A4 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, February 16, 1994 ———eeE—————EE——————— hl Se en ilies ne Nin ele Miia aati, nen TERRACE? STANDARD. ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988 ADDRESS: 4647 Lazelle Ave., Terrace, B.C. * V8G 188 TELEPHONE: (604) 638-7283 * FAX: (604) 638-8432 MODEM: 638-7247 All so typical IT’S TAKEN more than 200 years but Canada . has finally come up with its own version of the Boston Tea Party. And just as it was: way back then, the revolt of the Quebec shopkeepers had everything to do with taxes. The level of tobacco taxation was simply too much, said those storekeepers. They were losing revenue to smugglers who cross the border be- tween the United States and Canada with amaz- ing ease. Their plea to the Quebec government and then to the federal government resulted in last week’s announcement of tax cuts. What’s fascinating here is that the federal government rolled over and expired in the face of massive criminal activity. One or two criminals can be handled casily. But multitudes of bad guys result in a government turning tail and running in the opposite direction. Of equal frustration is the realization that those who did not take part in smuggling or enjoy its outcome will pay for the loss in government revenue, Non-smokers will now more than ever subsidize the lifestyle and medical needs of those who partake of the dreaded weed. And if all the above is not bad enough, age old suggestions that what Quebec wants, Quebec gets have been revived again. That’s because the provincial Liberal government faces an election this year against a resurgent Parti Quebecois. The federal Liberals will do everything in’ their power to help out their provincial counterparts. In many ways this is all so typically Canadian. Large corporations, in this case tobacco monoliths, seem to get their way. Natives stand accused of breaking the law without facing con- sequences. Quebec is seen.as.twisting the arm of the:federal government. If the outcome -wasn’t so | bad, the situation might even be funny. Any port... BEFORE SKEENA voters made MLA Dave Parker redundant, he came up with another use of the word. Considering one major event of the last few weeks, he may not have been terribly off the mark. That major event was the strike of long- shoremen, closing down all of B.C.’s ports. All, that is, with the exception of Kitimat. This is be- cause Kitimat’s industries run their own shipping facilities and the workers aren’t represented by the International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union. Mr. Parker’s interpretation of the word redundant was the foundation for his abortive plan to expand the port at Kitimat. Redundant, he explained, means there is more than one system in place in case the first one failed. A Kitimat port could serve as a back up should anything happen in Prince Rupert. Of course, there’s no guarantee that workers at an expanded Kitimat port would not have been represented by the longshoremen’s union. Yet it does go to show you that some ideas do have some validity even after they are discarded. Cecna PUBLISHER/EDITOR: Rod Link ccna ADVERTISING MANAGER: Mike L. Hamm pats VER FEO PRODUCTION MANAGER; Edovard Credgeur eden eONTASLLED it) CANADA ? ve THIS 15 PRESTON. WANYTHING IN MIND, CAN RANT AND » RAVE ABOUT 10- DY. 4 ite G4 y yy “Cutting the land use pie VICTORIA — If in the couse of the same week I’m called a Tight-wing Neanderthal and a bleeding heart left-winger, I can be rea- sonably sure that I’m doing a half-decent job as a columnist. Something along those lines ls about to happen to Stephen Owen, chief of the Commis- sion on Resources and En- vironment. Owen has just released his proposed land use plan for Vancouver island, and initial reaction follows the above-mentioned formula, The forest industry believes Owen’s proposal will take too big a cut out of their turf, forest workers are understand- ably upset at the prospective loss of up to 370 jabs, and the cnvironmenialists are saying _ fhe proposed plan doesn’t go far enough to protect ecologi- cally sensitive areas. Briefly, the proposed land use plan would create 23 new protected areas, bringing to 13 per cent of Vancouver Island the total area that is protected from industrial and commer- cial use. IF privately-owned forest land is taken out of the equalion, the tolal area under protection is 16 per cent. The land use plan also calls for a network of ‘Regionally Significant Lands,” which contain areas of ‘‘major "FROM THE CAPITAL” HUBERT BEYER sensitivity and importance.” On that land, logging and min- ing would be permitted, pra- vided it doesn’t affect any ecological, recreational and cultural values. The round table of numerous interest groups who have been trying for the past 12 months to teach a consensus on how Vancouver Island’s land base is to be used by the various Stakeholders could take the process only so far. It was left up to Owen and his staff to produce the finai proposal. Implementation of the plan is now up to the provincial government, and it will take some polilical will, because of the effect it will have on resource-based communities, particularly on northem Van- couver Island, | Owen estimates that imple- meniation of his proposal will take about six per cent out of Vancouver Island’s total an- nual timber harvest which could cost about 570 direct forestry jobs, at least in the short run. A further 330 in- direct jobs will also be on the line. The worst-case scenario, according to Owen, would be the loss of 1,500 to 2,100 person-years of employment province-wide. To offset the ne¢gative eco- nomic impact, Owen recom- mends that the government ac- company the implementation of his proposed land use plan with an economic transition strategy. That strategy, he says, should promote labor-intensive timber - harvesting, silviculture and re- | habililation practices as well as- retraining of displaced workers, local economic diver- Sificalion, and pension- bridging programs for older workers. What are chances the NDP government will implement the land use plan? Fairly good, I Suspect, Premier Harceurt has just returned from a damage- control mission in Europe. He is painfully aware that British Columbia is under siege by European environmental groups threatcning a boycott of B.C, forest products. He needs ammunition to counter that threat. And while he has high hopes that the proposed new Forest Practices Code, expecied to be- come legislation this spring, will take some of the heat off, the Owen plan may also come in handy to show the world that things are changing in British Columbia. There will be no shortage of criticism of the land use plan. Communities such as Port McNeill, Port Hardy and Port Alberni have most to lose, and they expect their concerns to be addressed. Broadsides from the environmental community, some of whose members have already said the plan docs nothing to protect biodiversity, ring less convincing. -‘Owen’s plan must be consid-. * ered in the context of how British Columbia has dealt with land use to date. It’s been nothing short of constant war- fare. This proposal offers a way out of the eternal bicker- ing, Owen may be somewhat dis- couraged by initial reaction to his proposed Vancouver Island land use plan, but I would refer him to the opening remarks of this column. If everybody is mad at you, you’re probably on the right track, Build a hefty vocabulary FAR FROM being a mere pastime, crossword puzzles are educational, Good thing. Recenily I've begun solving a daily crossword, Completing it takes me — on average — several hours ... if it isn’t full of movie titles, or names of actors and sports Figures. Even so, 1 have to use every reference book I own. A dic- tionary is helpful for general information as well as its list- Ing of geographical and biographical ‘namics; a thesaurus for allernative words. A comprehensive atlas would be fine. | make do with Volume 24 of Encyclopedia Britannica, A recent ‘CBC Moring- side” report clalms crosswords develop vocabulary. Perhaps. But the learming curve is grad- val; the average puzzle presents few new words. The trick is to remember them. Here’s where efficiency bor- ders on laziness. [ keep track of vocabulary in a nolebook. THROUGH BIFOCALS. CLAUDETTE SANDECKI Certain spellings recur, I’ve noticed; why look up the same word twice? Experts advise using ftw words in ordinary conversation to etch them into memory. However, many crossword terms defy normal discourse. They stand out In casual chil chat like a Kenworth ina park- ing lot of Beetles. Picture my husband’s raised eyebrows If, in answer to his ‘What's for dinner?’’ I said t we're having olla. That’s all the time I had to cook because the vacuum cleaner byoke fore- ing me to sweep crumbs with a besom. It's wooden handic lodged a sliver in my finger. I removed the sliver using a sharp needle from my ctui. He could be forgiven if he became so unhinged by my un- fathomabie jargon that — if he were a polfer — he snatched up his cleek, thumped me soundly with it, and knocked me out cold on the orlop. Pro- vided this scene took place aboard ship, Solving crosswords is great exercise for the brain. Besides dredging for obscure bils of in- formation squirrelled away through years cf reading, TV watching, and studying, you have to consider every possible meaning of definition lo latch on to the correct angle. One puzzle had a five-lciter space for ‘trunk'’, Like a slot machine, my mind rolled up suilease, valise, portmanteav hoping to trigger the ap- propriate term. In the end, the solution was torso. Another definition that threw me was ‘deck suit’’. Since I have a sailor son-in-law, I nar- rowed my search to what a sailor might wear on deck Conclusion? Blues, as opposed to ceremonial whites. Turned out ‘‘deck’’ referred - to playing cards. The solution was Clubs. New words I do remember tend io be notable for them- selves. Eight years or so ago I met the word “‘orls’’, table scraps. The kids loved the word. It is so apt, so onomatopoatic. We couldn't feed the dog without topping his handout with a giggle of orts. Even today, whenever we want to lighten the mood, we manoeuvre orts into the con- versation. That's hard to do, The only - thing harder is not peeking at the solution. 4 MR-MARTEN YOU ARE, | MR. DRIVING DOGS BACK Yoo -Hoa!' AND FORTH WITH THE DIRECTOR SHOUTING Mo'FASTAH, Mo’ SLowAH WHAT A DRAG! NEWS COMMUNITY: Jeff Nagel * NEWS SPORTS: Malcolm Baxter OFFICE MANAGER: Rose Fisher COMPOSING: Pam Odell * TYPESETTER: Ariane Viasblom DARKROOM: Susan Credgeur ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS: Sam Collier, Janet Viveiros CIRCULATION SUPERVISOR: Charlene Matthews 7 ST WAS JUST me ANOTHER KUNG -FU Bee Movi€ IN THE | aes GREAT WHITE NORTH. Serving the Terrace area. Published on Wednesday of each week by Carlboo Press (1969) Ld. at 4647 Lavelle Awe., Tertace, British Cotumbia. Storles, photographs, Hustmations, designs and fypestyiss in the Tertece Standard are the property af the copyright holdeis, including Cariboo Press (#060) Lid, i's Mustmation repro sarvices and advertising agendes. Peproauction in wink ih hous written permission, lt specifically a second con mal pending te Posi foe Depron To erent of poslage cash Special thanks to all our contributors and correspondents for thelr time and talents