The Castlegar Sun Wednesday, March 24, 1993 Letters to the Editor There's two sides to every story — even when it comes to Saint Patrick! Dear Editor: bonfire, the village people celebrated the returning I am writing’to comment on Karen Kerkhoff's ~ of life to their lands, By tradition, no one could by emphasizing that light their Bel-fire until the High King (who was ih. As Karen points also the religious leader) had lit the fire atop Tara hter are a joy to all people Hill. In 433 A.D., fully understanding the implica- the priest's life is accurate as tions of his act and the effect it would have on the People, Patrick lit a fire atop Slane Hill, only ten miles from Tara, before the high King Laoghaire 1it his. In this one dramatic act, Patrick symbolically usurped the role of spiritual leader. Those who Page 7A WEDNESDAY, March 24, 1993 OPINION NUZ The Gast! idar Sun Zi e PUBLISHER MARILYN STRONG SHARLENE IMHOFF CATHERINE ROSS EDITOR ADVERTISING REP. Construction workers thanked for local library Support Dear Editor the books and library materials’ Public Library would like, once The following is an open letter that you have borrowed from us again, to thank you very much and £0 contractors and their employ During the time you have been to wish you and your families the ees working on the Celgar Pulp with us you have all contributed best of good luck in the future. Limited Mode rntzation and ina very positive way to the Expansion project social and economic life of our The board, staff and volunteers community. of the Castlegar and District Pub- Because of the financial com. lic Library would like to express mitment of Celgar Pulp Limited to the construction ¢ onmtractors and the enormous amount of con- and their employees our sincere structian work you have done on appreciation for Patronizing our its behalf, you have created a Castlegar and District Public Library Board, Staff and Volunteers MARGE LALONDE CIRCULATION MANAGER JOHN VAN PUTTEN SPORTS REPORTERPHOTOGRAPHER KAREN KERKHOFF CHRISTINE MOYER REPORTER ART DIRECTOR MELODY SEMENOFF ADVERTISING REP. the winners writing Display Advertising Newsroom Fax editorial comment The golden years? Pushed into obscurity. Irish were real people at dates back for thou- at actually was part of The Christians who moved north to Ireland didn't understand and therefore felt it nec- essary to change these people to their newer ways of thinking. St. Patrick was one of those who felt that his way was the only right way, and in this belief, thought he was doin, introducing Christianity. will broke down. L the ‘it’s my way or no way’ approach to converting the masses. One of the most sacred festivals the Pagans cele- brated was Bealtaine, or May Days as we call it now. This was the festival of spring and the cele- bration of the fertility of the earth. At this time, the cattle were driven to their summer grazing lands and the planting was started. One of the big events would not convert, died! This is how most of Europe and the British Isles became Christian, It is said that Patrick also drove the snakes from Ireland. No one stops to consider what this seem- ingly innocent statement really means. What exact- ly were their “snakes”? Most would be shocked to lear that they were people! The priests, both male and female, of the Druids would tattoo snakes winding up their forearms. This was done as a sign of rank and in honor of their goddess, to whom the snake was sacred. In banishing these people to their deaths in the sea, Patrick helped to not only annihilate an entire race of people but also to put an end to a religion that had lasted thousands of years. Bearing this in mind, “...what exactly are we celebrating when we cele- brate Saint Patrick's Day”? I think it is important to remember that it is the winners who write the histo- ry and that the losers, too have a story. Linda Bott library during the Period of the Celgar Pulp Limited modermiza tion We very much enjoyed having the opportunity to meet and get to know you. We hope you enjoyed very bright and secure future for our city and its citizens. We will miss you, but we hope you will finding your next jobs soon. The board, staff and volun- teers of the Castlegar and District .More letters page SA... Silver Rattle Antiques 301-11 Ave Castlegar (in Tulips Building) 365-5191 WE CAN DIRECT YOU TO THE RICHT DEPARTME I IN THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT Would you take a portion of our history and throw it away like a piece of trash which has lost its worth? Would you consign that history (if it were a Ss in a book) to a leaky. room, or would you honor it as a treasured piece of our history? There is a segment of our society in our commu- nity which is being overlooked as if it were a dis- posable resource—our seniors What sort of message are we giving our seniors when we relegate them to a building which is reported to have originally been a chicken coop and to have been condemned? The building our seniors are using as their local gathering place has a roof which pours buckets of of the festival was the Bel-fire. Around this great Crescent Valley ¢ NDP leaders brought it on themselves Dear Editor: wandering around, as local NDP the size of civilization. The NDP Premier Harcourt said he felt env Earl Hamil does not support changes in the Contempt for the youthful envi- has saying “there is no democra- electoral System. If there is no Tonmentalist protestors who cy”. If those who smashed a win- one of like mind capable of “stormed” the provincial legisla- , dow and a Security guard at the —maturely and responsibly articu- ture recently. It speis 1 me that —_ legislature were the Point, andthe lating their concerns in the Contempt is felt By those who do People making ignorant and irre- , Assembly, and Harcourt supports not see into the heart of those sponsible statements such as ‘a system that gives all such voices they feel contempt for. Can Har- Earl's were the shaft, it was Har- the shutout, what right does Har- court really believe he had noth- court have to be contemptuous as - = STILL GOING... NG... It's spring skiing season! In curiosity, I even got up to have a look at this operation. It was a clean slash, not long but deep. In a very. short time, he was fastened and ing us down the last pitch to the car park, when he fell, badly, awkward- ly, cartwheeling in a flurry of arms There are still snow banks along the roadside through which the Pussy willows are blooming. The One side of the lift in the morning and the other in the afternoon. It Cost us $20 and we had to catch our court and the NDP’s arm that water onto its occupants heads every time it rains. The basement is made of concrete block which is also leaking water, and there is no wheelchair access for. those seniors who need it. Not only are those individuals who are wheelchair-bound limit- ed by their own immobility, they are limited to what, for some, may be one of their few pleasures in life—that of associating with their friends in a setting removed from their own homes Even if those wheelchair-bound individuals did have access to the building, they would certainly be hampered by the fact that the two bathrooms which are available at the seniors centre are upstairs, Although the city has agreed to pay the taxes on the building, the seniors are still responsible for Paying other expenses; such as lights, heating, water and phone bills. They do this through various fund-raising events. It used to be that seniors were admired and sought out for their wise oOpinions—those which can only be gained through a lifetime of living Elders were respected for their knowledge and for their insight, and in some countries the elderly are still revered and held in high esteem. It's highly unlikely you would find these seniors confined to a room which was dilapidated, decrepit and decay- Don’t take our word for it—local residents should go and see for themselves the condition which our local seniors centre is in—nothing short of appalling If Castlegar truly values its senior citizens, and all they have to offer, they might lobby the powers- that-be for improved conditions. A good place to Start would be Castlegar City Council One last thought: If we're lucky, someday we'll all be classified as seniors. Knowing this, how can anyone refrain from action I rm Sethe TN §S POLITICALLY INDEPENDENT AND A MEMBER OF THE STERLING NEWS. SERVICE E fe November 28, 1990 Robins have returned as a few-snow flakes drift lazily down on the first day of Spring. We know it is time for spring skiing When we were younger and more agile, we were the first on the slopes and the last ones off them. In those days, we counted how many runs we made each day. That was in the good old days before lift line- ups. As line-ups grew, we joined the Canadian Ski Patrol System not just to preempt those in line, but certain ly it was one of the few “perks Volunteer ski patrollers deserve every bit of acknowledgement they receive. My legs still ache, when I recall the agony of muscles protest- ing violently, as we struggled to support the little ones on skis, in front of usleaning back against our legs, on the T bar. Try it with your kids some time! Lhave no qualms about admitting my present status as a “Sundeck Charlie”. I have had the good for- tune to ski through fresh powder up to my nose (Well, my knees any- way!) under calm, deep blue skies, on a lazy Monday in Pine Pass There were only three of us to share the whole mountain! We skied out Looking at corporate tax ‘The Faser Institute Sterling News Services Does it make sense to tax corpo- rations? At first glance the answer seems clear. Some corporations make profits. Why should they not be taxed just as ordinary working People are? Things seem less certain if we ask what a corporation is. Machin- ¢ry, Contracts, office space, employ- ces, shareholders, and bondholders, are important parts. These parts work together to make income for people. A corporation tax is a tax on people. It taxes their income twice. First, when the corporation collects the income, then when it Pays the income as dividends, capi- tal gains, or salaries. Own tees. After such a day, condi- tions have to be ideal before I am enticed out onto the slopes. Spring offers such conditions Seasons Elma Maund While living in Cranbrook some years ago, we’ regularly skied at Kimberley, long before the area became a Bavarian Village, and when the old wooden tee. lift was still operating. One lovely spring Sunday we spent the whole day ski- ing-with a friend, a British/South African, who was mastering his ski- ing technique. He was doing very well, for someone who had experi- enced snow only as an adult, when he first arrived in Cranbrook. We were all enjoying the slopes, the snow conditions, the deep blue skies and the sunny day. On the last run of the day, always the most crit- ical, we were racing down the slopes. Our friend was ahead, lead- This reasoning is not complicat- ed, but there are interest groups and politicians who have missed it. It has become popular to talk about Squeezing corporate “fat cats” for extra tax dollars. It turns out that many of the cats in question are nei- ther very fat nor very corporate The elderly in Canada pay perhaps as much as 51% of all corporate taxes. This is because much of their income flows from pension funds which invest in corporations. For example, OMERS, thé Ontario Municipal Employees Fund, is one of the largest traders in the province Calling for higher corporate taxes is, in part, a call to impose a greater burden on the elderly. To avoid the double taxation of income from corporations, some and legs. We stopped below him and looked back, laughing at his antics Our laughter quickly turned to quiet anxiety. As we climbed back up to him, we could see blood spurting, turning the snow around him into instant red. He had sliced his wrist open, presumably with the metal edge of one of his skis, in his tumbleweed fall. We went into “first aid” mode, got the blood flow stemmed with pressure and a hand. kerchief, and investig ther damage. E seemed okay so we felt like standing. We had to get him out of there. “I'm fine, I’m okay” he kept insisting, as he regained his feet, peering at his roughly ban- daged wrist. The gash was deep. It would require stitching. We quickly collected scattered gear and bits of clothing and quickly got down the mountain, found his car and got ourselves organized. I do not recall the drive down the winding road to the hospital at Kimberley, except that it was rather quiet and fast. Arriving at “Emergency” a young intern soon had our friend ready for repair and began Stitching. bandaged and looking quite well, though a little pale With the emergency situation Over, we relaxed and made our ‘way to the exit. The last thing I remem- ber was a general fading of light into sepia brown, then into black- ness. I recall the scene sort of tilted on edge and slid away. I awoke to find myself lying on the floor of the lobby of the hospi- 1, with two very concerned males ping my face gently and wor- riedly enquiring if I was okay? Well, of course I was. A few min- utes later I was as normal as usual But what a helper I turned out to be! We drove slowly back to Cranbrook with two invalids, both rather pale and quiet Statistics on ski accidents indi- cate that it is usually late afternoon or the last run of the day when acci- dents happen. You may have had a great day, but suddenly, as it comes to an end, you think you have to get just one last run, one last leap, one last patch of powder, one last pitch faster than normal. S: skiing is the last of the ski season. Be careful out there! as part of personal tax economists have suggested getting rid of the corporate tax and simply counting corporate income as part of personal income. This simplifi- cation could be worked out so that government lost no tax dollars. The only loss would be several thousand Jobs held by tax lawyers, accoun- tants, and government auditors The problem politicians have with this simple system is that it would show people how much tax they really pay. To get an idea for what a sneaky revenue raiser the corporate tax is, consider the fol- lowing: Between 1987 and 1991, Corporate profits fell by 50% in real terms but federal corporate tax rev- enues increased by 11%, and more than doubled as a percentage of profits Voters would have rebelled if Ottawa had grabbed such sums directly from their personal incomes instead of indirectly through the corporations they have a stake in. The corporate tax has endured, probably because people fear that, without it, certain Canadians would be getting an unfair break. This, at least, seems to be the sentiment behind angry union cries of “corpo- rate welfare bums” and complaints about profitable corporations that Pay no tax. However, a simplified tax system that treated corporate income directly as part of personal income, would allow for no unfair breaks. This would encourage peo- ple to invent and provide the capital needed to create jobs and get the economy growing again. ing to do with laying the ground work for what happened? The NDP worked for years, when they were out of power, to convince provincial environmen- talists and their leaders that an NDP govemment would change things. The watershed fighting over how or whether logging would be allawed would end because a comprehensive provin- cial land use plan would be implemented. It didn't happen. It was a single watershed they were Protesting over there in Victoria when things got out of hand. The NDP convinced the lead- ership of the environmental movement that they would be getting so much (before the elec- tion) and delivered so little (after the election) that all over the Province, many of the leaders are mand respect threw the spear. Cynical manipu- lation of coalitions may be as old as democracy, but it isn’t very dignified, and it does not com- The NDP, like all political par- ties who have elected Trepresenta- tives in the Legislative Assembly, has no answer for those who cau- tion that ways must be found to reduce the human impact on the biosphere. Adopted NDP policy envisions a prosperous B.C growing as part of a global civi- lization expanding to ten times its Present size over the next fifty years. In countries that have pro- portional representation, repre- sentatives have been elected who are conscious that the only way to ultimately conserve the trees, that all sides in these logging dis- putes claim to value is to reduce Protestors, however misguided they may be, bread in? Youth has heard such respect- ed cultural icons as David Suzuki Pronounce that the ecological issue is “a matter of survival” They know that the negotiations that culminated in the Earth Sum- mit failed. They can see the humiliation and bitterness of environmental political leaders who say “there is no democracy”. Little wonder that. the young Protestors in Victoria, who may not realize what a police state really is, mindlessly and violently expressed their contempt for the legislature. It was a cry from the heart, all the more Piercing because it came from youth. David Lewis ENQUIRY BC So March Into -,S8pring Dear Editor: The purpose of this letter js to address the traffic Problem that exists on Columbia Avenue Anyone who uses this roadway on a regular basis can surely attest to the fact that there is a sin- gle-file traffic jam from one end of Castlegar to the other each and every weekday. It is also common knowledge that a large Percentage of vehicles are either going to, or coming from the Celgar Pulp mill on the outskirts of the city. Spectators will note that the vast majority of the cars are inhabited bya single drive, and devoid of Passengers. Obviously, in light of Castlegar’s air quality problems as they are, the last thing that is needed is a surplus of vehicles making a daily trip to the mill Indeed, the Spectre of everyone getting: into their individual cars to drive side by side to the same destination would be hilarious, if if weren't so embarrassing. A few brief inquiries have revealed this informa- tion. At the Celgar Pulp Company, there are 420 employees. Schedules differ to a small degree, though the majority of these people work a Mon- Carpooling in Castlegar is ridiculously overdue Fri regular working hours shift. The percentage of these employees that are said to commute them- selves individually to work is approximately 90%. This yields us in the area of 380 cars on their way to and from Celgar every working day. Factor in 90% of the Pope and Talbot workforce (approx. 180), and we arrive at the Stately number of 540 cars. This fact can only be seen as abysmal in a town the size of Castlegar. Although the idea of carpooling is, I’m sure not without dent, it is ridi ly due. Com- inco employees have been carpooling for years, and but for a lack of administrative initiative on the part of the Celgar Pulp Company, we could have been doing so also. To cut the number of cars in transit to 30% of their current level is not unacceptable. This would see 380 less vehicles on the road every working day, this making Castlegar a cleaner, quieter, and less stressful place to live Obituary Women's Naturalizers 50 - 60% ors Runners 25 - 50% ott Rhoda Romika Tender Tootsies Samolare PRICED TO CLEAR 0% .. Sale Date: Monday March 22 to Saturday March 27 Helley Hanson Men's Work Boots e Caulks Acton Nokia Plain & Steel 90% ors Men's DRESS SHOES Regal Florsheim S CLEARING OUT Ass't Steel toe and plain boots TOP BRAND NAMES up to 75% oft SIDEWALK A E L Men's COWBOY BOOTS H.H. Brown Boulet Mary A. Gorkoff On Monday, March 22, 1993, Mary A. Gorkoff of Bril liant, B.C. passed away at the age of 87 years. Funeral service was held at the Brilliant Ciltural Centre on Wednesday, March 24, 1993 with burial at the Brilliant Cemetery. Mrs. Gorkoff was born December 29, 1905 at Canora, Saskatchewan and came to Brilliant with her Parents in 1911. She grew up and married Peter W. Gorkoff there in 1923 Mrs. Gorkoff was a life mem- ber of the USCC and enjoyed gardening, knitting and making braided rugs. She is survived by four sons Mike, and Peter of Robson: Walter of Ootischenia: and Phillip of Castlegar; one daughter, Patsy Popoff of Castlegar; 13 grandchildren; 14 great grandchildren; two sis ters; Nastia Nevokshonoff of Grand Forks and Polly Lebed off of Raspberry. She was predeceased by her Parents, husband and one grandson Funeral arrangements were under the direction of the Castlegar Funeral Chapel eee Thursday March 25 © Friday March 26 © Saturday March 27 . Y y 90+ 60% ort J Ce EREMENKO'S FIT-RITE SHOES 1224 - 3rd. St., Castlegar + 365-7353 50% off and more 465 Columbia Ave., Castlegar, B.C. V1N 1G8 Cheek to Cheek | starting March rs CKQR on location March 25 & 26 ERRORS: The advertiser agrees that the publisher shall not be liable tor arising out of errors in any advertisement beyond the amount paid for the space actually occupied by that portion of the advertisement in which the error occurred, whether such error is due to the negligence 3 its servants or and there shall be no beyond the amount All advertising subject to publisher's approval. Contracts must be completed within one year from contract date. No contingent ordece accepted 3