Ad Terrace Review —W ednesday, November 14. 1990

Regional District of
Kitimat-Stikine, Area C

One director is to be elected to the regional district board from three
candidates. The other elected positions on the board have been filled by
acclamation. Area C is the rural area surrounding Terrace, Thornhill and Kitimat.
It includes Copperside Estates, Kleanza, Gossan Creek, Terrace North, Kalum
Lake Drive and Dutch Valley, Rosswood, Kitsumkalum, New Remo, Old Remo,
Jackpine Flats, Lakelse Lake, Kitamaat Village, Hartley Bay and Klemtu. The
Terrace Review asked the three candidates for the office the following:

What do you see in the future for Thornhill? _

BILL HAYES: The question
about the future of Thornhill {s, as
it was six years ago, status quo on
amalgamation with Terrace. Even-
tually, once the advantages to both
Terrace and Thornhill outweigh the
disadvantages, I believe they will
be joined. Whether the time is now
has not been determined; local
officials have some number
crunching to do.

GORDON ROBINSON: It
appears that the population of.
Thornhill and the whole surround-
ing area will continue its high
growth as has happened during the
past 50 years. I lived in Kitamaat
Village during the 1940’s and used
to hear of a little place on the
Skeena River called "Terrace". It
was reported that there were 400
people living there. Now only 50
years later there are approximately
16,000 people in the Terrace area.

This rate of growth in population

_ How do.you see changes in, Thornhill, Affecting Area C2.

BILL HAYES: The parts of Area
°C’ that might be effected in
Thornhill’s amalgamation with
Terrace are Jack Pine Flats and
Copperside. My gut reaction is that
these areas are too distant and stil!
have too sparse a population to
accrue advantages in having them
as part of amalgamation. Again, as

seems inevitable, since the federal
government is raising the immigra-
tion level to 250,000 people per
year and some of those people are
bound to come to the Thornhill-
Terrace area,

With a growth of population in
that magnitude, Thornhill will need
to construct its own hospital, high
school, sewer system and police
headquarters.

All the foregoing will be duplica-
tion of expensive public facilities
already existing just across the
river in Terrace. The residents in
Thornhill are presently supporting
all the businesses in Terrace with
their customer dollars, but they are
not benefiting from the expenditure
of those dollars. It appears only
logical that the two communities
should amalgamate, if only to
avoid duplication of very expen-
sive public facilities.

SANDY SANDHALS: I feel

in the first question, we have to
see the figures.

GORDON ROBINSON: Growth
in Thornhill will entail the absorp-
tion of part of Area ’C’. Old Remo
may become part of Thornhill.

SANDY SANDHALS: I don’t
really see changes in Thomhill
having any effect on the other

strongly that if incorporation goes
to a vote that it will be defeated.
And amalgamation, I think, will be
defeated too. There are a few
people in Thornhill who are having
trouble with their sewer systems
would probably vote for it, but for
most the cost is so high that
people can’t afford it.’ -

If (regional district Area E direc-

tor) Les Watmough can get more -

money out of the government,
which he’s working towards, the-
cost might come down to where it
is affordable. If this happens, then
I can see where they might con-
sider organizing an area of their
own.

On amalgamation with Terrace,

simply because the tax base there -

is much higher, Thornhill residents
might be concerned that their own
taxes would go up. —

parts of Area ’C’ because they are
outside of those boundaries by
quite a distance. ] know Kitimat
goes for miles and miles, half way
to Lakelse, but I think there should
be a limit to that sort of expansion.
I don’t think Area ’C’ would
diminish that to any great degree.

How do you see the changing role of the regional district board?

BILL HAYES: I see two impor-
tant future role changes for the
Regional District Board. Land use,
both aboriginal Jand claims and
forest utilization, are priorities that
will need regional togetherness —-
developing a shared vision and
common values. A unified vision
and values can only come from
open discussion by the various
communities and regions in round
table discussions. The Regional
Board is one organization whose
role can help fulfil this increasing
need, :

Also, I believe there will be a
decentralization of responsibility
for fland planning and use into the
regions from the provincial

government. ‘he regional board is

the natural recipient of these obli-

gations. The need to decentralize
and diversify are a commonality
that business, land use managers,
communities and government
pretty well agree on; something we
all have in common. How it should
be done and to what degree has
not been determined. We have,
though, mentally severed with the
over-centralized, over-bureaucrat-
ized organizational structures of
the past.

GORDON ROBINSON: The
significant change in the role of
the regional district board, would
be to divorce itself from its in-
volvement with business ventures

such as the Shames Mountain Ski
Hill and the MK Bay Marina. In
my view, no level of government

has any business in private enter-
prise.

SANDY SANDHALS: If the
present government stays in over
the next few years the regional
district role will remain similar to
what it is now. | think the people
on the regional board from the
various areas are very knowledge-
able about what goes on in the
area, and I feel those are the
people who should have all the
information and be making the
decisions; rather than some bureau-
crat in Victoria who doesn’t know
the first thing about this atea.

Do you have any other comments on the regional board or Area C?

BILL HAYES: Area 'C’ is made
up of all the area and small com-
munities outside of the population

‘centres of Kitimat, Terrace and
‘Thornhill. It is the land base which
is logged to support town mills,
the rivers we fish, the areas we
hunt and hike. It is an area that is.

presently destabilized and is. suffer--
Ing from: ongoing degradation Yet,

. land will be. r endo determinant of

the future of Kitimat, Terrace,
Thornhill and the surrounding
smaller communities.

It is my belief that aboriginal and
rural values must take precedence
over industrial or factory values in
the foreseeable future. By abori-
ginal values I mean that we utilize

the wild in such a way that the -
wilderness is not degraded but is,
ein fact, enhanced. By rural values
e Imean we must cultivate the soils 8”
and reap a harvest of trees and —

other products while at the same
time enhancing the soils. This
scenario, though presently idea-
listic, is possible; it is a vision that
I wish to share with others and

hope that in developing those.

values, we can build a sustainable
future.

GORDON ROBINSON: The
regional district. should work
towards altracting industry to
smaller communities in Area ’C’..
_ — Continued on page A14

Terrace
city |
council —

There are eight candidates running for six
aldermanic positions..on Terrace city council. The
Terrace Review asked the candidates the following:

How do you view council policy or
philosophy over past two years?

BOB COOPER: Over the past
two years council has moved much
closer to the philosophy that I
believe in. The objective of this
philosophy is to pool all our
resources to make Terrace a thriv-
ing regional centre, and the stra-

. tegy is to involve as many people

as we can to identify issues and
come up with solutions. We kept
this objective in mind when hiring
staff and appointing advisory com-

missions from the community. We

believe that communication is a
vital part of this philosophy and so
we have done everything we can
to be open to the news media in
order to keep the people informed.
I think the strategy is working.
RUTH HALLOCK: By and large
I feel Council has made some very
positive moves, proving itself to be
fiscally responsible while at the
same time keeping taxes at a
reasonable level. Maintenance and

‘ .mproyement of services have

stayed on a par with many other
B.C, communities of like-size. The
success or failure of government
"policy" really boils down to a
matter of individual perception.

- DAVE HULL: The. past two

years have seen city council shift

‘from a reactive council to a some-

what pro-active council. The city

_ council of the past two years has

been a very successful blend of
individuals coming together for a
common purpose.

RICK KING: There seems to be
one-dimensional thinking in many
areas and not a broad enough
approach to meet the needs and
concerns of all interests equally; be
it big business, small business or
the residents of the community.

DARRYL LAURENT: Council

policy over the past two years has
peen one of aggressive pro-active
pursuit of the economic growth
and development of Terrace. The
concept that Terrace will be the

economic and service centre of the -
region will demand that this

aggressive approach continues, and
that city council continues to
explore new and innovative ways
to attract new and diverse commier-
cial enterprise.

DANNY SHERIDAN: About

‘three years ago council decided to

take a very strong approach in the
field of economic development,
within the ultimate goal of increas-
ing the tax base to pay for much-
needed services but also to attempt
to hold the line on tax increases. I
believe that we have been success-
ful in part, but we're only 25
percent of the way there.

MO TAKHAR: City council is
working together and I would like

to see them continue doing things

the way they are. I believe we
should continue our efforts in
economic development in order to
attract new businesses to Terrace
and continue to support community
projects such as the CT scanner for
Mills Memorial Hospital.

ADRIAN VAN de
MOSSELAER: City council has
largely spent the last two years
waiting to see what the future may
bring. Many of the decisions that I
have witnessed have been to either
not deal with the issue or just
leave things the way they are. City
council has not been reacting to
issues, and in some cases they may
have avoided doing the wrong
thing, but in many other situations,
this has also stopped them from
doing the right thing.

How would you like to see that policy or

philosophy change?

BOB COOPER: So far we have
achieved most of our objectives.
These are reflected in the advisory
commissions; for example Tourism
and Economic Development,
Seniors, Forestry, Housing, Parks
and Recreation, Arts Council,
Library Board and so on. And it is
time to consider an Advisory Com-
mittee on Environmental issues as
well. As the future opens up to us,
many more objectives will emerge
and appropriate action must be
taken to meet those challenges.

RUTH HALLOCK: You can’t
change policy every time a prob-

_ lem arises or some special interest:
_. group pours on the pressure. I’d
like to see speedier decision mak-

ing, but ofly a fool ‘would run
through an obstacle course with his
eyes and. ears closed,

DAVE HULL: I personally
would like to see council process
matters quicker and more expedi-
ently; although the last two years
has seen marked improvement in
this area I believe there is still
room for improvement.

RICK KING: We should be
encouraging a wider base of
secondary industry. For example,
value-added cedar products, a
regional recycled products cotlec-
tion depot, or other industry-related
business to create real jobs that

‘can help build a stronger com-

munity.

There shouldn’t be a pass-the-
buck attitude towards difficult
issues where public safety is con-

‘cerned, If there is something not:
. right, let's. fix it,

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