ca Castlegar News September 5, 1990 /emeanneeememme NATIONAL NEWS GST price list on way OTTAWA (CP) — A master list of price changes expected under the goods and services tax should be ready by September, says the executive director of the agency that will monitor prices. “Weare... completing a key price list which will be the main part of our booklet’ to'help consumers make the transition from the current 13.5 per cent manufacturers’ gales tax to the seven per cent GST, John Joyles said. The agency, created in June by the federal government, will publish price information to help consumers decide whether to buy before or after the tax kicks‘in Jan. 1. “‘What we’ve used is a typical price and thep shown the actual dollar change we expect,’’ Hoyles said. For example, the office expects a drop of $5.09 for a microwave oven with a typical price of $375. A toll-free telephone number will be set up for consumer complaints on what ‘‘they believe may be oppor- tunistic pricing,”’ Hoyles said. David Simpson, of the Consumers’ Association of. Canada said his ization receives many calls and lots of mail from people seeking help on the tax. “People are totally confused,’’ he said. ‘‘They don’t know what to do. They’re getting mixed signals."” The monitoring agency has given copies of the proposed 15-page key price list to major retailers such as The Bay, Sears and Canadian Tire as Drivers continued from page C1 The licensing test is another problem. “*It’s horrendously simple,’’ Lockwood says. ‘*I just redid mine, so was the simplest little piece of garbage I've ever come across."” The industry is aware of these problems. And the Canadian Trucking Association is spearheading a drive to develop a standard curriculum for trucking schools. General manager Luis-Paul Tardif says it should be ready by the end of the year. The first step, Tardif says, is to compile a list of the skills involved in professional trucking. That's more difficult than it sounds, he says. Truck drivers of old only really had to worry about the equipment and highway laws. Now there are reams of regulations to learn — concerning safety, ion of dang: goods, ‘bord customs, plus the rules for driving in the United States. And there is a 17-point national safety code, covering issues like load security and licences. That code limits the number of hours truckers can work in a day to 15, of which only 13 can be behind the wheel. It limits driving hours to 60 in a seven-day period. So, are the schools keeping up? Some are, some aren’t, Tardif says. He believes all the schools — about 100 across the country — would be relieved to have a minimum curriculum set out for them. Attention should atso'be paid to the teachers. “*You can have the best program in the world but if you have a butcher coming to train dentists, you're in trouble,"’ Tardif says. He'd also like to see the provinces accredit trucking schools, provide job-training funding so that more would-be truckers can afford to go to school, and impose stiffer licensing tests. Regardless of how good the schools are or how tough the tests are, some bad drivers will get trucking licences. Tardif says a key to safer roads is stricter enforcement of regulations by police and highway authorities. “If you want to catch the bad apples, get where the bad apples are. And they’re on the roads.”” Truckers offer tips By The Canadian Press Like it or not, cars and tractor trailers have to share the roads. © Watch their signal lights. Truckers often have to swing left first before making a right turn. Cars that try to pass at this point can find themselves squeezed And that can be . unless fe heelers — that’s what truckers call car drivers — take a few things into consideration. * Full tractor trailers can weigh up to 50 times more than a compact car. All that extra weight means 18- wheelers can’t stop on a dime. Here are some tips from truckers on how car drivers can increase their odds of sharing the road safely: © Don’t cut off a tractor trailer. They need much more room to stop — almost double that a car requires. into poles. © Avoid passing on the right on multi-lane highways. Tractor trailers have a blind spot on the right, just behind the tractor. Small cars, especially, can be invisible to the trucker. © If you must pass on the right, do it quickly and give the driver a signal. Flash your lights or honk your horn. © Give trucks extra space. They are bigger than you are. And chances are if the two of you tangle, you'll suffer the worst damage. 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Other commonly purchased items, “such as cars and major appliances, should come down, they said Car companies have said the price of an average 1991 model will fall by about four per cent or $800. The agency’s independent calculations yielded similar figures, Hoyles said BRIAN’S REPAIR SERVICE SMALL ENGINES * AUTOMOTIVE GENERAL MECHANICAL 613-13th St., © 365-7233 RANK’S SHARPENING SERVICE Castlegar, B.C. “Behind Castle Theatre” For all Types of SHARPENING - Sows, {All Types), Chain Saws, Carbide Blades, Scissors, Drills Sheors, etc., etc Mower blades balanced and sharpened Bandsaw blades (up to 2" wide) made u; Most types of saw chains made up 365-7395 CHRISTINA SANDS. RESORTS LTD. WITH EDU Safety is a skill like any other- ithasto be learned. Te need the learn right haba ly 9 right tools. Your Workers’ Compensation Board is North America’s leading publisher of workplace safety materials. Books, brochures, videos and posters — all researched and prepared by authorities in the field of occupational health and safety. With 700 video, film and slide/tape productions, 150 instructional books and brochures and more than 200 safety posters, the WCB offers you safety education on a wide range of topics. Everything from taking care of your back to handling dangerous chemicals. This material is free, or available on free loan, to B.C. workers and employers. SATURDAY September 8, 1990 Vol. 43, No. 72 Castlegar, B.C. 3 Sections (A, B & C) 75 Cents — Premier ponders NDP victory oe AD Cadet earns pilot's licence WEATHER Tonight: Cloudy with clear periods: Lows near 9, Sunday: Sunny with cl periods, Highs neor 28 ility of precipitation is 20 per cent tonight and 10 per cent Sur C. L@NX0i, -.- Bl Environmental groups press demands By SIMON BIRCH Editor A spokesman for the Valhalla Society says the society and allied environmental groups support the proposed cleanup of the Celgar pulp mill in Castlegar but will not back away from their demand that the government-ap- pointed panel reviewing the expansion plans consider whether there is enough wood in the region to support a larger mil The Valhalla Society, along with the Slocan Valley Watershed Alliance and the valley-based Coalition for Pulp Mill Accountability, have-stated their position in a letter to the Celgar Expansion Review Panel and are preparing to make a presentation at the public hearings on the $630-million expansion proposal which begin Sept. 20 in Castlegar, Valhalla Society director Grant Copeland said Thursday. The environmental groups have also expressed their concerns to the panel about the transportation of wood chips by truck through the Slocan Valley to the Celgar pulp mill, he said. Despite continuing criticism of Celgar’s plans, Copeland said he doesn’t want to see the expansion issue split communities in the West Kootenay. “I really don’t want to see this fanned into an us- against-them (situation) it and we're not going to cave in even though the NDP candidates and everybody else is coming out in support of the project as proposed,’’ Copeland told the Castlegar News in an interview. ‘‘We're not going to do that because we feel that it’s a disaster and what we're in favor of is designing the plant capacity to what can be sustained . but we feel very strong about over the long run and to use the best available technology to minimize the amount of pollution that goes into (the Columbia) river and into the air and to put in a transpor. tation system, of course, that will have the best overall result in terms of the public interest. That's all we're trying to do.”’ Copeland said the sustainability of the wood resource isthe top concern of the environmental groups but acknowledged that the issue of truck traffic through the valley is ‘‘ probably the most popular."’ “People are more directly affected in the here-and- now by that issue than they will be with the sustainability question.”’ In a statement released by the énvironmental groups, they claim the province's forests are being cut at a rate higher than that which the Ministry of Forests considers sustainable. ‘B.C. forests are being cut at a rate which is 45 per cent beyond a level which is considered a sustainable yield by the Ministry of Forests," the group says. ‘It follows that the quantity of wood chips currently available as a by-prod of gis ly not a sustainable quantity. It js reasonable to expect that a downward correction in the level of sawlog harvesting, and consequently in wood chip supply, myst be an- ticipated if B.C. is to have any hope of sustaining its wood supply in the future. “In light of this situation, the Celgar Review Panel must seriously look at whether there is enough wood in the region to meet the growing demands of existing forest please see ENVIRONMENTAL page A3 Colleges have no room By CasNews Staff and News Service Advanced Education Minister Bruce Strachan is wrong to suggest Interior schools have room for Van- couver-area college and university students, say spokesmen for Selkirk and Okanagan colleges. “We're chock-a-block full,’’ Okanagan college registrar Trevor Braem said. And Selkirk College information officer Joe Lintz said Lower Mainland students wanting entry into popular university transfer programs “‘would be wasting their time coming here’’ if they expected to get all the courses they wanted. Overcrowding in Vancouver area colleges and its two universities has resulted in thousands of students not being able to get courses they need, or being turned away altogether Strachan suggested students in those areas ‘‘should consider the Nor- th or the Interior if they are really stuck.”” “He's (Strachan) not cognizant of the phenomena that’s occurring here,” Braem said. ‘‘We have a whole lineup of people desperately trying to get their university courses."” Lintz agreed “*T would say that for the minister of advanced education to suggest that Interior colleges have lots of room to accommodate the overflow from the Lower Mainland is a bit of an over- statement,”’ he said. ‘I would say that somebody trying to apply from the Lower Mainland at this time would find their choice of courses severely limited."’ Selkirk hasn't got to the point where it’s had to close its doors on prospective students, but some FALL CLEANING Editor Rise in school enrolment bucks predictions By SIMON BIRCH we thought was going to show up,"’ Wayling said. The number may in- Fitness instructor /lifeguard Denise Evans gets a different kind of workout last week as was enlisted to help clean the Aquatic Centre. The pool was undergoing a w of regular maintenance and reopened today. cosnews photo by Ed Mills Preliminary estimates this week of the number of students in Castlegar district schools show just a slight in- crease over September of last year but the actual number continues to buck the trend towards lower enrolment district officials were predicting, superintendent of schools Terry Wayling said. As of. Sept. 5, the number of studefits in the district is up by eight over Sept. 30 of Jast year, to 2,155.3 full-time equivalent students, Wayling said. But that figure is almost 61 more full-time equivalent students than the school board budgeted for, he said. The number of students is expressed as full-time equivalents because not all students attend classes for full days. “So there's a significant increase, it would appear at this time, over what VANCOUVER (CP) — The provincial government is about to back down on its commitment to bring in tough pulp mill pollution regulations, the environmental group Greenpeace said But B.C. Environment Minister John Reynolds denies it Greenpeace said an internal memo from a pulp mill suggests kraft mills would have to reduce organochlorine content in their effluent to 2.5 kilograms per tonne of pulp produced, not 1.5 kg as the provincial government has promised crease also as additional high school students return from work or holidays, he added Despite the unexpected increase in numbers, Wayling said the district is fortunate because students are disper sed fairly evenly throughout the district. “We've got a few classes that are a tittle larger than we'd like to see them but generally the numbers have balanced out over the district by grade level and by school,’’ Wayling said “If a guy had a magic wand and said that’s the way you’d want to have 60 kids spread out, it came in pretty neatly.” Wayling said the one grade level causing some concern is Grade 9 at Stanley Humphries secondary school He said the district officials were please see ENROLMENT page A3 Memo called wrong blacked out, says it now ap. pears that the government will not be asking for 1.5 kgtonne (of organoch- chlorines). They will only require us to meet 2.5 kgtonne. This means that we may be able to delay oxygen delignification.”” Greenpeace official Renate Kroesa said more lenient regulations would mean mills would not have to go to afi oxygen process to whiten pulp. They would be able to continue with chlorine bleaching, a major cause of poilution But Reynolds said ‘*someone at the Last year you asked for almost 12,000 brochures and posters and 2,000 films and videos on safety. Safety at work. It starts with education. So, whether this is your first job or your fifth; whether it’s please see COLLEGES page A3 The memo, with the mill's name mill got the wrong impression.”’ SEEKING INFORMATION xpanded end now have 30 ‘manent compsites avcil- * Hot Showers * Swimming * Boat Moorage * Store * Large Sandy Beach * Playground * Safe Secure Storage $650 per year. Book now to ensure the site of your choice, Overnight comping else ovelleble Box 48, Christina Lake, B.C. 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V6B 5L5 tad EDUCATION IS THE KEY TO A SAFER WORKPLACE J WORKERS COMPENSATION BOARD &iimax Gaglardi says he helped block Doukhobor move KAMLOOPS (CP) — A plan to move a Doukhobor colony in the 1940s to the Shuswap Lakes area from Grand Forks would have been “‘a terrible tragedy’’ if he had not helped block it, Kamloops Mayor di said. |, @ former Social Credit cabinet minister, told a Kamloops Chamber of Commerce luncheon that he and the chamber convinced the provincial government to forget the move. He said the B.C. government plan to relocate a colony of Doukhobors from Grand Forks in the mid-1940s threatened to ruin the Shuwsaps as a tourist area. “The Chamber of Commerce decided we were going to stop the Doukhobors from coming to imagine having the The Doukhobors are a pacifist religious sect that emigrated from Russia at the turn of the century to escape persecution and set up farming communities in western Canada. A radical splinter group, the Sons of Freedom, opposed to public education for its members, was res- ponsible for nude protests, bombings and school burnings during the 1930s and ’40s. Although the conflict had largely died out by the 1960s, many Freedomites went to prison. Gaglardi said he spoke to the government agent responsible for the Grand Forks colony and asked if the Doukhobors could-be convinced to change their attitude and their philosophy of life if they were moved. Gaglardi made the comments during an address meant to encourage the chamber to become more active in up there on Lake? It would have been a terrible tragedy having the Doukhobors moved from Grand Forks to one of the greatest tourism areas in British thec y He said afterward that his remarks weren't meant to be racist “The Doukhobors were created by the same God as the Italians, the Japanese, the Jews and so on,"’ he said, adding it was their attitude toward life that concerned others. “They'd have brought exactly the same troubles from Grand Forks to the Shuswap,”’ he said. Gaglardi said that while the Kamloops move took place in the mid-1940s, similar concerns were ex pressed by communities throughout the province in the 1950s and early 1960s. The district of Kent, using a section of the Municipal Act in 1962, banned ‘Freedomite Doukhobors* from the district with the threat of fines or im- prisonment In the 1950s, RCMP, acting on or- ders from the B.C. government, for- cefully removed children from some Doukhobor homes when their parents insisted the children would be educated at home rather than in public schools. Doukhobor leader John Verigin of Grand Forks condemned Gaglardi’s comments. please see MOVE page AS A steady flow of people circulated through Celgar Pulp Co.'s last open house on its Froreday ot the Fireside banquet room in Castlegar. Project ‘s plans rel s y said is," he sald. corvews photo d with the open house format. “I think the rmat does serve the purpose for people who really want to tind out what the situation