ona Wednesday, July 22, 1992 i urged to compete Scott David Harrison EDITOR The race to replace Lyle Kristiansen isn’t much of a race after all. And that has Kootenay West-Revelstoke New De- mocrats a tad mystified. The local executive issued a news release Monday, urging any party hopefuls to take a shot at the NDP crown. The release follows an an- nouncement by long-time New Democrat Gerald Roter- ing, who said on July 13 that he would not seek the party nomination because there were too many white males in Ottawa. Rotering said he would decline the opportuni- ty to run in favor of women, minorities or physically chal- lenged candidates. “Recent publicity concern- ing the federal New Democ- rat nomination in Kootenay West-Revelstoke has created some misconception,” the re- lease states. “No candidates are discouraged from seeking the nomination.” Nelson’s Heather Suggitt agrees. One of two can- didates seeking the q New Demo- crat vaéan- biceansva’ Suggitt cy, Suggitt said said the more the merrier. “Tm prepared for whatev- er challenge is ahead of me,” the 39-year-old staff repre- sentative to the Hospital Em- ployees’ Union said. “I know Ican represent the riding, no matter who competes.” To date, the only other candidate to announce their nomination is Revelstoke’s Mengia Nicholson. The chair of the Revelstoke School Board was unavailable for comment. The Kootenay West-Revel- stoke nomination is planned for Oct. 18. Red tape tied up city employment program Neil Rachynski NEWS REPORTER A delay in the provincial budget threw a snag in a local program. Castlegar and District De- velopment Board executive di- rector Richard Maddocks says his group lost some six weeks of the Employment Plus pro- gram. ed until Rossland-Trail MLA Ed Conroy successfully lob- bied the Ministry of Social Services and cut through some government red tape. Maddocks says, “some (gov- ernment), guidelines had changed. We would have had to come up with 12 to 15 weeks of payroll. We’re a non- profit organization. That We would have had to come up with 12 to 15 weeks of payroll. — CDDB’s Richard Maddocks The provincially-funded -program employs people on social assistance, putting them to work on community tourism projects. The Employment Plus workers, one foreman and four crew persons, recently fin- ished re-painting the welcome signs on the way into Castle- gar. But they didn’t get start- makes it very difficult to get it up and running.” Maddocks says the six weeks the board lost on the program will affect projects in the local area. “Ultimately it’s the commu- nity that loses, as well as the (workers) themselves,” Mad- docks said. Gs) @st) We'll Pay the GST & PST ON ALL PURCHASES ‘July 92 ARROW LAKE ELEVATION 1414.5 ft. on July 18 Forecast of Elevation 1414.5 ft. on July 25 RDCK denounces army games @ Army reservists plan raft exercises north of Hugh Keenleyside Dam Scott David Harrison EDITOR The Regional District of Central Kootenay has dropped a bomb on the military. A plan that would see Canadian and Amer- ican army reservists invade the Arrow Lakes Reservoir in August is being opposed by the RDCK. : “If anyone is taken to believe that they will hold these exercises without a ground swell of public protest, they are sadly misinformed,” Area J director Ken Wyllie said Tuesday. The RDCK board voted Saturday to issue a letter to the Canadian Militia, denouncing planned military war games for Aug. 8 Titled Western Challenge ’92, the war games would see some 50 to 70 Canadian and Ameri- can army reservists use the reservoir for raft- ing exercises. The joint exercises would see reservists pla- toon down the reservoir, simulating military combat. Those soldiers are just a small number of the 700 that plan to hold 10 days of exercises in the West Kootenay. Capt. Alan Moreau of the 44th Field Engi- neering Squadron said there is no cause for alarm. ‘He said the exercises are being proposed with the consent of corporations like B.C. Hy- dro and Pope and Talbot. “All that’s happening in Castlegar is the raft- ing exercises,” he said. “That's it.” Despite that, Moreau said the Trail office has been inundated with calls from concerned citizens opposing the military maneuvers. He said most callers have been lead to be- lieve that 700 U.S. Marines would be using the reservoir. “T have no idea how that (rumor) happened,” Moreau said. “The exercises aren’t for 700 marines, they’re joint exercises for Canadian and U.S. reservists.” Moreau said the majority of those reservists would be on course in and around Trail. He added that no live ammunition would be used during the exercises planned for the reser- voir. That hasn't eased matters for Wyllie, how- ever. He said the military has no right to use recreational land space for its games. “That’s not exactly how we intended to de- velop our recreational lands,” he said. Wyllie said recreation around the reservoir has been devastated this summer, thanks to shrinking water levels because of the Columbia River Treaty. He said the military exercises would hardly enhance the tourism value of his area. “They are planning to do this on Crown land and they haven’t even received permission,” Wyllie said. “If they endeavor to proceed with this, there will be a number of public protests.” “Hey, Kids!” Summertime Favorites FISHER PRICE $2 7 99 WAGON Reg. Bee ee cae v 9 i 99 BOARD GAMES LITTLE MERMAID —- 1 4°° MONOPLY ae 1 9°° a EVA W TA bots. 6.99 FUN PLUSH ZOO ANIMALS GIRAFFE camets $j G9° TROLL KIDZ from *5.00 » *29°° 5 PHARMASAVE 1128-3rd St. (Downtown) Castlegar - Ph. 365-7813 @ Wednesday, July 22, 1992 sawmills thankful pulp dispute ends Neil Rachynski NEWS REPORTER Pope and Talbot is relieved. Resident manager Bob Coutts says the company was informed yesterday by Celgar that the pickets lines had been taken down. every month the sawmill is down, Pope and Talbot loses $750,000. Meanwhile, at Slocan Forest Products, division manager Steve Pelton expressed his re- lief in one word — “Whew.” “We were getting near the ‘All we have to do is push the button and away we go. — Pope and Talbot’s Bob Coutts Coutts said, “by 7 a.m. (Wednesday) morning we should be up and running. All we have to do is push the but- ton and away we go.” That’s good news to Pope and Talbot's 200 sawmill workers that have been side- lined because of the pulp strike. Coutts said that for Bluetop Burger CHICKEN BURGER & FRIES Golden brown breaded, chicken breast patty with mayo, lettuce & tomato on a sesame bun served with home made fries. All Our Prices Include the G.S.T. Now open til 9 p.m. 1521 Columbia Ave. 365-8388 Call Ahead Drive Through Service THIS IS A Vetcome Wi. COMMUNITY Let us welcome you! Phone 365-2455 end,” Pelton says, “we have as much chips as we can handle.” Pelton couldn’t speculate on the financial impact of the strike. “We'll know better when we see how much we have when we collect the chips off the ground. You always lose a little bit of volume when you stock- pile them like that.” @ Industry boss says pulp mills have to concentrate on competitiveness Scott David Harrison EDITOR Eric Mitterndorfer says the pulp industry made the right decision. Saying the pulp industry has lost $900 mil- lion in eight consecutive quarters, the presi- dent of the Pulp and Paper Bureau of Cana- da said B.C. mills have to get back to work. “We had a choice to accept or reject the me- diator’s proposal. We chose to accept it, know- ing that we have to get back to work in order to make money.” Mitterndorfer said the deal which sees B.C.’s 12,000 pulp workers get $1.10 per hour raises, better pension plans, improved con- tract language and four statutory holidays will cost the industry some $53 million. “I guess it’s something we'll Have to live with,” he said Tuesday. “We are losing money, but no one is listen- ing,” Mitterndorfer said. “I get really frus- trated, because you can talk to 100 people about the money we are losing and it’s like talking to an empty room because no one is lis- tening.” Bs Mitterndorfer wouldn't say how much the 32-day-old pulp strike cost the industry. In- stead, he said it has to concentrate on com- petitiveness in order to turn record losses in- to profits. “The industry is in a decline. (Our pulp) is $200 over-priced and $50 of that has'to do with labor costs,” he said. “Those are issues that still have to be addressed.” The PPIRB, the Pulp, Paper and Wood- workers Union and the Canadian Pulpwork- ers Union agreed to Vince Ready’s nonbinding recommendations Friday. That agreement saw most of B.C.’s 19 unionized mills return to work Monday. Celgar’s 325 PPWC Local 1 workers re- turned to the mill Tuesday night, while Prince Rupert and Gold River remain off the job over independent issues. Despite a vote which saw 70.2 per cent of B.C.’s 12,000 striking workers endorse the two-year deal, a PPWC spokesperson said they are returning to the job with little secu- nity. “There are a lot of people that are unhap- py with the deal, and that’s not only in Castle- gar,” the PPWC official said. PPWC President Stan Shewaga was un- available for comment. y FAMILY CLOTHING STORE OF os THELAST \ TICKETED PRICE 4 Discount will be given at point of sale. FBC cards will be honoured for stamping only on the above stated date, and not for redemption. 310 Columbia Ave., Castlegar ¢ Phone 365-3255 Hours: Wed.-Sat. 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. « Fri., 9:30 a.m.-9 p.m.