Political patronage. :

unsavory tradition

When Prime Minister John Tur-

¥ *

ner ed the Sept. 4 electi
last Monday he talked about the
1 of contid

need for a “
and certainty” in Canoda.

But the deluge of Liberal
patronage appointments that ac-
companied the election call does
anything but rebuild the common
Canadian's confidence in the
federal government.

True, the majority of appoin-
tments were made by outgoing
Prime Minister, Trudeau, but they
were also continued by Prime
Minister Turner.

The finol tally shows Mr.
Trudeau made 225 order-in-council
appointments to federal. jobs in the
last month he was in office, almost
half of them in his final days.

11 is also true that some were

helped Mr. Trudeou during his 16-
yeor stint in the prime 's

But it's time the unsavory tradition
was stopped.

Imagine, for a moment, it
Castlegar council filled municipal
positions with its friends — paid
out of local residents’ pockets.
There would be an enormous out-
cry. The tederal appointments are
really no different.

But morality isn't the only
reason to put a halt to the practice;
P ge is. also th g the
very fabric of the judicial system.

The Canadion Bar Association
4 d to he

office.

For instance, Joyce Fairburn, a
legislotive assistant to Mr.
Trudeau, was appointed to the
Senate, which pays $61,400 a year.
Another assistant of Mr.
Trudeau's, Ted Johnson, received
on appointment to the board of
directors of de Havilland Aircratt,
while Robert Pace, an aide to Mr.
Trudeau, was appointed to the
board of the Export Development
Corp.

@ major

Is the LRB biased?

An editorial reprinted from the
Vancouver Sun.

In a brutal industrial relations
climate like the one that currently
exists in B.C., it is that any

CAIMAW has a number of ques-
tions about the application and the
association, but rather than hold a
hearing into the matter, an LRB panel

d the i and ordered

study into the ind d of
judges atter five retiring Liberal
MPs were appointed to judicial
posts — two by Mr. Trudeau and
three more by Prime Minister
Turner.

There is concern about the in-
dependence of the judiciary, that it
has become too “politicized”.

It’s time Canadians made
known to the individual riding can-
didates their feelings on this issue

have an reputa-
tion for fairness. And for seeming to be

Unfortunately the Labor Relations
Board has recently made a ruling that
leaves it open to a charge of bias,
whether or not such a charge is
deserved.

The case involves workers at
Cominco's Highland Valley mine near
Ashcroft, who are represented by the
Canadian Association of Industrial,
Mechanical and Allied Workers (CAI
MAW). An employees’ association,
trying to raid CAIMAW, has applied to
the LRB for certi jon to rept

about 350 of CAIMAW’'s members to
vote on whether they will leave the
union and join the new association.
It is a serious setback for a union to
lose a certification, and any union faced
with a raid like the one under way at
Highland Valley should have every
opportunity to defend its jurisdiction.
The LRB's rulings over the years
have seemed to uphold that principle,
since its invariable practice has been to
order in cases ing raids

and Kimberley. Although a clear
majority of about 4,500 Steelworkers
had joined the raiding union, the LRB
put CAIMAW throught more than six
months of hearings. In the end it
decided, on a technicality, not to order
a vote.

Now, when CAIMAW believes a
hearing would do it some good, the
LRB departs from its usual practice
and denies CAIMAW the forum
normally used to air certification
fights.

CAIMAW plans to appeal the
decision. If it gets a hearing and still
cannot offer a decent defence of its

like the Highland Valley, one.
In a recent case, now highly
relevant, CAIMAW tried to raid the

Fred
Merriman

A pipefitter and & lot more good
men like him are now down to the
last few days of work at the Nelson
operation of Westar. It’s a crying
shame.

The reason given for this sad
turn of events may be summed up in
two words: poor markets. We all
know the men who fit pipes and
stack lumber are part of the cost of
that lumber.

We also know that the sales

tration.
Ho hum, who do we blame? We

. a“ ae
\

possibilities exist and that may
logically exclude the good old
U.S.A. which seems to have a
healthy lumber industry.

Yes, we can hear the catcalls as a
heckler from the back of the room
reminds that most of the five billion
do not have cash to finance
mortgages. They do have a hundred
hardworking men and women with
hand tools who could fashion and
complete accommodation in three
days without nails if they had the
lumber.

The sales managers of the
various forest products firms will be
required to use their i

the Hi, Valley workers.

United of America at
Comineo's mine and smelter at Trail

CENTRAL AMERICA

Economies need

Editor's note: Poverty and conflict
combine to depress the economies of
Central American countries. Economic
aid is needed but as this story, the

fected by the violence in Central
America, El Salvador, is looking for a
three to four per cent growth,

second of two, points out, the long-t
answer is a restructuring of the econ-
omies.

By STEPHEN ADDISON

MEXICO CITY — Central American
countries hope for — small economic
upturn after years of crisis, but econ
omists say long-term recovery will
depend on in-depth reforms.

Four of the five cash-starved coun-
tries — Guatemala, Honduras, El Sal
vador and Cost Rica — expect modest
growth from the lows of 1962 and 1983.
Nicaragua has yet to make a 1964 fore.
cast.

The U.S. commission on Central
America, headed by Henry Kissinger

The last point of this piece is
We hear that fir two-by-
fours fetch $190 a thousand in the
affluent south. Our family just paid
$896 a thousand for No. 1 cedar
tongue and groove, six inches wide
in 16 foot lengths. Four of the 50
pieces purchased were untsable
because of broken or badly graded
boards.

We considered ourselves fortu-
nate to find this lumber at any price
because it is simply not available in
our area. We tried local retail yards
and a local lumber broker who did
carry No. 3 and better.

A Nelson lumber yard had the
lumber we needed.

Question: Why does no local
lumber producer actively work with
the retail yards im supply and
training to promote extensive local

Many of the largest U.S. build-
ing supply yerds are actively
encouraging and promoting this
very lucrative market with good
success.

Poor markets are not an accept-
able excuse. The pipefitter and the
rest of us trust you to.de your job so
we can keep ours.

has r an $8billion, five
year economic gid program to over
come poverty and resist subversion in
the troubled region.

In January the commission wrote:

“Central American nations desper.
ately need our help and we have a
moral obligation to provide it .. . But in
the end solutions will depend on the
Central Americans themselves.”

The commission's idea of outside aid

jon of

assuming no cutback in U.S. aid and no
a by leftist rebel
forces.

Alberto Benitez, president of the
Salvadoran Central Reserve Bank, said
the outlook depended on the progress
of the four-year war. damage from
which has‘ been estimated at $850
million.

“At current levels we can manage,”
he said, “but if it gets much worse or
goes on for more than another two

Iéading to 1 reor

the region’s economies was repeatedly
stressed by regional experts in inter
views.

“Aid is vital, but it can only be a

are open,

and stand to benefit directly from the
upturn in the United States, while
their

year ago.
One of the two countries most af

cer the board can always
order the vote, then. >

In the meantime, the LRB can only
enhance its reputation, and the public's
faith in it, by reconsidering its original
order.

reform

same old exports when the markets for
them are growing so slowly,” said Luis
Liberman, former Costa Riean finance
minister.

New products like cut flowers,
tropical plants, melons, tobacco and
furniture are now generating interest.

From the July 16, 1959
The Castlegar village council is
studying the possibilities of lowering

the minimum age for persons entering
pool halls from 18 to 16.
. 8 @

the decka of an RCN harbor craft in
English Bay.
. °

Mrs. W. Jacobson of Kinnaird was
re-elected president of the West Koot-
enay branch of the B.C. school trustees

. .@t a meoting held in Castlegar last

Thursday. 4

15 YEARS AGO
From the July 17,1969

town council approved a
$1,000 grant to the Castlegar and
District Chamber of Commerce last
week with $500 of the donation ear-
marked for assistance with the planned
mid-summer Doukhobor Days festi-
vities.

. 8 8

In the first two months of serving
Castlegar Airport, there were only
eight occasions in 207 scheduled flights
in which B.C. Air Lines failed to land
here.

.

New Castlegar

There is also a general appr
that the region needs to place mére
emphasis on exports to new areas and
depend less on the faltering Central
American common market.

Among those new areas, Mexico and
South America are seen as primary
objectives. They offer large but less
sophisticated or demanding markets
than the United States and can act as
stepping stones to the world's largest
consumer nation.

In the longer term, some economists
have suggested that the region should
avoid competing with itself for the new
markets and should trade as a bloc.

Others have dismissed this as
unrealistic in view of the traditional
rivalries between the various coun-
tries.

(Reuter)

Please address all Letters
to the Editor to: The
Castleger News, P.O.Box
3007, Castlegar, B.C. VIN
3H4; or deliver them to our
office at: 197 Columbia

Avenue, Castlegar, B.C.

tral Kootenay Regional
works superintendent Alex Luts.
. 2

A scene from the Castlegar area has
been delivered to every home in B.C. A

the Social Credit Party to all B.C.
homes last week.

5 YEARS AGO
From the July 19,1979 |
News

for their repair and maintenance —
began this week.

Being dismantled and moved, the
mobile housing units had housed about
30 students.

o 0 fe

Recipients of Year of the Child and
Family Outstanding Achievement
Awards have been chosen. Those who
will be receiving awards will be J.M.
Johnson of Fairview Subdivision, who
for at least the past 15 years has taught

Fi

US. level. The dollar, however, remains strong
against the currencies of most other industrial nations.

as well as.
estimated to

at the
ending last $1. That's close to three
$11.4-billion deficit racked up in 1979-80,

the Conféresiee ‘of Canada expect economic

conditions
will worsen, While.in late 1979 more than 45 per cent of

consumers and 67 per cent of businessmen

would get worse. But the figures are misleading bechuse the
economy fell so far in the recession that today almost,

anything looks up.

[Party views

OTTAWA (CP) — Here is where each party stands
on major economic issues.
: All three parties say it is the No. 1
priority.

= -ais blame high unemployment on the strong
growth in the labor force and say if the work force here
had grown at the slower U.S. pace, unemployment would
be four per cent, not 11.2. They also note they are already
pouring more than $1 billion a year into job-creation and

are expected but Prime Minister Turner says 6
will have to wait for a budget and Liberals admit that
reducing unemployment will take a long time.

— Conservatives argue that their election and their
policies will increase investor confidence in the economy
and lead to creation of jobs. A series of policies aimed at
Western Canada and announced just prior to the elction
would create 200,000 jobs, some of them overnight, says
Conservative Leader Brian Mulroney.

— New Democrats would focus their job-creation
efforts on the young where unemployment is highest and
on women whom they argue are “ghettoized” in
low-paying and part-time work. Solutions, among other
things, include shifting tax breaks from the biggest
corporations, which now get 80 per cent of them, to small
and medium-sized businesses where studies have shown
that new jobs are being created.

Interest rates, the dollar, inflation: All parties blame
the United States for the pressure that is pushing up
rates, pushing down the dollar and threatening to renew
inflation, but they disagree on how Canada should react.

— Liberals say their balancing act of letting some of

some on interest rates, letting

They appear to have shifted the

the last year and are taking more of the pressure on the
dollar. But they still fear the inflationary effects of a weak
dollar.

oneconomy

— The Conservatives have shifted their position too,
but have gone much further. Fearing rising interest rates
will push the economy back into recession, they say let
the dollar drop if a choice has to be made. They also argue
their election and their policies would increase investor
confidence in the economy, which in itself would boost the
dollar and allow interest rates to fall.

— New Democrats say keep interest rates down at
all costs, even if it means letting the dollar fall. THey
argue that 40,000 jobs are lost for every half-point
increase in interest rates but only a quarter-point is
added to inflation for every one-cent drop in the dollar. To
protect the dollar they would slap a tax on big currency
speculators who drive down the value of the dollar.

Deficit: The Liberals and Tories say they would cut
the $30-billion federal deficit but are vague on how to go
about it, while the New Democrats are less worried about
the issue.

— Turner said during the Liberal leadership
campaign he would halve the deficit in seven years but
wouldn't say how. Many Liberals don't seem too
concerned about the deficit at this time, and the real hope
appears to be that much of it will disappear when the
economy gets rolling, tax revenues increase and paymnts
for welfare and uenmployment drop.

— Mulroney also says he can reduce the deficit but
like Turner won't specify how. Also like Turner, he says
it won't be done on the backs of the downtrodden who
benefit from social programs. If there is a difference, it's
between Mulroney and his party’s finance critic, John
Crosbie, who has indicated a tougher approach is needed
to cut goernment spending and the deficit.

— New Democrats say the other two parties have
got it all backwards. The high deficit is not a cayse of the
problem but a symptom of a weak economy. They say the
solutiod is to increase government spending. And they
argue their low-interest-rate policy will help because it
will reduce the interest payments on the more than
$140 billion in national debt.

Mark McEwan Thursday to po
Kootenay West at the meeting, which is)
“people representative of the various

. He said the western and northern council was
formed because Turner feels the West doesn't have
representation in the federal government.

If a “significant” number of western representatives
become part of the government after the election, the
council may be dropped, McEwan said.

Representatives from the five western provinces at-
tending the meeting, which runs from Friday evening to
Sunday afternoon, include provincial party presidents,
two other provincial riding presidents, as well as cabinet
ministers, and Turner himself.

_ McEwan said he will speak on the “choking off” of
féfpral funds that are administered through the a '
pfevincial government, and find out how the federal gov» MARK McBWAN.... A western and northern
exgiment stands on providing aid to the forest industry, council for Liberals.in Edmonton this weekend,
intluding reforestation. . *

He said that given the opportunity, he will raise local don't have much of ap idea of the format of the meeting.
concerns such as the closure of the David Thompson of
University Centre in Nelson while “money is being used
for Expo and so forth.”

McEwan said he will also make the government
aware of the need for federal assistance “to promote
Cominco's decision to remain in Trail,” and he'll discuss
the poor economic situation in “Nelson and the rest of the
riding.”

But McEwan said he isn't aware whether the discus
sions would extend as far as local issues.

“It's difficult for me to say specifically,” he said. “I

government has kind of
neglected us as fay as 'm ”

“We've been included because of Turner's commit
ment to this area. He's quite serious about the West
Kootenay,” said MeEwan,

“There aren't many ridings that are directly repre-
sented and we're one of them now,” be added.

Turner ahead
in one riding

He wasn't offered a cabinet VANCOUVER (CP) — A
post by Prime Minister John commissioned by the
Turner during the recent Vancouver Syn in three fed-
eabint shuffle, whieh oceur- eral constituencies suggests
of the after effects of triple red while Pepin was still in Prime Minister John Turner
bypass heart surgery and a hospital recovering from sur- leads in popular support only
sense of no longer being as gery in Vancouver Quadra, trails
“needed or useful.” in Capilano and is neck-and-

Pepin, who had a 20-year neck in North Vancouver-
political career and held four Burnaby.
cabinet posts, said “I've had a The poll, conducted this
feeling since my transfer week by Marktrent Market
from transport that I've not ing Research, involved about
been used as much as I might 1,200 interviews in the con.
have been.” stituencies where Turner is

The MP for Ottawa-Carle- considered most likely to
ton became external rela seek election. All were held
tions minister in 1983. Prior by Conservatives in the last
to that, he served as trans. Commons.
port minister. In Capilano, only 82 per

Pepin calls it quits

OTTAWA (CP) — Jean.
Lue Pepin, former minister of
external relations, said he's
retiring from politics because

cent of decided voters said
they would go for Turner
compared with 42 per cent
for Conservative Mary Col
lins, who is seeking to retain
the seat held by retiring MP
Ron Huntington.

In Vancouver Quadra, the
figures were 41 per cent for
Turner and 28 per cent for
Tory Bill Clarke.

In North Vancouver-Bur
naby, it was 33 per cent for
Turner and 28, per cent, for
Conservative’ Chuck Cook.
The difference falls well
within the margin of error of
the poll, which is said to be
within 4.9 per cent either
way 19 times out of 20.

Pepin also served as chair
man of the anti-inflation
board and was co-chairman of
the task force on Canadian
unity with former Ontario
premier JohnRoberts.

“It would have been tempt
ing for me to say ‘OK I've
come down, that's normal in
politics, let's try and move
back up to top five or six,”
said Pepin.

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