SPORTS PROFILE Tom Kats steal 'the bone' from the Trail Bulldogs Third win in a row is the Kat's meow/9A Tender Care Variety Centre plans programs Children begin enrollment/1B WEDNESDAY October 7, 1992 The Castlegar Sun MIXED Weather 3A Vol. 2- No. 46 ‘Leading the way in supporting local business’ 75 Cents + G.S.T. -Finishing touches Richard Widdifield put the finishing touches on the mural “Castlegar from Indian Flats.” The mural is on the outside wall by the entrance of the Community Complex and Aquatic Centre. The mural, sponsored by Celgar, is done in acrylic paint and is the seventh one Widdifield has done at the Complex. The mural shows the Castle- gar-Robson area at dusk, as seen from indian flats above Brilliant ‘SUN STAFF PHOTO / John Van Putten Constitution debated in Castlegar SHARLENE IMHOFF _ Sun Editor While most Castlegar residents were tucked away in their living rooms enjoying a night of prime- time television, three people were discussing politics—the upcom- ing constitutional referendum specifically. Hosted by the Castlegar and District Rotary Club, two sides offered their personal views on the Charlottetown package in a debate-style fashion, Tuesday night. Jim Gouk, Reform Party can- didate for the Kootenay West- Revelstoke riding, and Bruce Ketchum who recently completed a cross-Canada tour along with his wife Nancy, to promote national unity, debated on the Charlottetown agreement. Gouk, who argued that Canadi- ans should vote 'no' to the agrec- ment, said the Charlottetown package contains the ingredients for a recipe of financial disaster. “This is not an agreement, it's a joke, and it's a bad joke," said Gouk. One point which Gouk hit on was his view that the package creates three classes of citizens in Canada: the French first; Aborig- inals second; and the rest of Canadians in third place. Bruce Ketchum argued that Canada is a nation of diverse interests, and therefore no one package would ever satisfy everyone. "Even the Ten Commandments would draw controversy in Cana- da,” he said. Ketchum, who has started a ‘yes' campaign in the West Koote- nay, called the package ‘nothing short of a miracle’ since so much public consultation had taken place and that a final agreement was reached between 10 pre- miers, the territories, Aboriginal people and others. He called the new Senate pro- posal, which is outlined in the package, " "The sleeper of the whole const as well as equal and elected. “There are 18 million eligible voters in Canada, but there is no way we can have 18 million con- stitutions. We must boil it down to one document which is fair for everyone and I believe this has been done,” he said. Both Ketchum and Gouk pro- vided handouts to Rotary Club since he feels it will be effective which stated their posi- tions and why. Advance poll set Friday Sun Staff Castlegar residents who will not be around to vote in the October 17 referendum on the RCMP building should be heading towards the advance poll on Friday. On October 9, from 9 a.m. to 8 p-m., residents can place their vote at City Hall, located at 460 Columbia Avenue. The Returning Officer for the referendum, Barb Jankola, will be present at City Hall at this time. The question on the ballot will read, “Are you in favour of the City of Castlegar borrowing $1.7 million dollars for the construc- tion of a new RCMP building in Castlegar?” When asked this very same question during a Castlegar Sun/CKQR Radio telephone poll almost four weeks ago, the 200 respondents were split three- ways arnong a ‘yes’, ‘no’ and ‘uncertain’ answer. Members of the RCMP are hoping that the community will vote in favour of the referendum, which, if approved will allow the city to borrow the funds for the new building. RCMP are still hosting tours through their current. facility to better show the public the need for a new building. Tours are available weekdays from Oct. 7- 15. A phone call to the station at 365-7721 is necessary to set up a time. Volunteer firefighters clean up spill JASON KEENAN Sun staff It was the right night to have a spill. When ten gallons of Sodium Hydrosulfide spilled out ofa tanker truck at 7:01 p.m. Mon- day night on the 400 block of pe aa Ave., the Castlegar Fire Department was able to give extra speedy service “It was fire training night, so that was handy,” said Fire Chief Gerry Rempel. It took 21 firefighters just over two and a half hours to clean up the spill. A portion of Columbia Avenue was completely blocked off for about half an hour, and limited to one lane of traffic for about another hour and a half. “The maifi thing is identifying the product because there are so many that are similar,” added Rempel. Necessary clean up steps were set up in conjunction with the B.C. Ministry of Environment and Canutec, a federal govern- ment agency in Ottawa that deals with hazardous chemicals. “Depending on the type of spill, they will advise of different procedures.” The small quanti- ties spilt, combined with good ventilation, reduced the risks. “It was flushed with copious amounts of water,” said Rempel. That process was approved by the ministry of environment. The spill wasn't deep enough to be soaked up, and the situation looked worse than it was because the liquid was spread out by vehicles passing over it Sodium Hydrosulfide is used in the pulping process, and has a pungent odour. Rempel said the quantities involved in the spill meant it was not a major hazard in cleaning up. “Tt was more odour than actual hazard. The odour is really detectable.” Candidates questioned SHARLENEIMHOFF Sun Editor Allegience, working history, and conflict. of interest were all topics for discussion at an ‘All Candidates. Forum’, which brought out more than 60 people to hear council hopefuls Dave Gairns, Renee Read and Doug Green answer questions from the floor, Monday night at the Sand- man Inn. Two of the candidates, Doug Green and Renee Read, were asked to explain their affiliations with other organizations, and how this would affect their posi- tion on certain issues if elected to city council. Read, a 33-year old Blueberry Creek resident and part-time manager of the Castlegar Cham- ber of Commerce, was asked by Coalition Unaccepting Rash B y (CURB) Presi Mike O’Connor if her position on the chamber would result in a conflict of interest if she was elected to city council, since the city provides a fee of service to the chamber. If elected to sit on Castlegar City Council, O’Connor said Read would have to: “sit on the fence” on.civic and chamber mat, ters. “How can you be effective if you have this conflict—you're Read responded by saying the city and the chamber had sought legal counsel to determine if there was any possibility of a conflict of interest. “There is no conflict of interest since I am a part-time manager at the chamber. I don't vote on poli- cy or money-making decisions,” said Read, who added that both the chamber and the city work toward the same goal in making Castlegar a better place to live. “We both have the same man- date. How can there be a conflict when we are both working for the same thing,” she said. “Besides, the chamber is a non-political organization which supports no candidate.” Candidate Doug Green, who is supported by CURB both politi- cally and financially in running his campaign, was asked if his membership to CURB would affect any future decision-making he would make if elected. “Yes they are financing my campaign, but I’m not a puppet to CURB,” said. Green. “If elected to city-council I will represent all of the members of Castlegar, and that includes CURB.” Each candidate was asked if both said after the meeting that Gairns is a member of CURB who has paid a fee. When approached with this information, Gairns said he attended an earlier CURB meet- ing to see who would be chosen as the watchdog organization's candidate to run for city council. “I attended the meeting out of curiosity only, and when I was there, I threw five bucks into the pot out of courtesy,” said Gairns, who said he does not consider himself a CURB member because of the action. “I don’t agree with the con- frontational methods which Gairns was also asked about the Price Waterhouse Report, which was critical of city staff’s performance more than two years ago when he was City Adminis- trator. The report, which said the city administrator was distant from staff and on-line workers, gaps in the i which were removed using the laws of the Freedom of Informa- tion and Privacy Act. Most of the information which was deleted See CANDIDATES 2A they had p afi ions with any other organization or are rep- resenting the interests of any other izati CURB Presi. going to be ineffective,” he said. Playing a lil’ hackey 2222: 2::< dent Mike O’Connor, and John Moorlag Director on one person to another. Pat Taylor enjoyed the warm sunny weather last Wednesday hacking with some friends. They found a spot in the shade in Castlegar’s Kinsmen Park. ‘Hacking’ as he called it, is done with a small bean- bag like, knitted ball. The object is to keep the bag from touching the ground as it makes its way from SUN STAFF PHOTO / John Van Putten Glance ater eee nena Citizens — to view mall The Castlegar am is invit- ed to attend a council meet- ing to review and comment on the proposed mall devel- opment at 1502 Columbia Avenue this Thursday, Oct. 8 at noon. The meeting will be held at Council chambers, located at 1402 Columbia Avenue. If residents would like to view the Mall Devel- opment proposal prior to the meeting it is available to the public at City Hall, which is located at 460 Columbia Avenue between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Wellness clinic for seniors Castlegar senior citizens are invited to a Senior's Wellness Day, Wednesday, October 14 between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.. Flu vaccines, blood pressure monitoring and nutrition information are just part of what will be available on this day. The Senior's Wellness Day will take place at St. Rita's Parish Hall, located beside the Catholic Church. For more information call the Central Kootenay Health Unit at 365-8525. Camera Club The West Kootenay Camera Club reminds residents that it is holding meetings every other Tuesday evening. If you would like information, call 365-2696 or 365-7115 Ceigar noise Starting Monday, Oct. 12, the Celgar Pulp Mill will be cleaning new steam lines associated with the Modern- ization Project. The process involves blowing high pres- sure steam through various lines to remove foreign mate- rials such as dirt, rust slag, welding rods, etc. Although Celgar is limiting the blows to between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. on weekdays over the next two weeks, they are request- ing the ‘indulgence’ of Castle- gar and Robson residents who might hear any excess noise.