OPINION October 4, 1995 Wednesday, October 4, 1995 wy The Ga stl idar Sun 2 we Serving the 16,000 people of the Castlegar area, The Castlegar Sun is published every Wednesday by Sterling Newspapers Lid. at 465 Columbia Ave. Castlegar, B.C, V1N 1G8. The Castlegar Sun is polit. cally independent and a member of the Stering “arse eh eae Cana, dian C B.c newepapen Assocation, ‘and the B.C. Press Souncl | Soabiehed 1990 Mail PUBLISHER MARILYN STRONG SHARES IMHOFF KAREN on ae na REPORTER/PHOTOGRAPHI JEFF GABERT SPORTS RE MARGE LALONDE OFFICE/CIRCULA TION MANAGER CARI DOLGOPOL CLASSIFIED ADS General Office Circulation Classified Ads Display erereene Newsroom Facsimile CCNA editorial comment “Making do” just not good enough Parents tell us to make do with what we have. What a great concept if you’re talking about grungy sneakers, year-old clothes, or a second-hand vehicle! But what do you do when you're told to make do with something all of us will eventually need and want—a firial place to rest our heads? If you live in Castlegar and need to live in a long-term care facility, making do means that you just might end up in a facility in Nelson or Trail—it you're lucky Right now Castlegar has a real need for at least 20 extra long-term care beds. But statisticians .ih,, Wictoria don't see that need; neither does the Ministry Of Health. They've mixed demographics, such as population and density, and come up with what they believe is the correct number of long-term care beds needed in Castlegar. That's the number of beds that we have to make do with despite the fact that the ministry has been told other- wise by health care practitioners and administrators. Unfortunately somewhere in that equation they forgot to figure in the most important ingredient of all—the human factor Despite being told of the need for more long-term care beds in Castlegar, they insist that they will only fund for the amount of beds demographically allowed. Forget that we have a waiting list a mile long. Forget the fact that there hasn’t been an extended care bed available since last June Forget that there are beds sitting vacant that have never been used at Castleview Care Centre. Forget that these elderly people deserve to live their final days close to home’and to the comfort of their friends and family. Our elders deserve the dignity of a safe and comfort- able place to lay their heads. They most certainly don’t deserve the indignity of being on a waiting list which will outlive them. They deserve a government, which after greedily tak- ing their tax dollars for numerous years, will assure that there are beds for all the elderly, both rich and poor alike. That's what Canadian health care is all about—equal access for all Canadians, rich or poor, brown or white, young or old When the elderly can be assured of a bed by self-pay- ing, as some Canadians and Castlegar residents are doing, we're moving one step closer to American-style health care politics—something that scares most of us It makes perfect sense, as Dr. Robert Streich, a local physician suggested, that instead of funding a set amount of beds, the Ministry of Health'would do better to fund the individual person's stay. The funding would then follow that person wherever they went, whether it be Mountain View Lodge, or Castleview Care Centre But it appears as if none of that is important to a min- istry, which only a few years ago promised all British Columbians“a health care system that would be ‘Closer to Home’ Closer to home? Ask those who are in long-term care facilities miles away ERRORS: idvertiser agrees that the publisher shall not be liable for damages arising out of errors in any advertisement beyond the amount paid tor the space actually occupied by that portion of the advertisement in which the error occurred whether such error is due to the negligence of its servants or otherwise and there shall be no hability tor non-insertion of any advertisement beyond the amount paid for such advertisement. All advertising subject to publisher's approval Contracts mugt be completed within one year from contract date No contingent orders accepted The a Gant POLICE DEPARTINENT YOU Have BEEN CAUGHT BY OUR PHOTO Rapa EXxCeeDiNG THE PosTeD BO KMh Speed Limit BY 27 Kin, YOUR PeNaiTy iS +100.°° NOU HaV@ aL50 BeeN ASSESSED 9 FURTHER PENALTY OF $25.°° FOR PICKING YOUR NOSe INTHE Car. PleASE See REVERSE FOR PAYMENT INFO, Mary’s a true Grit with a biting tongue Sterling News Service OTTAWA — Some would say Halifax Grit MP Mary Clancy has an acid tongue. Others would say she’s a force to be reckoned with. Reform chief Preston Manning, who sits directly in front of Clancy in the House of Commons, would likely agree she’s definitely the in- your-face Mary’s Commons perch gives her plenty of opportunity to heckle Preston while he's pestering Mary's boss, Jean Chretien. And heckle she does. Take a recent incident. M: drifted onto and a relat- ed report from one of those public policy think-tanks. “Careful Pre- ston, you could drown in a think-tank,” warned Mary. ‘When Manning hounded Chretien over Quebec's referendum, the Reform chief said he confronted the problem using his head as well as his heart. “A rock and a hard place,” Clancy shot back in a split sec- ond. When Mary travels abroad) she takes her trademark Wit with her. A Chinese policeman learned a lesson in Clancy-handling at the recent U.N. women’s conference in Beijing. The telephones in the hotel conference room were unreliable, so Mary used the one upstairs in her room. Each time she ‘went up, the security guard cor d her and d cred Is. Mary, a big woman with striking blonde hair, finally blew her stack. “Listen you twit, how many oversized blondes do you sce around here?” she steamed. The Chinese fellow, who spoke no English, got the message. He left her alone for the rest of the conference. Hail Mary. When Chretien invited Manning into his office for a private tetea- tete after their Quebec dustup, the meeting was supposed to bé secret. Peter Donolo, Chretien's communications director, didn’t want the Press to find out. But CBC radio reporter Alvin Gater, a true constitu- tional junkie in the press gallery, inadvertently learned about the meet- ing from a Grit. Alvin mentioned it to a couple of his fellow scribes on the constitu- tional beat, as well as Larry Welsh, Manning's press secretary. Gater also blurted out a question to Manning, shortly before the meeting, in front of the rest of the press gallery. The secret was out. Donolo, thinking Welsh tipped the reporters, threw a fit and con- fronted Welsh outside the Commons. But why the secrecy? It’s not uncommon, says another Chretien press aide, Leslie Swartman “We don’t publicize all his meetings,” she said. Were any secret Strategies passed on to Manning? “The minister wouldn’t say anything in private he doesn’t say in public,” replied Swartman. It looked for a while like Manning was also trying to keep things from the Ottawa press gallery when it comes to Quebec. Manning sent a letter, addressed “Dear Quebecers”, to all the province's daily newspapers. Boiled down, the letter invited Quebecers to vote No so they could help Reform take powers away from the fed- eral government. He didn’t mention Reform's call to end official bilin- gualism. Anyway, the Parliamentary Press Gallery found out about the message accidentally. The letter was sent out by Reform’s Montreal office and a copy arrived at the Montreal bureau of the Toronto Globe and Mail. The bureau faxed a copy to the Globe's Ottawa bureau. The Ottawa bureau got on the blower to Manning's press office Finally, late in the day, a copy was released to the Parliamentary press gallery. But Welsh says there was no attempt to hide anything from the Ottawa scribes. “Someone made a mistake,” he explained, with a tone in his voice that DIARY a) a suggested whoever made the mistake An inside look at 1y not be around to make more our nation’s capital = —_ By the way, Manning has so far eared two ovations from Bloc Quebecois MPs during the referendum debate. The sepa ratists applauded when Manning forced Chretien to admit a slim win by the Yes side won't be enough to tear apart the country. They clapped again when Manning called on Chretien to promise a “de-centralized” Canada if the No side wins. The second time, Bloc party whip Gilles Duceppe ordered his MPs to stop applauding the Reform leader. The No side has informed Manning they want him to stay out of the fray; and it appears ‘like the Yes side doesn’t want to be seen with him either. DAILY Tim NAUMETZ This next anecdote is not intended to be Reform bashing, although Manning may interpret it that way. But it does illustrate one of the fun- damental differences between Reform MPs and their opponents in Par- liament. About 50 people gathered on Parliament Hill last week to mark the sad death of Melanie Carpenter, a young Surrey, B.C., woman who was kidnapped, raped and murdered by a convicted sex offender who later killed himself. Reform MP Randy White, one of the party’s champions of tougher laws for violent criminals, was among the first to speak to the crowd, which included Melanie's still-grieving father. “It is indeed a pleasure to be here,” said Randy as he began his speech. He may have momentarily thought he was at a campaign rally, though, for he spent several minutes condemning the Liberal govern- ment’s justice initiatives, as though they were somehow responsible for Melanie's death. Then came Solicitor-General Herb Gray, one of the most thoughtful members of Chretien's cabinet “I appreciate this is a solemn n day for all of you and all of us,” said Gray after his own introduction” Two different worlds. We’ve already ‘checked out’ Dear Editor: Re; City Campground The West Kootenay Kennel Club would like to point out the following with respect to the City Campground and our recent dog show held in August, 1995, at the Kiwanis Field/at the Castlegar Complex. The WKKC has permission from the Castlegar and District Recreation Department to use the soccer field for our dog show and for exhibitor parking. Very few, if any, exhibitors park at the City Campground adjacent to the field, We note that this year, there were 35-40 exhibitors camping at the field. If we are to continue to use the field for our dog show, exhibitors need to be able to park there Kennel Clubs hosting dog shows must have available on-site park- ing. Many exhibitors attending dog shows do not just travel with one or two dogs—in fact, most profesSfonal handlers travel with 10 plus dogs, all breeds, all sizes. Are the local hotel owners/camp- ground owners willing to let these, people stay there? What about their other guests? Should the local hotel/camp- ground owners who complained, or anyone else, wish to be listed in the entry form mailed out to the exhibitors (as some exhibitors do stay in hotels), they are wel- come to contact the Show Chair- person of the WKKC, Tina Bald win at 367-7049. We do point out that one of the hotels who complained, advised the Kennel Club several years ago that they no longer wished to be listed, as someone had bathed a dog in a tub and dog hair was found on a bedspread. Our dog show is an economic Plus to the area. The airport is uti- lized, the judges are booked into a local hotel (at a cost of $1,200 plus), all the prizes are bought locally ($1,000 plus), the meals for the judges are catered to by a local restaurant, the WKKC hosts a BBQ, all food is bought locally, not to mention the benefit to the Rec Centre, gas stations, restau- Dear Editor: the side. On Monday, Sept. 25, 1995 between the hours of 12 noon and 2:20a.m. someone stole my son's bike at Kinnaird Elementary School. The bike is black, mid-size, 21 speed, name brand “Giant” and there is a rip in the seat, on To the thief: I know you had full knowledge of the fact you were stealing from a child. What I want to inform you of is the fact, my son had to work hard for his bike, it wasn't given to him. He comes from a single parent household. His family is on a limited income. I want you to Does anyone care? know you stole one of his only possessions. Please return his bike to the school, and there will be no questions asked. To the public: I want your assistance in find- ped my son 's bike. If you saw anything or have ion on the of the bike coal you please contact the RCMP or Kinnaird Toust be stopped. Thank you. Elementary. This is your community and this crime could have happened to your family, it Concerned parent Where are you when we need you? Dear Editor: The following letter is an open letter to city councillors. Councillor Binnie where are you? The citizens (some of them) Impressive start! Dear Editor: I attended the annual installation of officers of the Castlegar Chamber of Com- merce and was extremely impressed with the presenta- tion on the 1996 British Columbia Summer Games to be jointly hosted by Castle- gar and Trail next summer. In particular, the commit- tee appears to have chosen very wisely in its choice of Ken Smythe, a Rossland high school principal, as chairman. His contagious enthusi- asm, the commitment of so many capable people of 5th Ave. South of 34th Street would like to have you as a neighbor. We feel that with your enthusi- asm and drive (as shown by your dedication towards ball parks) that you are the type of person to solve the dilemma of our low water pressure Unfortunately, the good work of the city crews who replacecka faulty water valve that services this area did not solve the prob- lem. We are told by city engi- neers that the solution lies elsewhere and of course it would require a certain amount of money. Money that has to be approved and budgeted by—you guessed it!—City council. Talking to some residents of 6th Ave. South I was assured that if you have a councillor (or better yet two or more) living on your street that many things are achievable quickly with a mini mum of fuss. Residents of Sth Ave. South are becoming desperate and dis- couraged, therefore we are extending this invitation to you (and other councillors) to join us in our endeavors. Wayne Sutton Castlegar rants and grocery stores. We note that the WKKC is diligent in leavingthe field in top condition after our shows and has never received any complaints in this regard. We are dismayed that the hotel/campground Owners did not contact anyone from the Kennel Club for more information about our shows and for our comments. The first the WKKC knew of their concerns was through the radio and the local paper, Tina Baldwin for West Kootenay Kennel Club © All Makes - Models © Complete Radiator Work Custom Work GENERAL Pate REPAIR A m. Mon. - Fi Sat 1335 Columbia Ave., 365-0100 Page A7 Letters Policy Letters to the Editor are welcome on any topic of locul or general inter- est. Letters should be double-spaced, , or legibly ten, and no mome than two pages if possible. Letters will be