OPINION
Castlégar News

PAGE A4, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1990

MEMBER OF THE B.C. PRESS COUNCIL
ESTABLISHED AUGUST 7, 1947 TWICE WEEKLY MAY 4, 1980
q 12,

HE MID-WEEK
LV. CAMPBELL — PUBLISHER, AUGUST 7, 1947-FEBRUARY 15, 1973
PUBLISHER — Burt Campbell
EDITOR — Simon Birch
PLANT FOREMAN — Peter Harvey
ADVERTISING MANAGER — Wayne Stolz
OFFICE MANAGER — Linda Kositsin

CIRCULATION MANAGER — Heat!

EDITORIAL

Elections results
hard to figure

The winds of change blew through Castlegar city council in
Saturday’s municipal election.

Three of the six aldermen who sat around the council table last
term won’t be back. One., Ald. Terry Rogers, chose not to run again,
but two incumbents, Ald. Albert Calderbank and Ald. Patti Richar-
ds, were not re-elected.

And another, Ald. Doreen Smecher, barely squeaked in.

The question is why and it’s a difficult one to answer, especially
when other incumbents such as Marilyn Mathieson and Lawrence
Chernoff, who topped the polls, were easily re-elected.

Obviously, many voters felt it’s time for a change, but pinpoint-
ing why aldermen Calderbank, Richards and, to some extent, Ald.
Smecher, felt the wrath of the voters is hard to pinpoint.

One thing Mrs. Mathieson had going for her is her hard work,
much of which is behind the scenes on projects which don’t get a lot
of attention in the media, such as health issues.

On the other extreme is Mr. Chernoff, who ‘is not afraid to speak
his mind on controversial issues such as the removal of air traffic con-
trollers from Castlegar Airport.

That’s not to say Mrs. Mathieson is afraid to say what’s on her
mind or Mr. Chernoff doesn’t work hard behind the scenes. It’s sim-
ply to point out a contrast in styles which, consciously or not, seem to
have worked with the voters.

If nothing else, Saturday’s election proves one thing — there are
no guarantees in politics. No doubt that’s small consolation for

JST 27, 1980

idiey

aldermen Calderbank and Richards.

VIEWPOINT

Don't rule out
another Tory win

By JIM COYLE

OTTAWA — The Berlin Wall fell.
The Oakland Athletics were swept
David Peterson lost.

If anything is clear in the waning
years of this millennium, it’s that
anything can happen, punditry is a
mug’s game, and most bets are off.

Which brings us to Prime Minister
Brian Mulroney, his government’s
popularity rating of 15 per cent and
the second anniversary today of his
1988 re-election.

At roughly the midpoint of his
second majority government,
Mulroney_seems—to—have dug a_pit
from which he can't possibly
emerge.

After Meech Lake, free trade, the
goods and services tax, Senate
stacking, Oka, the Persian Gulf, a
made-in-Canada_ recession,
clawbacks and Via Rail, can he win
again?

Many political observers are loath
to rule it out.

“It certainly is not over for Brian
Mulroney,” says Winnipeg pollster
Angus Reid. '‘He has shown tenacity
and ability to come back.

“But he certainly has a lot of
problems right now.””

As anniversaries go, this one
brings little for Mulroney to
celebrate, says David Bercuson,
University of Calgary political
analyst.

“He can take solace in the fact
that he has a maximum of three
more years to turn it around. I don’t
think he can take solace in much
else.

“But he’s a very skilled politician.
He has a very strong survivability.”’

Analysts hang the prospects for
Tory success on economic recovery
and national unity.

On the economic front, some say,
Mulroney may yet get to say “1 told
you so,” if free trade and the GST
succeed.

And-he may, others believe, be the
only option for keeping the country
intact.

Reid says Mulroney’s future
depends mainly on the economy.

“If we go into a deep two-year or
three-year recession, then it’s going
to be very difficult for him to escape
alive

“If the economy shows some
recovery, the prime minister may be
able to look out and say, ‘Look what
I did.’ "*

Bercuson says that, after the
Spicer commission on the country’s
future finishes its work, Canadians
may turn to-Mulroney ‘‘as the only
man who can keep it all together.

“There’s a very strong possibility
that that is what he will win the next
election on.

“I think the majority of Quebecers
are going to come down on the side
of Meech II and Mulroney will turn
around and try to sell Meech II to
the-rest of Canada as Canada’s last
chance. He may well succeed."”

For someone with so many
problems, Mulroney has faced
minimal mutiny from his caucus.

“They've jearned a few lessons,’’
says Michael Behiels, dean of history
at the University of Ottawa.

““Fhey're-not_going to get Overly
panicked with the polls between elec-_
tions now. They know that the last
month or two months is really where
it’s at.””

In fact, Conservatives were
relatively satisfied with Mulroney’s
recent travels in the country.

He was showered with obscenities,
pelted with macaroni and implored
to resign. But the protests were often
smaller and quieter than expected.

Still, Behiels says the Tories should
beware

“Canadians are not the type that
go. out and protest in any kind of
overt fashion,” he says. ‘Like David
Peterson discovered, the general
public in Ontario did not think they
had to go out and scream and
holler. They just said, ‘Give me the
ballot and I'll tell you how I feel.’ *’

Mulroney is banking that the
alternatives, once ballots are in hand,
will be uninspiring.

Liberal Leader Jean Chretien,
rusty since his leadership win in
June, watches his popularity plum-
met. NDP Leader Audrey
McLaughlin, since taking over her
party almost a year ago, finds herself
rated as the most popular leader and
her party favored by Canadians.

Bercuson, for one, doesn’t expect
that to last.

“That’s become almost traditional
now that the New Democrats rise in
the middie of a term. We're not
going to see an NDP federal gover-
nment in this country for a long,
long time, if ever.””

Linda Dyer, president of the
Fredericton polling firm Baseline
Market Research Ltd., sees no sign
of improving Tory fortunes in the
East.

“It’s certainly not here in this
region,” she says. “The public feels
that the fundamental direction the
Mulroney government is going is not
where they want to go.""

Jim Coyle writes for The Canadian
Press.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

U.S. anthem OK

Only in Castlegar, you say!

Mr. (Mickey) Kinakin’s concern about the
playing of The Star Spangled Banner at Sunday's
Remembrance Day ceremony because of the
behavior of Americans during the War of 1812 is
perhaps valid, but awfully belated.

Granted, their burning of York was rude,
crude, gross, crass and socially immature. To be
fair, however, it should be recalled that the
British (and Canadians, I suppose, although
Canada didn’t exist as a separate entity at the
time) gave as good as they got at Queenston
Heights and went on to properly sack Washington
to such an extent that the Americans had to
rebuild their capitol building. The result of this
was an impressive edifice they painted white and
called, with no great imagination, the White
House.

Mr. Kinakin further appears to have missed a
couple of the events that have taken place since
those unhappy times. Germany, for instance, has
changed from a motley collection of city states to
quite a noticeable power and has, in fact, made
rather a nuisance of herself on a couple of
occasions — so much so indeed that the civilized
world has been collectively forced to slap her
wrists most sharply. Only now is she being
restored to favor. Australia has been settled
(although Burke and Wills didn’t make it, I'm sad
to report) and the North West Passage has been
discovered.

I am pleased to relate that Canada (formed
about a hundred and some-odd years ago) and the
United States haved patched up their differences
and are actually getting along reasonably well.
Over the last 50 years, in fact, Americans have
fought in the Canadian forces (Second World
War), Canadians have fought in the United States
forces (Vietnam) and during both the Second
World War and the Korean conflict, units from
the armed forces of Canada and the United States
fought — and died — side by side.

Mr. Kinakin may not be entirely famitiar- with
these events but they were in all the papers at the
time. As I write, the armed forces of these two
countries stand again together — in company with
the rest of the United Nations — in Saudi Arabia.

Given the events of the last couple of
generations, it seems entirely appropriate that
Americans — and their anthem — should be made

draws a clear line between the cleanup and the
expansion. It says they are two different things. It
says the expansion may possibly have
detrimental effects which go in the opposite
direction of the improvements in pollutio
saying the expansion is a large one, and he’s
telling us that the onus is on Celgar to justify it
and prove that it won't have significant
detrimental effects on this region.

We feel that up until now, the onus has been
on the residents to prove that it will have a
detrimental effect. And throughout the hearings
we have made a powerful case that such impacts
will in fact occur. Judging by all the unknowns
and risks identified by the federal and provincial
government teams, and independent experts,
Celgar certainly has not proved it will not have
detrimental impacts. The experts made it clear
there were serious risks and additional
information and studies were needed.
Susan Hammond
Kootenay Coalition for an E

(well known for her fearmongering
misrepresentation of cancer statistics) as claiming
that the Valhalla Society really doesn’t support the
expansion of the mill at all.

Will the Valhalla Society now fire its lawyer?
Will the lawyer apologize, thereby setting an
example for Ms. Sherrod who a antly refused
to apologize when her i ibl
story was exposed as phoney by Castlegar’s
medical health officer? Can anyone ever believe
anything the Valhalla Society says?

Andy Roberts
Castlegar

Best will win

I’m sure the point of view I'm about to express
will be met with anger and criticism by certain

Assessment Review Process
‘Winlaw

‘ '
A 'whitewash

Given the testimony of Dr. Schindler,
professor of ecology at the University of Alberta,
we don’t see how Celgar can claim ‘‘across-the-

iduals. After all, the truth hurts.

Castlegar is largely @ community lacking in
“future vision. There-have-been-many interesting
projects and ideas offered to the community, but we
huddle together like a flock of nervous birds afraid to
test our wings and fly.

Whatever happened to the malls offered us, the
waterslide, and why do we rely on a certain large

board” support. In indl

pl in the area to dictate to us and set
2 Old shoes are comfortable, but

Celgar’s lawyer asked if the prop: d mill will be
a big improvement on water discharge.

Schindler said as far as it related to dioxin,
yes; but he would have to study the situation more
to see whether there still might be a problem of
accumulation in the environment and in fish. He
also said that he remained concerned about the
other kinds of organochlorines in the discharge.

He had said earlier in his presentation that
many scientists today view poisoning of fish and
birds as general poisoning from all the
organochlorines, and not just dioxin. Schindler
said he favored an approach that said, ‘*Don’t
give us this reduction in AOX of 40 per cent or
whatever it is now, take-more-time and give us nO
AOX.””

Dr. Ken Hall, a professor of environmental
chemistry at UBC, concurred with Dr. Schindledr
in his concern about other organochlorines besides
dioxin.

When the lawyer tried to get a statement from

welcome at our Day as
we should be at theirs. ,

I fully agree that when commemorating
Remembrance Day we should remember history.
All of it.

Xenophobic attitudes were inappropriate 200
years ago; they haven’t improved since then.
George Washinghouse
Castlegar

Different view

An article in the Nov. 7 Castlegar News said
that Celgar’s manager, Mr. Wilf Sweeney, found
it gratifying to see across-the-board support of the
federal and p ial and i ini: ie
and independent experts retained by the Celgar
Expansion Review Panel at the public hearings.

This is not the impression I got from the
hearings at all.

In testimony before the panel, Mr. Dennis
McDonald, regional manager of the Ministry of
Environment, stated:

“We're not going to comment as a ministry
on the size of the mill proposed, other than to say
it’s the company’s responsibility, not the
government's to justify to the panel, the
government, and the general public, that such a
large expansion will not have a significant
detrimental or social impact on the region as a
whole.””

This can be found in the transcripts of the
hearings, Vol. 4, page 1,022. What this means is
that the provincial government did not approve or
disapprove the expansion. Looking over the whole
provincial government presentation, what they
said was that for 10 years they have been trying to
get the various corporate owners of Celgar to put
in a larger recovery boiler and secon
treatment to clean up the company’s pollution.
Now they are finally putting in the best available

Sh and the pi sed will meet
provincial government guidelines.

But Mr. McDonald’s statement quoted above

on the big imp’ in other areas
of pollution, Schindler said, among other. things:
“I'm a little bit suspicious of propaganda.” (page
2,243) And also:

“Frankly, having flown in here yesterday, I
could choose a lot better site for a mill. It reminds
me of Fairbanks, Alaska, where the good people
can live above the cloud and the bad people who
can’t afford to live above the cloud live in the
bottom with all the smog.’ (page 1,244)

The Celgar press statements whitewash
testimony such as this while calling for a rush
decision. This will illustrate our earlier statements
in the press that the issues are much more complex
than Celgar portrays them to be.

Anne Sherrod
Director
The Valhalla Society

Double talk

What kind of duplicious double talk is the
Valhalla Society stooping to now?

‘Appearing before the Celgar (Expansion)
Review Panel on the last day of its public hearings
into the proposed modernization of the Celgar
pulp mill in Castlegar, the lawyer representing the
Valhalla Society, and just about every other
environmental interest group I've heard of in this
area, left no doubt about the environmental
coalition’s conditional support for the cleanup
and expansion of the mill.

The lawyer read a list of conditions that the
environmental coalition wanted attached to
approval of the project, including a specific
proposal that the mill be allowed to expand to
1,000 tonnes a day, not that far short of the 1,200
tonnes Ceigar is seeking. The Vaihalla Society’s
lawyer added, in closing, that all the
environmental groups accepted ‘‘the reality of _
the project proceeding in some form.""

But wait! The Castlegar News on Nov. 10
reported Valhalla Society director Anne Sherrod

eventually they wear out.

We shouldn't be spending all our energy in one
direction, but instead should be exploring alternatives
and be opening new doors.

It’s sad and embarrassing for a community to
be written up in a provincewide publication in a
totally negative view. Adding a few planters
downtown and sweeping the streets more often is
a paltry offering — but it’s a start. Renovation of
this town should start with its most valuable asset
— its citizens

I, for one, am tired of new ideas or innovations
being rhetorically dismissed in our community.

People in this town are afraid of change and
therefore cling to their old and sometimes archaic
ways of thinking, which is non-productive and non-
progressive.

The thought of another newspaper in our town
seems to send some people all aflutter. What’s wrong
with some competition? In the end, the best paper
will win.

Yes, | know the Castlegar News seems like an
old family friend. I myself have invited this friend
into my home twice a week for 14 years.

It’s very simple — if you don’t like what you see
don’t buy it!

“It’s time to wake up Castlegar. You do
yourself a disservice by limiting yourself to ‘‘one
paper, one radio station, one cable company and

Are we seriding out the message to prospective
new investors in our future and community that
we only have room for one of each kind of
service? If we are, then I’m going into business —
publishing a book on ghost towns. Castlegar will
be in it. Its epitath would read something like,
“Died from terminal tunnel-vision.””

Or wait a minute, do we already have one of
those here already?

Karen Kerkhoff
Robson

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 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 only will be Ont
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,
grammar and taste.

=

LOCAL NEWS

Day-care plans presented

By CHERYL CALDERBANK
Staff Writer

The establishment of day-care
centres on all of Selkirk College’s
major campuses could become a
reality if the college’s 25th anniv,
ersary committee gets its wish.

Arlene Dow, chairman of a
day-care sub-committee, told
college board members at their
meeting Tuesday in Castlegar
that the anniversary committee
wants to leave a lasting legacy to
students, staff and the com-
munity by establishing day-care
centres.

Dow fid the committee would
like to @tablish day-care facilities

the college. The committee would
also like to have the commitment
of the college board to establish
day-care facilities on all other
major campuses by the end of the.
year.

She told the board that surveys
have been circulated on the Trail
and Nelson campuses and the
survey is currently being cir-
culated on the Castlegar campus.
Results of the Nelson campus
survey haven't been tabulated
yet. However, in Trail, out of 92
people surveyed, only one person
was opposed to the idea.

The’ survey found that 34
children from the present class

The committee says @ suitable
building located adjacent to the
campus parking lot in Trail is
available for rent.

It adds that three day-care cen-
tres and one secondary school in
Trail have agreed to send letters
of support for the formation of a
Selkirk College day-care centre.

dn Castlegar, the committee
hopes to establish a day-care cen-
tre on campus, which would
mean having a new building con-
structed.

The college boafd has received
letters of support for a campus
day-care centre from the Selkirk
College Faculty A i

ployees Union, Selkirk College
Student Association and the
Student Executive Council at the
Trail campus.

Dow emphasized the importan-
ce of establishing a working
relationship with local day-care
centres.

“We want to work with and
beside them and enhance what
they already give,’’ she said.

She added that the fee struc-
ture would! be at least equal to
what is already established by the
local centres.

‘The day-care committee will
come back to the board with full
survey results and information on

on at least one major campus by.
September 1991 as part of the
25th anniversary celebrations at

require day care — 16 for full-
time care and 18 for after school
care.

Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers
of Canada Local 26, British
Columbia Government Em-

space and funding
sources in hopes of receiving ap-
proval in principle from >the
board. 7

Board

continued from front page
disenfranchises a large segment of
the parents in the school.
“There’s something really fun-
damentally wrong here,"” he said.
The clause provides one all-

strongly disagree over an issue, he
suggested.

Any parent can belong to the
parents group and if a parent objec-
“*Who is to say one parent has the ted to any part of the constitution or
right to speak and another does bylaws his or her right to vote would
not?” have been exercised by voting on the
But Guglielmi told the Castlegar he ined

he or she joins a group and becomes
bound by the rules of that group.
The board defeated a motion to
support the Tarrys parents groups
constitution with Kinakin and board

‘encompassing rule tfiat ignores the

complexity of the situation, Kinakin

said in an interview.
For example,

News the democratic right of each
parent at the school has been
satisfied by the group’s passage of
the constitution and bylaws.

Guglielmi said he agrees with
Kinakin that the rights of an in-
dividual should be respected but an

a couple may individual gives up those rights when

Gordon Turner asking for
their negative votes to be recorded.

‘At an earlier meeting, the board
sent the constitution of the Kinnaird
Junior secondary school parents
group back for reconsideration

Aldermen

continued from front page
very proud to be part of the council.’”

He said he is glad people are willing to give him a
chance and put their faith in someone who has been in
Castlegar for only a few years.

However, Duff is not a newcomer to the workings

the next three years, calling them “exciting times.”’

He said he’s sure the pulp mill project will go ahead
and he favors other smaller projects that are in the plan-
ning stages such as the downtown revitalization
program.

Chapman also has a few projects of his own in

because it ined a similar section
stating only one parent per
household would be allowed to vote
during group meetings.

However, the board has already
endorsed the constitution of the
Stanley Humphries secondary school
parents group which also contains a
similar statement on voting, superin-
tendent of schools Terry Wayling

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of a city council after serving a term on Kimberley coun-
cil before moving to Castlegar. He said knowing the
procedures of council will make his new position *‘a lot
easier.”

Bob Pakula, a sawyer at Westar sawmill, said his
win shows people are looking for a bit of a change.

“I hope we can give it to them.””

He said the ed ion and
of the Ceigar pulp-mill, which is under review by a
federakprovincial panel, is a top concern for him right

now.
Writer Jim Chapman said e's looking-forward-to

mind. He said he’d like to see an ethnic music festival
established in Castlegar and a revival of the beautiful
gardens that used to grace the city.

But he said he will be a “‘team player’ and hopes
the aldermen can work together.

Incumbent Lawrence Chernoff, who garnered the
greatest number of votes Saturday, said he appreciates
the support he has received from the community but he
never expected to do so well.

He said that if people wanted a change, they got it.
Chernoff said he plans to continue with the work he has

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said

Wayling said the legal opinion the
school district has received so far in-
dicates the board doesn’t have the
right to disapprove of a parents
group’s constitution or demand
changes.

Wayling said the board has sup-
ported five parents advisory council
constitutions so far, including that of

the Stanley Humphries parents

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