PAGE InNtON S OurWiEWS Adrian RAESIDE Solid waste of time t’s time for the provincial [ecrernment to re-examine its solid waste management plan. B.C. is calling on all communities and districts to reduce their solid waste by 30 per cent in 1995 and 50 per cent in 2000. On paper, the plan is an honest attempt to gain the upper hand on the plenty wasteful habits of British Columbians. Putting the plan into action, however, is quite another matter. The provincial government’s blanket legislation is more trouble than it’s worth. Just look at the Regional District of Central Kootenay. Chair George Cady is livid that the provincial government is forcing its solid waste initiatives down the RDCK’s throat. And he has every reason to be upset. The legislation as proposed by the provincial government is far too radical and expensive for an area like the RDCK which lacks any semblance of an infrastructure needed to combat our solid waste woes. The RDCK is willing to take on the province’s plan, in time. When you consider that the only recycling depot in an area as vast as the RDCK is in Nelson, how can the government expect this region to embrace its initiative. If the government is serious about its solid waste plan it must provide backwoods regions like ours with the financial incentives needed to make It’s time to tie up some Of reunions, Ron and recycling listen and he had a pretty loose ends. And Ill start with my 10- year graduation reunion. You remember that one don’t you? Yah, I whined and complained that the whole thing was going to be as stuffy as an afternoon with the White Rock Lawn Bowling Club. Boy was I wrong. I have to give credit to the Geogres P. Vanier Class of 82 for keeping their feet on Harrison Comparison powerful message to deliver. The quiet, former principal spoke of Canadian unity and the need to support it. One quote sums up Schelink’s entire speech: “It’s our country and we must do everything we can to protect it.” Right on, Hank. eee Is it me, or is Ron Norman taking a lot of the ground during the past 10 years. Even the turnout was amazing as 274 of 365 graduates returned to Courtenay to fill in the gaps from years gone by. ; The highlight of the whole reunion for me came when our former high school principal Hank Schelink gave his speech during the Saturday banquet. I never really listened to Schelink that much during our assemblies because his monotone voice the environmental grade. lulled me to sleep, but this time I decided to time off these days? Perhaps he’s preparing his run for city council — after all, a lot of people seem interested in having his name put on the ballot for the Oct. 17 byelection. I would hate to start that rumor, though, because Mr. Happy-Go-Lucky has already told me he’d rather give birth than run for a city council seat. Cat, please see HARRISON page7 Mary Ann Fullerton Circulation Manager Burt Campbell Publisher Emeritus LV. Campbell Aug. 7, 1947- Feb. 15, 1973 | Streef TALK — Nedda Kinakin Castlegar “I agree with it. It’s time they got a new one.” Question: What do you think of the proposal t = © build a new RCMP building? Louise Kooznetsoff Castlegar “It’s modernization. If it’s good for the city it’s good.” Darryl Sommerville Ootischenia “They should be looking at adding on to what they have.” Art Jonasson Sonja Hawkins Castlegar Castlegar “| think it’s too much money to spend.” “Well it’s necessary. As long as they don’t get to elaborate.” @ Saturday, September 19, 1992 Other VIEWS : Please address all letters to: Letters to the Editor Castlegar News P.O. Box 3007 Castlegar, B.C. V1N 3H4 or deliver them to 197 Columbia Ave. 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 anonymously. Even in those cases, the name, address and phone number of the writer MUST be disclosed to the editor. The News reserves the right to edit letters for brevity, clarity, legality, grammar and taste. Letters ioWHE EDITOR Cross-Canada journey well worth our time MONTREAL — Following our last report from Charlottetown at the end of July, we moved on to Halifax where we met with Premier Donald Cameron at the Nova Scotia Legislature on Aug. 6. Cameron is in person exactly as he appears on television — low-key, even bland, but engagingly hospitable in his own non-repossessing style. He told us, among other things, that he thought that what we were doing was important and that he would remind the other premiers of our project. At the time, he was quite cautious about the chances of an agreement. With this endorsement we struck out for the final destination of our odyssey: Premier Robert Bourassa and Quebec. In total, we spent six weeks travelling throughout the province displaying wherever we went the six foot signs on both sides of our motorhome — “Our Canada Includes Quebec/Notre Canada Comprend Le Quebec.” It is a message of friendship to the people of Quebec. By the way, we estimate that in excess of 100,000 Canadians in all parts of the country have seen our signs since they were placed on our motorhome in May before we left Castlegar. Sovereignist Encounter Included among these people are some 1,500 nationalist Quebecois attending the first rally organized by sovereignists to oppose the constitutional referendum. It was headlined by Jacques Parizeau and Lucien Bouchard. While we were visiting the Lac St. Jean- Saguenay area, renowned as the most “separatist” part of Quebec. We decided to beard the lion in her den by attending this rally, parking our motorhome in front of the hall where most participants could see our signs clearly. The meeting itself was a watershed experience for us since we found ourselves among, in a sense, kindred sprits. That is, people passionate about their nationalistic politics.It is important to add that everyone was extremely nice to us, (we were the only anglophones in the crowd). Even Lucien Bouchard, who might have been considered as “the enemy”, took a few minutes to talk to us (and predict that B.C. would turn down the referendum). In fact, throughout our travels in Quebec, we experienced not a single incident of hostility (alas, this was not always the case in English Canada). It is interesting to note Kiwanis Canada Unity Tour The KETCHUMS that since the announcement of the accord and the upcoming referendum, more Quebecois expressed their support for our message. Meeting the Quebec Premier Arranging a meeting with Premier Bourassa required some patience and a great deal of persistence beginning with a letter explaining our project followed by 15 telephone calls over a three-week period. The difficulty was the immense demands on Premier Bourassa’s time during this period, particularly with constitutional negotiations. When it finally became possible to schedule a meeting on Friday, Sept. 4, it proved to be very much worth the effort, for Monsieur Bourassa was most gracious during our private meeting with him in the historic “Assemblee National” building in Quebec City. We told him that we had brought a message of friendship for Quebec originating in Western Canada, but supported by Canadians from all other parts of Canada as well. As he examined our banner signed by the nine other premiers, he remarked “these people whose signatures I see on your banner are now all my friends.” We have spent a great deal of time together recently”. When we asked him what message he would like us to take back to Western Canada, he immediately responded “remind, everyone of the deep sense of disappointment and rejection Quebecers felt after the failure of the Meech lake Accord.” New Perspective on Quebec This bitter memory echoed throughout our stay in Quebec and is part of a new perspective we have on the role of Quebec in Canada which can best be summed up this way: Anyone who still believes that “Le Quebec est une Province comme les autres” is part of the problem and not part of the solution. Looking ahead to the referendum, it’s important to understand that helping Quebec achieve its legitimate aspirations within the Canadian context poses no threat to English Canada and indeed enriches us as a country. The constitutional provisions which address the concerns of Quebec about their survival as a culture of 6,000,000 French-speakers among 270 million English-speaking North Americans are really minimal. As the final phase of our project we spent some time in the Montreal area where we presented the “People’s Banners” signed by thousands of Canadians from every corner of the country to the Montreal-St. Georges Kiwanis Club as a gesture of friendship to Quebec. This message, of course, driginated in Castlegar, in co-operation with the Castlegar Kiwanis Club. Mission Accomplished Apart from getting home safely, our major objectives have now been realized and we have begun getting nostalgic about the West Kootenay. By the time we return to Castlegar in early October, we shall have: © Covered 22,000 kilometres since our departure in June. ¢ Met with 10 provincial premiers individually and obtained their signatures for support on our “Premiers’ Banner” (which we have decided to retain as an historical document). * Collected 90 square feet of signatures on our “People’s Banner” and presented it to a Montreal Kiwanis Club. . © Discussed the subject of Canada with thousands of people across the country, in parking lots, campgrounds or anywhere the signs on our motorhome attracted attention. ¢ Lived close to the centre of Canadian history in the making as events unfolded during he summer of 1992. * Conducted over 60 media interviews with journalists from newspapers, radio and television. ¢ Spoke to Kiwanis Clubs across the country including communities such as Kelowna, North Battleford, Brockville, Charlottetown and Granby. As a final word, our thanks again for the co-operation of the Castlegar Kiwanis Club. Harrison continued from page 6 With that in mind, I sure wish more people would toss their hats in the ring. So far, Walter Flux is the only person to put his name up for the seat vacated by Marilyn Mathieson. Vice president of the Coalition Unaccepting Rash Bureaucracy, Flux is an excellent choice. Sure, he huffs and puffs a lot, but his heart’s in the right place and that’s my determining factor when it comes to any level of government. I wish the Billboard Boy luck in his first run at municipal office, as I will the other candidates when they take a step forward. Moving on to recycling, boy do I feel stupid. aa Some three weeks ago I wrote a column saying I had jumped on the recycling bandwagon and I have. I also invited other recycling neophytes to join me in my quest for respectability. All they needed to do was give me a call and say “T’m with ya Scott.” Sadly, no one has called to take a kick at the recycling can. De- spite that, I kept my word, sorting colors from whites and pop cans from plastics. Two weeks into my recycling venture, I must admit that it as hardly as difficult as I originally thought. Bothersome, yes. Diffi- cult, no. eee Is there something about the West Kootenay that has suddenly become attractive to provincial politicians? Think about it, ever since the B.C. Legislature closed for the summer session, provincial ~ politicians have been flocking to our corner of the world. It started with Doug Symons, Liberal Edu- cation Critic, and then Liberal leader Gordon Wilson. Trying to rationalize her inef- fectiveness as Health Minister, Elizabeth Cull popped up to the West Kootenay last week to meet with separate medias. That was followed this week by a visit from Socred leader Jack Weisgerber. It makes me wonder if Victoria has finally decided to pay atten- tion to those things that happen outside the Lower Mainland.