settled out of court for $200,000. And its smirking rivals made their own headlines out of four major strikes that hit the newspaper in the past 20 years and nearly put it under. One of the most bitter strikes occurred in 1971. The ideological struggle by Quebec's major union federations against owner Paul Desmarais, head of the Power Corp. financial empire, was settled after seven months when Desmarais called in a young labor lawyer named Brian Mulroney. ‘The paper has been edited by some well-known figures. Gerard Pelletier, later a Liberal cabinet minister under his friend Pierre Trudeau and ambassador to the United Nations, startled La Presse readers in 1963 by advising them to vote NDP. Pelletier’s as editor-in-chief was the prego ai Jean-Louis Gagnon, later appointed by his to run the equally-controversial, now- ‘ome laormaden Canada. Gagnon was also ambassador to UNESCO. “READERS FAITHFUL’ La Presse is is a family newspaper catering to middle and upper-class readers, says Roger Landry, a marketing expert who has been publisher and president since 1981. “Our market is a family market, and our readers have been with us for generations.” La Presse columnists are household names, and its ee have prestige in the community Presse looks like many other broadsheet dailies in Canes Giapwinypatog rads mix of color boxes, color and splashy headlines. In style and content it occupies the middle ground among the city’s three French dailies, between Le Journal de Montreal's emphasis on crime and sports, and the intelle- etual approach of Le Devoir. Created in 1884 as a Conservative party mouthpiece, La Presse long ago ceased to be a party organ, but traditionally 270 Columbia Ave. ic Ph. 365-2151 between management and the paper's 19 unions. “T’ve always said you can't have all the problems and all the faults on one side,” he said in an interview. He also brought in the concept “that La Presse had to live by itself and not continue to live on the support of its owner.” Desmarais kept the paper alive by absorbing its deficits MARKIN & BLAIN Certified General for four years after he bought it in 1967. Accountants “La Presse had been an institution, and like any institution, it bad lacked « sound business approach,” said 241 Columbia Ave. Landry, who put himself through the London School of Castlegar by playing Pi 1 hockey on the side. leadership some 300 jobs have been cut — Ph. 365-7287 MOROSO, 4 ASK CHES OR JOHN FOR — and is up by 40,000 to about 200,000 on weekdays. That's still 90,000 to 100,000 behind Le Journal. In Mareh, Landry launched a Sunday tabloid. La Presse was founded by William Edmond Blumhart, grandson of a German soldier in an English regiment, on ct. 20, 1884. At the time Montreal had six English and four French dailies. But the real inspiration was Treffle Berthiaume, a printer who took over the paper in 1889 and broadened its Soligo, Koide & John Chartered Accountants 615 Columbia Ave. appeal to all income groups. Circulation quadrupled to 66,274 scilow, . copies in 10 years and at one time was the highest in Canada. Castlega: * ane Phone 365-7745 Henry John, B.Sc., C.A. Resident Partner FIGHT FOR CONTROL After Berthiaume's death in 1915, a family feud over his estate and control of the paper dragged through the courts Seniors share fantasies VANCOUVER (CP) — screws are loose,” says Lind- BEAUMARK APPLIANCES | WITH B.€.W.C. TO PROVIDE AND ALL SERVICE OF THE MACHINE 2237-6th Ave., Castieger invite you to call them for o tree 1012-4th St., Casti ir Tues,-Fri. 9a.m.-5 p.m. Satumay 9 a.m.-12 noon the Yay ire om, ' FOR THE re WICKLUM ROOFING ~ AT. (TM) ALLAN OPTOMETRIST for nearly half a century. Slr dort Oe Castlegar Plumbing A strike in 1964 spawned the tabloid Le Journal, and stood Heating the lengthy disputes in 1971 and 1977 helped the saucy A Gov't Certified a ‘ Led. competitor surge ahead in circulation. Whether nome oterte ality Wholesale But La Presse still carries the slogan on its masthead: B,C,D with Aor M, or X. YorZ Phonbin & Le plus grand quotidien franchais d'Amerique — The biggist ows wise s You'll Wf d 9° (or greatest) French daily in America. orX,YorZ pe oe fin rectory Heating Supplies Complete installations xes. whether your ROOSTER Gaertang pays. & Professional advice usiness name starts PHONE Commercial & industrial with A or with Z,| READY MIX 365-52 Vote Cohembie Ave. Business Directory -5210 365-3388 advertising is for Most of the time, Milly Jack- son, Riva Lindsay, Bob Mc- Cready and Bob Peachey lead the lives of four average senior citizens. One enjoys of the Gorgons in ancient Greece. They come together out of a common love of life, music, dancing, laughter, wit and storytelling. To share these mutual interests, they founded the Seniors Secret Society of Vancouver earlier this year. They meet every Tuesday in the West End community centre to read aloud sagas of adventure they have written during the past week. The serialized i say. McCready says he lends the character a few of his own traits: stinginess, greed and a keen interest in the ladies. Peachey, 67, is Lord Croco, named for his tendency to shed crocodile tears. “He pretends to be sympathetic and ery, but they are phoney tears,” says Lindsay. “He is sly and treacherous, a disgusting character,” says MeCready. Croco's also known for his insatiable ap- petitie. TURNS TO STONE The diminutive 69-year-old Lindsay is Madame Medusa, the snake-haired goddess of Greek mythology who turned you! Mother Shipton, a good witch © MeReady, who is blind, and soothsayer who is said to types his own copy. Because RATES ARE have lived in 16th-century he learned spelling by mem- ATTRACTIVE, TOO! England near Jackson's orization, his inventive, pho- Phone birthplace of York. Mother Shipton always ends her stories with a prediction. Although their ongoing sagas are printed in their Aweekly newsletter, Brave Old World, not all the articles in the newsletter are fantasy. Many poke fun at the foibles and trials of old age, and some are reflective and whimsical journeys back to childhood haunts and exper. iences. The writing can also be cathartic. When Jackson moved to Vancouver from Toronto in May, she became homesick. But a trip Mother men to stone with a gaze, and Shipton took by broomstick the most powerful of the four back to “the rocking chair, characters. the boredom and hot, humid Lindsay's Medusa, says summers” of Toronto quickly her creator, is a feminist. cured her of any longings to Jackson, 74, created go back, says Jackson. similar to depict the continuing exploits of their own four mythical Lindsay created three of the characters. McCready, 73, was dubbed Sir Marbenose, a knight in old England, strong in char. acter as well as physical prowess. “He instills fear and trembling, even though his D & D PAVING & SEAL COATING Kootenay Savings aie Canada Savings Bonds Driven TERM DEPOSIT RATE *1000 — 1 Year No Maximum JUNIOR MEMBERS *100 — 1 Year No Maximum Rote subject to change without notice ; lf Kootenay Savings Credit Union aan — ragrrvnat — caneoen sumo — EW DENVER — WADETA PLAZA 114%4% Gvueronteed P.A. Interest SOUTH SOCAN netic spellings make it a challenge for Mother Shipton to read aloud his stories. PUBLISHE! The Castlegor News is on edition. The price delivered by newspoper carrier for both editions is only 66« (collected monthly) closs mail registration number 0019. ERRORS The Costlegor News will not be responsible tor ony errors in advertisements atter one insertion. It is the respon- sibility of the advertiser to read his ad when it is first published 11 is agreed by the odver tiser requesting space that the advertisement is accepted on the condition that in the event of failure to publish any od. vertisement of any descrip tion, or in the event that errors occur in the publishing of an advertisement, that pdr vertisement will be poid for at the applicable rate. in the ‘event of an error, advertising or services at a wr price, the coe NOTICE OF COPYRIGHT Full, complete ond sole printed mat to Castle News Lid.; provided, however that copyright in THAT PART ANO THAT PART and belong to the advertiser CASTLEGAR NEWS Established Aug. 7, 1947 Twice Weekly May 4, 1980 365-5210 for Full Details “KOOTENAY'S _ BEST (3 (ceasa)}) eae y Parts Service Dept. All Brand Nomes Serviced All Parts Stocked * Coin jed Machines * Industrial Loundry Russell Auctions 399-4793 Thrums Buy or Sell by Auction CONCRETE Slocan Valley Also Supplying Drain Rock 355-2570 PETER FERGUSON F. PIRSH CONTRACTING 2045 Columbia Ave., Trail + Renovations stom built kitchen cabinets COLUMBIA CARPETS - TILES - CERAMICS J. VANDGRIARULEN FLOOR INSTALLATIONS RR. No. | Winkew, B.C. VOG 200 226-7603 | ag CASTLEGAR NEWS Columbia Ave. 346-7246 CASTLEGAR FUNERAL CHAPEL gen © ~ Beppercorn” Dedicated to kindly, thoughttul service. Granite, Marble end Phone 365-3222 Dining Under the Paims et Uncommonly Affordable Prices TERRA NOVA MOTOR INN 1001 Ressiand Ave., Trail Reservations 364-2222 THE COLANDER SPAGHETTI HOUSE Specializing in Halion cuisine For Reservations SEALCOATING AND PAVING 65-5568 365-2913 Phone 364-1816 L COLEMAN COUNTRY BOY SERVICE Sump & Septic Tonk Pumping Phone 365-5013 2400 - 4th Avenue Castieger ipo Si Bu Ba ” i aye ‘ The six winning numbers in Saturday s 6-49 draw "4 Ba k WwW Ik r were one, 16, 25, 36, 39 ond 42. The bonus number wos five. Cc p Cc The jockpot poo! of $1,673.662.10 wos not won and will be o-O R Id re f in added to next week's poo! teoders shou! remem: The second-prize poo!. awarded to thos: chy fi ber thet daylight saving flying reguiar numbers and the bonus number, hod tour winners ot opens ended this morning ond Pp BI $138,088.10 each docts chauki have been age The $500,000 winning number in Friday's Provincial lot- pa one hour. 9 tery draw ie 3599033. In addition to subsidiary prizes, 55 bon Page A2 bock us numbers were drawn for awards of $55,555 each = Sunday Castles VOL. 37, No. 87 00 Conte Rs legar News EGAR, BRITISH COLUMBIA, OCTOBER 28, 1984 WEATHERCAST Cloudy with intermittant snow showers today. Highs neor 0. Monday will see isolated snow showers. Chance of precipitation is 60 per cent today and 30 per cent Monday 2 Sections (A & B) . City employees Bruno Tassone and Ed Plotnikoft use eround CP Rail lineatColumbia Ave fo tear up p crossing which city will repave crossing. FOR JOB CREATION Riding given $663,000 By CasNews Staff and News Services Kootenay West will receive $663,000 under the federal government's Can ada Works program, MP Bob Brisco announced Friday. release, and will be responsible for advising Brisco on each application submitted for consideration. Deadline for applications is Nov. 16 Under the program, up to $325 per employee per week is available to receive $28.4 million, Ontario $27.3 million, Newfoundland $18.6 million, New Brunswick $16.2 million and Nova Scotia $12.5 million. Alberta will get $8.7 million, Mani toba $3.2 million, Saskatchewan $1.6 NEC gets $16 ,000 for study By RON NORMAN Editor Castlegar’s National Exhibition Cen tre has been awarded a $16,000 federal grant for a comprehensive feasibility study. The grant, from the Equipment Up- grading and Assistance Program of National Museums of Canada, will cover three-quarters of the $21,375 cost of the study. NEC director Lucille Doucette says the province has indicated it will also pay up to $2,500 of the study “The rest is going to be applied locally,” Doucette said in an interview, with some money coming from the cen. tre's coffers. The study will examine “everything that has to do with the centre,” she said including “a number of critical issues facing the centre.” For instance, Doucette says the centre would like to rearrange the gallery walls to provide for more space. “We want to straighten out the galleries,” she said. “It's difficult to hang a show,” she explained. By straightening the walls, the centre hopes to gain as much as 500 square feet without making the centre any larger. The change would still leave pillars in the middle of the galleries, but Doucette says, “I can live with that.” She added that the centre has “six times as many exterior walls as we need to have,” pushing the cost of heating three times as high as it would be with straight walls. But the changes won't be easy “A lot of changes we want depend on whether the roof can take it,” said Doucette. The changes also depend on whether the centre has the money to pay for them. Doucette said both the Van couver Fougdation and the Canada Works program have expressed inter. est in the centre's changes. ‘The feasibility study will also look sontinved on poge AZ The funds are part of $200 million which has been allocated nationally for winter projects — $48 million more than last year — according to a state ment Friday from Employment Minis- ter Flora MacDonald. During the same period last year only about $152 million was allocated for Canada Works and Local Em ployment and Assistance Development (LEAD) programs. LEAD projects were used in conjun- etion with Canada Works programs in assist in payment of wages and other costs by employers or sponsors of projects. All hirings are co-ordinated through Canada Manpower offices, where appli cations are available. Meanwhile, MacDonald told a news conference last month that she was surprised the previous Liberal govern ment had made no provision to increase job-creation funding for the winter, even though unemployment was ex pected to remain at about 11 per cent ridings where the rate was more than 12 per cent. Brisco said in a prepared release that he has formed an advisory board to help evaluate the applications. The 11-member board will represent a cross-section of “local ideas” said the critic Lloyd Axworthy said the Liberals were planning to review job-creation funding after the Sept. 4 election Quebec will receive the lion's share of the winter funding with $78.6 million, British Columbia ridings will million, Yukon $491,000 and the North west Territories $317,000. About $29 million has not allocated. Previously, to be eligible for supple mentary funding the surplus labor rate _ which excludes discouraged workers no longer on unemployment insurance roles and people on maternity leave, receiving sickness benefits or in federal training programs — had to exceed eight per cent in a given riding. The new surplus labor rate, Employ ment Department spokesman Joan Potvin said, has been set at six per cent and is based on 1981 census figures and the most recent unemployment data available from. the Labor and Employ- ment departments. been . CPR is replacing voile and jnatolling robber absorbers, after Cashews Photo by Ron Norman Ambulance ervice ‘better’ By CHERYL CALDERBANK Staff Writer Despite some complaints, Castle- gar’s ambulance service has not been reduced, says the Kootenay's regional manager of the provincial Emergency Health Services Commission Al Ridhome says, in fact, services have been increased with the addition of a fourth ambulance car to the area. The Castlegar News recently re ceived a letter to the editor from a Castlegar taxpayer wanting to know why the ambulance service provides full-time service from Monday to Thursday, while from Friday to Sun- day, part-time help responds to calls from their homes. Ridheme explained that because of different shift structures, the two full-time employees — Don Turner and Lawrence Chernoff — now are working four days together with three days off. continved on page AZ DROP IN UNEMPLOYED STATS ‘RED HERRING’ By ADRIAN CHAMBERLAIN Staff Writer The number of people registered for employment this month at the Trail Canada Employment Centre — which covers Castlegar — is down about 150 from one year ago. And the number signed up for work at the Canada Employment Centre in Nelson has dropped 500 this month compared to April, May and June. But the managers of both centres say the statistics are more red herrings than an indication that people Castlegar and the rest of the West Kootenay are finding jobs The drop at the Trail centre to 1,235 is “down slightly, but it goes up and down,” said manager Jim Switzer “In general terms it hasn't changed that much,” he said, adding that the figures only reflect those that use Canada Employment services. Jack Roddis, director at the Nelson centre, agrees that their 14 per cent drop in people looking for jobs to 3,281 “doesn't mean a lot.” “These are numbers that would be very easy to take out of context.” The decline is due mainly to “the dis couraged worker factor” — when people simply give up the job search — and others, “particularly young peo ple,” moving out of the area to find work, Reddis said. Switeer said the number of people claiming unemployment insurance at the Trail centre this September was 1,750 — up 137 from September, 1983 “But again, you have to look at the times,” Switzer said. “There's not a lot of difference. In other words, there's not a big change. You get fluctuations from one month to the next.” Like Roddis, Switzer said people are leaving to find work elsewhere, al though he didn't have statistics. He said most of the people that leave the area covered by the Trai) centre which includes Castlegar, Trail, Ross land, Blueberry Creek, Genelle, Fruit vale and Montrose — are relatively new to the West Kootenay. The unemployment rate for the Kootenay-Columbia region — including Castlegar, Creston, Nelson, Slocan, Kaslo, Nakusp, Revelstoke and Salmon Arm — was 17.5 per cent this Sep tember, compared to 18.8 during the last quarter. The current unemployment rate for B.C. is 15 per cent, and 11 per cent for Canada, according to Statistics Canada figures. Switzer said while many of the unemployed in this area have worked in construction and forestry, those who work in related businesses have also door miakers. That type of job has become fairly scarce.” he said. By CasNows Staff One of the first projects for the recently assembled Charlie Cohoe, a Castlegar businessmab appointed to the nine-person MILAP committee, is encouraging local Modified Industry and Labor A Program with project idegs to pick up application forms committee will be to sereen Central Kootenay for Canada Works grants totalling $1.2 million. The federal grants will be for loca) industry, municipalities or societies in the Regional District of Central Kootenay to set up projects creating full-time work for at,least three employees, for 2 minimum of six weeks, said committee chairman Michael Berg, a Nelson accountant. Workers must be unemployed and referred through Canada Employment centres, he said. and informa! the grant from the Trail Canada Employment ( Centre. “I would hope there’s many applications from the Castlegar area,” he said. “The needs are there. and 'm sute the unemployment is.” ‘The committee, assembled last month, will assist in administering the $2.4 million federal MILAP funds Priority will be given to,those whose insurance benefits have run out, and who have been out of work for at least eight weeks. Wiggen of (Creston, labor couneil representative Gary McCandlish, Ted French of Nakusp, and Mayor Jack a ees Work program primed and ready Morris of Kasio. Berg said the committee has already had its initial meeting, and will meet for the second time this Wednesday. He said the Canada Works grants will come out of the $2.4 million designated to MILAP. The committee will screen the applications, while administration work will be handled by Canada Employment centres. The grants will be handed out early next year, and people should be workirig in their new jobs by the spring. Berg said. The committee hasn't yet discussed whether priority will be given to projects which provide short-term. or long term work. If an employer with plans for a project also employs union members, that union must approve the project, added Berg Another MILAP project to be discussed by the committee this year is the Career Access Program. A 50 per cent wage subsidy will be paid to employers whe hire workers over 45 years of age for at least six months. Those hired must have been unemployed for at jeast 22 out of the last 24 weeks before applying. Berg said. training at local unemployed workers in the area can learn new skills. MILAP funding will be administered over a two-year period ending in June 1986. The MILAP committee will receive per year, for two years, for administrative, work program costs. up to $100,000 research and tas ———