Message from

There is

the publisher

ly rewarding about publishing our annual ds

Pp as the shopping. centre of the

Business, Arts, Industry and Tourism Review. It for- ces us to shift our focus from our di -to-

i

J. For me it has been & very is year, but one in whieh the i

to the

jobs in the short term, and

* like Nelson's The

day concerns and reflect instead on the region in which we live.

The West Kootengy is a vibrant, active region serving tens of thousands of residents. But sometimes we forget just how fortunate we are. We tend to take for granted the incredible natural beauty at our doorsteps that p i 1

Ily d of the Interior”, Nelson is actively pur- suing other film ventures after two movies were filmed there tin 1986: Roxanne, starring Steve Mar- tin and Daryl Hannah; and Housekeeping, with Christine Lahti.

¢ like Trail’s home of champions promotion where the Silver City will play host to thousands of

opportunities year-round.

We forget, too, many of the good things that have happened here over the last year.. That in part is what the Review is about: Taking. stock of the progress we have made and what it means to the region's residents.

We have worked hard to bring you up-to-date information about our major industries: Forestry, mining, education and tqurism, and of business in general — both large and small.

And: we are impressed by what we've found. Ths region is brimming with confidence, optimism one -*husiasm. But it is level-headed optimism.

West Kootenay residents recognize that 1987 won't be a return to the heady economic times of the 1970s, but we are confident the coming 12 mon- ths hold good things for us.

And that’s another aspect of the Review; by looking at where we've come from and where we are, it allows us to better prepare for where we're headed.

And we're headed for bright things:

@ like the $150 million Cominco lead smelter modernization project that will not only mean con- struction jobs for hundreds of West Kootenay residents, but will secure the future for thousands of workers.

© like the proposed $6 million enclosed mall in Castlegar. The mall will add greatly to the com- munity's tax base and help build on Castlegar's

visitors ding dozens of sports events. It means the rebirth of that ctty’s tremendous sports heritage.

And we haven't even touched on other won- dertul things happening in the region, like the $445,000 Castlegar library already under construc- tion; the Trail Junior High auditorium which will be transformed in Selkirk College's Trail campus; and Nelson's Capito! Theatre renovations which will restore that heritage landmark to its original gran- deur.

It takes something like a Review issue to pull all these diverse elements together to give us a clear, coherent picture of the region.

Most of all, the Review issue shows us that the West Kootenay is an active, thriving region full of optimism and enthusiasm.

We hope some of that optimism shines through in these pages and a bit of that enthusiasm rubs off onyou. It has rubbed off on us.

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cconomie stability for the entire region in the long term. I

to mind is First Canadian P located in Trail. This company was just getting going when it ran into a roadblock. It had started building high quality vintage reproduction automobiles, but before going any further it wanted to make sure its cars met all the specifications of the Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standards Act. This had never been done before, and it would take time and money.

With the support of the minister of transport, and with the help of an interest-free federal government loan, First Canadian Specialty Automotive is now well on its way to

i the first in Canada capable of supplying domestic and foreign markets with certified vintage reproductions.

This initiative promises to create jobs in Kootenay West and set ds for the rep bile industry across Canada. It is a shining example of what can be

lished when local ity is bined with federal

new and technol has been loped for the’ benefit of Kootenay West and all of Canada. ‘Another fine example of the federal government's ongoing commitment to Kootenay West and to the development of new technology, is the recently announced project jointly undertaken by Celgar Pulp and the Vancouver engineering firm Sandwell Swan Wooster. These firms, with help from the federal Department of Energy Mines and are pi logy aimed at inereasing the pulp mill's energy efficiency, while at the same time reducing odorous and acidic air emissions. The federal Industry Energy Research and Devlopment program will contribute $1.5 milion to the total $3.8 million cost of the three-year project. This initiative will ‘have a lasting effect on Kootenay West; a cleaner environment, a ae bk

“more efficient pulp mill, and new inter

BOB BRISCO ... busy yeor

local expertise. the federal

moving into its third year,

spent oni backlog reforesta

management in Kootenay West. This year another $1.75 million will be spent in our local forest districts. And that figure will continue to increase in the next two years of the agreement.

Another aspect of the FRDA agreement, and one that is entirely federally funded, is the program to assist with research and-demonstration, and private lands forestry projects. Westar Timber has initiated one such project and I am optimistic that others will follow. The federal government is also ploring the p: ibility of more forestry research in Kootenay West, on a permanent basis. Late last year I was pleased to be able to announce that a study will be done to seek out the need for more research in the interior and to look at the possibility of locating a research facility in Nelson. This initiative further

Ottawa's i to improving the health and quality of our forests and recognizes the forestry expertise which currently exists in Kootenay West.

From forestry to tourism, the commitment continues. To help increase our tourism potential, the federal government is making & substantial contribution to

proving our air travel facilities,

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Editor's Note: Thomas d’Aquino,

international lawyer and an ese

I Aquino has va - ‘ .

r served as president of the ,

National Issues since 1961. Paste erent q

6136 i

believe that free ord adie 5 : trade is not in Canada’s interest, but’

one anada’s best but

and the United States has some “disturbing free trade debate that occurred in 19}1, D’Aquino, speaking to a group of 7 accountants and financial executives at the Hyatt Regency | described the 191

ones...

D'Aquino said that the House of Representatives approved the agreement 268-89 and the Senate by 53-7, but general op to the agr started to

“In the end . . . the agreement was defeated by a coalition of nationalists and protectionists,” he said. * ‘No truck or ‘trade with the Yankees,’ they cried, and the alarmed voters listened. _

“Never again in the 20th century did the issue dominate the national agenda until now,” he said.

But d'Aquino maintains that Canada is a country built on trade and there is a “critical link” betwéen trade and jobs.

D'Aquino said the tariffs raised against U.S. imports in the 1980s by Canada should serve as an example of protectionist dangers.

“The hard lessons of the '30s should have taught us a great deal, most importantly, that blind pi jonism is a

qT D'AQ . + Trail native

Canada would benefit the most, he said. A mere one per cent increase in the U.S.’s “government procurement market” said to be worth some $750 billion and closed to Canada, “would result in 76,000 new jobs in this country.”

D'Aquino also said that improved access to the overall U.S. market would make us address our manufacturing efficiency problems.

“We would see the benefits of this improved

dead-end street,” he said. “To give into it is. to accept bh it and, in time, moral

i iP impoverishment as well.” But d’Aquino insists that he and the members of the Business Council do not support an immediate move to unbridled free trade. Free trade, he said, must be achieved gradually, with minimum disruption to jobs and production. “But the uncompromising protectionists reject outright such a notion,” he said. “They do not believe in trade i! ‘ion. They ad instead on ic system based on barriers to foreign commerce.” According to d’Aquino, trade in goods between the two countries this year will exceed $165 billion. If services such as travel, shippi i nd

Pp in very te ways,” he said. “The prices of many of the things that we buy would fall. The incomes of Canadian households would rise. So would consumer spending and investment.

“In the wake of all of this, jobs would grow,” he said. “As a nation, we would have a better chance of remaining among the world’s leading economic powers.”

D'Aquino also dispells what many Canadians see as the end to Canadian sovereignty.

He said that many Western European countries already. have a free trade agreement, and he-points to New Zealand and Australia who only recently concluded a free trade agreement.

“They do not bra the js of i

a engineering were included, the amount would probably exceed $190 billion.

“This two-way relationship is much too big and much too important to be left to chance,” he said. “The time has come to encompass it within the rules and discipline of a bilateral agreement.”

D’Aquino said a free trade agreement would deal with measures such as subsidies and countervailing duties, dumping and anti-dumping duties and emergency safeguard actions. He said the dismantling of existing tariffs may simply be phased out in order to allow more time for workers and industries to adjust.

He added that discriminatory go

ion,” he said. “And there is not the slightest evidence that these agreements have eroded the political ind di or the ig: of the that have

signed them.”

On the other hand, d’Aquino agrees that care must be taken to ensure that Canada’s cultural industries — periodical and book publishing, records, film and video — be

“Foreign investment and competition in the cultural sector should be controlled’ to ensure that this important area of our national life is not sacrificed in the quest fora more competitive Canadian economy,” he said.

Finally, d'Aquino believes open discussions between

P practices would be addressed and so might the “complex area of trade in services.” Also, an effective “dispute resolution mechanism” for dealing with trade conflicts would be included.

“Recent experience has taught us that in the absence of a formal agreement, we in Canada are seriously vulnerable to American protectionist actions aimed directly at us,” he said.

D'Aquino points to the softwood lumber tariffs as one example of how American protectionism can threaten the province's economic foundations.

D’Aquino claims that quotas, surcharges, anti-dumping and countervailing duties in recent years have, “in one way or another, affected over $6 billion of Canadian exports to the United States.”

“Yes, we are enormously vulnerable to United States protectionism,” he said. “And an agreement would reduce that vulnerability.”

D'Aquino said the benefits of frée trade for Canada are enormous.

Since Canada is economically smaller than the U.S...

RCMP serve

15,000

The Castlegar detachment of the Royal Canadian Mount- ed Police is a contingent of 15 members, sup} by two municipal staff and one public servant.

‘The detachment serves an area population of approx- imately 15,000 on a 24-hour basis. Approximately ' 1,000 square miles are encompass- ed with boundaries stretch- ing from Glade to the north, China Creek to the south, Nancy Greene to the west and the power lines-at the top of the Salmo Hill to the east.

Apart from the day-to-day response to calls pertaining to the natural cause of police work, this detachment is in- volved in several crime pre- vention and community re- lated programs and each year conducts several programs aimed at targeting goals for the current year.

Among those for the | 1987-88 season are:

Assistance to victims of crime;

Reducing thefts from motor vehicles;

e Increased drug enforce- ment.

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Ci ‘on the free trade issue is vital to a complete understanding of the potential of a free trade agreement.

. “In the coming months, the debate will rage on,” he said. “We in the Business Council on National Issues welcome this debate. We see it as helpful in fostering a better understanding of how vital international trade is to Canada's political and economic well-being.

“The object of these negotiations is to explore ways in which the two countries can trade with one another more securely,” he said. “It is to find ways to avoid costly trade disputes before they arise and to solve them quickly when they do. It is to strengthen our industries, expand our job opportunities and improve our standard of living.

“It is to reach out and ensure that Canada remains a

ifi ic power in a i iti

world,” he said. .

“But no Canadian I know advocates an agreement with the Americans at any price,” said d'Aquino. “The Prime Minister (Brian Mulroney) has made his position clear on this. He has stated that if an agreement cannot be struck that is in Canada’s best interests, there will be no agreement.

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‘The decision not to spend the funds that had beon set aside for sivileulture forestry is the most important Issue. British today, according to long-time

right now,” says D'Arcy. D’Arey says CP Rail's proposed closure: of serious threat facing

CHRIS D'ARCY ;.. applauds Celgar

done on a new highway link to the Okanagan.” D'Arcy says Selkirk College should be commended for providing quality education while at the same time

, being strapped for funding from Victoria.

the ‘highway network,” He adds that he is

“The college is very important to the people of the West Kootenay and especially ,; Maintaining the quality of programs and the variety of programs in the face of fiscal restraint by government has been a fine

* D ‘

levices. . “All of us in Castlegar can rejoice at that apparent willingness.”

D'Arcy says he is encouraged by the lead modernization project at Cominco in Trail and the “modest recovery” of base metal commodity prices.

Another area D’Arcy is encouraged by is the high

pulp prices.

” — “Tt’s almost a windfall situation. We don't know how long that’s going to-tast. Right now we're very high into the scale of the market and overall it's a much better picture from what we had last year at this time,” D'Arcy says. He adds that he is happy to hear that the Ministry of Highways is going to complete the mn of Highway 22 which would bypass the Cominco smelter and the smelter: hill.

On another highways matter, D'Arcy says he will not let the provincial government forget that the Pass Creek Road needs major improvements.

“That road should be completely re-constructed from Raspberry to Crescent Valley.”

He adds that the NDP will remind Premier Bill Vander Zalm of the commitment he made to tie the West Kootenay into the road connectors Jeading to the Coquihalla Highway.

“Pm not exactly sure what routing he (Vander Zalm) meant when he said that but he did say that. e going to insist that at least some preliminary work be

sa) ‘Arcy.

He adds that “things could be a whole lot better” but Selkirk College has done a great deal with very little.

D'Arcy says the provincial government has a responsibility of providing more long term care beds for the Castlegar and District Hospital, adding that the issue is serious.

“I certainly hope to push the government and work with the Castlegar hospital in having an additional extended care wing built at the “hospital,” says D'Arcy.

He says that there is a long waiting list of “legitimate” Castlegar long term care patients who have already been judged eligible for long term care and are

government for increased

system, saying the

been doing a’ good job with the little funding that they have, but more money is needed.

“tn our schools we not only have more students in any given class but we have more students with learning problems and disabilities. I think it's very important that the government recognize the high degree of profession- alism that has been shown by teachers in British Columbia can only be stretched so far before the system

starts to break down,” says D'Arcy.

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