OPINION

Castlegar News .
PAGE A4, WEDNESDAY, JULY 11, 1990

MEMBER OF THE B.C. PRESS COUNCIL

ESTABLISHED AUGUST 7, 1947 TWICE WEEKLY MAY 4, 1980
INCORPORATING THE MID-WEEK MIRROR PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 12, 1978-AUGUST 27, 1960

LV. CAMPBELL — PUBLISHER, AUGUST 7, 1947-FEBRUARY 15, 1973
PUBLISHER — Burt Campbell
EDITOR — Simon Birch
PLANT FOREMAN — Peter Harvey
ADVERTISING MANAGER — W. tol,
OFFICE MANAGER — Lind.
CIRCULATION MANAGER — H:

EDITORIAL

Changes needed
to interchange

The crash Monday of a runaway asphalt truck into a van at the
Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal in West Vancouver should spur the
Ministry of Highways to speed up long-planned changes to the High-
way 3-Highway 22 interchange in Castlegar.

Obviously parked vehicles aren’t lined up like bowling pins at the
interchange as they are at the ferry terminal, waiting for an dut-of-
control truck to smash into them. But there are similarities.

The interchange is at the bottom of a steep grade and it doesn’t
take much imagination to envision what could happen here if a
brakeless truck came barrelling down the hill toward the cross traffic on
Columbia Avenue or even if it bypassed the Castlegar turn off and tried
to negotiate a curve across the bridge leading to Nelson:

if you need another example to get a-clearer picture, there is also
the lesson of Kamloops in October 1989 when a truck loaded with steel
beams ran out of control in that city — ominously on a street named
Columbia — killing five people, including the driver.

A coroner’s jury earlier this year included in its list of recommen-
dations changes to the highway interchange to improve safety. The
ministry later added and simplified signs directing traffic past the exit.

Here in Castlegar, though, signs aren’t enough.

City council has been lobbying the Highways Ministry long and
hard for to the i i we hope are
in the works.

The number of trucks passing through Castlegar which use the in-
terchange is already high and will triple if the Celgar pulp mill expan-
sion takes place.

While the bulk of that truck traffic will be chip trucks which have a
commendable safety record, pointed out in a recent letter to the editor
by David Chambers, vice-president of DCT Chambers Trucking Ltd.,
accidents can and do happen.

If redesigning the Castlegar interchange will reduce the odds of an
accident happening, then the sooner work begins the better.

Horseshoe Bay and Kamloops are reminders of what can happen if
it doesn’t.

Opinions differ on Senate reform

EDMONTON (CP) — For three
years Don Getty waged what often
seemed like a holy crusade for Senate
reform.

With evangelistic zeal, the Alberta
premier sold western and Atlantic
Canada on the idea they could wrest
political power from ONtario and
Quebec through an elected and effec-
tive Senate with equal representation
from each province:

But after pressing the so-called
triple-E Senate as Alberta’s top
priority for so long, Getty has
relegated it to the back seat, behind
carving out a better deal for Alberta
in energy industry it en-

the same in the future as it was up un-
til June 23rd.”"

That’s the date the Meech Lake ac-
cord collapsed. Two days later, a
sombre Getty pronounced Senate
reform had died with it.

But other backers of Senate reform
say that rather than killing the idea,
the death of Meech Lake may give it
new life.

‘On the contrary, if Meech Lake
had been approved, Senate reform
would be dead,”’ says Stan Waters,
‘Canada’s only elected senator.

The ill-fated accord would have
given provinces the right to nominate

i for Senate ies rather

vironmental policy and a host of
other areas.

“*We are not able now to pursue it
as we did before,’’ he said recently.
“*It’s my view that Canada will not be

than leaving the selection solely to the
prime minister. But it also required
unanimous consent by all the provin-
ces for any further reform.

“I think it may be that Senate

reform in the end has been enhanced
by the high profile Meech Lake gave
it,”’ says Bert Brown, chairman of the
Canadian Committee for a Triple-E
Senate.

Albertans, traditionally suspicious
of the federal government, have
become strong supporters of a refor-
med upper chamber that would give
1 d regions a di
tionate amount of political clout.

Getty pitched it as a counterbalance
to a House of Commons dominated
by Central Canada. Never again
would damaging federal policies —
such as the national energy program
which kept oil prices artificially low in
the early 1980s — be foisted on the
West, he promised.

He argued Meech Lake was the
only path to Senate reform, but the

western-rights Réform party and
many of his Conservatives opposed
the accord becausg of its requirement
for unanimity.

After all, they reasoned, if Senate
reform is good for the West, then On-
tario and Quebec would surely never
agree to it.

Some say the premier can redeem
himself and fill a vacuum left by the
Meech Lake collapse by turning up

* the heat on Senate reform.

“I think this is a great opportunity
for Mr. Getty to seize the ball,”” said
Waters, a Reform party member
picked by Albertans last fall in the fir-
st-ever Senate election.

Brown said the premier should keep
the pressure on by calling a second
election to replace Alberta Senator
Martha Bielish, who retires this fall.

VIEWPOINT

Columbia projects raise problems

Environmental resources of
river as valuable as power

By GREG MALLETTE

With the signing of the Canada-United States
Free Trade Agreement in 1988, many restrictions to
the export of Canadian goods and services into the
American market were eliminated.

One such impediment was the hindrance to the
transmission of hydroelectric power from British
Columbia to California by the Bonneville Power
Administration.

As the controller of the transmission grid that ties
B.C. to California, the BPA had traditionally pursued
a restrictive intertie access policy which restrained the
importation of hydroelectric power from B.C. The
BPA was willing to transmit surplus power from all the
northern utilities south to California, but the U.S.
utilities were given preferential treatment over B.C.
Hydro. The BPA was committed to moving surplus
hydroelectric supplies from the Pacific Northwest
utilities first, then the available supplies from utilities
in Montana, then Nevada and lastly those in British
Columbia. This meant that B.C. Hydro did not have
the type of open access to the large U.S. demand

centres that the American utilities enjoyed and
\ therefore was effectively locked out of the long-term

export sales market of California

The Free Trade Agreement has drastically
changed the prospects for the export of B.C
hydoelectric power to the United States. The
agreement has forced the BPA to modify its intertie
access policy so as to afford B.C. Hydro treatment no
less favorable than the most

of the river basin had some significant environmental
resources which make certain activities possible. The
most significant of these resources is fish and wildlife
habitat. The unique fish habitat of the Columbia River
supports a strong trout population which in turn has
spawned a great deal of recreational fishing activity.
Along with angling, the river also provides significant
boating opportunities, as well as the scenic beauty
generated from the viewing of fish runs in the local
creeks and the site of one of the few accessible free-
flowing sections of the Columbia River still in
existence. The problem with the Murphy Creek project
is that upon construction it will mean that the bulk of
these environmental resources will cease to exist and
the lgmefits of their use to area residents will also
disappear forever

Since the value of most of the existing uses of the
fiver are not traded in a market place, it is not easy to
put a price on the loss of these resources. Although it is
relatively easy to estimate the value of hydroelectric
power generated by a dam, it is much more difficult to
estimate the benefit one receives from the viewing of
fish spawning in Murphy Creek. This results ina
situation where environmental resources are hard
Pressed to play an important role in the decision-
making process that relies heavily on the tabulation of
market-generated prices. The reality of this
shortcoming is that even though the present use of the
environmental resources of the river exist and are
valuable to the people who enjoy-them, they are not

afforded to utilities located outside of the Pacific
Northwest. Given this change in policy, it is now felt
that B.C. Hydro has the type of access to U.S. markets
that will allow for the signing of long-term contracts
for the sale of hydroelectric power
The significance of this change is that it makes
hydroelectric projects that were previously not feasible
because of a lack of domestic or foreign demand very
popular in the eyes of B.C. Hydro. Such is the case of
the Murphy Creek project which is to be constructed
three kilometres upstream of Trail. Murphy Creek was
shelved in the early 1980s because of a lack of growth
in domestic power demand, but the new-found access
to the export market of the United States has peaked
B.C’s Hydro’s interest in the construction of this
project. It seems quite certain now why the Murphy
Creek project will be built. It will not be built to light
houses or to meet industrial demand in B-C_, but to
feed a segment of the large American demand for
electricity
The construction of a hydroelectric dam at

Murphy Creek brings to light the problem of using the
Columbia River for hydroelectric power generation at
the expense of existing and alternate uses. This'stretch.

valued or reflected in the decision-making
Process

In the case of the Murphy Creek project, this
valuation problem is significant. According to the
B-C. Hydro publication titled Columbia River Murphy
Creek Project: Preliminary Summary of Principle
Impacts and Mitigation Opportunities (August 1983),
the study area may lose up to $1,000 user days of
recreational activity in the first 13 years of the project.
However, this does not seem to play a significant role
in the decision to build or not to build the dam,

But are the environmental resources of the
Columbia and the benefits to the people who use them
so cheap that they can be readily sacrificed for
hydroelectric power generation? A look at how the
people of Washington state have answered this same
question in regard to hydroelectric development on
their stretch of the Columbia River will reveal that
the answer is a resounding “‘no.””

While B.C. moves toward the sacrifice of the
existing environmental resources of the Columbia
River for d tric power
the American management of their stretch of the river
is markedly different

With the passing of the Pacific Northwest Electric

An artist's conception of the propeced Murphy Creek dam three kilome’
i

on the Columbia River from Trail.

Power Planning and Conservation Act (PNPPCA) in
1980, the present goals of the American management
of the Columbia River basin were explicitly set out
This legi: changed the of the river
from one of hydroelectric generation as the number
one priority over all other uses of the basin, to one
where fish and wildlife are to be treated as an equal
partner with power production.

The BPA is now required to spend part of its
revenue from hydroelectric power generation ‘‘to
protect, mitigate, and enhance fish and wildlife to the
extent affected by the development and operation of
any hydroelectric project of the Columbia River and
its tributaries."’ This has taken the form of direct
enhancement efforts such as the construction of fish
hatcheries and bypass facilties, as well as the sacrifice
of the storage of some of the spring runoff so as to
ensure that the young fish are flushed through the
system to the ocean in the spring. Mitigation measures
of this sort have cost the BPA approximately $375
million (U.S.) from 1983 to 1986. The PNPPCA has
also led to a ban on future hydroelectric development
of the region’s 44,000 miles of streams and rivers.

Americans have come to value their shrinking
environmental resources. But while some Americans
have shown great concern for their stretch of the
Columbia River, others are more than willing to accept

upstream

Canadian power at the sacrifice of our environmental
resources. Perhaps we as Canadians should learn from
our American neighbors that the environmental
resources of the Columbia River are so valuable that
they are not worth sacrificing for the short-term
generation of more hydroelectric power. In fact, as
evidenced by the actions in the American portion of
the Columbia River basin, it is worthwhile to spend or
sacrifice hundreds of millions of dollars to preserve
and enhance these resources. It seems obvious that the
people of the Pacific Northwest United States feel that
other uses of the river will bring just as many, if not
more, benefits as hydroelectric power generation will

If the Americans think the environment of the
Columbia River basin is such a good investment, then
perhaps Canadians should give this idea a serious look
as well. In this light, instead of spending large sums of
Money on more dam construction the people of British
Columbia should take a lesson from those south of the
border and spend more money on enhancing and
Protecting the unique set of environmental resources
of the Columbia River

Greg Mallette is a native of Trail and is now a
graduate student in the Unitersity of Waterloo's
faculty of studies. He is it
writing his master's thesis on the impacts of dam
construction on the Columbia River.

NATIONAL NEWS

United front ca

Ministers hold meeting
on transfer payments

VANCOUVER (CP) — The four
western provinces should present the
federal government with a united
front in upcoming talks on transfer
payments, their finance ministers
said,

The ministers said that strategy was
preferable to a plan by Quebec of
trying to hammer out individual
deals.

The four ministers drew up a of
options for their premiers that include
“fundamental reform of the federal-
provincial fiscal arrangements,” said
a joint statement issued following
their one-day meeting in the Van-
couver suburb of Richmond.

“Also under i i is a

The finance ministers refused to
give details of the options, which will
be considered by the premiers at a
meeting later this month in Lloydmin-
ster, Sask.

Manitoba Finance Minister
Clayton Manness, the meetings’s
chairman, said the ministers discussed
“‘a mew approach from a Western
Canadian region’’ in  federal-
provincial fiscal relations.

Sask ’s Lorne Hepworth
said the finance ministers were con-
sidering ‘‘significant structural
reform in our fiscal arrangements.”

Manness said the ministers were in-
terested in ‘‘the so-called new

MEL COUVELIER

more flexible income tax system that
will allow provinces to achieve social
and economic policy objectives more
efficiently,"’ the statement said.

"being di by
Quebec and Ottawa, but added that
the western finance ministers were not
heading in that direction.

Alberta Provincial Treasurer Dick

Conference to focus on
future, premier says

VICTORIA (CP) — A meeting of
the four western premiers will focus
on the future of Confederation and
the cost of any deals the federal
government makes with Quebec, says
Premier Bill Vander Zalm.

The conference, scheduled for July
26-27 in Lloydminster on the Saskat-
chewan-Alberta border, was called
last week by Saskatchewan Premier

int Devine.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt
that we're looking at a different type
of Confederation, and I suppose
depending on what type of Con-
federation, there’s all sorts of con-
siderations, including what happens
to the (federal) debt,’’ Vander Zalm
told reporters Monday.

“Are we seeing an arrangement
being reached between Quebec and
Ottawa that'll end up costing the
other provinces more?

“Are we-seeing an arrangement
which in fact leads to some sort of

Sunset Sale
BONUS

Awning or
Air Conditioner

WITH ANY NEW 5th
WHEEL, TRAILER OR
MOTORHOME PURCHASED
THIS WED & THURS. ONLY!

New 5th Wheels

18.5' PROWLER
PROWLER
OKANAGAN
CITATION
PROWLER
CITIZEN
CORSAIR

e
New Trailers
24C PROWLER
24P PROWLER
26B PROWLER
29R PROWLER

SALES TEAM!

BOB (Herp) HARPER
Home 352-3203

special status within Confederation
without other provinces having
similiar opportunities? These are the
sorts of things we want to find out
about and we intend to pursue that.”

Vander Zalm said he hoped the
four could form a lobby to protect
Western Canadian interests, and
agreed with Devine’s reported com-
ments last week that Quebec may be
absorbing the federal government’s
attention to the exclusion of other
provinces.

He said a united front ‘‘would be
the most effective approach to it all,
but whether we can or can’t (agree),
that'll be of course for the meeting to
decide."”

He reiterated his concern about the
federal government’s handling of the
national debt, calling it, ‘‘the biggest
issue facing the country,’’ and
Suggesting the budget could be better
handled on a regional basis.

}

Come out and enjoy
Coffee & Donuts!

New

Motorhomes
24DB CITATION
27CB CITATION

eee paper

Johnston said the western permiers
should take ‘‘a collective view’’ of the
West's needs.

or

“I think there has to be more of a
western regional view on this matter,
rather than a blateral view," John-
ston said.

There was one indication the four
finance ministers want their premiers
to call for drastic federal spending
cutbacks.

B.C. Finance -Minister Mel
Couvelier released a discussion paper
that said federal spending programs
have not been ‘‘pared sufficiently.”

“While many of these programs
have merit, they cannot be justified
when the federal government con-
tinues to run a large deficit,” the
discussion paper said.

The four ministers would not say to
what extent they adopted the
discussion paper, which was prepared
by the B.C. Finance Ministry.

The current five-year on

Castlegar News

) SUMMER
: RELIEF
CARRIERS REQUIRED

BLUEBERRY CREEK
* July 25 - Sept. 5 *
SOUTH CASTLEGAR
* July 14,18&21 *

Call 365-7266

8:30-5,p.m. Mon. to Fri.
Ask for Circulation

Antiques & Collectibles

transfer payments expires in 1992. Of-
ficials from the two levels of gover-
nment have already begun to discuss:a
new agreement.

Extra money will

e

ure delivery,

Canada Post says

OTTAWA (CP) — Canada Post is
introducing a test service for
customers who want to pay extra to
make sure their letters get to the right
address.

Confirmation labels will be
available today for 90 cents in ad-
dition to the regular postage rate in
six cities. For the extra money,
customers can call a tolkfree number
to check that their mail was delivered.

The label includes a bar code which
is entered in a computer and checked
once the letter reaches its destination.

A day after the letter is supposed to
arrive, a customer can call the Letter
Line and confirm arrival by checking
the bar code number.

Canada Post says it has a target to
deliver letters within the same city in

10% OFF
AWNINGS &
AIR CONDITIONERS
Wed. & Thurs. Only!

1 Only
New 1989 27LB
Citation Motorhome

ee” $50,900

SUNSET
SPECIAL
1 Only
w 24’ Security
Wheel Trailer

Reg $25 500 $
a $22,900
SPECIAL... a

Used

Motorhomes

17’ EMPRESS

18.5' OKANAGAN

21' WINNEBAGO
FRONTIER
WINNEBAGO
VANGUARD
CITATION
CITATION
BENDIX

COME OUT AND
MEET OUR FRIENDLY

10% OFF
NEW BONAIR
TENT CAMPERS

Lionel Tent Camper $3,500
Sportscraft $1,900
Sportscraft

Your R.
oun the Koote!

VIOLET (Vi) KREST
@ 365-6090

=
Used Trailers
13' BOLER
VANGUARD
VANGUARD
‘ PROWLER
SCAMPER
SCAMPER
VANGUARD
VANGUARD
HOLIDAIRE
TAURUS
KUSTOM KOACH

Dealer No. 5012

Castlegar 365-5741

two days, within the province in three

days and across Canada in four days.

John Caines, national media
relations manager, says that Canada
Post had 97 per cent on time delivery
in the first three months of the year.

The new service, available only for
domestic mail, is being tested in Ot-
tawa-Hull, Quebec City, Sherbrooke,
Que., Kingston, Ont., Sudbury, Ont.,
and Thunder Bay, Ont.

The confirmation labels are sold in
packages of three for $2.70 from post
offices and postal outlets.

Caines said Canada Post is also
studying the possibility of developing
an automated post machine, similar
to an automated banking machine,
that could provide postal services 24
hours a day.

A. new professional service to quickly
and safely strip old finishes from most any
wood or metal article. ,

Now you can have the fun 4 refinishing
your treasures. without the messy time-
consuming job of stripping. Or we can
completely restore, repair and refinish for
you.

We like and understand good, old
wood, so we treat it with the care it deser-*
ves.

No caustics or lye used

Sate for veneers

Will not loosen glue joints

Will not disturb the old look of furniture

Carter's Strip Shop

442-2422 5756 Hughes Road
(Located next to Morrisey Creek Building Supply)

Mirror Resiluering

MACLEODS

THE

HARDWARE STORE

Castlegar Location Only.

“100% Off

WITH YOUR SCRATCH & SAVE CARD

Fri., July 12-& Sat., July 14
NE SCRATCH & SAVE |

Double Your Discount Value

UP 0 ;
1O0Q0crr

UPT

Ss

Off

Specially Marked In-Store Merchandise

Look for the Hot Pink Price Tags! Once the
Macleods cashier has revealed the discount on
your Scratch & Save Card, WE'LL DOUBLE

THE DISCOUNT on these specially

marked items only

— REGULAR PRICED —
Summer Seasonal In-Store Merchandise
Summer Toys

Lawn & Garden Furniture

Garden Chemicals & Fertilizers
Summer Sporting Goods

Bring This Coupon Into the
Macleods Store to receive your

SCRATCH & SAVE CARD

1 And Get Ready to Save! ! |

Le

337 Columbia Ave., Castlegar
3412

Hours: Friday, 9a.m.-9 p.m.
Saturday, 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

* CASTLEGAR LOCATION ONLY*

MACLEODS
(THE HARDWARE STORE -

2 Th EC Ron

-