A4 - Tha Terrace Standard, Wednesday, October 6, 1993

“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

ésing | oft eae pee

‘THERE WAS a time in this fair land when the
railway did not run.’’ With thanks to Gordon .

Lightfoot, that’s the refrain being sung by federal
election candidates about the future of VIA
Rail’s passenger train up here.

The Skeena is one of those marvelous Cana-
dian things. Local ridership is pitifully low yet
the hint of its demise pulls on the historical heart
strings of those who connect the iron horse with
Canada’s past.

The big problem with The Skeena is that it
does not make any money. It doesn’t make any
money because nobody rides it. And nobody
tides it because its brutal schedule from Jasper

through to Prince George through to Prince

Rupert and back again doesn’t fit the needs of

tourists or local riders. .
_ Tourists, for instance, more often than not find

themselves overnighting in Jasper to make con-
nections between The Skeena and the cross
country train. That may be fine for some, but not
for others. Locals would probably support a train
that had decent hours and ran more days than the
three times a week The Skeena now chugs up
and down the tracks.

The one horrendous problem facing The
Skeena is the equipment it uses. It’s nice but ex-
pensive — too expensive for the number of pas-
sengers.the train carries.

If there is to be a future for The Skeenait might
be with a train of fewer cars and better hours.
That and some decent marketing ,might be
enough. to justify a solid trial period to to see if the
train should be saved. |

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Overlap latest

NO DOUBT a lot of people are quietly giggling

over the latest attempt to resolve the Nisga’a and
Gitanyow land claims overlap. In particular the
appearance of a white guy, Chuck Connaghan of
the B.C. Treaty Commission, would be enough
for eyebrows to rise. The impression is that na~-
tive groups, who say they can govern them-
selves, need the help of somebody else to solve a
problem.

But that would be wrong. To be sure, this latest
effort goes against a treaty signed by northwest

-fiative groups some years ago and signals an end
to an earlier attempt at mediation by other north-
west native groups.

Yet the .bringing in of Mr. Connaghan and
others ‘signifies how serious the Gitanyow and
the Nisga’a are about a resolution. Both groups
know the federal and provincial governments
won’t deal on their respective claims unless the
overlap issue is settled. :

Outside help is a sign that everybody wants the
impasse to end soon. And that’s good news. |

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: «ening the Tenia arta bist och ly Otis Pe (15 Led, ot 4647
~~ Lazalle Ave,, Terrace, Bilish Columbia,

Slosles, photographs, Hustialions, designs and typeatyles In the Terrace Slandid ara the proparty of the
; con holders, Including Cariboo Prass (1959) Ad, ie ihuatration. iopeo sarvicts and advertising

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» sped thahke to. all our contributors and correspondents
for their time and talents :

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Amazing Grace enters fray

GRACE McCARTHY, _ the
grande dame of the Social Credit
Party is back. She has decided to
store her golf clubs and seek the
Socred leadership for the third
time,

In the time-honoured tradition
of pack journalism, most of my
press gallery colleagues are pro-
nouncing her dead in the water
before she even gets her feet wet.
Yes, they say, she can and proba-
bly will get the leadership this
time around, but no, she won't
pet.the province.

, Jshe’s,, too, ald, they, say.
"gives a-damn about age? 2 ‘What
about experience? She’s yester-
day’s politician, they say.

Tell that to Jean Chretien who’s
been knocking the wheels of Kim
Campbell’s campaign wagon.

’ I have followed McCarthy’s

political career for 25 ycars, ever
since she served as minister
without portfolio in the govern-
ment of W.A.C. Benneti, who
teferred to her as a member of his
‘kitchen cabinet,’”

To this day, I consider her the
most formidable politician in
British Columbia. She ‘has both
style and substance, a rare. com-
bination in today’s politicians.

The NDP is hoping fervently

Who .,,.;

FROM THE CAPITAL
uw TUBERT BEYER:

that she will get the leadership,
not because she wouldn’t be a
. dangerous adversary, but because
she would be precisely that A
weak and ineffective new leader
of the Social Credit Party would
be unable to win back the former
supporters that have defected to
the Liberals, leaving the NDP ina

two-way fight in the next elec-
tion.

McCarthy, on the other hand,.
stands a good chance of wooing
former Socreds back into the fold,
strengthening the party and,
thereby, effectively splitting the
free enterprise vote. That’s why

the NDP wants McCarthy ‘to
succeed,

Twice before, McCarthy would
have been the party’s best choice.
In 1986, Bill Vander Zalm daz-
zied convention delegates at
Whistler into believing that he
was no longer the lose pop gun
on the political deck he had been
before. McCarthy came in third.

On the day after the vote, I told
my friend and publisher Duane

Crandall, who was later to be-
come a Social Credit MLA, that
Vander Zalm would single-

to handedly, destroy:.: the ,., Sagial

Credit Party. He wouldn’t believe
me, Neither would 4 lot of
readers. Well, he did,

In 1991, after Vander Zalm was
forced to resign, Social Credit
delegates met in Vancouver to
elect a new leader.

McCarthy lost narrowly to Rita
Johnston, who had the advantage
of serving as interim premier.

McCarthy wouldn’t have been
able to win the election, but she
almost certainly would have been
able to prevent the enormity of
the defeat and the unexpected
resurgence of the Liberal Party.

If McCarthy had led the
Socreds into the 1991 election

campaign, the party would have
emerged as the official opposition .
rather than a six-seat rump, or
seven if you count Peter Dueck .
who decided soon after the elec-
tion to sit as an independent.

McCarthy’s entry into the
leadership race doesn’t bode well
for Graham Bruce, the only other
contestant, so far.

Bruce has been on the: road for -
the past few months, drumming
up support for his bid.

And as long as Bruce was the
only declared candidate, any sup-
port for the Socreds. went his
way. I’m afraid that ‘Will’, no:

longer be the, case. McCarthy, I.

expect, will plow him under. |

Other candidates will probably
join the race, now that McCarthy ~
has thrown her hat in the ring. At
the time of writing, Claude Rich-
mond had announced that he will
hold a press conference. By the
time you read this, he'll probably
be a candidate.

A hotly contested leadership a

race catnot help but rekindle in-

jerest in the Social Credit Party, © >.
but I have a feeling that any other:
choice but McCarthy will not...

translate into success at the polls, :
Sorry Graham. Sorry Claude..

This game draws objection

WHEREIN LIES bingo’s charm?

Bingo combines the frivolity of
verifying income tax figures with
the excitement of acting as
Thornhill scrutincer in a school

board. by-clection amid the -

healthful aimosphere of rescuing
a singed cat from a burning
bungalow without benefit of
safety gear.

You couldn’t pay me to hunker

for three hours on a stacking chair “|
-eluteching aloft a dauber poised

-like a gaff over a sea of bingo
cards while. squinting through

| cigarette smoke thicker than air-
- port ground fog on a late October
|. morning.
-.” Yet bingo charms so many that

an additional tate game has been
added on the fourth Wednesday

day,
The competition to sponsor

| bingo comes from the cutting

of every month, Welfare Wednes- .

Now MARTEN THIS SUMMER
PLACE HAS To KEEP US.
IN TOUCH WITH MATURE |

‘THROUGH BIFOCALS
CLAUDETTE SANDECKI

back of GO BC grants which has
left all sports groups and charities
scrambling for revenue. And no
enterprising business person will

pand. It’s just unfortunate that so
many . of those _ potential

turn down an opportunity to ex-—

TO FEEL THE WINE, SMELL.
THE FLOWERS HEAR THE
BIRDS, WATCH THE MOOSE.»
BE AT ONE WITH THE BUSH | ft

customers salivating at the bingo
hall’s door seem to be on welfare.
For though I support welfare for
those in true need, I still resent
social assistance - intended to
provide food, shelter, and other
essentials - being lost on gam-
bling. It’s especially galling - if
- that Social Services gives

extra food money even if a Family’

runs short because too much was
spent on bingo.

Bingo isn’t cheap. At $20 a
game, il’s equivalent io the best

entertainment the REM. Lee
theatre imports.

Many of.us would mutter if
welfare recipients attended the
theatre regularly, Yet we expect
bingo to“be a welfare pastime,
like SOs | on-‘TY or macaroni on
the supper table. Why? Is it be-
cause 25 per cent of all bingo dol-
lars go to a local sponsoring
charilye:§ service club or sports

Besr L,
CooLD I pol!

group?
Besides the possibility families
are short on food because they’re

playing bingo, there's the prob-- ae ue
lem of children. under 14 +:
prohibited by law from entering ~

the bingo hall - left to fend for
themselves while parents gamble: .
It’s not unusual, !’'m told, to.se¢

young children waiting in cold —
cars, or wandering the neighbour:

ing streets. Bven on winter nights. -

when late bingo‘ends about mid- .
night. One out-of-town couple |.

_ hid their young son, like a...

spaniel, at their feet. under the .

table. Safe, comfortable accom: .

modation should be available for wt
bingo patrons’ children. :. oe

Eagerness to trade welfare doi- _
lars for.a chance to win a. $1000."
» bute:

jackpot is underslandable ... :
inappropriate. It _shrivels amy
generosity ae