ruary 9 199 ? by N 1G8. re Commas Ou ‘at 405 Columbia Ave. Castlegas, B.C. V1 ; Independent and a member of the Sterling News Service, porte : BC. © Newapapers Assocation, and the B.C; Press Council. Established 28, 1990. Mail Fiegi somes PUBLISHER MARILYN STRONG Pa: Fax... ~ editorial comment _ A heavy price to pay It just doesn’t make sense. But how much of what the government does makes sense? " «The recent announcement that the federal go is ing taxes on tob to cut .down on the large revenue they miss out on L-when tobacco is smuggled from the U.S., is ctazy. Maybe from a politicians skewed point of view it makes sense, but to the average i an it is politics at its lowest. We've all known for a long, time that the government makes its money off the backs of honest and hard-work- ing Canadians. But now the federal will be making its money at the expense of health of our gr national —our children. Pr aoa) Axty-fool knows that decreasing the cost of tobacco will make it more accessible to our children ‘who, until most recently, have been deterred, in part, from picking up the deadly of the exorbi ice of tob eects by hates Toons | = Premier’s Germa First, let me say to Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition that Liberal Leader Gordon Campbell's "s Members of the organization were in evidence the moment he arrived in Hamburg. Calling them “hypo- ” the ny trip essential Der Spiegel, Germany's biggest and most respected news maga- Indeed, the organization no zine. In fact, G P is so criticism of Premier visit to Germany is not just ill- founded but downright stupid. If ever a British Columbia pre- mier needed to go to Europe to try to set the record straight with regard to this province's forest practices it is now, and Liberal leader Gordon Campbell doesn’t come off looking too good for having said that Harcourt should have stayed at home to “get his own house in order.” Greenpeace and other envirdn- mental groups have gone unchal- lenged too long, and it was high time the premier tried to meet them head-on. To understand the damage Greenpeace in particular has been critical ali pre- mier began ing powerful in G that publish- ers are: to buy any prod- Greenpeace’s eco-claims that British Columbia was the “Brazil of the North.” The question is, of course, whether will accomplish his mission, It won't be easy. Greenpeace has hundreds of thou- sarids of members in Germany, and money is no problem. Green- peace’s campaign against British Columbia falls on particularly fer- tile ground in Germany, because the country’s own forests-are in danger of dying. It is estimated that up to 70 per cent of all trees in Germany are tq some degree damaged by acid rain. About 30 per cent are ucts from countries © the environmental organization tar- gets. And there goes our pulp and paper and our lumber exports. But things may be changing. The Danish y referred longer resembles what its i ded. I one of the fledgling group's first.endeavors, back in 1969 or 1970, when it chartered & boat to sail to the Aleutians to protest nuclear test- ing. . Thad a spot reserved on that ship with the proviso that I didn’t go as a passenger but a working hand. I would have been able to file my copy with the daily Colonist in Victoria via ship-to- radio. Unfortunately, the paper wasn't willing to spring me for the four or five-week journey. The raw enthusiasm and dedica- tion. these people had bears little bl to the slick and to earlier has been getting atten- tion. Called “Crack in the Rain- power-hungry organization Green- peace has become. G doing to British C in Ger- many, one must understand the power the groups wields abroad. In Canada and the United States, environmental groups have lately been viewed with some skepti- cism. Their claims are no longer in the towel. ‘The price to be paid for their spineless and easy answer is the future health of our children, and the economic health of our already over- bardened health care system. Unfortunately the federal government has now liy tp.to their image of money-grubbing icki on the ends of Now a aio they up when fated with a towering problem? What The {ough ariti-smuggling stance—and it seems. our government just doesn’t have the guts for a long fnd-dixty:fight.-But it docs appear as if they lave the guts to condemn’ some of our children habit. j {his a question of ethics and health—not money. 4 er ERRORS: ‘The advertiser agrees that the publisher shail not be liable for the pted without qi In Europe, however, Green- peace has free reign. Its reputation for protecting the environment is untarnished or rather has been until recently, when Denmark's state-owned TV-2 ran a documen- tary that dulled the organizati tarnish considerably. More about that later. It didn’t take Harcourt very long to square off with Greenpeace. lieved to be y with little hope of survival. I spoke to a lot of people about our forests during my recent trip to Germany. The misinformation was remarkable. Over and over, I was told that we are fast running out of trees and that we don't replant what we harvest. And when I asked where they got that information, people would tell me from the media. And there- in lies the rub. Greenpeace has virtual control of media coverage. Few news out- lets have ever questioned the veracity of statements issued by That, I’m sad to say, includes bow.” the 4 y. last November, claimed that Greenpeace has funnelled mil- lions of dollars into private bank accounts, bribed politicians and associated with eco-terrorists, specifically of the Earth First variety. peace today has more power and less accountability than a multi-national company. Its annual world-wide budget is close to $200 million. And few of the people in Germany, for instance, hate a clue what threat Green- peace and its anti- British C A Perhaps the most poses to com- y in the hour docu- mentary came from Bennett Met- calfe, CBC freelance writer, former*CBC theatre critic and co- “The way we started it and the way it is today, I often see myself as a kind of Dr F in who . in this province which depend in logging and pulp and paper mills for their very survival. That's why Harcourt had to go to Germany. Time will tell whether his-message gets across. And even if it doesn't, and based British C: i created a monster that now has a Be of ies own,” said Motcalty communities turn into ghost towns, it was worth a try. Model UN conference 1993 was busy for many peo- ple and I was not an exception. It seemed that the year was filled with work, school, obligations and deadlines. However, once in a while, a person is lucky enough to come across an opportunity to work hard and really enjoy his or her- self at the same time. The last week of November presented me with just such an opportunity. From Thursday, November 25 to Sunday, Novem- ber 28 I attended a Pacific United Nations Conference in Victoria. The entire conference was creat- ed for youths all across BC to take part in a very realistic simu- lation of a UN General Assem- bly. Each person attending was responsible for representing one country and | represent Georgia,’ formerly part of the Union of ~ Soviet Socialist Republics. The topic of debate. in the General Assembly was indige- nous people of the world and what kind of responsibility each country should have to them. The day of arrival was filled with a field trip to Cathedral Grove and Long Beach on Van- couver Island. It helped us to build an appreciation for the nat- ural beauty found in British Col id's forests. 9 ide was also quick to repiind us of how many indige- nous people of Canada have always fought to preserve it. The second day, Friday, was the first day of formal debate to be held in the Victoria Confer- ence Centre. Though the debate was sometimes complicated and exasperating, everyone left at the end of the day satisfied that they had made at least some headway in a sometimes touchy issue. By now all the students were tired from a busy schedule with early mornings and late nights, but I think everyone was having fun just the same. Saturday was the final day of debate held at Lester B. Pearson ‘International College. It was an experience I won't ever forget. Sincé Lester B. Pearson is an international college. many of our fellow debaters were from countries like Turkey, Brazil, Germany, France, South Korea, enlightening and fun Japan, Argentina and Namibia, just to name a few. Later that night, after a suc- cessful debate, was a dance. It gave everyone a chance to unwind after many sessions of serious talk. On Sunday morning all the students dragged themselves out of bed and headed home, wher- ever it might be in B.C.. I remember the trip home was long, and that I couldn't stop talking about the weekend's experiences the whole way. The Pacific United Nations Conference was a lot of hard work and a lot of good memories. I would like to thank Mr. Foster, a teacher at Stanley Humphries Secondary for his help. I would also like to thank the Trail students Elinar Fish, Kris Liebscher and Christine , Urquhart for being great peop! to travel with. ‘ Included in the thanks is’ Diane Urquhart, who had tlhe miraculous patience to drive a carload of teenagers to Victoria and back. Last, but not least, I would like to express my grati- tude to School District No. 9 for their financial support for a fan- tastic trip. Amy Strilaeff attended a model U.N. conference on behalf of the student body at SHSS. she is currently a member of the grade 11 Challenge class and is part of the T.A.G. Program at SHSS. Wednesday, February 9, 1994 me “The Castlegar Sun ‘Letters to’the Editor When will WCB and ICBC: Jearn about self-regul Dear Editor: It is an unfortunate truism among us human beings that “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. This appears'to be the case “with many of ovr major govern- over-the provincial government's recent passage of Bill 63. It seems no one in the government thought of the serious implica- tions of this bill which, must not be done by further comet pounding the suffering, of the vie- . tims of car accidents---many of, whom are completely innocent of im the accid tothe worried lawyer, absolutely has tobe repealed. Dalton urges ment pecially the, Workmen's Compensation Board (WCB) and the’ Insurance Corpo- ration Of British Columbi all d people to send mes- ‘Sages to Premier Harcourt towards this end. G it (ICBC). There is no orgaiitzation on Earth (nor any being) which can be entrusted entirely to its own self-regulation—without being accountable to the people. When will our governments ever learn this? : These thoughts Came to me more strongly than ever as I listed to local lawyet, Terry Dalton— Castlegar's own self-styled ombudsman-—spéaking at the Fireside Motor Inn last Friday afternoon (January 28)—in an expression of serious concern Pp seems, is that claims for injuries or damages from motor vehicle accidents which are in any way employment-related (even remotely 0) will now be handled ‘through WCB rather than ICBC. Since WCB's compensation rates are much the lower of the two— and since WCB is untouchable by legal action—the government hopes in this way to alleviate some of the eriormous provincial debt. No one would question the need to get the provincial debt under control. But surely this any in. which they were tragically involved. Indeed many of those closely- attentive listeners themselves dis- played graphic evidence of permanent disability. Several were confined to wheel chairs, while others sported crutches and ~ other evidence of major injuries with which they will be affected for life. During Terry's hour-long talk he told of two separate tragic incidents in: Manitoba where men had committed suicide ina WCB parking lot. These desperate souls had nowhere else to turn after being repeatedly rejected by the all-powerful WCB. It seems that both the WCB and ICBC are well-accustomed to their exalted positions as kinds of the beasts in the jungle of ‘bureau- cracy—being answerable to no one. Obviously they are not pleased with Mr. Dalton's chal- lenge—nor is the NDP govern- ment, which passed the bill, Dalton claims he has not even begun to uncover the “big guns” understand the full details of the situation, I believe Terry Dalton deserves our support—at least to the extent of attending his well- organized public information ses- sions. In fact, maybe we citizens of Castlegar should form an asso- at his disposal to shoot down this unfair legislation. “ In any case it seems our local champion has a tiger by the tail and has ho intention of letting it go until Bill 6 is consigned to the scrap heap. Like no other lawyer in the ~ province he takes on mega-corpo- rations which other lawyers pre- +1 fer to avoid at all costs. Many people will remember _ his long standing battle with that other powerful “law unto itself”, the Ministry of Transportation and Highways—over the prema- ture removal of the Castlegar ferry. Although I don't pretend to teem of Rate nade the trip 10.1 $35 ok gar arti 1, 1993: Gwen fuse: 2 | (who was not. well) and his wife, Gwen, : ne gentioman ~ our Sante Chats : ‘who travelled’ ae ig le visited a Castleaird Plaza, Let t em have a choice in self-pro Dear Editor: What happens to a woman if she becomes stranded some- where? In some places help is not readily available. Now some of us might see an impending rape. I for one would stop and help her. I certainly would not attack her. But there are some that will prey “on helpless persons, this is a fact. Sure,-we all live in a wortd vwhere violent crime is a’ fact of life. And women suffer violence more than men, but to say that a man coming across a stranded female is likely to attack her is ridiculous. What is not ridiculous is for women to feel this way. Televi- sion, in both news show and dra- mas, paints just such pictures of men. : The TV sitcoms make men look stupid and selfish at best, and cruel, abusive, immoral and mur- —derous-at worst. A scene where a man comes upon a woman alone is more often than not filled with dread and ends badly for the women. TV news, of course, never reports a man stopping to help a Areawe never Dear Editor: Last week I was listening to a radio talk show on political cor rectness. One of the guest speak- ers made a comment that I found to be quite alarming. He felt that if a person didn’t like an opinion that was printed in a newspaper, for example, that that person should have the right to threaten the newspaper and all of its spon- sors with economic boycotts unless it changed that opinion. On the surface this may seem to be quite an acceptable way of doing things. But if we consider the full implications of this kind of reasoning, I think you will agree that it is not acceptable at Today there are all kinds of minority groups that are, to say the! least, quite vocal about their points of view, and these days it js politically incorrect to-di with them (or at least to voice ' your disagreement publicly). ‘Therefore, out of fear of econom- ic boycotts and possible bankruptcy, media outlets are stranded woman. “That's not news,” they say. “It happens too often. It’s only news if it’s unusual.” ‘That's their standby answer, or their justification for only report- ing thé man/woman encounters that end in rape, dismemberment or murder, If it bleeds, it leads. The problem with this approach to the news is that it tornsthe world upside down. If the only thingyou hear about on the news is the abnormal, then the abnormal becomes the expected If something happens only once in a great number of events it is called an anomaly. Few people in the 300 million who live in the ‘ USA will ever be exposed to a drive-by shooting, armed robbery, murder, etc.. These are anomalies. But almost all the characters in TV dramas experience these things. TV and print news are filled with these-happenings. TV presents the abnormal as being normal, the anomaly as the. usual, and men as cruel, murderous and violent. I, for one, am tired of all this male bashing. Most real men are protective of women, children and country. They are considerate. They are not the half-witted dolts you see on Married With Chil- dren, or the murdereus business- men you see on McGyver. Real men go to work five or six days a week at a job they don’t like_all that much. They bring home their paycheque for their wife and kids. and they do? the best they can to do right by their famrilies-and-friends. ‘That's normal. : . The saddest part of this whole thing is that the tecnage gang member who drives down the street blasting away at anyone who moves thinks that “he is nor- mal”. And why not? That's the only thing he ever secs on the TV. But now enter the woman who has the means to protect herself, be it by pepper spray. stun gun, or maybe even a handgun, But sad to say these options are prohibited in Canada. Now for some figures, these numbers and percentages come directly from reputable sources: the USA statistics from the “Uniform Crime Reports for the USA 1991", the Canadian fig- ures by “Crime Trends in Canada, to learn from our mistakes? only giving the-politically correct points of view. So now we have these extremely vocal minority groups forming public opinion (as well as political policy) and have fun. Marlene 365-2305. RETIREES: COFFEE'S ON! Monday thru Friday around 10 a.m. at the Castlegar Railway Station CPR Museum. Come out and visit with ~ your tetlow retirees! (This ad donated by Burt Campbell your CIBC Retirement Specialist) ~ SR. CITIZENS ASSOCIATION #46 Social Feb.17th, 2pm Whist Feb. 24 7pm. Bridge and cards 1pm Monday and Friday. All Seniors welcome to potluck supper Feb. 26 At 5:30pm. Starting at 8:30 there will be a dance music by. oldtime fiddlers, open to one and all. Admission is $3.00 come CASTLEGAR ALZHEIMERS Support Group meets the last Wednesday each month