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r Salmo Route Opened |

- SHARING HISTORIC MOMENT, Highways Minister Alex Fraser, Salmo
‘resident Ltewellyn C. Fletcher and Premler Bill Bennett officially open the

astlegar-Salmo highway link. Nearly 1,000 spectators
fatched Monday's ribbon-cutting

i] 25-kllometre Ci

Visible in

at ‘the highway

f the
government’s Position. on "B.C. Hydro’s proposed Kootenay ay Diversion.

‘oto by

5: Visible In id is the long

groups-attended the. de St the new
fl

route, whi

trans-
more than 28

of more than 200 vehicles halted

on the sides to Sal the sloping road before they

almo.
by Bill Turner

@
Highway 3 by

: ore 3

ons ee,

a ai aes f
“hg ‘ 4 Pe

opel ie

PEL PINS commemorating the event are

and Chantal

By RYON GUEDES
CasNews Editor

A cavalcade of more than 200 vehicles travelled southeast on the oncawelea’!
$14 million link between Castlegar and Salmo after Premier Bill Bennett officially
opened the 25-kilometre highway Monday.

Assisted by Highways Minister Alex Fraser and longtime Salmo resident
Llewellyn C. Fletcher, the premier marked the shortening of the southern.
transprovincial Highway 3 by more than 28 kilometres with the unveiling of a —

commemorative stone cairn and a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Ina brief speech before the unveiling and ribbon-cutting ceremonies at the
overlooking the Castlegar valley,

Bennett told nearly

i 8 rep
“a government priority”

vhy we're opening,
advance of the dong
giving) weekend,” he
important part of
bringing the people of BC.
closer together is our trans:
portation system."
Uh he route's opening

ation of ferries ‘and
renewed commitment to B.C.
Rail.
MEETS HECKLERS .
nstrators moved to-
nier and heckled
him as he returned to
after the ceremony. €
resident Ralph Moore,
nin for a group deme
ainst the provi
iment position on’ E
proposed: Kootenay

this year.
presented Bennett with a 1,400-
signature petition protesting
the exclusion of voters in
Creston and rural Area C
nearby from a planned Nav. 18
Central Kootenay plebiscite on
the diversion scheme, (See
tory elsewhere on

t he premier told the anti-
sroup there had been
ion on BAC. Hydro's
ind the only govern:
ment official ever to suggest.
the Crown corporation had
d to carry it oul was Bob
natural resources
minister in the New Democrat
‘nment which wus defeat-

ed in 1975,
He said “nothing could
happen until 1984 in any event"

and that B.C. Hydro was. still

1,000
i two Separate groups--the rush to complete the highway °

ighway viewpoint

onlookers—including several ;

studying the projected environ-
mental impact of the proposed :
diversion,

Another group of demon-
strators, representing the
Kootenay Nuclear Study Group,
distributed literature critical of
the government's position on
uranium mining and develop.
ment in B.C.

COSTS INFLATED

At an varlier luncheon in
Castlegar, attended by two ~
area MLAs as well as highway
offiei resentatives of
municipalities and chambers of
commerce from both ends of
the new link, before the open-
ing, Fraser urged an audience
of about 50 not to be surprised
at the estimated $14,013,800
total cost of the new highway.

See Page A2

Published Bright and Early Every Thursday Morning at “The Crossroads of the Kootenays”

Vol; 31, No. 40

CasNews Staft
Participation of five muni
cipalities'an

xin Central Kootenay's planned

Nov... 18. Kootenay. Diversion
* referendum gained regional di-
rectors’ approval Saturday.
Representalivés of Areas
A.B, G, H, J and K decided
their constituencies ‘and the
ented Area
join the City of
Castlegar and the villages of
Nakusp,. Mew Denver, Silver-
ton and Slocan in a move
5 Lorne

yeous step” toward a stronger
voice for regional districts,
While about 40 spectators
~including members of the
Save the Kootenay Committee,
a group opposing B.C, Hydro's
proposal—looked on, rural
RDCK directors who had sub-
milted letters of consent to
their areas’ participation’ gave
third reading to the proposed

30 Cents

CASTLEGAR, BRITISH COLUMBIA, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1978

Five Municipalities, Seven Rural Areas in RDCK Consent to Vote

Directors Opt for Plebiscite on Diversion

bylaw authorizing a plebiscite
on whether the Kootenay River
should *be “diverted into the

Columbia River, and voted to

to. the ‘municipal
ministry for approval:

Nicolson, who was present
at the Saturday meeting, told
directors their decision would
seta precedent for future
opinion polls on a regional and
municipal level throughout the

forwar
alfai

province although the diversion
plebjseite “might. be. held _in..
some legal “question” by the
ministry. .

+ He agreed directors whose
constituencies participate. in
such a plebiscite face the risk of
personal responsibility for its
cost because the diversion pro- -
posal does not fall within RDCK
jurisdiction, but he added that
he and other residents of the

No Rush, Says Education Mi

region would probably “sub-

scribe. very heavily" to any fund >

to offset legal ‘expenses which
might result.

Rural directors who did
not consent to participation of
their areas in'the plebiscite
cited the importance of B.C.
Hydro’s option under the Col-
umbia River Treaty to divert
1.5 million acre-feet of the

ister

Selkirk Gets Corporate

New granted corporate
status will give Selkirk College

claimed sections 6, 7, and 8 of
the _ Colleges and Eroyinelal
cal-

gi

and similar in greater
autonomy, Education Minister
Pat McGeer said here Tuesday.

Stopping at Selkirk Col-
lege in ‘his current tour of 14
community colleges in B.C.,
MeGeer said the recently-pro-

lege governing rasa to enter
into contracts and hold real
make community
independent of the
Public Schools Act and schoo!
hoards.

‘No Faith’ in Selkirk College
Five-Year Budget Forecast

A_ newly-completed _five-
year budget forecast for the
Selkirk College system is al-
ready obsolete, according to the
college principal.

Mitch Anderson told coun-
cil members at their last
regular meeting he did not have

* “any faith whatsoever that this
budget represents what we're
really going to do over the next
five years.”

athe principal said the bud-

of
‘oto by Bill Turner

gel—p
for ii but not released

Ones Talking, Hection’

Press “Only

Election Rumors Quashed

Statements by two pro-

vincial cabinet ministers

visiting here this week have
-refuted recent anticipation
of an early election.

Both Highways Minis-
‘ter Alex Fraser, here to
officiate at the opening of
the Castlegar-Salmo High-
.way Monday, and Education
‘Minister Pat McGeer, stop-
-ping at Selkirk College Tues-
‘dhy as part of a tour of
“community colleges in B.C.—
indicated the possibility of
Premier Bill Bennett calling
an election in the near future

Speaking at a luncheon
here Monday, Fraser. said
local news media represen-
tatives expected the pre-
mier “to announce an elec-
tion when he comes here."

The highways minister
said Bennett has not indi-
cated he would call an elec-
tion in the near future, and
he added that “the only ones
talking election are the
press.”

He said he and the
premier would take a “cam-
paign-type” whistlestop trip
between North Vancouver
and Fort Nelson on the B.

Railway this week, but it did
not represent anything
“extraordinary.”

“Bill, Bennett is. the
premier of all the province,”
Fraser said. “And he feels he
should visit it as much as
possible between elections.”

McGeer noted at the
Monday . press conference
that the provincial govern-
ment’s present mandate
“doesn’t run until
November 1980.”

“I think we'll be a while
away from an election,” he
said.

out

See Page A2

to the news media—was hastily
prepared in response to a July
21 request from the education
ministry. The college had in-

to the council.

sufficient time and participants
to prepare a reliable forecast,
he said.

“We just haven't had the
time to try to develop plans and
then put those plans in a sum-
mary,” Anderson said. “It's
something prepared specifically
to answer the ministry's re-

juest.”

He added that the college
would follow up the five-year
budget with a more "realistic"
forecast.

“This is something that
will be taking place over the

next 10 months so that hope- _

fully sometime around next
June or July we will have a

Fire Protection Vote
OK'd for Robson Area

A proposed bylaw authorizing a Nov. 18 referendum on fire
protection in the Robson-Raspherry area gained approval by the
Regional District of Central Kootenay board Saturday.

RDCK directors gave third reading to the bylaw, which will
enable residents of the area between the Keenleyside Dam and the
Brilliant Elementary School to decide whether they want to
establish a volunteer fire department at an extra cost of 15 tax
mills, and voted to forward it to the municipal affairs ministry for

approval.

At a public information meeting in Robson last Thursday,
referendum organizer Cliffe Churches said if residents vote in
favor of organized fire protection they will establish a fire
department at a subsequent general meeting. (See story on Page

1.)

five-year plan we will have
some confidence in.” he said.

The principal said the new
budget forecast would sum-
marize the institution's future
“not just in terms of dollars,”
but its program needs as well,

“I hope what we'll be able
todo is take a snapshot of what
we want the college to look like
in 1984 or 1985,” he said. “That
snapshot will include facilities,
Programs, resources and the
dollars."

See Page All

—_ > bay,
THE,

ROBSON: B1
Fire protection from the
Keenleyside Dam to
Brilliant Elementary
School would cost an
estimated $28,858 annu-

ally.
54

Asked by the Castlegar
News when Selkirk and other
colleges were expected to as-

Funds Approved
For KSA
Move to DTUC

‘The provincial government
has given Selkirk College the
O00 it needs to move the
ay School of Art
‘Thomy
ra

wad the funds-—promis
February for the mo
bw sen held up by the prov
y board, which must
all cabinet expen:

1 required renova:
jenaude Hall should
begin within about one month,
tw enable the KSA to move by

Three Sections (A,B&C)

Kootenay into the Columbia
annually after 1984 in delicate
-negotiations. with U.S, power
authorities over water rights.

Dave Pearce, who repre-
sents Kootenay Lake's North
Shore area, said the diversion
option was one of the few
“levers” left to the Province
under the Treaty.

See Page A2

Status

sume "their corporate status,
McGeer said his ministry had
set no specific deadline.

“We're just encouraging -
them to do that now that the -
relevant sections of the Act
have been proclaimed,” the °
Minister said. “We think most +
of the colleges will be anxious
to become designated so they
can become masters of their
own houses.”

See Page All

Say
Yes!

Support the Castlegar
District United Way

In today’s CasNews

Section ““C"”

STORY

FOG patches this morning
with sunshine quickly appear-

ing. This same weather is to
continue through the Thanks-
giving weekend. Temperature
highs between 16° and 19°
with the overnight lows near-'
2° and 5°. There is a chance of

frost in the low pockets.

REVOLT:
What ever

the Proposition 13 Ne
teria?

AnnLanders . .

Bill Smiley

Bio-Dex . .

Comics .

Editorial

Entertainment . Pages A4-A5
Page BS
Home on the Range . Page B3

Erma Bombeck . . .

Interior Tips . . . .
Outdoors
Pulpitand Pew .
Sports .
Your Stars |

. Pages ASAT. A8
B2