OPINION ly, The Cast! dar Sun “AM ev PUBLISHER aay YN STRONG SHARLENE IMHOFF CATHERINE ROSS EDITOR ADVERTISING REP NICOLE BEETSTRA PRODUC TON/OF Fi LINDA ANDERSON PRODUCTION MANAGE CONST ONE MOVER AT DIRECT MELODY SEMENOFF ADVERTISING RE MARGE LALONDE CIRCULATION MANAGER KAREN KERKHOFF REPORTER Direct Department Phones General Office 365-526 Circulation Classified Ads 7848 Display Advertising Newsroom Fax 365-5266 editorial comment Flawed bill has pure intent Do we have the right to arm oursely own homes? It’s an age-old question with new pressures for an answer Recent firearm legislation states that it to load firearms unless you are in an area wt legal to do so—such as a area. This clearly means that should you gun in your own home to defend yourself a an intruder, you will be breaking the law. St you kill the intruder in self-defense, it stand son that you could then be ct manslaughter. But not arming yourselt at the ruthless mercy of the intruder So—the answer is yes, we do have t defend ourselves in our homes. Right’ Wrong! Think again There is more to the equation than Just pick up the paper or tum of yet another sad story about been the victum of a shoo: or her own hand, or a fri America’s main source From drive-by shootings school for protecuon, the horrific from below the 49th parallel mak more desirable and Safe place in wt Now you might say “Hey! That n range or other reason why such ar to you or your family. And wouldn't happen to you responsible gun owner) it While you might be > there are people out there wh able. They leave their firear unsecured and in full reach and Young children do not understand the ity of pointing a loaded gun at anott they did understand the consec reason that they would never px The tragic and unnecessary shooting accidents is in itself there to be laws about loaded f but there are other reasons as wel Spousal abuse and spousal homicide are ing frighteningly common. Most spousal occurs in the privacy of their there are, on occasion, loaded f loaded gun in the hands of someone and quite often impaired is like stnki an explosive. You're sure to get a in the end someone will get maimed We know that atrocities occur wher available, and yet, some of us our right to protect our home ourselves with weapons. While we have to remember that laws < people. The only place firearm museum or in a hunter's r never in a home for the stri defense, or a toy for defensele weapon for angry spouses While Bill C-17 might be is pure—that of preventing unne to misuse of firearms oss of hu: reason ¢ own hom IS POLITICALLY IN’ MEMBER OF THE STE Established Novembe Published by The Castieg Weekly on Wednesday adian Community Newspar Community Newsp: 465 Columbia Ave The advertiser a: damages arising out amount paid for th advertisement in which the error ocx to the negligence of its servants or otherw liability for non-insertion of any advertisem« paid for such advertisement All advertising subject to publisher's ar completed within one year from contract accepted Consensus reached on pageants! t surrounded pageants rs note: Although Karen and John usually differ in their opinions in Cheek to Cheek, when the , both were surprised to learn they actually share the same views We decided to run both opinion pieces despite the fact they were not in,opposition. John irst, let me get one thing ff my chest:pageants Jo have a place in our ty, although that place ne changing n saying, is that the 1 ‘rules’ need to be {to reflect our changing etter) Society ue the 1990's, not the nd for beauty pageants nain is a horrific ot everything that 1 been fighting he past few decades I know you are going me a hypocrite, but wait finish where I was with this. s need to be made so pageants focus on beauty of ind, not the body. Forget urade of fashions, the mod- eparation and the Hi! My name is participants should { points for attitude, alivity, academics and volun: sm. Sure, posture, cleanli ind a nice smile are a attracuion, but the work ndividual has done to better condition should be tal umportance. In this day intelligence should out the human ~ well one looks in an zown. By the way, I that these changes young men a pete qually peer hod to select a uld include ideas n how to make lace in which to admit Karen, that ypes of changes, 4 to be rele books. We rmat pass till retain a for those s who would challenge and Ss, provinces, fid say males and wall that has been i ig . % _A to XX. keeping genders. apart for ages (you know, the one that says women should be pretty, yet passive, while men should be aggressive, dominant but not necessarily good spellers) needs to come down to allow both Sexes to compete on the same level playing field. As a point of comparison, the kids in our elementary school system reflect the changing atti- tudes of our society. They are being taught that they can do anything they derais no set out to-do. Gen longer a means to restrict participation in any event—that should include pageants. (Maybe we should ze the name) ‘A fair playing field where both sexes can compete for top honors would also lend more credibility to pageants, which have been scruunized by groups. most of them women's groups, for many years But before changes can begin, the would-be participants in these events need to make their views known, to the organizers. Then, and only then will pageants catch up with what's conducive to the 1990s and beyond. heek ‘ohn I think you will like Jom I’m going to write about. It should be right down your alley, and I think I know the position you will take on it. After all, I've seen you in action, if you know what I mean. The time has come that we all need to assess the validity of beauty pageants. I find it hard to imagine that a young and enlight ened woman of today would want to parade herself in front of the public in order to win a ttle Especially a title that is won for all the wrong reasons, such as a woman's physical attributes Granted, there are now other considerations made when besides a woman's physical beauty. But let's face it, if somebody entered a pageant who is intelligent, tal ented and homely, I doubt very much whether she would be awarded that over-priced glitter ing crown. Too. often women have been defined by how they look, instead of being defined by all of her attributes. Although most men are pro- gressing in their view point of women, and enjoy being with a woman who has an intellect awarding a crown there are still some men out there who persist in negating a woman's attributes unless they are all physically pleasing. But to be fair, I have to say it is not just men who judge a person's value by how they look. All too often, women are their own worst critics. \1 think it is impor- tant that people take care in how they look, but to-focus only on appearance, at the expense of diminishing other fine qualities, is doing a disfavor to individuals who take pride in being just that— individuals. Instead of having beauty pageants, or a “queen” pageant would it not be more fitting if we sponsored a young ambas- sador,program? The young ambassador would then be a representative of the community, and would best signify what the community represents. The ambassador could be of either gender, and would be selected on their academic accomplish- ment, contributions {o the com- munity, speaking ability and other such valuable qualities. This seems, to me, to be a better way to promote a commu- nity, while at the same time allowing males to be both a spokesperson and representative of the community. Although this concept may not be popular in the beginning, I can envision Castlegar as being the leader of such a concept. We may have a chance to change peoples atti tudes towards pageants, and towards how people guage a human being's value. To not take a step towards that chance is irresponsible towards all of us, including our children and grandchildren I passionately hope that one day beauty pageants will be rel- egated to the history books as another example of a society which was archaic, narcissisti¢ and pre-occupied with bodily perfection. Maybe one day we will all see that “glittery” for what it really is dream. crown a tarnished if you have any Call the newsroom at 365-5579 or fax us your ts nts or q about this week's Cheek to Cheek, feel free to send us your comments In a tetter to the editor c/o The Castlegar Sun. if you have a subject that you would like to see debated in the Cheek to Cheek column, Karen and John would love to hear your suggestions. andr 5 * | ts at 365-7762 anadian public jeral Govern Breach of of Trust and of Funds lon campaign, s promise the’ gen any things if they Strangely enough, hardly ever come No tax increases! ot And various hitick promises. I for roughly annoyed a shown to ihe political fast talk r one, like to be ct that Tas a erve that decisior me and my without our Iam not that th ull us up and ry issu uth be onditior sake wn businesses, run are well educated rreat deal of com for the most part and girls, I'm sur we can handle whatever is being kept from us “for our own good” When we cast our votes and elect a government, are we not in essence hiring a group of peo-y ple to manage our business! (country) for us? If they promise to perform certain functions, and do not come through with them, are they not also in essence in Breach of Contract?” When they fabricate truth, so that we hear what they think we want to hear, are they not in "Breach of Trust?” When our resources are auctioned off to other countries, or our economy is gambled with, in favour of a free trade agreement, is this not “Misap propriation of Funds?” Where do we as Canadians stand, when we feel ripped off by our own government? “What ever happened to the government's promise of reduc ing the national debt by imple menting the GST? Is it just me or did they thought this lax was suppose pull a fast one on us? 1 s and service solve our financial , So would someone please tell me why the debt is 10 percent higher than it was when the GST came in? I was under the impression that a vote. of non-confidence is usually followed by a federal election What the hell happened when Canadian 5 told the politicians where to put their “Constitutior last year The thing’I find th that the seems to think that we are goin funniest Conservatiy Pa to forget how they multiplied our national debt by a factor of eight (conservatively speaking.) n pun intended, in the past eight Are you feeling ripped off lately? years of their “reign.” We now owe approximately $650 billion dollars, or about $26,000 for every man woman and child Sorry Brian but I'm a little short right now, since I am unem- ployed at the moment I think it’s time for some honesty from our elected offi- cials. Why don't they just tell us the truth about the severity of our situation, and tell us how it can be solved realistically What the heck is the point of Promising us paradise and delivering us swamp land? What else is there left to tax Brian? We are tapped out I rgally feel sorry for our kids. they'ne the ones who will really have to pay forall the mistakes of our political forefathers. Too bad, because this really is a beau tiful country to live in, if it doesn't get sold from under them Samy Bishay is a 27-vea ad Selkirk College student who free lances for The Castlegar Sun and is a volunteer for Shaw Cable. A native of Ontaric planning Samy btain a degree in Journalism Wednesc 3de lay, Mé ay 26, 1993 The Castlegar Sun Letters to the Editor —~ Pay equity program aiieit to blatant sexism Dear Editor: . lam writing to voice my con cem over the Provincial Govern. ment's program to address Pay Equity for women. The aim of the program is to increase wages for low paid, female dominated jobs Il agree with the aim of the program. There is no doubt, many low paid, female domi nated jobs out there do indeed deserve the government's attention. While | believe that the gov- ernment’s intentions are noble, the program they have put in place does not seem to have been well thought out In the fall of 1992, Selkirk College received notification to address Pay Equity The stipu: lation being that the money wa to be paid only to the lowest paid-jebs which were currently occupied 60 percent by females This they called female dominat ed jobs. If by chance only 59 percent of the Clerk Typists at the College were female, “Clerk Typist” would not qualify as a female dominated job, and if by chance 60 percent of our Jour neymen Tradesmen did happen to be female, then “Journeyman Tradesman” would qualify as a female dominated job. So in reality the program does not address “female dominated jobs”, it addresses jobs which are currently occupied predomi nantly by women, This is blatant sexism. Are we next going to start awarding raises on the basis of colour or race? On awarding the money to. the college, the government neglect- ed to consider that the support staff union had already addressed the problem of pay equity at our last bargaining session in 1990. The college and the support staff union were forced to payout their new Pay Equity money according to the ground rules set by the Ministry of Women's Equity, or lose the money. Of course no college, or union would be fool enough to pass up government money. As a result of the govern ment's ill considered program, the integrity of the Unions’ seven’ pay grade, pay equity system, will be severely compromised We will now have a 14 pay grade system - seven pay grades for jobs with less than 60 percent women, and seven slightly higher pay grades for jobs with more than 60 percent women. For instance, Clerk Typists will now be paid more than Custodians Adoption act should be further amended Dear Editor: The following is an open letter to Joan Smallwood, minister of social services Please be aware that one of after searching for eight years, and finding that her relinquished child had died at 2.5 years of age, was denied further information regarding the child's death. The date place. ume, cause of death and place this parent. Pre our members of bunal are unknown to sent legislation prevented contact with the adoptive family either by the reunion agency or by the birth mother herself This member finds she is unable to put the matter to rest and is therefore unable to proper ly grieve the death of her child As well, she is denied access to pictures, history and shared memories with the adoptive fam- ily. We are aware that there are many other birth parents similar- ly affected. We request that this deplorable oversight be addressed. We fur- ther request that the amendment to the Adoption Act be further amended to include the sharing Letters Policy Letters to the Editor are wel- come on any topic of local or general interest. Letters should be double-spaced, typewritten, or legibly handwritten, and no more than two pages if possible. Let- ters will be edited in the interests of brevity or taste if necessary. -Aul letters must be signed, with address and telephone number, although names may be witheld from publication for valid reason by the approval of the editor. Send letters to: The Castlegar Sun, 465 Columbia Ave., Castlegar, B.C., VIN 1G8, or drop them off at the office. of this information under these very tragic circumstances. Lynn, Catherihe, Full Circle Birth Parent Support Group even though the 1990 Pay Equity negotiations set their rates equal, and. Senior Payroll Clerks, Senior Accounting Clerks and Senior Cooks will now be paid more than Journeymen Tradesmen, even though their rates were also set equal by the 1990 Pay Equity contract This government professes to believe in free collective bargain- ing. Why are they now interfer- ing in thal process. But the worst is yet to come This Pay Equity money will also be used to subsidize wages for lower paid females on the Administrative Salary Schedule Junior Administrative jobs include Confidential Secre- taries, Executive Secretaries and Administrative Assistants. These women currently earn from $18.61 per hour to $22.86 per hour Administrative women who earn $22.86 per hour are consid ered low paid, but men in the support staff union who earn $19.17 per hour and less, are not I wonder how the low. paid women in the private sector like paying the seven per cent sales tax to subsidize these low paid women Please don't get me wrong, I believe in equal rights for women, equal opportunity for women, and equal pay for women. Equal but not superior. It seems the best laid plans of ,mice and women are doomed to failure Rod Retzlaff Glade Page 5A CAV EENEND N Bichcer st SPEEDO AEROBIC WEAR | 10% OFF CRTC WILLOW POINT, B.C NOTICE Canadian Radio-television and avd; C Canada Public Notice CRTC 1993-57. The Commission hereby announces that it has received radiocommunication licence renewal applications, some with amendments. The licence expire on 31 August 1993. 87 Application (920927100) by THE KOOTENAY LAKE TV SOCIETY, Box 29, Riondel, B.C., VOB 2B0 (CHJB-TV). EXAMINATION OF APPLICATION: Bulletin Board, Riondel Store, Riondel, B.C. This application and information on the intervention process is available through the Public Examination Room of the CRTC, Central Building, Les Terrasses de la Chaudiére, 1 Promenade du Portage, Room 201, Hull, Que. J8X 4B1; and through the CRTC regional office: Suite 1380, 800 Burrard t., Box 1300, Vancouver, B.C., must be filed with the Secretary General, CRTC, Ottawa, Ont. KIA ON2, with proof that a copy has been served on the applicant on or For more information you may also call CRTC Public Affairs in Hull at (819) 997-0313, Fax (819) 994-0218 or the CRTC regional office in Vancouver (604) 666-2111 V6Z 2G7. 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