PAGE |’ inion Op Dave McCullough Publisher Scott David Harrison Editor Bob Proctor Marketing Manager Mickey Read Composing Room Foreman Warren Chernoff Accountant Mary Ann Fullerton Circulation Manager Burt Campbell Publisher Emeritus L.V. Campbell Aug. 7, 1947- Feb. 15, 1973 Saturday, January 16, 1993 @ OurWiEWS AdrianRAESIDE Laughable Liberals he B.C. Liberal Party is swiftly and surely becoming the biggest disappointment in provincial politics. Considered a breath of fresh air by voters tired of B.C.’s Socred-New Democrat cliche, the Liberals were supposed to inject new life into the old political game. They haven't. In fact, the escapades of the Liberals would almost be comical if they weren’t so darn serious. ¢ Clive Tanner shocks a province when he writes a judge using legislative stationary to endorse the solid reputation of one of his constituents... a convicted pedophile. ¢ Former House Leader David Mitchell refuses to toe the party line by rejecting the Charlottetown Accord. He later whines to Premier Mike Harcourt, hoping to become Speaker of the House. After that failed, he is all-but-booted out of the party to the glee of his so-called Liberal friends. ¢ Gordon Wilson and Judi Tyabji are alleged to be studying more than party policy to the wee hours of the morning. These are just individual examples of the less-than-stellar performers British Columbians have to contend with for another four years. Pity us. Count on the Liberals to collectively stumble into the realm of ridiculous like never before. It’s the only thing they know. When voters selected the Liberals as their opposition, they weren’t sure what they were getting into. Evidently, neither were our laughing- stock Liberals. Tax shelter over for B.C. Hydro? George Cady may just get change the Order-in- his wish. Cady, the longtime chairperson of the Regional District of Central Kootenay board, says he wants to accomplish one last project before he calls it quits at the end of this term: have B.C. Hydro pay taxes on its power projects and installations in the West Kootenay. So far, Cady and the regional district’s efforts have met with no success. "Ron NORMAN (2 Comments from the Crossroads council that exempts Hydro from paying taxes on its Columbia River projects. But this time Hydro tax supporters have someone on the inside to help fight their case: Nelson-Creston MLA Corky Evans. Evans, you may recall, led a spirited delegation to the legislature during his stint as the Slocan Valley regional director. He also drafted the And they have tried everything over the years, from sending delegations to the legislature to initiating legal action. Nothing had worked. But that could all change; for a couple of reasons. The first is that the NDP is now the government. That in itself doesn’t mean much because the NDP also formed the government from 1972-1975 yet didn’t regional district brief at the time. There’s no one who knows more about the issue, or is more passionate about B.C. Hydro paying its fair share of taxes. Secondly, there’s been a change in the way Premier Mike Harcourt’s NDP government views Crown corporations. Crown. agencies are no longer seen as independent’ entities, aloof from government policies or priorities. please see NORMAN page 7 Street TALK a Leona Sorenson Castlegar “Excellent. It would help decide on the low water situation.” Tim Stoochnoff Castlegar “Yes. To keep the water levels stable at Arrow Lakes.” Paul De Biasio Castlegar “It’s good. This way the people will know what’s going on.” input K.C. Van Hoorn “You bet. You need about changes.” Question: Will a public symposium on the Columbia River basin’s management be effective? James Fraser Castlegar Shoreacres “Yes. You'll get a good rounded opinion from people here.” from the public Saturday, January 16, 1993 ithe a = = > = ~ Se) Please address all letters to: Letters to the or deliver them to 197 Columbia Ave. and not longer than 300 words. Letters MUST be signed and include the writer's first and last names, address and a telephone number at which the writer can be reached between 9a.m. andS p.m. The writer's name and city or town of residence only will be published. Only in exceptional cases will letters be published anonymously. Even in those cases, the name, address and phone number of the writer MUST be disclosed to the editor. The News reserves the right to edit letters for brevity, clarity, legality, grammar and taste. Letters toWHE EDITOR ‘Sail’ was part of a community-based plan Let me give my perspective on “The Sail’. In response to Ron Norman’s Comments from the Crossroad ‘Schools squandering tax dollars,’ I would like to point out some facts that may answer the question there implied, ‘why the rules don’t get changed’. ¢ The present Minister of Education, for long time opposition Education Critic, was a school trustee for a good many difficult years before entering the provincial political arena. ¢ Our present MLA, Ed Conroy, prior to his election, was a trustee in this school district and often voiced his displeasure with the provincial allocation of funds within the education system. He was also a member of the board committee that dealt Facts behind Sons Re: “No need to resurrect a troubled and tragic past.” (The News — Dec. 30, 1992) Harry Voykin should be commended for his wonderful letter condemning the inhumane government abduction of Doukhobor children, and questioning the integrity of the CBC for digging into this painful, cancerous wound. Many thanks, Harry. Mr. Voykin’s loyalty and concern for the reputation of his organization (USCC) and its honorary chairman, John. J. Verigin, is most admirable indeed. While sincere dedication may influence and color the opinions and beliefs held by Voykin, it cannot change historical events and facts experienced and witnessed by so many others. Voykin admits his limited knowledge of the facts and, as an outsider, could not possibly have known all the hidden evidence, all the atrocities executed by the authorities or the extremes that they stooped to for the sake of exerting their power. By strong faith and also fate, I happened to be in the midst of the so-called ‘Doukhobor problem’ since 1947. I knew and worked with John Lebedoff a few years before he was proclaimed a leader of the Sons of Freedom. Even then he talked about how Chistiakov stated that he (Lebedoff) would be a leader and do more for the Doukhobors than the Lebedoff in Russia who was the with the preparation of the plans for the renovation at Stanley Humphries Secondary School, plans that included the © School staff members and parents representatives were also involved in the preparation of those plans. It appears that ‘the Sail’ was not undesirable. I, too, would like to have some rules changed but, in view of the facts, Tama realist. One other fact is that this school board believes in consultation prior to reaching decisions that are within the sphere of its control and mandate. A recent article in The News was most complimenting of such practice. Presently, this school board is inviting anyone’s response to “propose a school district motto or slogan that creates a sense of identity of purpose for the education system that reflects the values of the community we serve.” Be part of the game and influence changes as you might. Hold your trustees responsible for the decisions they make and how they arrive at’ those decisions. Also give them credit for the fact that, in spite of it all, priority is given to keeping students, parents and staff spirit sailing high. Antonio Guglielmi School District No. 9 Trustee Castlegar of Freedom struggle well documented first to stick his bayonet into the ground and refuse military service. It is common knowledge amongst the Sons of Freedom, some of who were personally instructed, that J. Lebedoff was initiated by J.J. Verigin. The Sons of Freedom never regarded Lebedoff as the leader, but only as a messenger from Verigin. They proclaimed Lebedoff as a leader in order to hide and protect Verigin. Personally, at the present time, I too believe that Verigin would not now assist the authorities in such inhumane acts as the abduction of Doukhobor children from their homes and families — for no one in his right mind would do such a thing. However, Voykin must recall (it is a matter of public record) that both Verigin and Attorney General Bonner had a bad alcohol problem at the time when the atrocities of abduction transpired. They both drank from the same bottle and both belonged to the same organization, the Council of Christians and Jews, of which Verigin was a chairman. There can be no doubt that they were not always in their right minds, or they would never have stooped to that level. While secretly instructing the Sons of Freedom, Verigin publicly demanded government action to resolve the Doukhobor problem. Attorney General Bonner openly vowed to “break the backs of the Sons of Freedom” once and for all. Emmet Gully, a professional government advisor who had been instrumental in th.e displacement of thousands of people from their homeland in order to accommodate the new state of Israel, was hired to advise the government as to how it could best achieve its goal. Gulley accompanied Verigin and his youth choir on a grand concert tour, where Verigin made passionate speeches in support of public school education for all Doukhobor children. With J. Lebedoff in place as an agent for the police (Bonner’s ministry) and instructing the Sons of Freedom, the circle was complete. These facts and many more, are all a matter of public record. In other words, it would take a lot more than the loyalty and dedication of one concerned member of the USCC to clear Verigin of his direct involvement. There is no doubt that they did “combine, conspire and confederate to willfully and lawfully abduct the Sons of Freedom children.” Mr. Voykin: I also read the Lord’s Prayer and believe in its message. I do not have a bit of rancor or bitterness in my heart and do completely forgive those who trespassed against us, for whatever reason. However, I cannot keep quiet when I sense more evil forces conniving for more dirty work. Only when we can acknowledge and accept the truth with love and brotherhood in our hearts, can we truly live the Lord’s Prayer. Mike Chernenkoff Crescent Valley Norman continued from page 7 The government wants a closer working relationship with all Crown corporations. To that end, the NDP has created the Crown corporation secretariat headed by Bob Williams, a cabinet minister in the Dave Barrett government of 1972-75. The secretariat has been busy converting agencies to the new style of thinking. B.C. Rail, for ex- ample, now is ssively com- pn lore trucking companies contracts. (So much 80 Trucking B.C. Hydro won't be far behind. Labor Minister Moe Sihota, the minister responsible for B.C. Hy- dro, says the NDP is going to em- phasize increasing the dividends it gets from Hydro. (This is part of the reason Hy- dro is seeking a rate hike for the power it sells West Kootenay Pow- er. WKP isn't alone; Hydro has al- so hiked rates to other customers around the province). So how does Castlegar benefit from all this? Simple. The government isn’t just looking at Hydro as a cash co iw. It also wants the Crown corpo- ration to be one of its major tools for economic development and money-making ventures. At the same time, Sihota says the corporation will be more “so- cially conscious”. For Sihota, “socially conscious” means putting things back into communities that have served as Hydro’s main sources of revenue for the past three decades. That means areas like the the communities and create jobs, Sihota says. We've seen some of this new style of thinking already in this area with Hydro’s partici- pation in the Columbia River In- terpretive project. There could be more such pro- jects to come. More importantly, it may be just a short step from Hy- dro’s participation in economic de- velopment projects, to its accep- tance of taxes on its projects along the Columbia River. After all, if the provincial gov- ernment is sincere in eé' i Hydro is “socially conscious”, what better way could it find than to right an historical wrong.