y ; OM that gt CBR ae EL SPRING'S MORE enjoyable for Dave Penner when he's out on a jaunt with Eagle Bossk, The Polish Arabian Is de- scribed as being very gentle and an excellent animal for young people to approach and to be with. Mill closure wasn’t secret FOREST MINISTER Andrew Petter says he never made any secret a Victoria plywood compa- ny was slated to close when he awarded that company a north- western small business program timber sale. Responding to a story in the May 3 Terrace Standard, Petter maintained he was “very clear” licence A36554 was intended to ‘provide Victoria Plywood Co- operative Lid, with a ‘‘soft land- ing”. To support that contention he pointed to a story which ran in the June 2, 1994 of the Victoria Times-Colonist in which he ex- plained ‘‘it’s much more socially desirable to give them some time to effect an orderly shutdown.” Speaking recently, Petter said 200 people would have been ‘thrown out on the street’’ if VicPly hadn't got the wood. Giving the company the timber it needed to continue operations until March 31 of this year al- lowed time for the workers to prepare for the closure, including finding altemative jobs, Petter added. “Jt was socially responsible,”” he said, Reminded he did not. mention the closure in letters to Kitimat. council and Kitimat-Stikine “ regional district board, Petter ite said, “You're undoubtedly right, you have the letters in front of you,"? However, VicPly ccasing to op- erate was ‘‘always part of the original plan’? and if north- westemmers were not aware of that at the time, ‘‘it wasn’t through any failure on my part,’’ said Pet- ter, Petter’s comments came after the sale of northwest wood to a southern company was criticized, He noted bids from VicPly and Goyert Sawmilis in Kitimat were close in terms of value-added, All: things being equal, local employ- _ ~ Inent would vsually tilt the scales. in favour of the locally-based bid- der. But because of the number of people in an existing workforce who were about “to hit the wall’', ministry staff had recom- mended VicFly get the licence, said Petter. “Tt wasn’t a case of saying to heck with local employment,” Petter emphasized. “I don't pretend it was easy.’? The minister says he’s asked for a review of the small business Sales program to see if local employment opportunities can “| cary more weight than before when applications are judged, The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, May 17, 1995 - A3 News In Brief Gosnell re-elected JOSEPH GOSNELL is entering his fourth term as president of the Nisga’a Tribal Council following elections held at the council’s an- nual general meeting the end of April in Kincolith. He defeated challenger Herb Morven, chief councillor of New Aiyansh, by a large margin. Elections for secretary treasurer and chairman were more closely contested. Ed Wright was retumed as secretary treasurer after several ballots while four ballots were held before Kevin McKay was chosen for his third term as chairman. All tribal council executive positions are for one year. Vice presi- dents are chosen by each of the Nass Valley and urban locals of the tribal council. Lifetime achievement awards were presented to Rod Robinson who is the long standing executive director of the tribal council, Herbert Doolan and Tommy Denis. By-law enforcer hired A RETIRED RCMP officer has been hired by the Kitimat-Stikine regional district as its first-ever person devoted solely to enforcing by-laws. Don Oldham, a 27-year member of the RCMP whose last posting was at the Terrace detachment, begins work June 1, His primary job will be to enforce the nuisance and unsightly premises by-law covering Thorahill, said regional district adminis- trator Bob Marcellin. “There are other areas in which he will be used but the nuisance and unsightly premises by-law for Thornhill is the only one that ex- ists in the regional district,”’ said Marcellin. The enforcement job has previously fallen under the responsibilities of other regional district employees, including recently-retired Thomhill fire chief Art Hoving. Law suit legislation coming A STANDARD fixture of the American legal system is coming to British Columbia thanks to legislation introduced by the provincial government last week, The legislation will allow British Columbians to file class action civil suits, whereby large groups of people can be represented. As an examples the new law will allow women injured by silicone gel implants to sue en masse. Class actions have been used in other places in Iegal actions involving consumer goods, civil rights, securities, competition laws and the environment, A government press release said the legislation doesn’t create new legal rights but instead sets out a series of steps that must be fol- lowed by those who wish to conduct a civil action as a class action. Be alert for wildlife SPRING IS a peak season for animals crossing highways and that means motorists should keep their eyes peeled, The highways ministry does have signs posted at known animal crossing spots and asks motorists to watch out for them. it says there were more than 5,000 collisions involving vehicles and wildlife resulting in $11 million in ICBC claims on B.C, high- ways last year. The ministry uses wildlife deflectors along some sections of high- ways. These re-direct approaching headlights, in the expectation of creating an optical fence that discourages animals from crossing into the path of traffic. Dee te. "Nearly half of all collisions involving wildlife take. pla Kootenays.’ | soe Te ties F in the . o 4036 Motz Road Os Tuesday, Wednesday, — Thursday & Sunday — §:00t0 9:00pm Friday & Saturday - 5:00 to 10:00 pm | (Junction of Highways 16&37) Terrace, B.C. V8C 4A6 ae ~ Reservations recommended phone 638-2017 ACCESS THE INTERNET _ FROMYOUR HOME> Cruise the Internet via the Joo World Wide Web, _ E-Mail yours kids in school, _ and much, much more. Computer Hardware and 5. . Software Support SETUP AND ORIENTATION AVAILABLE WHEN ~YQU JOIN SKEENA NET FOR INFORMATION CALL FTP, Gopher _also Available -