OPINION WEDNESDAY, November 1 c gar Sun Zi\S Serving the 16,000 people of the Castlegar area, The Castlegar Sun is every by Sterling Ltd, at 465 Columbia Ave. Castlegar, B.C. V1N 1G8. The Castlegar Sun is pollti- the Sterling News Service, Cana- , B.C. C Newspapers Assocation, and the B.C. Press Council. Established 28, 1990. Mail PUBLISHER MARILYN STRONG MOYER PRODUCTION MANAGER GARY SCHNEIDER PRC ASSISTANT CCNA editorial comment Scams hit everyone and are everywhere Do you ever wonder where the word “Scam” came from? After covering numerous scam stories, we at The Castle- gar Sun now firmly believe the word scam is an acronym. There is some debate, however, whether it means Send Canadians Aggravating Mail or Send Canadians Alleged Money. Whatever the case, it’s that time of year when people, especially senior citizens, need to vigilantly guard their pocketbooks because there are some desperate individuals out there determined to lighten your bank account and in some cases, clean it out completely. Unfortunately, there are also some desperate everyday people who hope, and want to believe, their ship just came in. Maybe it did. We can always hope. But before you board that ship, remember the “unsinkable”’ Titanic. scam _artists_don’t care what-your-circumstances. are. They don’t care if you’re elderly and they don’t care if you're supporting 10 children. Nor do they care the money they take from you is your life savings. These people have no conscience. If they did, they wouldn’t be in the business they’re in. And don’t mistake for one moment that scams aren’t businesses. The only difference is these businesses don’t pay taxes. These unscrupulous “business” owners are slick salespeople. Hiding behind a smile, and a veneer of respectability and ‘good will, these people appear much like any sal ZL LY. Kidde iDE napa Tunes (rose 97. AISKED HIS LIFE. FOUGHT FOR CANADA. PAID LESS THAN $60. A MONTH. RETIRED ON A MEAGRE ARMY PENSION. anor teeny RISKED NOTHING. FOUGHT TO BREAK-UP CANADA, PAID $139.00 A YEAR. Wednesday, November 15, 1995 No free ca Dear Editor: I feel I must Tespond to the article in the Nov. | edition of The Sun, “City Allows Complex Camping,” Our country was almost torn apart by a vote of the people of Quebec, but our elected members of the government listened to the majority and we are one country, The Chamber of Commerce of Castlegar did a poll to the businesses of Castlegar and the results were 68 per cent said “no” to free camping at the complex. Yet the “elected” city councillors, with disregard to this poll, voted “yes” for free camping, The hospitality industry depends on the active tourist trade (including one night or special event campers) to be able to get themselves through the tough winter months when there are no campers. If the hospitality industry can't survived, then they close their doors. When these doors are closed, there are no tourists and the city tourism industry can't Survive without the private sector. This is not just a slap in the face of the few (three motel and two campground owners), but a slap in the face of the : mping at our expense Page A7 entire hospitality industry of all Castlegar. I don't see how this could be a benefit to the city. Do any of our elected councillors own a business? If so, does the city give their product away free? I doubt it! It is also unfair to the citizens and their competi- tors, who want to have a game of soccer, etc., and can't because there are campers on the field Camping should be limited to the number of camp- sites in existence and should be charged for at a rate not in competition with the existing camp. grounds in the area The taxpayers pay for garbage collection, mainte- nance and repairs at the complex out of their tax dok Jars. These tax dollars are paying for free camping. I have a recreational vehicle and have travelled exten> sively throughout the province and have never found a town or city that offers free camping. I am not against camping. As a taxpayer, | am against a free ride at my expense. Patrice Ottenbrite Castlegar C772 “ry WILL RETIRE ON $60000 GOVT. PENSION. rome sweet home At look at “the ‘Gar” through wiser eyes You can never really leave home. That's a phrase that has been Popping into my head pretty fre- quently over the last two years. T had lived in Castlegar for the better part of my life until I left for Calgary to go to school a year- and-a-half ago. Leaving the ‘Gar was something I had to do and at the time, I gladly left I didn’t think twice about how long it would be ‘before I returned. All I wanted to do was getout. Getting out is probably some- thing the majority of 18 and 19- year-olds have on their minds in towns the size of Castlegar or smaller. My last year of high school and my first year at Selkirk Col- lege were full of conversations about the need to get out. It was like a switch came on inside all of our heads that told us the place we were living in just wouldn't do any longer. So, slowly most of us trickled out of Castle- gar - some to school on the coast, some to the armed forces, some to foreign and exotic coun- tries and some just seemed to disappear with- | Out a trace. At the time of my leaving, I felt little or no remorse about leaving these mountains for Alberta. I was leaving family, but that's something everybody has to do sometime. I wasn’t leaving too many friends behind, simply because we all had the notion to leave. I was leaving memories of us driving around Castlegar on weekends, getting into trouble however we could. Nothing too RAP MARK ROOKIE HEARD serious, just things that if we were caught, we could use bore- dom as an excuse. Those mem- ories didn’t seem so impor- tant at the time of my leaving, funny as some of them are. Things are a little different now. Maybe it’s because I've reached the ripe old age of 20. Maybe it’s just you see things a little clearer after you've been away for awhile. Either way, when I left, I felt fairly certain I would oniy retum to Castlegar for Christmases with my family. Last year, I ended up back here four times - the last visit over summer, when I came home for four months and worked as a waiter in town. In August, a friend and I hiked to the top of the Kokanee Glacier, just outside Nelson, We had both lived in the area for the better part of our lives, but neither of us had ever even considered going on that hike. All of the weekends we had spent complaining that there was nothing to do seemed so triv- ial as we stood on top of that glacier. Either way, this message is probably beginning to sound a lit- tle_too_grandiose_or-melodramat- ic. The fact is 1 know now when I leave Castlegar again, it won't be with the negative feelings that accompanied me on my first trip. I may never live in Castlegar again, but it will always be my home. Mark is a journalism student at SAIT in Calgary. His family immigrated to Castlegar from Treland in 1980. Council ignored citizens’ wishes Dear Editor; After reading that city council voted unanimously (6-0) to allow free camping, I as a concerned citizen and business owner in Castlegar must respond. Having attended the first meeting Aug. 30 this year regarding the issue of free camping and witnessing the entire council, excluding our elected mayor, vote for free camping, I was relieved His Worship Mr. O'Connor had the reserva- tions and foresight to table the decision of the council members temporarily, in order to make a responsible decision that could prove most serious to our local businesses and wishes of citizens direct- ly involved. Mr. O'Connor, in his wis- dom, felt more information was needed on the subject. The Castlegar Sun printed their views in the following edition, indicat- ing they, too, for some unspecified rea- son, would like to have free camping in Castlegar. This decision was made without any research into the pros and cons of such a move. By the time the next council meeting was held, the Chamber of Commerce, at the request of the hospitality industry, polled all of the members who make up the business community and the heart and soul of this city for their views The homeowners who live in the imme- diate area and would most be affected by this decision also made their views known. They, along with the businesses, voted with a strong “NO” to allowing free camping and/or overflow camping in this area. This decision wa¥ made by the people of Castlegar to include special interest groups who do not wish to pay the city or the business people for the privilege of using our facilities. The nightly tourists had no say in this matter, but up until now, have had no problem paying for their accommodations. If the $8 to $12 cost for a campsite is so forbid- ding to these other people, just how much revenue does council feel they inject into this area and by what means? By counting the number of campers, we can accurately figure how much rev- enue is lost by free camping. How does council and/or special interest groups cal- culate these overall benefits they say they contribute to the community. When the overflow camping is spread out over the soccer field for up to three days, I guess the kids will understand, Or will they? In conclusion, what does it take to get the council 10 vote in favor of sound decisions by the businesses and people of the community, if their majority vote is ignored in favor of the views of six? When no other town or city has free camping against the wishes of the people, why should Castlegar set a precedent for what is obviously a bad idea. J. M. Traynor Castlegar A note of thanks for war veterans Dear Editor: As we approach the cold dark days of November, it’s time to think of Remembrance Day again. How appropriate it is to have a grey, bone-chilling day to remember the fallen of two tragic world wars. Since this is a special Remem- brance Day—being the 50th anniversary of the end of the Sec- ond World War—I’ll put my own trivial affairs aside and send this bouquet of thanks. Although the lawn is six inches high and our house is a mess, I'll take some time to thank those courageous men and women of the Allied Forces—along with the Russians on the Eastem Front—who saved the world from the satanic cult of Hitler and his Nazis. Though only a child of five when this tragic war began, I’ll gladly remove my hat at Tlam Nov. 11, thus joining millions of other grateful people throughout the world in observing two min- utes of silence. Although I'll never find the right words to ade- quately express my gratitude, I'll try to thank those brave young heroes—those who retumed and those who didn’t—who left the arms of loved ones to do the job that had to be done. It’s only because of them we've enjoyed the privilege of holding loved ones of our own in lands free from oppression. During that highly symbolic silence, I’ll‘offer an enormous knocking on your door. Their razzle dazzle sales pitch and silver tongue will mesmerize you. They count on that - it makes you vulnerable and easy prey. Their silver tongue is a tool of the trade. More than likely each and every one who’s reading this column is probably thinking, “They won’t get me!” Think again. It’s glaringly obvious by these companies very viability and vigor that SOMEONE (millions) falls for Speaker’s Corner Question: bougq of thanks to those who served on the shocking war fronts. How can we ever know what it was like? Then I'll send another big on to those who keep the home fronts going, including the faithful mothers and wives and sweethearts who did amazing feats like sending endless parcels and letters to keep up the morale. Finally, I'll wish an armful of roses to Vera Lynn and those other indomitable skylarks who accom- _Plished miracles in song and drama to keep the spirits up, both at the front and throughout the whole free world. How unstop- pable they were even in the dark- est hour. “When the Lights Come on Again” and “The White Cliffs of Dover”—who could ever forget these and other precious gems in song that helped us throughout those terrible times? For two long minutes, I'll try to forget war is barbaric and uncivi- lized, no matter which side your on. I'll momentarily forget war is an after-the-fact total failure in human relations and nothing to be proud of at any time. During those two symbolic minutes I’ll put aside the reality of the unfair- ness to innocent women and chil- dren on all sides and try to block out visions of horrible death to civilians in Dresden, Hamburg and Hiroshima. They were no more guilty then those innocents in London, Cologne and Stalin- grad. I’ll dodge the regrettable fact that war-starting Hitlers never consult their women and children before dragging them into the tragic abyss. Then I'll recall those unforget- table lines from In Flanders Fields—that famous poem by Major John McRae—written after the terrible battle of Ypres Salient in the spring of 1915: “If ye break the faith with us 15% Off 15% O Custom Framing All In-Stock Frames who die We shall not sleep, though pop- pies grow in Flanders Fields.” Sadly I'll realize our trusted NATO and UN have already bro- ken the faith many times in places such as Bosnia, Somalia, and Rwanda, where the satanic cults. of genocide and other war crimes continue to rear their ugly heads. Finally I'll snap back to atten- tion and end with a truckload of thanks to those wonderful men and women who liberated Europe from Nazi aggression in 1945. It boggles the mind to think what would have happened to the world if they had failed. H. F. Killough Castlegar First Tracks Be first on the hill— or at the mall— with these go-anywhere-anytime winter radials. oT ice sro BLIZZAK WT14 BITES THROUGH SNOW WINTER RADIAL STICKS-T0-1CE——— KAL VALUE INTERURBAN WINTER RADIAL 13 820 BW 205/70R15 950 BW pr7si7 P185/70R13 860 BW P185/60R14 820 BW PI9S77ORT4 910 BW P195/65R14 890 BW P195/60R 14 860 BW P205/70R14 940 BW P205/60R14 890 BW P235/60R16 1000 8W 17 Parsi TAKE ADVANTAGE : PI9S/65R15 910 BW 30 DAY P195/60R15 880 BW 131 76 TRIAL OFFER Castlegar student Tamara Terry is pounding the pavement in search of answers to questions that correspond with news stories that have appeared in The Castlegar Sun. If you see Tamara, it could be your opportunity to appear in Speaker’ s Corner, which is published each week. Do you support the building of generic ele- mentary schools to cut costs in our education? et The _ ©Picture “Place a scams or they wouldn’t be in business. And don’t think it’s only people with inferior IQs who get caught in their webs. That could be your biggest mistake. The only protection anyone has against scams is to realize no one is immune. Not even you. It’s been said time and time again; the rule of thumb is, “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is”. If you have truly won a cash award, it shouldn’t cost one red cent to collect your prize. And there wort’t be a one- week limit in which you can collect. Before you make that phone call to collect your prize, check out the company which is making the offer. Call the Better Business Bureau. For the simple Price of a phone call to Vancouver, you can get the lowdown on the company. The BBB will also fax you a report of the company in ques- tion. These few simple steps could save you a bucket of tears and heartache. Be forewarned. Now that Christmas is just around the comer, these scams are as copious, and just as irritating, as mosquitos in a tent. And if you're not careful, you're sure to get stung Screening -2710 A: Wi (Tay comer? 365.9911 |) Abr r) w * sQa dBA yys¥¥Y er “Only at Castlegar Foods” AVAILABLE WED., NOV. 14th DUTCHMEN DAIRY FRESH DAIRY PRODUCTS Introductory Offer i $488 KK which features a free road hazard warranty Would you like to be a My Turn guest ‘Live Mi Jug RE ee columnist? If so, submit your thoughts to The Castlegar Sun at 465 Columbia Avenue, Castlegar, B.C., ViN 1G8. A v Yes, I support the con- cept as long as it pro- vides a means to control the costs of education. — Charlie Cohoe No, I think schools are a second home to the children and each one should be specialized and designed for the needs and requirements of the youth in the community. — Holly Waywood No, I do not support the idea because I like the variety of the schools. They add beauty to the towns and cities, some- thing I am willing to Spend my tax dollars on. — Rudy Baff Yes, it’s a great idea. 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