September 25, 1991 @ PAGE Opinion Dave McCullough Plant Foreman Mark Davis Advertising Manager Warren Chernoff Accountant Heather Hadley Circulation Manager Burt Campbell Publisher Emeritus LV. Campbell Aug. 7, 1947 Feb. 15, 1973 OurWiEWS AdrianRAESIDE Strange bedfellows As Charles Dudley Warner, publisher of the Hartford Courant, wrote in 1870, “Politics makes strange bedfellows.” In Rossland-Trail, 121 years later, politics, apparently, hasn't changed. And so we find long-time Socred supporter Iris Bakken of Salmo, an unwavering backer of discredited former premier Bill Vander Zalm, throwing her support behind Rossland-Trail New Democrat MLA Chris D’Arcy, who announced Monday he will seek re-election as an independent. Several descriptions of the alliance come immediately to mind, but “politically astute” isn’t one of them. But should we be so quick to discount the Iris Factor? The theory, perhaps, goes like this: If Mr. D’Arcy can convince such a staunch Socred as Iris Bakken to abandon ship, then he might convince other Socreds to do the same. And the theory must also presume there are a lot: of voters in Rossland-Trail dissatisfied with the performance of the Socred government over the last five years yet maintain the belief that the NDP will lead the province into moral decay and economic ruin. But having a radical Zalmoid like Ms. Bakken on his team is still a calculated risk for Mr. D’Arcy at a time when most Socred supporters would prefer not to hear the former premier’s name for the next three weeks. Walter Siemens’ backers will, of course, maintain that’ support for their candidate is strong among Socreds and that Mr. D’Arcy’s candidacy will hurt the local NDP’s chances more by attracting “soft” support away from Ed Conroy. But that doesn’t make a lot of sense. The NDP has its best shot in almost 20 years at forming the next government. Why, then, would even the “softest” New Democrat supporter risk the chance that this riding will add to 19 consecutive years of having an MLA in Victoria who isn’t part of the government? It isn't logical. But then, who said B.C.’s provincial elections ever were? Cattlegar News i" Letters toTHE EDITOR It’s amazing the force that ramor can take, quickly assuming the shape of an actual truth when there isn’t a shred of fact to it. Lately, the most vicious rumors have been circulated about the Valhalla Society, myself and Grant Copeland. This is nothi Valhalla members prepared to take action against slander by them. This latter claim was repeated by Minister of Forests Claude Richmond, who recently issued a retraction to avoid a libel suit. The newest one is a serious matter as it alleges that Grand Copeland and I have indled or embezzled hundreds of new. Ordinarily, we ignore these misrepresented claims but some can't be ignored. For instance in 1985, a rumor was started and supported by being asserted in the Red Neck News printed in the Queen Charlottes that the Valhalla Society was responsible for the arson of a number of homes at the head of the Slocan Lake. Then there was one that had us bilking our members, living lavishly, and taking photos of clearcuts from our private jet. (The photos we used were satellite shots issued by the government.) Then there was the claim that I and the society had published the claims about pected ic impr an employment if the Valhalla Park was made, when in fact the figures all came from government planners and were published thousands of dollars from the Valhalla Society trust fund and that we and the society are under investigation by the government... There is not an iota of truth to this viciously slanderous rumor, though it has been repeated and repeated with embellishments for weeks. Some people, when confronted with repeating this claim, say they heard it on the radio, in order to cover the identity of the person who told them. We're prepared to take action against people hereafter perpetuating these false claims as they are accusing us of itting crimes. Mi hile, we're staggered that anyone could believe such claims, particularly as we work incessantly without pay for the Valhalla Society. Colleen McCrory New Denver Can’t be too careful about choosing friends 'y mother used to tell me that one can't be too care- ful in the choice of one’s friends. She should have told the the same thing. I means, how would you like to be Rita Johnston and wake up toa Vancouver Sun front-page head- line telling you that one of your didates did research for Ernst performed a professional service for Zundel, which consisted of It’s a promise that should sit well with every parent, but one hs of lysing aerial must ask why her government P Nazi concentration camps. The discovery didn’t exactly help an already battered Social Credit party restore voters’ confi- dence, even though Ball stepped down as candidate. Nor did John- ston’'s that lame lanation hasn't done anything about the problem until now. In fact, one must ask why the Socred govern- ment did everything it could to weaken the infrastructure that could have protected a lot of peo- ple, includ from phys- 25, 1991 Other VIEWS : | DEADLINE FOR LETTERS Letters to the editor for Letters toWHE EDITOR Something to declare This is a copy of a letter I have just sent to Kootenay West-Revelstoke MP Lyle Kristiansen, so that he might forward it to our beloved prime minister, Mr. Brian Mulroney. Dear Mr. Mulroney: Thank you very much for the courteous and efficient service that I received at the Paterson border [crossing] this weekend. ‘My wife and I do not go to the States very often, and before last weekend, I was committed to “Shop Canada First.” Unfortunately, this is no longer how I feel. In Sept. "92, on the spur of the moment, my wife and I decided “to get away from it all,” so we visited some good friends in Colville and then spent a night in Spokane. We returned to Canada the next evening. We were each able to declare $20 personal exemption, and of that $40, we declared a $19.99 doll. When asked if we had any alcohol or tobacco I said (in all honesty) that I had purchased two small packs of cigarettes, both of which [were] opened and partially gone. The customs officer, with a grin on her face, asked me to go inside and fill out a declaration form for the cigarettes. The packages cost me $2.50 each on the States side. The duty and excise tax cost me an extra $4.59. Ihave no objection to being charged duty on purchases I make, but I find it difficult to swallow being charged for the half pack of cigarettes that were in my pocket, and also the attitude of the customs staff. Federal employees, in my opinion, deserve a decent raise, but I also think that custom officers should take a “Happy Face” course. A smile and a bit of polite conversation to their fellow Canadians would not be asking too much, would it? I guess what I really want to say, Mr. Mulroney, is this: I want to shop in Canada, I enjoy the excellent customer services that I receive by the Canadian businessman. But you and your government are making it very hard for me to keep shopping in Canada. Your taxes are slowly draining the average wage earner in this country. I have to shop where I can get the best deal, and I cannot afford the prices in Canada because of your taxes. When I can buy a Canadian product in the States for less than half the price that I pay in Canada, then reluctantly I will shop south of the border. Secondly, Mr. Mulroney, the garbage that I have to put up with at the border has convincéd me even more. From now on, I will give the customs officer more to write up than a half pack of cigarettes. Wayne T. Hurlbert Castlegar Seeing the light Thank you for the coverage granted to letter writers who seem to have no access to A letter by Daragh Carter gave me hope One for us I feel The News is carrying on a tradition by being a very good newspaper. The new format is better than ever. It has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. If the journalist chooses words then he or she must paint that picture to be effective. This was more than , aptly done by Catherine Shapcott with her description of the people of the bluegrass festival. Newspaper articles, in my opinion should be objective in their approach. Thomas Bink, the newest reporter, states both sides of the issue in regard to the Hasty Creek issue. Donna Bertrand and Ed Mills have also been objective in their articles and are continuing to bring forth excellent articles. The articles entitled Outdoor Life, of our envir and " r especially the one titled “Contaminated fish Belcan gc thick skins of our ee of Columbia River pollution,” are sr repr and optimism that disregard of the people’s rae wishes could be changed. I fully support Ms. Carter’s concern for a controlled traffic light at the Kinnaird Hall intersection because of my concern for a traffic light to P ap ial accident at Columbi Avenue and 10th Street, the street leading up to the Castlegar Hospital, particularly the traffic attempting to make a left turn on to Columbia south to Kinnaird. I have raised this concern with an alderman who was a representative on the hospital board and later with the mayor. I was assured that the traffic light would be in place this past July. Also I talked to Ald. Jim Chapman. He concurred but apparently he has not yet “seen the light.” If they “love our children,” they could do something about the traffic lights rather than the platitudes on the radio reminding us to “watch out for children on their way to and from school.” Pat Romaine Castlegar continue. Citizens should be d about envir l concerns. A Gréat community and a great news staff has produced a very good newspaper and one I will continue to support. a Cal Him Castlegar Sweetie missing On Sunday, Sept. 22, we left our home at 9:50 a.m. to attend church with our family. When we arrived home at 1 p.m. our little dog, a female purebred pomeranian, was missing. After searching for her in the community, we were unable to find any trace of Sweetie. She has been part of our family for six years, and we miss her very much. She never left our yard unless accompanied by me. If anyone knows anything about her disappearance, I would appreciate hearing from them. We are offering a reward of $100 for her safe return. Martha Halisheff Shoreacres Beyer continued from page A6 Meanwhile, the Socred televi- sion ad is ing into ed a specialist on ethics to speak out. Paul R sell said. a University of behavior of her government,” Rus- logical regions, each of which would be self-reliant in terms of high gear. As I mentioned in an earlier column, the main target of the Socred campaign is not Mike Harcourt but Bob Rae. Scores of Ontarians are telling us how terri- ble things have become in their province since the NDP has come to power. But ifthe Ontario NDP’s fiscal record is fair game for the Socreds, their own record on ethics seems to be taboo, which prompt- British Columbia professor who teaches social ethics, says it is bizarre that Social Credit claims Harcourt is responsible for the On- tario NDP government, but won’t take responsibility for its own record. “It concerns me that Social Credit is saying people should for- get about the past. People like Ri- taJoh are ible for the And now for something com- pletely different, the B.C. Green Party. While it’s probably fairly safe to predict that the Greens won't form the next government, I should devote some space in this column to their platform which is, we say the least, somewhat unusu- It includes regional control food supply, the economy, trade re- lations, health services and garbage disposal. War toys, they say, would probably be banned. The B.C. Greens hope to have candidates in all 75 ridings, al- though they say they would be happy with 60. They've targeted four ridings as winnable — West which, they say, is the answer. The P would be divided into eco- ‘Garibaldi, Comox Val- ley, Surrey-Newton and Vancou- CRTC Decision Decision 91-669. CBC, Kelowna, 100 Mile House, Alexis Creek, Ashcroft, Garriere, Biue River, Falls, Bralone, Cache Creek, Canal Flats, Chase, Christina Lake, Canada ver Quilchena. I wish them luck. New Services Now Available = All New & Used Vehicle Registration and Transfer Report from Zundel. Zundel is the Nazi disciple wha claims that the holocaust was a that as she understood it, Ball 3 Clanraame, Clrwoo, Cooper Creek, Crentrook. Crawtord Bay. Creston. Donald Station, A : b ‘dgewood, Enderby, Falkland, Fernie, Field, Gold Bridge, Golden, Grand Forks, didn't really share Zundel’s beliefs. u i} Greenwood, Jafiary, Kamloops, Kasio, Keremeos, Kimberley, Lillooet, Logan Pring . Merrit, Mica Nelson, New Denver, North Bend, = Out of Province Vehicle Registration = Registration of Home Made Trailers hoax. Zundel was convicted in 1985 of spreading false news. He appealed the conviction and won, but was retried in 1988 and again convicted. Zundel has since ap- pealed to the Supreme Court of Canada and his case is to be heard in December. Asked about his involvement with Zundel, John Ball, the Social Hubert BEYER Victoria Credit didate for Rich d East, said he has thought about the matter since and “those ideas abhor me.” But leaving aside for a sitions of trust, but where was Toh om for child when her government gutted the financial his deliverance from evil, Ball, a geologist, said he was never real- u ly on the Zundel team. He only again. helped matters when it cut down the number of family crisis work- ers and child abuse teams? please see BEYER page A7 Lumby, Lytton, Dam, Midway, Nakusp, a » , Osoyoos, Parson, Penticton, Revelstoke, Rock Creek, Salmo, Shalalth, Sorrento, ‘Sparwood, Trail, Venveby, Vernon and Williams Lake, B.C. APPROVED — Renewal of the licence for the radio programming undertaking serving the above-noted locations fromt 1 September 1991 to 31 August 1994. APPROVED — Change of the program Princeton trom CBU Vancouver to CBTK-FM Kelowna. “You may Gazette’ Part |; at CRTC offices: at ing normal business hours. To obtain CATC public documents, contact the CRTC at: Ottawa-Hull (819) 997-2429; Halifax (902) 426- 7907; Montreal (514) 283-6607; Winnipeg (204) 983-6306; Vancouver (604) 666-2111." q Ge Gahactin Redieseminoer and Conseil de ta radiodiftusion ot des} = Social Services Tax Exemptions = Always Open Saturdays 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Cohoe Insurance Agency Ltd. 1127-4th St., Castlegar 365-3301 “We make buying insurance eas)