AThe News tui Sharing | Cc Dave McCullough Publisher ‘Scott David Harrison Editor Mickey Read Composing Room Foreman Mark Davis Advertising Manager Warren Chernoff OurWiEWS he holiday season is upon us once again. It is a time for and the spirit ak giving, sharing remembering. ; But more importantly, it is a time of reflection. Reflection about ourselves, our families and our place in the world. This holiday season we urge you to take the time to consider others. As we dash to the tree on Christmas morning, let us not forget the reason we are celebrating: the birth of Jesus Christ. And let us not forget those individuals within our very community that are not as fortunate as others. The people who have no family, no food or little hope. : During this festive season it is our duty to help those who are in need. As a community we owe this to the men, women and children that have helped build Castlegar and the entire Slocan Valley into the quiet little paradise it is. Christmas is a time of giving and where better to begin than in our own | backyard. A variety of agencies within our area are desperately trying to make a | difference this and every year. The Royal Canadian Legion Hamper Fund is just one example of that. But the Legion and similar agencies can’t do it all. As residents | of the West Kootenay, it is time we lend a helping hand. During this holiday season, we can only hope the spirit of giving extends beyond the four walls of our homes. AE 493,000 COOKIES y 1,310,000 GLASSES OF MIX: . yn ALL IN ONE EVENING! The people don’t speak very often, but when they do, Castlegar council should listen. The people spoke loud and clear last Saturday when they rejected the paving referendum that would have allowed council to borrow $1.286 million to repair city streets. But Saat what did the people say? Did they say they don’t want to spend any money Comments from the Crossroads look to’ itself first, because it has only itself to blame. It handled the whole issue terribly. Basic things like the mechanics of the referendum were wonky. To begin with, the date was all wrong. Asking voters about road paving two weeks before Christmas is like trying to talk to your banker about a loan while his house is on fire. There are more pressing concerns that on our roads because the roads are just fine the way they are? Or did they say they don’t want a tax increase of any kind? : Or were they just surly — like voters across the country the last few years — and turned thumbs down on the referendum because they just plain don’t like government of any kind. : In the referendum post-mortem that will surely take place at city hall, council should command his attention. A date so close to Christmas generally attracts only voters who feel strongly about the issue — either in favor or opposed. And if they numbers are small — as was the case last Saturday when fewer than 20 per cent voted — the result is skewed. Then there is the question of the location. I heard from several people that they had trouble locating the poll. please see Norman page 7 ’ Heather Hadiey Circutation Manager Burt Campbell Publisher Emeritus L.V. Campbell ‘Aug. 7, 1947. Feb. 15, 1973 | | Street TALK Question: Do you think citizens have enough input into city council decisions? Dean Kognig Castlegar “No, absolutely not.” Kevin Cheveldave Castlegar “It’s up to bert a people to work a lit harder to get heard.” a Castlegar “I think they do.” Bonnie Graceffo “I suppose we would if we attended meetings, but most of us don’t.” Verona Walker Castlegar “No, I don’t think the citizens really know what council is doing.’ Castlegar @ Saturday, December 21, 1991 OtherVIEWS | Please address all letters to: Letters to the itor Castlegar News P.O. Box 3007 Castlegar, B.C. VIN 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 fast names, address anda telephone number at which the writer can be reached between 9am. 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 reserves the right to edit letters for brevity, clarity, legality, grammar and taste. Letters tofWHE EDITOR Who are the real victims? David S: ville of the National Citizens Coalition is right. It is time to stand up for the victims. Unfortunately he is wrong in many of his statements including who the real victims are. The victims are not the three women (all grandmothers), the real victims are of course the members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (grandmothers and grandfathers as well). A government who will not participate in fair collective bargaining and supports We do not have in Canada forced ioni You_as an individual can apply for work wherever you want. If you apply for a job that has a union, you must abide by those rules. This is the same practice as company rules, for which you must also abide. Sommerville states no one is willing to stand up for the rights and freedoms of these women and others like these. Until these women broke the rules of the union, the union and all it’s members would stand up for these women. A union, historically, has used every honorable method to elevate its social scale of life, to help safeguard the principles of democracy, to work for the establishment of political and social equality, regardless of race, colour, creed or sex. Union members have fought, struggled, manned picket lines and sometimes died to provide its members with many benefits. We will continue to strive for job security, a safe and healthy work environment and a fair wage. I will take a stand, and proudly for the union. M. Espenhain President P. Donohue, Ist Vice President confrontation is the source of the problem. p in the moral and C. Him, 2nd Vice President Dear Santa: The world’s crying for your gifts Dear Santd: I know you're pretty busy this time of year, but I wonder if you could give some con- sideration to my wish list. Don't be put off by the large number of requests: none of them are really for myself. I’ve got ev- erything I want, but it’s come to my attention that a lot of people aren't that lucky. So, take a look at the list and see what you can do. The other day, a man stopped me on the street and asked if I could spare some change. He looked like he didn’t have much to look forward to this Christmas. Said he was from Nova Scotia, didn’t have a job and was hungry. I gave him a few dollars, but he needs more than that. Td also like to talk to you about soup kitchens. I really don’t un- derstand, Santa, why anyone in this rather affluent society should have to rely on soup kitchens to get a warm meal. Maybe you could think of a better way. T also would like you to make a special effort for a little Victoria boy who’s been missing for too long. Michael Dunahee’s parents keep hoping that their boy will come back to them, but dammit, they need help. How about it, San- Report from Victoria Hubert BEYER ta? I know you can do it. The other day, a good friend of mine told me about a young wom- an who could no longer put up with the physical abuse she suf- fered at the hands of her husband. She took her child and left him, and a good thing, too. She’s got a place to stay, but not one piece of furniture. I'll see what I can do, but again, that women, and a lot of others like her, needs the kind of help that one person alone cannot give her. I also understand that there are a lot of kids who come to school hungry and often have no lunch. Now, I don’t know whether that is because their parents haven't got the money to feed them properly or spend it on other thing: 8. The fact remains that there are a lot of hungry kids out there. I know that’s hard to believe, but it’s true. Surely, you can find it in your heart to help these kids or at least twig the conscience of those who can help them. Now, here’s a really important one, Santa. You know that folks like to celebrate this time of year. There are the office parties, the Christmas visits to friends and relatives, the New Year’s bashes, and quite often, folks have a few S. Nothing wrong with that, at least not if it’s done in modera- tion,. But the problem is that some folks insist on driving after they’ve had a few drinks. And that’s bad. I know, I used to do it occasionally, but fortunately, I was caught before I did something I would have regretted for the rest of my life. You remember, Santa, how em- barrassing it was for me to have my name splashed all over the lo- cal newspaper, don’t you? I sure do. “Victoria Journalist Convicted of Drunk Driving.” T’ve saved the biggest wish for last, though._I’m really worried about a mean streak folks have been developing over the past few years. It seems to me, Santa, that discrimination and bigotry are‘on the rise. Folks blame new immi- grants for the unemployment rate, more and more Anglophones talk disparagingly about Franco- phones, and lack of understanding over what our Native brothers and sisters want is poisoning a lot of minds. Now, I know you can’t solve that problem in time for Christ- mas, but couldn’t you at least try to get started on it? It wouldn't really take all that much, would it? Folks are basical- ly good, and if someone of your stature were to talk to them and lain that discrimination, big- otry and hatred aren't reconcilable with the spirit of Christmas why, you might just work a miracle. I said at the beginning that I am not asking anything for my- self. Well, there’s one little thing I would like you to do for me, Santa. If you feel it’s necessary to get ref- erences on how I behaved this past year, would you consider not calling any politicians? I'd really appreciate that. Thanks, Santa. Norman continued from page 6 They assumed it was at city hall, but then had to be directed to council chambers in the old Bank of Montreal commerical office at the top of Sherbiko Hill. Talk about making it tough for voters to do their democratic duty. Then there was the way council handled the information session — with an open house rather than a public meeting. An open house is generally mistrusted by those critical of an issue — and with good reason. It has a way of keeping them from scing. They are forced to ask questions individually and never get a sense if they are alone in their stand or if others feel the same way. At a public meeting, their concerns are aired for everyone to hear and to judge the response. People who previously felt one way, might change their minds after hearing from rs. And council did a poor job of selling the referedum. Either the newspaper reports didn’t get it right or council didn’t spell it out: clearly enough, but homeowners weren’t going to pick up the tab for the roads — Celgar was. That point was not driven home often enough nor hard enough. Many voters I talked to thought they would be paying for the roads. Then council muddied the waters by announcing plans for other major projects, like downtown revitalization and a new RCMP building. Voters started to worry that all the money for these projects would come from their back pocket. But all this begs the more vital question of the voters’ intent in turning down the paving bylaw. I believe that intent had more to do with the way council has managed our roads for the last decade or so than with anything else. Voters simply didn’t like the fact council was going to referendum on an issue as basic as paving. One senior citizen said it best when she told me that she wouldn’t buy new furniture for her home if the plumbing needed repairs. It’s the same with the city. She said they should have been maintaining the city streets all these years, and not letting them deteriorate to the point where they needed a special paving referendum. That was a sentiment echoed over and over to me. Mind you, these same people complained about their city taxes increasing. 1 wonder what they would have said if council had bumped their taxes every year to pay for the roads? You can’t have it both ways. We need better roads. That much is clear. It’s also clear voters are unhappy with council’s performance. In this instance, the latter won out. Are you listening, council?