AG - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, May 27, 1998

TERRACE,

STANDARD

ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988

* PUBLISHER: ROD LINK
ADDRESS: 3210 Clinton Street Terrace, B.C. * V8G 5R2
TELEPHONE: (250) 638-7283 * FAX: (250) 638-8432
EMAIL: standard@kermode.net

It’s a start

AT LAST, a sign of sanity from those in Ottawa
whose job is to manage broad-based retirement
income programs. The first plan was to scrap the
Old Age Security and Guaranteed Income Sup-
plement programs in favour of a Seniors Benefit
aimed at providing more money to low income
retirees.

But that would have been done by penalizing
those with RRSPs or other pensions by gradually

phasing out the Seniors Benefit depending on the -

Jeve] of income from those other sources.

The original plan is to begin claw backs at just .

under $26,000 a year, eliminating the Seniors:
Benefit altogether at $50,351 a year.

There’s nothing wrong with this kind of general

‘theme. But experts warned that there would be

no incentive for people to take responsibility for
their retirement should they be so penalized by
this level of claw back. And, those who did ac-;
cumulate their own savings would also be taxed
—a double whammy. ne

Now the federal government is considering
softening the claw backs by raising the level of
net income at which this would occur.

And so it should. There’s no question that those
with low retirement incomes should be assisted’
as much as possible should they genuinely need
the help. But penalizing those who do take re--
sponsibility to provide for their own retirement
while giving a free ride to whose who could have
but chose not to is wrong. i

If we do accept the idea that the state has a re-:
sponsibility to those less fortunate we should
also recognize that there is an equal responsibili-
ty on a person to make their own retirement pro- .
visions given what’s possible under his or her
own individual circumstances.

ae
THEY TALK as smoothly as Frank Sinatra sang
but they’re deadly on unsuspecting people. And
now a federal parliamentary committee is exam-
ining amendments to legislation to more tightly
regulate — and punish — telemarketing scam
artists.

The technique is despicable. A persuasive
scammer tells a person they’ve won a prize or
cash and that the bounty will be delivered pro-
vided the person first sends in an amount of
money to cover taxes or some such nonsense.
The problem is that the prize never arrives and
the unsuspecting person is left holding the bag.
What’s worse is that the victim person is often.
persuaded to send in yet more money.

The proposed new legislation would require |
telemarketers to identify their company, the type’
of product they’re selling, the reason for the call,
the price of the good or product being sold and
prohibit them from demanding payment or from.
charging a fee before the product or prize is
delivered. ,

While there’s a certain amount of disbelief that.
people would actually send money to a voice on
the phone in such a fashion, moves to tighten
legislation are more than welcome. —

SS
PUBLISHER/EDITOR: Rod Link
ADVERTISING MANAGER: Brian Lindenbach
PRODUCTION MANAGER: Edouard Credgeur
NEWS Jeff Nagel * NEWS: Anita Dolman
© NEWS COMMUNITY: Alex Hamilton
OFFICE MANAGER: Sheila Sandover-Sly.
- ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS: ~~
Sam Collier, Janet Viveiros
TELEMARKETER: Patricia Schubrink
ADVERTISING ASSISTANT: Kelly Jean
TYPESETTING: Syivana Broman DARKROOM: Susan Credgeur
CIRCULATION MANAGER: Karen Brunette

SUBSCRIPTION RATES BY MAIL:
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Outside of Canada (6 months) $155.15
(ALL PRICES INCLUDE GST)

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D
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Special thanks to all our contributors and correspondents
for their time and talents

4

I'D SAY» WE.
ARE READY

AWEVE BOUGHT THE
EARTHQUAKE. EMERGENCY
KIT... AWINDOP RADIO...
FLASHUCHTS ... WE'VE
STORED WATER AND
CANNED FOOD...

FOR THE "BIGONE”.. ..

VICTORIA — Ever since
leaky-condo commissioner
David Barrett’s road show has
hit town, real estate ads offer-
ing condos for sale have un-
‘dergone a decided change:

There are fewer references to
gorgeous views, waterfront
proximity, excellent schools
nearby and that sort of thing.

“Self-adhesive membrane
three-part sill protection,’’ says
one advertisement. ‘I’m not
leaky, I don’t even drip,”’ says
another, The ad for our own
condo, on the market because
we need a larger place, says:
‘*Top-quality steel-and-
concrete construction, union-
built, no leaks here,’

The leaky-condo scandal was
the last thing the already slow
real estate market needed. Yet,
surprisingly, it hasn’t sent con-
do prices plummeting as badly
as some experts had feared. In-
dications are that the average
price of a condo in Victoria
has dropped by about $10,000.

One reason why this price
drop is not as dramatic as it is
in Vancouver is the fact that,
so far, only one leaking-conda
project has been in the news,
and that is a fairly posh devel-
opment at the Sidney water-
front.

But unlike most of his
counterparts on the Lower

ONLY EIGHT months ago
Terrace welcomed the first of
two mega-retail stores; already
they’ve wrung the vitality out
of the Co-op, a 53-year-old
member-owned store.

Granted, Canadian Tire and
Real Canadian Wholesale Club
have widened our choices,
helped to drop some prices,
and created a few short term
construction jobs during the
building phasc.

Nonetheless the Co-op’s
closure — besides narrowing
our shopping choices again —
shuffles the work force, and
juggight just givrolments.
Some Co-op workers may sell
their homes and leave Terrace,
briefly perking up real estate,
travel agent, and U-haul sales.

But the school district may
suffer further drops in enrol-
ment and consequently be even
shorter of budget funding for
next year. ;

Where’s the net gain for Ter-
race replacing 80 Co-op jobs
— half of them union jobs and
a number of them with 10 or

LAST TIME (T
CAME DOWN

| Like THIS MY
B Dap's HUSKIES«,

FROM THE CAPITAL

HUBERT BEYER

Mainland, developer Dennis
Paquette is fixing the problems
at his own expense, which
makes the owners happy.

What marked the Victoria
hearings of the Barrett inquiry
more than tales of downward-
spiralling prices has been the
political aspects that swirl
around the leaky-condo issue
itself and the choice of com-
missioner to address the prob-
lem.

Early on during the commis-
sion’s Victoria gig, the Inde-
pendent Contractors’ Associa-
tion sent a representative to tell
Barrett that the association had
absolutely no confidence in
him. The fact that he was
sporting a loud and colourful
Mickey Mouse tie wasn’t lost
on these present.

A THROUGH. BIFOCALS

CLAUDETTE SANDECKI

. more years seniority — worth
roughly the same number of
entry-level positions at a new
store?

Instead of a stable staff with
higher-end pay owning tax-
producing homes, we have a
group of new employees with
lower incomes, less able to af-
ford property in the tax range
Terrace needs to fund services,

Our last two rollercoaster
years as a singte pulp mill dic-
tated life for the region should
have taught us its risky to have

KEPT MOVING UP

UNTIL THEIR CHAINS [0

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Mind you, Barrett has been
inviting some justified criti-
cism. On numerous occasions,
he has offered his own
opinions on matters during the
hearings, when he’s supposed
to remain impartial until he
delivers his report, along with
recommendations

I suppose it’s pretty difficult,
if not impossible, for this for-
mer premicr, known for his
fiery oratory to stay on ithe
sidelines.

No less political have been
the efforts of both the New
Democratic Party and the Lib-
eral opposition to drag one an-
other into the eye of the leaky-
condo storm.

Both parties have been rum-
maging around Elections B.C.
reports, trying to pin down the
amount of campaign donations
the other side received from
traditional allies, The interim
results of this nasty little con-
test are as follows:

The Liberals, according to
NDP _ researchers,
more than $1 million in
campaign contributions from
construction firms and associa-
ted businesses. Linda Reid, the
Liberals’ municipal affairs crit-
ic, who appeared before the
Barrett commission, they say,
got $2,634 from those sources.

Not to be outdone, the Liber-

all our economic assets in one
big basket.

So what did we do? We en-
couraged megastores to come
in, squeeze out smaller,
locally-owned established
businesses, and pile more of
our economic future into fewer
baskets. What an improve-
ment!

We joined the Terrace Co-op
when we arrived here in the
summer of 1968 as member
#50692. Throughout the years
the Co-op has provided us with
building materials for our
home, houschold appliances
(that worked well for many
years not just until the war-
ranty expited), nursery plants,
union-made, Canadian clothing
that fit and Jasted, always with
a feeling the clerk we dealt
with knew who we were and
cared about our health.

So far, I’ve made one test
visit to each of the new stores.
Some day I nay make another,
but it won't be because I feel
valued as a customer. Or wel-
comed. As long as my legs are

received |

BY MORNING ALL HE
COULD FIND WAS
w 5 Tt HEIR NOSES POKING

South consumed by condos

als point out that the NDP
received hundreds of thou-
sands of dollars from unious to
fight the 1996 election.

They are both right, but who
the hell cares? Certainly not
the people stuck with leaky
condos, All they want is some
solution to their problem. What
that solution might be is

speculation until Barrett
delivers his report to the
government.

It appears increasingly un-
likely that Barrett will recom-
mend the victims be given cash
compensation. I’m sute the
man who holds the job Barrett
had 25 years ago made it clear
to him that there is no money
for a cash solution. That leaves
low or no-interest loans.

As for preventing the prob- .
lem from happening again, the ~

auswer is better training for
workers, better inspections and
a system that allows pur-
chasers to hold developers to
account.

Will Barrett recommend
unionization of more construc-
tion companies? I doubt it.
That would be too partisan,
even for Barrett and Premier
Glen Clark.

Beyer can be reached at:
Tel; (250) 920-9300; Fax:
(250) 356-9597; E-mail:
hubert@coolcom.com

She'll miss

capable of trekking the many
miles of displays, I'l probably
find what I’m looking for if I
want something from China or
Mexico without ever troubling
a clerk. ,

You can tell [ fell bitter, un-
like John Nunziata.

Terrace will especially miss
Co-op’s community commil-
ment — its annual RCMP-
conducted bicycle safety pro-
gram, its Seniors Christmas

, Shopping night complete with

musical entertainment and free
lunch, and its rotation of local
fund raisers accommodated in
its main lobby.

Co-op even distributed local-
ly grown farm and garden pro-
duce form alfalfa bales to
polatoes. Bet no megastore
will do that,

Terrace’s economic develop-
ment officer glimpses a silver
lining, the Co-op’s downtown
location with its ample parking
freed up for another distant de-
veloper to exploit. Co-op’s
“inside? location —_ helped
endear it to its members.

Good SLEEP!,,

r well’! HAVE A o's