Wednebday, July 8, 1992 a

Castleview beds stay closed

@ MLA Ed Conory says centre gambled
on government funding and lost

Glen Freeman
NEWS REPORTER A

The Castleview Care Centre will not get gov-
ernment funding to open 25 closed beds.

As reported in The News Saturday, Health
Minister Elizabeth Cull said the centre was
“not high enough on our priority list for fund-
ing this year.”

And local MLA

Conroy agreed there was misleading infor-
mation, but he says his government's hands are
clean.

“This is not a unique situation,” Conroy said.
“People do this sometimes hoping that they’re
going to play on people's sympathies and raise
a big enough ruckus in the newspaper and
have these things funded.”

Conroy also said that the Castleview Care
Centre’s claim that it has a two-year waiting
list is artificial.

“There are enough beds in the (Castlegar,
Trail and Nelson)

Ed Conroy defend-
ed his govern-
ment’s position
Tuesday.

no because we al-
ready have enough

Conroy said.
“Castleview care

‘People do this sometimes
hoping that they’re going to
“The answer’s play on people’s sympathies
and raise a big enough
beds in the area,” ruckus in the newspaper...’
— MLA Ed Conroy

district that: are
funded by the
health care system
to cover what’s re-

He said the two-
year waiting period
_was not for people
who needed atten-
tion, but for people

was told when

they built that place how many beds they
would be funded for and they made a conscious
business decision to overbuild.”

But Liberal health critic Linda Reid says
that’s just not right.

Reid said that the company which runs the
Castlegar facility was “led to believe” that they
would eventually receive funding.

“(Chantelle Management Ltd.) has under-
taken all of the necessary steps to receive ad-
ditional funding,” she said. “It was incumbent
upon the government if they didn’t intend to
fund it to tell them many, many months ago.

“J mean, the first meeting was held two-and-
a-half years ago,” Reid said. “There has been
misleading information passed back and forth
and that was the government's responsibility.”

currently in outly-
ing areas who want to stay in Castlegar facili-
ties.

“If we allowed seniors to stay in their own
communities we might have one community
with empty beds and another with no beds at
all,” Conroy said. “That would be an unneces-
sary burden on the taxpayer.”

But Chantelle Management Executive Di-
rector Roger Andrews feels there may be oth-
er reasons for the lack of funding.

“I think it’s a slight for the people of Castle-
gar. It’s strange that the government has cho-
sen to allocate funds to the Lower Mainland,”
Andrews said, hinting that the move was po-
litically motivated. “I expect that sooner or lat-
er (Castlegar) beds will become a priority.”

Mi Five-year plan goes
public at open house

Neil Rachynski
NEWS REPORTER

Castlegar’s permanent
employment base needs to be
diversified, according to a re-
cent survey. ;

That’s just one of the re-
sults indicated in a study by
Urban. Systems Ltd. of
Kelowna. The consulting
firm prepared the report for
Castlegar’s Official Commu-
nity Plan. The OCP assists
council in mapping the fu-
ture development of the city
over the next five years.

Other results in the sur-
vey indicate tourism needs in
Castlegar are substantial.
Ninety per cent of respon-
dents placed ‘better shop-
ping’ as top priority.

By comparing pairs of an-
swers, the report describes
an “apparent paradox” in
some instances.

The study states, “as it
turns out, those who do not
support increasing taxes are
almost as likely to ask for ser-
vice improvements such as
roads and lighting-landscap-
ing, as those who do support
a tax increase.”

Dale-Donaldson, zone rep-
resentative for the OCP Com-
mittee, says, “I think by and

large the committee is guided |}:

by the results of the survey, al-
though it’s not binding.”

He says the committee de-
veloped the OCP survey to
give a guideline to council and
government as to what the
residents want.

A public meting will be
held Thursday night to dis-
cuss the results of the survey.

Mayor Audrey Moore says
the study has “very interest-
ing results, and the return
was great.”

Fifty per cent of the 465
residents who were sampled
completed the survey. Anoth-
er 53 people responded to
newspaper polls.

The newspaper results
were analyzed separately be-
cause, “the self-selected sam-
ple of newspaper respondents
could detract from the validi-
ty of making generalizations
from the survey results.”

A final draft of the OCP is
tentatively set for September.’

The public meeting at Kin-
naird Hall begins with an
open hoyise from 4 p.m. to 6
p.m. and a presentation at 7
p.m.

@ Wednesday, July 8, 4992
*

Lali cpio

The local carpenters union is taking
on the Castlegar Savings Credit Union.

Outraged that the CSCU awarded
the contract for its new building to a
non-union firm, the United Brother-
hood of Carpenters and Joiners of
America will try to have the institu-
Se

The union’s Gil Arnold — who is also
a CSCU member — says he's tired of
seeing the local institution ignore its la-
bor roots.

“The credit union is using (mine and
other trade unionists’) funds to build a
non-union, squeeze them dry building
and that’s sticking in everybody's
throat,” Arnold said Monday.
~~ Arnold said he has approached the
deputy superintendent of credit unions
about having the CSCU’s board of di-
rectors impeached. He said deputy in-
spector John Corsbie said the board can
be reviewed provided five per cent of
the CSCU’s membership signs a peti-
tion.

Corsbie declined comment on the
matter when contacted Tuesday, “say-

ing “it’s best if I don't discuss anything.”

Arnold said the union’s lawyers are
currently drafting that petition.

“There are a lot of people on the
board that have adopted a non-union °
stance and established a principle of
low wages,” Arnold said. “We have to let

; the board know that workers have val-

ue.

“We are extremely
disappointed with these very
few credit union members.
Their actions are very short-
sighted and ill-mannered.’
— CSCU’s Lome Myhra

CSCU general manager Lorne
Myhra says he’s getting fed up with
union discontent.

He said the CSCU “has done every-
thing in a proper manner.”

Myhra said the board awarded the
contract to Brilliant-based William
Berg Construction Ltd. based on its bid
and because it was a local contractor
who agreed to use union and non-union
sub-trades.

Arnold contends union workers

aren’t getting their fair share, however.

Arnold said he could only identify
one union worker when he visited the
construction sight Monday.

“We have to make the board account-
able,” Arnold said.

Myhra says the CSCU is account-
able. Accountable to all of its members
“— union and non-union.

e’re trying to do something posi-
tive Sor taux hadiealiaeac ik be thane)
can't see that,” Myhra said Tuesday.
“We are extremely disappointed with
these very few credit union members.
Their actions are very short-si;
and ill-mannered.” sel =
_ Arnold said the carpenters’ union
isn’t acting alone.

He said it has the support of the
Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers of Cana-
da, the United Steelworkers of Ameri-
ca, [WA-Canada and the Union of
Canadian Postal Workers.

Arnold said the unions would do
nothing to impede construction of the
new CSCU facility, located adjacent to
Canada Safeway.

Instead, he said the unions would
turn up the heat on the board of direc-
tors when their petition is circulated in
two weeks.

“We're in this for the long haul,”
Arnold said.

THIS IS A

VWelome Vigor.
COMMUNITY

Let us welcome you!

Phone 365-2455

Liberal leader eyes local
support on summer tour

NEWS REPORTER

The shopping mall ball
has been handed off.

Rick Holdings Ltd. of
Medicine Hat, Alta., has
picked up where the Reid
Group left off and is propos-
ing a shopping mall at 15th
Street and Columbia ‘Av-
enue, across from Blue Top

Burger.

Rick A. Filanti, owner of
Rick Holdings, says he
bought out Reid’s interest in
the Southcentre Shopping
Mall “about a month ago.”

Filanti says he will pro-
ceed with construction as
soon as one more lease is
signed, and he expects that
to happen any day.

City officials aren’t quite
as sure, though. Councillor
Bob Pakula said he couldn’t
comment on the status of the

proposed shopping mall.

“I den’t know where we're
sitting,” Pakula said. “I think
the city has done everything it
can possibly do. I’m not sure
what we're waiting for.”

Even Mayor Audrey Moore
couldn’t say how near of far
Castlegar is from a new shop-
ping centre. ;

“(Filanti) would know bet-
ter than I would,” Moore said.
“| think the ball’s in their court
at the moment. Nothing would
please me more than to see
some construction begin on
that project.”

Filanti says the co-opera-
tion of the City of Castlegar
has been excellent.

“I think your town is going
to be a good one,” he said,
adding that he is gearing to-
wards a March 1993 opening
date.

Filanti says that although

Reid has no financial interest
in the project, he has stayed on ~
to assist Rick Holdings Ltd.
negotiate the leases.

Filanti said the prospect of
another mall project next to
the Sandman Inn hasn’t de-
terred his plans one bit.

“Tm not worried. I have my
own tenants,” Filanti said.

In fact, Filanti says he has
more tenants than his 75,000-
ene building can han-

e.

Meanwhile, Castlegar’s
other mall project appears to
be on schedule. Speaking for
First Allied Development
Corp., consultant Tim Earle
of Realtech says the size of
the second mall depends on
the number of tenants.

Earle didn’t want to haz-
ard a guess on the cost or
completion date of First Al-
lied’s project, however.

Fire count subdued
by needed rainfall

Glen Freeman
NEWS REPORTER

Castlegar’s nights have been alive with lightning.

But according to Forestry Service Protection Officer Skip
Walsh, it hasn't done a whole lot of harm.

“There were 152 strikes in the Arrow Forest District over a
48-hour period,” Walsh said of the weekend's electrical activi-
ty. “Some smokers were reported, but with the rain our crews
couldn't find any fires.”

Walsh said there has been a total of 55 fires in the Castle-
gar—Nakusp area to date. He said 43 were due to lightning,
while another 12 were lit by careless people. He said the fires
have burnt some 16 hectares of forests.

“Last year at this date we had a total seven fires and seven
hectares destroyed,” he said. “It’s been pretty dry, and lightning
activity that usually happens later in the year came early.”

But Walsh said that with any luck the fires will slow down.

“The rain has helped us quite a bit. Let’s hope it stays.”

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Sott David Harrison
EDITOR

Gordon Wilson is
stepping into foreign
territory.

The News has learned
that the leader of the B.C.
Liberal Party will spend the
morning of Sept. 1 in
Castlegar.

The Castlegar stop
represents a first for
Wilson. He didn’t visit the
city during the 1991 election
because Rossland-Trail was
one of only two ridings in
the province that didn’t run
a Liberal candidate.

“It’s all part of (the
Liberal’s) effort to gain
support outside of the
Lower Mainland,” tour co-
ordinator Suzanne Germain
said Tuesday.

Wilson is set to arrive in

Castlegar at 8:20 a.m. And’
while details of his visit
haven’t been finalized,
Wilson is expected to meet
with city council to discuss
the Castlegar-Robson bridge
and Castlegar traffic
problems.

“It’s all part of his effort
to get out into different

areas of the province and
find out what people are
thinking,” Germain said
Tuesday. “He wants to find
out what people are saying

so he to eral those
concerns to all sitting.”
Wilest ill‘also visit

Nelson and Creston on Sept.

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1. He concludes his
provincial tour on Sept. 2
with visits to Trail,
Rossland and Grand Forks.

Castlegar will represent
the 25th stop on a 30-city
tour.

BUDGET PRICED TOY ASSORTMENT

PoliccCBEAT

Acar driven by 26-year-old
Darryl Furey received $1,000
in damages when Furey
swerved to avoid a dog and hit
a concrete abutment on 26th
Street and 5th Avenue.

eee

Thieves broke into a house
in the 1200 block of Columbia
Road in Ooteschenia some
time between Wednesday and

Grip Ball

Friday of this week and stole
$45 in cash. The matter is still
under investigation.

About $3,000 in damages
occurred when 24-year-old
Richard Rogerson lost control
of his vehicle Monday and hit
a guard rail on the Hugh
Keenleyside Road. No charges

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