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@ Saturday, March 14, 1992

Saturday, March 14,1992: ©

PhotoFEAUTRE

 NewsFOCUS

FIRE HITS WESTA

Jonathan Green
NEWS REPORTER

A quick response from the Castlegar Volunteer
Fire Department prevented a dangerous situation
from becoming worse Thursday night.

At 8:18 p.m., the department received a two alarm
call of a fire at the Westar sawmill.

The two crews dispatched found the fire in the
chip and saw area of the mill and extinguished it
within an hour. :

Mill security Dave Carter said both the cause of
the fire and how much damage was done won't be
known until after an investigation.

“It’s hard to say what the extent of the damage
will be,” he said. “My guess is the majority of it will
be from water. °

“Whatever happened, happened fast.”

Mill foreman Stan Bohnet said the damage to the
exterior looked to be greater than to the interior.

‘No injuries were reported.

SAWMILL

News photos
by Glen Freeman

rs ago that the
ground.
ne 17, 1978, the
epartment
blaze that

ladder were no

shot flames 30

some five hours to bring the fire under
control.

The fire put 125 of CanCel’s 300 employee
out of work. : S

The fire caused over $6 million in
damages.

eee

Local MLA makes
his debut in B.C.’s
house of power

Scott David Harrison
EDITOR

When Ed Conroy steps into the B.C.
Legislative Assembly Tuesday, it will be like
stepping back in time.

The legislature brings back memories to
Conroy. Fond ones of a University of Victoria
student who used to sit in the visitors’ gallery
“to relax.”

“[’m serious, I used to go there as a student to
relax,” Conroy said of his life some 25 years ago.
“Had anybody said at that time I would go into
to politics,.I would have told them they were out
of their mind.”

A political science-philosophy major in the
provincial capital, Conroy used to kick up his
heels and watch politicians like W.A.C. Bennett,
Flyin’ Phil Gagliardi and Robert Bonner wield
the power of the day.

Times have changed, though, and Ed Conroy
has changed with them. The Social Credit
destiny has all but crumbled, wiped out by its
own ineptitude in an Oct. 17 election.

The New Democrats rule British Columbia
today, lead by the likes of Mike Harcourt, Moe
Sihota and Anne Edwards. In the wings are
politicians like Conroy, eager to make a point,
reluctant to make a mistake.

Elected with a hefty 4,440 vote majority over
second-place candidate and ousted New
Democrat MLA Chris D’Arcy, Conroy has had
his hands full in his first five months.

He’s had to face the political music more than
once during his short stint in power.

Conroy has watched sure things like the
Robson ferry and the Castlegar-Robson bridge
fall to the wayside. If that wasn’t enough,
Conroy has seen Westar close down and
Cominco cut 500 permanent jobs. Hardly a kind
beginning for a man who studied politics to
“discover what made the world tick.”

“Tt’g like ’ve been working my butt off for five
months and I’ve got nothing to show for it,”
Conroy said, one week before the British
Columbia’s 35th parliament opens its doors. “It’s
been frustrating at times, but I like to think that
we're laying the ground work for next time.”

Conroy said the biggest disappointment of his
short provincial politicking career was the
permanent axing of the Robson ferry — the death
of a 69-year-old tradition.

“I really worked hard on that one. I was well-
versed on the issues, I argued it from a political,
social and economic angle,” he said. “If you had
asked me, even up to an hour before (Transport
Minister Art Charbonneau) made _ his
announcement, I would have said the ferry is
coming back.

“Bven talking about the ferry with the minister,
there was no question that I won the battle, I just
lost the war.”

Conroy enters the legislature with no illusion
about what lies ahead for this province and this
constituency. He said the government must put

Mr. Conroy goes to Victoria

Ed Conroy is off to Victoria. The Rossland-Trail MLA will begin his first term when the B.C. Legislature

opens it doors Tuesday.

it’s priorities towards trimming the monstrous $2
billion deficit.

“The very least we want to do is wipe that
deficit out,” he said. “We’ve inherited quite a mess
and we want to cut $1 billion from that figure this
year.”

Conroy said another priority will be to open the
hallowed halls of government to ensure British
Columbians have a say in British Columbia.
Saying “Al. Capone would have been more
accountable” than the Socreds, Conroy said the
recent public hearing held on Pope and Talbot’s
bid to take over Tree Farm License No. 23 is just
one example of how New Democrats intend to
incorporate the general public.

With his party’s priorities well set, Conroy has
established his own list of dos and dont’s. He said
stabilizing the local economy will be his top
priority.

“We are not just a bunch of politicians and I
think our party knows that” he said. “I know that
I might not always agree with what the party has
done. It is up to me to be an advocate for this
constituency and that’s what I’m going to do.”

Conroy said he will continue to push for Pope
and Talbot’s take over of the Castlegar sawmill
and TFL No. 23. In addition, he said he would try
to convince his government to give Cominco
breaks on its water tax levies, as well as commit
itself to a Columbia River crossing for Castlegar
and area.

Conroy’s long-term plans include promoting the
province to the former Soviet Union. Pointing to
Castlegar’s Doukhobor community, Conroy said
British Columbia has expertise that the
Commonwealth of Independent States is “dying
for.”

“They have-250 million people and, while they
may be down now, they won't be down forever,” he

Conroy said he has bent B.C. Trade Minister
David Zirnhelt’s ear more than once with a
positive response.

“We have to start laying the groundwork now,
because we will have plenty to benefit from later.”

Conroy has no illusion about his role in the
government. He’s a backbencher and he’s happy to
be that. :

“I don’t know how the ministers do it,” he said.
“When I look at how hard they are working, I
don’t know if I could do it.”

But that doesn’t mean Conroy wouldn’t accept
a cabinet position. He said if cabinet position
arose, he’d be happy to carry the labor,
environment, agricultural or education portfolios.

Conroy became the New Democrat candidate
for Rossland-Trail after bumping off incumbent
Chris D’Arcy for the party’s nomination.

“I just felt we needed a change in the riding, an
injection of enthusiasm,” he said about taking on
and beating D’Arcy. 1

The Conroy-D’Arcy contest shouldn’t come as a
surprise. Ten years earlier, Conroy backed Stan
Lanyon against D’Arcy for the Rossland-Trail
nomination. Lanyon, who was just appointed the
head of the Industrial Relations Council, lost by a
scant two votes. 3

Lanyon later moved to the Lower Mainland,
while Conroy served a term as a School District
No. 9 trustee. Outside from his involvement with
his tow boat union, that was Conroy’s first real
taste of politics.

That taste happened to agree with Conroy,
prompting him to do what Lanyon couldn’t —
defeat D’Arcy. He defeated D’Arcy again’on Oct.
Li.

That victory paves the way for Ed Conroy’s
return to legislature, some 25 years after the
same University of Victoria student told his
friends “they were out of their minds.”

6