lien ot Ti) Wednesday, January 26, 1994 The — Sun Letters to the Editor seal ‘Fess up’ and apologize to Dear Editor: totally the opposite to your claims Roi"Your raat 19, 1994 edi- oD coated two'of the January gh is licting its failures-Last week torial on the Genesis SE editorial. he Castlegar Sun editorial Well; ‘as your editorial states I am requesting 'that you rerun i reinforced that yes, everyone “Enough is Enough", the Castles the September editorial of “The deserves a chance, but when cer- gar Sun now owes, the concerned Sky /s Falling...", 80 your readers tain young men in the Genesis citizens and neighbors, who live can see for themselves, just how should “fess up” and.apologize! Program fail to meet these neas the “Genesis Apartments”, a impartial your paper is! I also Valorie Lucas. chances in a positive way, and apology! The mean spirited, attended that meeting, arranged by / instead rob from their. neigbors, “The Sky Is Falling...”,editorialin the neighbors of that area, last Ed, Note: bd their chances run out, The edito~ the September *93 edition did not ber. I ded b The September 1993 rial also strongly stated that even address the true concerns, of The Sky Is Falling, was written. while the program itself has pos- these citizens. im response to the wild rumors _ itive jdeals, crimes that are con- residents | » grama chande to succeed before INION ) Speaker has experience with ruffians Parent insisted on being taken seriously, even when teaching a subject, Health, which everyone knew was a joke, even Parent. | Where Gibby caught fire was in the French class. I can still recall the demonic gleam in his eyes ashe professed ‘one day to be giving us the key to unlock French. “If you can understand this you've got it licked,” he said, seoming to expand with his enthusiasm to twice his normal size, (The key We << Sun ~~ fainny thing is, I can’t think of any exam- pls ot eting tos wih so mmch assy ip tet alone a spitball, in Parent's classes, Oa tod ee oe ee the i is eo foolish teachers who ws tho benatie OF tm doubt win are But there wag never any doubt about who was ith charge with Parent. Built like a circus strong- STEVE WEATHERBE Sterling News Services you are to have any creaibuty. you If anyone can tame the House of Commons and turn the appalling hodgepodge of novelty ies and neophyte members into a force for good it is the newly elected Speaker, Gilbert Parent. I speak from experience, as one of a notorious gang of roughnecks Parent had to face when he aah Cohan oe Castlegar, BC. ili 1a hp CGeadger 84n i= poltically independent and a member of the aig News Servies, Nvorcer 2 Too Pa ee corte Established someone we love dearly, lives near the “Genesis Apartment”, was a physical education, health and french teacher. at Denis Morris High School in St. Cc bogeys comment -Will-we ever learn peace? > 4 ith the announcement that the United Nations Association of Canada has chosen Castlegar as the third of five venues across Canada that will host a ional debate on sur- ited Nations, one-can’t help rounding the United but think back to a recent and horrendously graphic news broadcast. For those who didn’t watch the broadcast that night, three words could sum it up— blood, children, and war. Innocént children were relentlessly and d down red e aceurate word—as they tly in the war-torn streets of To think that sort of horror comes into our homes via the television is frightening—but what is’ more’ terrifying is that this kind of horror comies into some people’s lives via the streets on a daily basis. “is this Sort of barbarism continuing in a world which ‘will soon be greeting a new millennium? It isa hard question to answer, but ing your as hard as the task of bury- Those children who were horrendously murdered could be any of our children— and in a universal. way they are precisely that—-OUR children. We all should mourn forthe loss of their lives and for the loss of something which we’re not certain we ever had nis age with—auniversal peace. So why, then, if our children are being gunned down, are we allowing this to con- tinue? If the same scenario occurred on any Street in Canada, an outcry of loud propor- tions would be heard across the world. So ‘what are we to do in these troubled times? Certainly sending in troops to demand peace is not the answer as violence only begets violence. And Canada has shown-that-reluetance by continually drag- ging their feet. After all, is Canada not known for and prides itself on its peaceful image? It seems that the only one way the river of blood will stop flowing is if we all work world peace on a continual and ‘basis—or if the world-one day sponta- combusts. “We choose the first option. What about you? That was back in the early 1960s, when the Catholic priests who ran the place in their wis- dom felt that it would be better for everyone if boys entering the age of puberty were herded into sepgrate classes from the girls: In retrospect, it is clear thap there is no solution to teenage hormones short of capital punishment. ly spared English of S obedience. man with powerful jaw and heavy brow, he effortlessly. to us, spoken with the gracelessly nasalized jouthern Ontario. Behind his back we called him “Gibby” and with affection. The boys adored him. -Parent ‘was an utterly positive and encouraging teacher, if ruthless in dealing with real or imagined dis- was the'subjunctive voice, and if French did not become ain open book to the after that class, I did struggle with it long enough to become a French teacher myself.) Gibby’s magic with boys was such that the football teams he coached never lacked for talent. It was always the brightest inthe school Doo Setar plone efednere age! oo Denis Morfié was p powerhou! + though with half the enrolfment of its rivals. In Phys-ed.class the favored was hi the problem of dealing with the flirtations and pos- turing which accompanies mixed classes. On the other hnad, they had to cope with an intense concentration of male energy, 20 to 30 rambunctious hellions armed with all sorts of juvenile to make the boys do pushups. Parent refined this by making miscreants do one pushup—but for the whole class and in the up position. I had to. endure this torture once because my mother , the MP whom Parent succeed- balked at p Health textbook. One day of torture and she changed:her mind. », an i ly-priced caloape Catharines seat had been the football coach at Denis Morris's chief opponent, the city’s main public high school. can only wish Gibby luck. Heck, had I in St. Kitts, F might have even voted for the guy myself. When religion clashes with politics NDP witch has voters and politicians up in arms When I phoned my wife recently from Germany, where I was attend- ing a family reunion, she told me the NDP was fielding a witch as“a” didate in the byelection. Covering politics in British Columbia for 25 years has taught me to expect the unexpected, no ‘matter how-tudicrous-or strange: Except when former premier Bill Vander Zalm thought he saw Nazis under his bed. That I didn’t believe for one moment. But a witch run- ning for the NDP, what's so strange about that? At any ratc, I didn't blink once. What is strange about the candi- dacy of Samuel Wagar, as pastor in the Nomh American-wide Covenant of the Goddess Church. is the NDP’s reaction, when they found out their boy was a witch. In the typical fashion of political parties who get Caught off-guard. there was first surprise, then confu- sion, and finally, hypocrisy. Wagar had been nominated by acclamation as the NDP's standard bearer for the h b Reynolds’ assessment of the situa- tion and the fact that a second nom- inating meeting was subsequently scheduled. First, there was no onus on Wagar to disclose his witch status. Asking people for their religious affiliation went out with high-but- ton shoes, just like asking them -what-color their skin-is- If, therefore, Reynolds is both- ered by the fact that Wagar didn't disclose what religion he adheres to, he should be equally upset that no other candidate has done so for The second and mofe serious problem is that trying to wrestle the nomination from Wagar is not only hypocritical in the exteeme., bul probably wrong in law. The NDP may, in fact, leave itself wide open to a human rights investigation. should Wagar have less of a sense of humor than the party hacks. No matter how unorthodox Wagar’s religion may be, it is pre- cisely that, a religion: I don’t care whether you agree with his belicfs or ider them weird, they are and all appeared wel} umtil Kejth Reynolds, the party’s provincial sec* retary, expressed his concern over Wagar'’s failure to have disclosed his status as a witch. “It’s the sort of information,” he Said, “I think peo- ple might consider relevant.” There are two things wrong with his beliefs and should be respected, as long as hhe“déesn"t inflict any harm’ on anyone else as, for instance, some militant Christian sects have been known to do. As far as I know, the most unorthodox, thing Wagar has ever done by his own admission is dance with a naked woman one Halloween. Hey, that doesn't sound half-bad. I know a lot of my friends whom our judicial system remind- ed so poignantly of the Nazis, opened a prayer room in the Parlia- ment Buildi could get into that So what's the NDP going to do? Amend its constitution to disallow from running as a candidate anyone who's danced with a naked woman? jTo undo the nomination is noth ing Iess than discrimination! on the grounds of religious belief. And that may haunt the NDP for some time. since we all know who claims to have a monopoly on tolerance It should also be noted that Wagar at no time tried to hide the fact that he was a witch. The oppo- site is the case. Wagar bas been writing the “Fraser Valley Pagan Report” for “Hecate’s Loom,” a pagan newsletter, and the Yancou- ver Sun has done pumerous stories about him. Wagar has hardly been a fecluse. Thie last time I remember reli- gion getting in the way of politics was when the same) Vander Zalm The first day, all was well. The_ prayer meeting was attended most- ly by the fundamentalist Christians who had been elected in the Vander Zalm sweep. On day two,.some Satanist showed up, demanding equal time, and things went to hell in a handcart pretty fast. Religion interfered again with politics when the same Vander Zalm tried to ignore the law and make abortions illegal in British Columbia. Confusing persona} beliefs with the limited power our parliamentary system bestows on its clected oe ani Vander Zalm had to lear thé, Baad way that Fetis | gion has no place in politiés: You'd think that this idea might have come to the attention of every politician by now, but obviously the odd one is still in the dark. And I'm using the term politician here to include backroom people such as Reynolds. Frankly, I would have loved to see Wagar contest the Matsqui byelection on behalf of the NDP- Can you imagine, running a witch in the Bible belt of British Columbia? At the very least, he would have provided some relief from what may be extreme tedium. Program should be scrutinized before continuing t we heard about the Genes program and were con- cerned abgut what it meant for those of us that lived gn the’area. Only aftér from many, people did Social Services send Cam Caskey to talk with us regard- ing this. He represents the contractor who looks after the boys for Social Services and also owns the building where the boys reside. At the meeting 50 neighbors turned out} and were'told this is a how to work and function in the + real world. They. were to learn life-skills and ce needed to ble. We were for cerns regarding supervision and | and property secu- rity arid/or damage. We were told this would not be a problem because, yes, these boys had done orbits to better themselves. at what srdiwere told dad what the a 4 First, wewer told that i im Order to get imo the these boys had Signed a conitact saying that they would do ng drugs or alcohol. or get into tropble what with the law at any time. Thigegontract was to have out- lined the Consequences that the boys agreed to. The consequences were: if any member dropped out or broke the rules he would be out of the pro- gram AND noybe eligible for social assistance. The boys had to be moti- vated to’sign an agreement with such Severe consequences. “*Cami told us these rules would be strictly enforced. The neighbors had nothing tO worry about. Well, two boys were caught steal- Fa ay! map mpeg ere sentenced for: contract and the * Next, of course, I question the the contractor to look aficr thése* boys and teach them life- skills, Obviously did not tell the” someone; cither us, the neighbors, or the radio. If whit he said on the radio was the fruth, ten What he told the’ ncighbers was a lic..When Cam talked with us, the neighbors, he said the Genesis was to go phead po Matter what the is first crime..What* ig! Ss said. So, then, why lie to us? There was nothing we could do other ! than perhaps start a neighborhood watch program. What kind of an example is this for the boys he is to be teaching? In my view, if he can't get straight with us, I question whether he is the example these boys should be following. Perhaps he is not qual- ified to work with them in the capacity he is. ‘We were also told that the boys had a curfew that would be enforced and that they had to be in their rooms by 11 p.m.. These same boys have been seen drinking in the park at times when the curfew should have been in effect. Where is the supervision? What happened to no drugs or alcohol? Was Cam not straight with us again—or is he not doing his job? I think the boys must have gotten the message too that. what is said and what is actually done are two different things. We were told they were being taught life skills and how to get along iththe world—our world—the one in which you work for the things you want, buy them with your‘own moncy, look after them and donot want them stolen from you. “, In my view the Genesis program needs to be looked at very closely. It is not what it was set out fo do. Four of the boys did not make the criteria, Four gut of eight or 10. (I am not sure exactly how many boys there were originally in,the program). That is a 40-50 per cent ., ident who lives near the failure rate anid ‘méans éither some- thing Iaybe or fund- ing néed@s to be piflled: We, the public, are the ones investing our money ,in these boys. I, personally, want t0 see better results for Also, the Contractor needs to be * reviewed. Perhaps lie is the. reason the program is not working proper- ly. Is his job just'to make moncy on * this project? Is that why the last two boys have not been let go? All these questions need to be * looked at and answered before any- more of the taxpayers. money gocs into this project. Erica Gfegory is a Castlegur res- Genesis, Program home » ame Ss. wr c This is: not the true, clear reporting, that we expect from our Canadian I newspapers. ly found this editorial rude, misin- formed and biased, which is and she is an elderly widow. Repeatedly, we were told by, Cam Caskey, that the “young gentle- men” would be no cause for alarm! “Well, Cam, what do you that were circulating about the Genesis Program, and stated quite clearly that residents, while having the right to. be con- cerned, should allow the pro- tinual are unfair to those people who are making a success out of the program, the residents who live near the program, and the taxpayers who fund it. Genesis Program soaring—not in ‘nose dive’ as story suggests Dear Editor; In response to the article printed in the January 19 edition, we would like to comment that the Genesis Program has not ‘Taken a Nose Dive’. On the contrary. Our present program has been given a six-week exten- sion and the proposal for 94/95 is presently consideration. ‘We would to thank the many people in the Castlegar, Nelson and Champion Lakes areas for their support and encouragement. Bouquets to each and everyone involved in Full Gospel Church for allowing us to rent the church basément for classroom space and for going the extra mile in putting Christmas packages together for as passed by the provincial courts. i like to-extend an invitation to The Castlegar Sun ot any other In closing, we would again \ ‘see concemed citizens ‘to come out and spend tiie day with us and the program is really all Genesis Program Staff about, each of the parti the New Life ‘Assembly Church for allowing us to work on the base- ment of your church; to the Her- itage Society for their gr handling of the situation and for the opportunity they gave us to work with them; to Champion Golf Course for exposing the program to such a varied work Opportunity and for invit- ing us back in 94; and to Morn- Castlegar Sun who have brought baking and produce, and who have hired individual participants to shovel sidewalks for the winter, to the Pastor and congregation of the Theory ‘blowing in the wind’ Dear Editor: I don't know the exact loca- tion of the Hanford Nuclear Site, but Kennewick, the nearest town, is 46 degrees and 12 minutes north, 119 degrees and 6 minutes west. Mt. St. Helens is 172 miles west. Its exact location is 46 degrees and 13 miles north, 122 degrees and10 miles west, and when it erupted, I as well as everyone else in the Koote- nays, had a layer of volcanic { dust on everything in my yard.” The article “A Lethal Legacy’ appearing in The Sun deed Fa Jan- uary 12, 1994 states. “it is unlike- ly that fallout...travelled any farther than Spokane...” IE don’t think many people can be convinced that prevailing winds in that latitude can blow the east. . Bs Nick Verigih ing M in Ski Hill for allowing us to work with them in the preparation of the ski hill for the 93 season. To the families involved in the two robberies, please know that in no way do we minimize the effect this must have on your lives. By staying in the program the young men involved can make financial restitution and pay the consequences for their actions, information, publications. Attn: Advertising Dept. In December, Westfab Homes placed an advertisement in the West Kootenay Advertiser with your sales consultant Cathy Ross. | am very pleased to report that the response, based on coupon requests for more was § to 1 over other We certainly will be utilizing the West Kootenay Advertiser again. Yours truly, Reg Caswell Ph: 442-2148 Westfab Homes Box 1118, 1538 - W.. Central Avenue Grand Forks, B.C. VOH 1HO © Manufactured Homes ¢ Trusses © Preserved Wood Foundations * Stairs ¢ Garages * Farm Buildings YOUR ONE STOP BUILDING CENTER HOME PACKAGES STARTING AT $20,000 Fax: 442-3033 Mia woah PRICES EFFECTIVE THURS, FRi, ‘Say - JAN. 27, , 28, 29, 1994 | DAY'SUPER: & Petrisse con 365-7733 ‘Cola, Orange, Lemon Lime & Ginger Ale 2 Litre + deposit =