. @ TRUCKS AND TRAC- TOR POWER @ HOUSE OF FRIGHTEN. THE MENU PARSLEY AND @ NEWS UPDATE @ SUNDAY MASS os Seeter Hiiitie @ YOU CAN'T DO THAT f8® ("North to Alaska") @ WALL STREET WEEK saith rr Ht He i ggoaece WORLD CHRONICLES MOVIE ## ("The Return of the @ INSIDE WINSTON CUP RACING BAL TRAILS @ AUSTRALIAN RULES FOOTBALL @ REVUE @ INSIDE WINSTON CUP rH @ CRUSADE IN THE PA. @ EXCITING WORLD OF CIFIC @ NEWSwATCH HOUR 2:30 @ JUMP OVER THE ‘MOON @ movie weer (The CORATING TODAY ## ("The Legend of the Lone Ranger’) @ TRAVEL MAGAZINE @ AUTO RACING @ BELLE Ano seBas- @owuvo