Wednesday, September 23, 1992 @ L.V. Campbell ‘Aug. 7, 1947- Feb. 15, 1973 OurVWiEWS Give Conroy forest reins f the New Democrat Party took [e time to think about a replacement for suspended Forests Minister Dan Miller, it should have looked to Rossland-Trail. There sits Ed Conroy. Despite his rookie status, the Castlegar native would have made an excellent selection as an interim minister. That didn’t happen, though. Acting as swiftly as the suspension itself, Premier Mike Harcourt saddled Transport Minister Art Charbonneau with a second portfolio, putting him in charge of British Columbia’s forests until Miller’s detention is served. Replacing Miller with a man who's plate is already full is a mistake. Charbonneau has his own troubles sorting out British Columbia’s sagging highway infrastructure. British Columbia needs a full-time Forests Minister and Charbonneau isn’t it. Enter Conroy. His experience in the field and at the negotiating table make him a substitute teacher the province can live with. Conroy has made the forest industry a priority during his brief stint in government. He is a member of the Select Standing Committee on Forests and a member of the Tree Farm Licence No. 23 review panel, where he was instrumental in Pope and Talbot’s takeover of Westar. Harcourt should rethink his appointment and give the forest portfolio to someone who can do it justice — Ed Conroy. ail = * ¢ \r fal FREER) Council ignores Price Waterhouse? Convince me city hall isn’t making an extra effort these days. The hellos and goodbyes seem a lot friendlier, especially to a guy who isn’t exactly a front-runner in Castlegar’s Citizen of the Year celebration. Call me a fool — it wouldn’t be the first time — but I truly believe that the Price Waterhouse report has everything to do with the city’s new “We Really Care Harrison Comparison Being the skeptic, turn- every-stone-over guy that I am, I seem to recall a period earlier this year when city council was deluged with cries from a cranky public which claimed that they weren't getting the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help us God Even last December, something as essential as our paving referendum About You” attitude. The stinging report gave our not-so-fair city failing grades on everything from honesty to integrity to co- operation, which didn’t surprise too many long-time residents who continually questioned the merits of our civic leaders. “Fear not,” we are told, “the city has enacted many of the recommendations outlined by the report.” Okay, where? And, for that matter, when? died an ugly death because the few citizens that took the time turn out for a referendum didn’t believe what the city had to say. I don’t question that the city did a few things on the administrative side by sacking a few people here and releasing others there, but what has our council done to improve its relationship with the public? According to the Price Waterhouse report, council was to embrace the public. please see HARRISON page 7 at tel a Street TALK Question: Would you like to have a recycling program in Castlegar? Carol Him Castlegar “Yes. There’s got to be something we can do with the plastics .” Jack Drader Castlegar “Yes. But I recycle on my own.” Polly Tamelin Pass Creek “] think too much is taken to the dump that can be recycled.” Bonnie Thompson “Definitely. We don’t have unlimited space to put garbage.” Hans Kolman Castlegar Raspberry “Yes. But they should carefully weigh the expenses.” § Wednesday, September 23, 1992 OtherVIEWS : Please address all letters to: Letters to the Editor Castlegar News P.O. Box 3007 Castlegar, B.C. ViN 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 Letters toWHE EDITOR Region’s health care in jeopardy Concerning Neil Rachynski’s article on local health care in the Saturday edition of The News, the story should have been titled “Regional Health Care in Jeopardy”. Reason: It is time that the scarce health dollars be spent in the most advantageous manner to obtain top quality medical care for our region. The proposed $18 million for renovations or $23 million for a new hospital in Nelson, would be better spent with an eye to the future. In either case we will not have a hospital capable of supplying the region with top quality medical care. The money should be spent to build a new regional hospital and it should be built in Castlegar. Castlegar is the most logical site because of its central location and the presence of the airport. _ If Nelson receives these millions to upgrade its present hospital or build a new one, then Trail will soon ask for a similar amount for a similar purpose, then Castlegar will want a piece of the pie. We will still not be able to supply top quality medical services, and oh the taxes. At present we have great difficulty recruiting specialists to this area. The reason being that with Trail and Nelson competing for funds, neither can afford a top class hospital.. The argument will be raised that Castlegar has no specialist. e. This however is not relevant for if a fully equipped, modern hospital exists, the specialists will come to the area to use the best facilities available. Also new specialists in disciplines we lack will be attracted to the region. As taxpayers we should not allow the Central Kootenay Regional Health District to squander our dollars. Thank goodness Doreen Smecher at least has the interest of the taxpayer in mind. I am surprised the city council, the hospital board and local doctors have not voiced a protest. I am not alone of this opinion. I have talked to doctors from Trail and Nelson, who have wondered how long it will be before we build a truly regional hospital in Castlegar. I do not believe any honest doctor or hospital administrator in the area does not privately agree it is the only sensible course to follow. Its time the CKRHD looked at the best use for our stressed health dollars. The citizens of this region will never receive top quality health care until we build this regional hospital in Castlegar. W. M.Yule, MD Castlegar Mayor’s reply not enough In answer to the article by Neil Rachyns- ki titled ‘Mayor reacts to Price Waterhouse’ where Audrey Moore states she at no time instructed anyone not to open her mail she says, 1) “(That) is not (true) There was misin- formation in the draft report”. 2) “We sit and make policy decisions. We don’t do hands on management of the city”. Now let us just consider the above two statements. We, the citizens of Castlegar, have paid $24,000 for a report that is full of misinfor- mation, statements that are not true and have a council who just sit and make policy. We elect a mayor and council to run our city and to give direction to the administra- tion on the way we want our city to go. We realize that the mayor and council can’t do it all but we do expect a little hands-on man- agement. a To sit and just make policy is not good enough. To again quote Mayor Moore, “Give me a break!” Mike O’Connor Coalition Unaccepting Rash Bureaucracy Castlegar must support new RCMP building Re our headquarters. If we are to place this proposal into its proper perspective, we must look at some recent events in our community: * Our Selkirk College is continuing to invest millions of dollars to improve and expand this educational facility. ¢ Our school board has invested more millions to improve Stanley Humphries Secondary School. ¢ With the approval of the province and the Regional District of Central Kootenay, our hospital board expanded its health services with the construction of a long term care facility. Today, this investment in education and health can be a source of pride in our community. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for our police headquarters. proposed new RCMP To describe them as less than adequate would still be an understatement. However, we, the people of Castlegar, have an opportunity to remedy this intolerable situation... long overdue as it is. The prevention of crime is far more cost effective than punishment. I wonder how many of us truly recognize and appreciate the value of an effective police force in our community? The apprehension of criminals and law- breakers is one aspect that most people recognize. However, there is another aspect that is far more valuable, in both the saving of money and of human suffering, and that is the prevention of crime. There is no doubt in my mind that a visible and an active police force, involved and appreciated by the community, can be a very significant deterrent to crime. In the health field, it is now recognized that prevention of illness is far more cost effective than the cure. In law enforcement, the very same formula will apply. The prevention of crime is far more cost effective than punishment. I am sure it will be in the best interests of all the citizens of Castlegar to provide our police force with adequate facilities and appropriate staff to do their job. N. T. Oglow Castlegar PS. Please do your part to inform your neighbors and friends to support this very essential project. Harrison and taste. continued from page 7 I don’t believe that has hap- Why, you ask? Simple. Some of the councillors didn’t know the two-year-old report ex- isted until this year. And because of that, they can hardly be expect- ed to enact recommendations they know nothing about. Kirk Duff is one of those coun- cillors. He found out about the re- port in May after questioning some of the directions the city was heading in. With that in mind, I find it hard to believe that the city has made many of the changes it claims to have. Instead, changes — like public hearings on the budget, the relocation of the city works yard and overall city affairs — were made because of a public backlash against city council's pigheaded- ness. Perhaps those meetings were the best thing that could have happened to city council, but to say they occurred because of the Price Waterhouse report is a sham. They happened because some members of council were concerned that their public image was as tarnished as a 1968 penny. So, where do we go from here? It’s obvious that the Price Wa- terhouse report has shook the foundations of city hall, but not to the extent that we are lead to be- lieve. The changes that have occurred at city council are the direct result of junior members scoffing at tra- dition and a frustrated public fi- nally taking an interest in the world around them. The Price Waterhouse report isn’t the be-all and end-all of Castlegar civic affairs. It isn’t even the beginni beginning. Instead, Castlegar finds itself in a similar position as other mu- nicipalities across this province — it is being forced to answer tough questions about the handling of an ever-increasing public purse. Citizens have the right to know what their council is doing. They also have a duty to make sure it is being done right. To that extent, the Price Water- house report did little to ensure our council was functioning effec- tively. We did.