Wednesday, December 16, 1992 @

TheFARSIDE

By Gary Larson

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1987 Fa:Works, inc /Distributed by Universal Press Syndicate

Early archaeologists

Scott David Harrison EDITOR

Ed Conroy is glad it’s over.

The Roseland-Trail MLA said he is pleased the province finally has a new Labor Relations Code. :

“I feel great,” he said Tuesday. “The months of consultation and study have paid off and I'm lad it’s finally over.” ig The government approved Bill 84 Tuesday, ushering in what Conroy called a new era for British Columbia workers. : “It’s going to make being a working person in British Columbia that much easier,” he said. Conroy said the government addresséd everything and everyone it needed to before for- mulating its legislation. He said the crowning achievement of the new bill is its anti-scab pro- visions, which prohibits the use of replacement workers during a labor dispute. : “The anti-scab legislation is a necessity,” Conroy said. “All you need to do is point to in- cidents to see what can happen and what could

Happen unless the rights of workers are pro-

PolicC BEAT

tected. : ‘ “All the anti-scab legislation will do is let workers know that they do have rights. That

NEWS STAFF

Nelson was treated for minor injuries at Castlegar and Dis- trict Hospital after she lost control of her vehicle and en- tered a ditch on Highway 3A Dec. 10. The vehicle sustained $2,500 damage.

Antonio Costa of Castlegar

control of the vehicle and en- i 1, 22, of tered the ditch. Costa was not

ee ‘ injured and there was some

$1,000 in damages to the car.

Creston’s Trevor Paypers was driving his pick-up on Ar- row Lakes Drive when the ve- hicle left the road and slid eee down a 20-foot embankment

they can hold legal strikes without having to worry about someone being shipped in from Never Never Land by employers.”

Other provisions of the new code will allow secondary boycotts during labor disputes and open-ballot voting for union certification. The bill, however, doesn’t provide for secondary

was driving on Arrow Lakes juries and damage to the vehi-

Drive Dec. 10 when he lost

cle is estimated at $2,000.

Dec. 13. There were no in- Z

For theRECORD

The Saturday edition of The News wrongly identified Rich- mond’s Peter Kiewit Sons Co. Ltd. as the lowest bidder with a $14.3 million proposal for the Castlegar-Robson bridge.

Calgary’s SCI Engineers and Constructioneers Inc. pre-

million.

nience.

sented the lowest bid at $14

The News regrets the error and apologizes to Peter Kiewit

, Sons Co. Ltd., SCI Engineers and Constructioneers Inc. and our readers for the inconve-

y

Conroy applauds labor law

picketing Spent te

“I think it’s a fair and balanced legislation, Conroy said. “We have talked to labor, we have talked to business leaders and we have come up with something that is fair and balanced for all British Columbia.” eo ;

Not so, according to B.C.’s opposition parties. Liberal Labor Critic Gary Farrell-Collins calls Bill 84 “anti-democratic.” He claims that the new bill is “clearly weighted in favor of union.

Farrell-Collins claims that the NDP has opened the door to wide-spread union certifi- cation by removing secret ballot voting. Decer- tification votes, meanwhile, remain secret. _

Jack Weisgerber believes the new labor bill is just the beginning for the NDP government. In anews release, the Socred leader stated that Labor Minister Moe Sihota betrayed B.C. busi- nesses leaders. ;

“J don’t think he has grasped the negative implications this sorry payoff to the union brass will have on future investment and job creation,” Weisgerber stated. ;

Conroy said the opposition parties are

andstanding. ne “They reseed on this process,” he said. “We would have liked to have it completed sooner but (the Liberals and Socreds) kept giving us the same old song with a different singer.” |

Conroy said the government will be flexible with its labor bill ;

“It’s not etched in stone,” he said. “The spir- it of this legislation is there and if that spirit is risking any one group unfairly, it will be looked at and changed.”

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@ Wednesday, December 16, 1992

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@ Regional district jumps on board to restore Brilliant Suspension Bridge

Corinne Jackson NEWS REPORTER

Andrew Davidoff and others are trying to bridge the gap — the Brilliant Suspension Bridge gap.

Davidoff has joined with other interested citizens in an effort to restore the historical bridge for years to come. And the Brilliant Suspension Bridge Restoration Working Group got the help it needed from the Regional District of Central Kootenay Saturday.

“It’s very encouraging the see (the RDCK’s) involvement,” Davidoff said Tuesday.

The RDCK has thrown its weight behind the project, saying it will petition the

Ministry of Highways for ownership of the bridge. That move would enable the RDCK to apply for heritage grants on behalf of the the Brilliant Suspension Bridge Restoration Working Group.

According to Pat Metge, the RDCK’s involvement is essential to the bridge’s restoration.

“The heritage funding groups will not provide money to the Ministry of Highways, or to a restoration group, so there had to be a vehicle in place,” the RDCK’s director of the Castlegar and District Recreation Commission said.

The working group was originally formed in September 1991 to study the possibility of restoring the old Brilliant bridge as a historic and heritage site. Fifteen months and plenty of discussions later, Davidoff says the grassroots project is paying off.

Historic bridge gets RDCK support

“It’s been a real community partnership until now and we hope it’ll continue,” Davidoff said. “Once we have the engineers’ OK on the structural components we just have to marshall our volunteers and materials.”

Davidoff said he hopes to begin restoration of the bridge into a linear park as early as this spring.

“If the second phase of engineering is positive there are no road blocks,” he said, pointing out a preliminary survey by Cominco engineers has already shown that the structure is sound.

Metge is proud to be involved with the project and said that restoration is important because of its history and the cultural uniqueness of it.

“There probably isn’t another one like it

FLOWER POWER

News photo by Corinne Jackson Canada Safeway and the Canadian Red Cross have joined forces once again. Safeway and the Red Cross have started their annual poinsettia fundraising drive. The Red Cross is set to receive $1 from the sale of each poinsettia that makes its way through Safeway cash registers. On hand to launch the 1992 campaign were (left to right) Castlegar Red Cross vice president Gerry Rempel, Kootenay region co-ordinator Harry Grossmith and Safeway manager Steve Lougheed.

~w| No ruling in youth hearing

NEWS STAFF

A decision to raise a local youth to adult court has been adjourned.

In Castlegar provincial court Tuesday, Judge S. W. Enderton said he will rule on Crown coun- sel’s raise application Dec. 29.

That decision will be made in Nelson provincial court.

The hearing involved a Selkirk College student who faces seven criminal charges, including sexual assault with a weapon.

A young woman is alleged to have been sexually assaulted dur- ing an Aug. 27 break-in at a Castlegar residence.

Under the Young Offenders Act, the youth’s name cannot be made public. In addition, a publication ban prohibits releasing details of

Moore to shuffle council deck

testimony from the hearing. Following a Nov. 4 hearing, an order was made for a psychological exam to be drawn up to determine if the youth has a mental disorder.

Ed Conroy, M.L.A. Rossland-Trail

#2, 900 Spokane Street, Trail, B.C. VIR 4R8 Phone 364-1999 Fax 364-0705

eoered Uneasy a

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Neil Rachynski NEWS REPORTER

Mayor Audrey Moore is making her appoint- ments.

Moore was originally scheduled to announce the standing committees assigned to each city council- lor during the Dec. 8 session but that was deferred to late Wednesday afternoon. A two-day retreat in Ross- land took precedence over the appointments.

Anumber of standing committees are assigned by the mayor to her councillors. They range from port- folios in Health and Welfare to Works and Services.

During last week’s session there was a disruption of the proceedings when Coun. Doreen Smecher chal- lenged Moore’s authority as chairperson. Smecher was left out of a motion that would have seen her elected as the city’s representative to the Regional District of Central Kootenay.

The rules of procedure were then suspended, se- cret votes taken and by the end of it all Moore was successful in her bid to sit on the RDCK.

Smecher said she has received plenty of feedback since then. She said the secret-ballot vote is being questioned by local residents.

“A lot of people have talked to me about this in the last couple of (days) and everyone wants to know who voted for whom,” Smecher said. “(The vote) could have been a show of hands.”

Smecher said last week’s incident could have been avoided if all of council “could talk about the ap- pointments and where we want to go and what we want to do.”

She said there was the opportunity for councillors to individually discuss the standing committees with Moore.

“(Moore) circulated a memo with a schedule of dates available and said everyone could go and book a time for an appointment through (the deputy clerk),” Smecher said.

“(Moore) told me point blank that I would not be given administration and finance. She told me I’ve been there too long and I can’t argue with that,” Smecher said.

“I’ve been on administration and finance since 1988... to the present.”

Moore was unavailable for comment.

Deadline for The News prevented announcing the new appointments to the standing committees.

In addition, a request was made for a predisposition report to as- sess the accused’s performance at school, and relationship with fam- ily members.

Defense lawyer Blair Suffredine said the slow progression of the case is all caused by Crown coun- sel’s raise application.

He said in the 18 years he has been practicing law in the West Kootenay, this is the first raise ap- plication he has dealt with.

Meanwhile in the courts, a local man was found guilty on two counts of indecent assault.

The incidents date back to the early 1960s and 1970s.

A publication ban prohibits re- leasing the name of the man.

He was acquitted on three other charges, while five other counts were stayed. Sentencing will take place Mar. 8.