Saturday, February 8 , 1992

3

PAGE

INtON

=

Dave McCullough
Publisher

Composing Room
Foreman

Mark Davis
Advertising Manager

Warren Chernoff

OurWiEWS

Adrian RAESIDE .

An apology
is in order

he gloves have come off at

Castlegar city council and

Mayor Audrey Moorxe
delivered the first verbal swing.

Frustrated by the never-ending
non-confidence votes she and council
receive from the Coalition
Unaccepting Rash Bureaucracy,
Castlegar’s leading politician turned
to Latin to vent her anger.

“Noli_Iligitimae Carburundum,”
quipped Moore before adjourning the
two-hour session.

Translated, the phrase reads:
“Don’t let the bastards grind you
down.”

Hardly the words
governments are made of.

Frustrated, angry or just plain
tired of soap-box politicking, Moore
had no right to publicly brand a few
dissatisfied citizens ‘bastards’.

As a public official, Moore has the
moral obligation to treat every citizen

good

vand group with respect and dignity

when they appear before council.
Regardless of past history.

What she says in private or when
council is not sitting is entirely her
business. eel ised Sees

Without question, there are a few
members of council and within the
general public that will applaud
Moore’s Latin linguistics. But, before
the congratulations are handed out,
remember from which the words were
uttered: the mayor’s chair.

With that, nothing short of an
apology is in order for these ‘bastard’
citizens who have the courage to
question.

NDIINS GET INVOINED iN
; Grange aga OF BARTERI ToOD

FOR RUSSION GOODS...

LOOK... | KNOW

WE ASKED FOR

FRUITCAKES.....

Cu

Are you feeling slightly
at a loss over this whole
CURB thing? Join the club

Don’t get me wrong: I
am all for citizens getting
involved in municipal
decision-making (that’s
what participatory
democracy is all about,
isn’t it?)

And while I applaud
CURB for generating a
renewed interest in local

Comments
from the
~ Crossroads

voiced at council meeting.s

In Castlegar we have a
total of 4,300 registered
voters. We elect six
aldermen and a mayor
every three years to
represent our concerns.
They’re our ratepayers’
association.

Do we really need
another level of
bureaucracy to filter our
concerns through?

government, Ihave a
problem with a citizens’ group of any kind
in Castlegar.

Sure, ratepayers’ associations are
popular on the coast, but that’s because
the municipalities there have 50,000
voters.

Ratepayers’ groups look after the.

concerns of a particular area, most of
which have twice the population of
Castlegar, and ensure those concerns are

If I have a problem with
the city or what they’re doing, I call an
alderman or talk to one of them in the
supermarket checkout or at the video
store or while standing in line for a movie.
~That’s direct democracy.

It seems to me what we're getting with
a citizens’ group is indirect democracy. We
are being pushed one step away from
direct access to the people we elect.
please see NORMAN page 7

Heather Hadiey
Circulation Manager
Burt €

Stree TALK

Publisher Emeritus

L.V. Campbell
Aug. 7, 1947-
Feb. 15, 1973

Paul Kingsley
Castlegar

“I haven’t seen —
any.” yet.”

Joe MacFarlane
Castlegar

“I haven’t seen any

Question: How many Castlegar Rebels games have you seen?

Crystal Edzerza
Castlegar

“P’ve seen none at
all.”

Anne Goderis
Castlegar

“Pve seen no Rebels
games.”

Tony Medeiros
Castlegar

“I’ve seen two
games so far this
‘ year.”

@ Saturday, February 8 , 1992

dThe News

Other VIEWS

Please address
all letters to:
Letters to the
Editor
Castlegar News
P.O. Box 3007
Castlegar, B.C.
V1iN 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
9a.m.and5
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 toWHE

EDITOR

WKP wronged by letter

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but
when the expression of opinion impunes the
reputation of this company and our
hardworking employees, then that opinion
cannot go unchallenged.

In a letter to your paper, Mr. Harry
Killough states that he has been mistreated
by West Kootenay Power, that we have
become “trigger happy” and he implies that
there is some insidious plot to do hima
disservice because he is a board member of
the Electric Consumer Association.
Balderdash.

Mr, Killough has received nothing but
first class attention from our capable staff
in the Castlegar office, our Division
Manager in Castlegar, our Corporate
Solicitor at head office in Trail, our
Customer Services Manager at head office;
and the B.C. Utilities Commission. All this
time and attention over a $128.40 service
charge which Mr. Killough does not think
he should pay. Yet Mr. Killough has been
advised consistently by everyone that this
bill is a normal cost for the service he
requested.

Mr. Killough’s tenants moved out. His
tenant was our customer — not Mr.
Killough — and the tenant advised WKP to
discontinue service. We did. Z

Mr. Killough believes we should have
known that he did not want the service
disconnected. How could we know? He did
not tell us and the new tenant did not tell
us. Ours is no different than service
provided by any number of businesses: from
BCAA to BC Gas to American Express. The
service is in the name of the person paying
the bill.

WEP has since made a special service
notation on Mr. Killough’s rental property.
We discussed with him how his particular
concern could be addressed and we took
steps to accommodate his needs.

For the record, we would do the same for
any customer in Mr. Killough’s position. But
no matter how much you insist Mr.
Killough, we cannot rely on a crystal ball to
know your needs. When we know, we do our
level best to accommodate special customer
requirements.

Mr. Killough has received excellent
service from West Kootenay Power, He had
a problem, he spoke to us and together we
worked out a solution.

If the problem is fixed, why still try to fix
the blame?

y MC. Bradshaw
Director, Community and
Public Affairs

Trappers must trap

Did you know that trappers must trap?

Anyone who holds a registered trapline,
in order to keep that line, must take from it
fur-bearing animals who would yield him
50 pelts or $200.

This does not count the lives lost of
creatures who are caught, but whose pelts
are not marketed, such as other peoples’
dogs and cats, coyotes, ravens and raccoons.
Mandatory trapping is particularly hard on
populations of rare animals like wolverines
and cougars.

Plummeting fur sales have made it
barely profitable for trappers to work their
lines. A local old-timer has told me that it
costs him dearly to run his line this year
but that the government.is making him do
it. He cannot not trap this year.

Why should our mountainsides be
littered with set traps; traps which mean a
cruel death for any creature who steps
therein, when people don’t buy the fur...
often because they object to the killing?

Barbara Murdoch
Castlegar

Thanks for quick hearing

The Castlegar & District Chamber of
Commerce wishes to publicly express its

support the proposed transfer of T.F.L. #23

to Pope and Talbot and to participate in the
review process.

Steve Pelton

President

Let Quebec separate

Western Canadians are about to be
betrayed by their politicians yet again just
like they were by their agreement at Meech
Lake. This is because they all share the
view of Moe Sihota in one respect; their
bottom line is we must keep Canada
together. For this you can read “keep our
political jobs intact.” They are willing to
concede Quebec Distinct Society Status for
the very reason that if they don’t, Quebec
may break up the country. Similarly a
group of cowards give in to a bully because
he will fight and they will not. ;

The fact is they will not “save the
country.” It is gone either slowly as Quebec
“distinguishes” itself, at our expense and
with our tax dollars, or quickly as it chooses
in a referendum to separate this Fall,.

The western governments give lip service
to consultation with the people while all
along plotting to surrender. If it were
otherwise they would see the concession of
a distinct society resoundingly defeated in a
referendum of the people. The people are
not interested in peace at any price. The
people could be separatists, heaven, forbid.
The sad spectacle of the people without a
voice or choice was made evident by the
orchestrated invited guests to the phony
constitutional hearings of the Dorothy
Dobbie Commission. Mulroney can sit back
smugly knowing in the end his opponents
will all fall into line for “the sake of
national unity”. Meanwhile Canada, a

appreciation to the Government of B.C. for totally ineffectual and impractical country,

reacting quickly and decisively in planning
the hearings for the transfer of T.F.L. #23 to
Pope and Talbot. It is critical to the welfare
of the community in general, and to the
Westar workers and their families in
particular that the T.F.L. be transferred as
soon as possible so that the sale of the new
mill can be completed.

The Castlegar and District Chamber of
Commerce encourages the community to

goes further and further into debt leaving a
legacy of bankruptcy, high taxes and
cultural conflict to the lives of our children
and descendants.

Separate now or become a bankrupt
raceless people in a cultureless, nationless
state.

Douglas Christie
Western Canada Concept
Victoria

Norman

continued from page 6
That’s my first concern. My
second concern is with the
group itself. Most ratepayers’
associations don’t set
themselves up as antagonists;
their goal is
antagonistic, sometimes not.
Now take CURB. The name it-
self is antagonistic: The Coalition
JUnaccepting or Rash Bureaucracy
(which is a mouthful in itself. Who
dreamed this up, a bureaucrat?)
Rash Bureaucracy? CURB?
You don’t have to be a rocket sci-
entist to figure out that the group
wants to curb council; put the
brakes on it; stop it in its tracks.
That’s a positive approach?
(There’s a touch of irony in the
name, too, in that many of the
leaders of this group opposed the

city’s paving referendum. CURB.
Paving, Aw, forget it.)

I would be more supportive of
this group had it named itself the
Castlegar Ratepayers’ Association
or some sui

That brings us to another prob-
lem I have with CURB: its mem-
bership. :

Ratepayers’ association mem-
berships are normally quite pub-
lic, as is its election of officers.
Ratepayers’ groups operate like
any. other association or society.

But not CURB. While its lead-
ers say the group has 50 members
and the list is growing by leaps
and bounds, they won't disclose
who those members are, citing
concern about “intimidation” from
council

I say if a group wants to repre-

sent ALL the people of Castlegar
and-work with council to build a
better Castlegar, what’s to hide?

However, if the group wants to
fight council at every turn and
make life miserable for the elected
representatives then, yes, I can
see where there might be a con-
cern about intimidation.

But I don’t know how CURB
can ask people’to pay $5 and join
what is in essence a secret organi-
zation. You don’t find ratepayers’
groups — true ratepayers’ groups
— hiding who belongs to them.

That brings me to my final con-
cern about CURB.

They say they have banded to-
gether to represent the interests
of ALL Castlegar residents. yet
they’ve already elected their exec-
utive and directors.

What do these people stand for?
Do they really represent my con-
cerns? How do I know?

Wouldn't it have been better to
advertise the fact that a ratepay-
ers’ group was going to form and
then go about setting up an inter-
im executive with elections to fol-
low after a membership drive?

Then there could be discussions
on the group’s purpose and its
goals.

No, CURB isn’t a ratepayers’
association. Not-yet.

It might be someday. And if it
is, great.

The more involvement in the
community the better.

Who knows, I might change my :

mind and join.
In the meantime, I can speak
for myself, thanks.

Peek eS

a

a ce ee 33