Ad - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, November 26, 2003 STANDARD ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988 PUBLISHER: ROD LINK ADDRESS: 3210 Clinton Street Terrace, 8.C. « V8G 5R2 TELEPHONE: (250) 638-7283 « FAX: (250) 638-8432 WEB: www.terracestandard.com EMAIL: newsroom@terracestandard.com Made in Terrace EVERYBODY LIKES to kick Dan Veniez around. And with good reason. He gives as good as he gets. But here’s one interesting thing he did and which could be repeated in Terrace — he struck local labour deals with unionized workers at his New Skeena Forest Products. Sure it was bloody, took a long time and the thetoric level went off the meter on more than one occasion but the result is a series of agreements which will lower the operating costs of New Skeena if — or when — the company ever opens. Simply put, union members traded wages for the expectation of profit sharing should the company ever run in the black. Now consider Skeena Sawmills here, which is owned by West Fraser. The mill was chugging right along until this spring when the company’s Eurocan pulp mill in Kitimat found itself behind picket lines when its unionized workers went on strike. With no place to send its chips, Skeena Sawmills closed in short order. That strike is now over and the pulp workers are back on the job. But Skeena Sawmills remains closed and Terrace has been hammered hard while West Fraser works its way through a built-up chip supply from other places. West Fraser now says it wants to re-open Skeena Sawmills early in the new year provided the weather and the IWA co-operate. There’s nothing much anybody can do about the weather but there is something that can be done with the IWA. Here’s how. Skeena Sawmills’ IWA workers are part of a large union local which stretches down the coast and takes in a large part of Vancouver Island. It bargains’ with ‘more:,than.}- 60 companies, including West Fraser, gathered. together in a labour relations arm called Forest Industrial Relations (FIR). For many months FIR and the IWA have been embroiled in a nasty series of negotiations. FIR wants more flexibility #- code for lower operating costs. The [WA says it also has ways to lower costs, but at its terms. As of late last week, picket lines went up and a long shutdown looms. IWA workers overall gave their union a healthy strike mandate. Everywhere, that is, except for Terrace. Skeena Sawmills millworkers voted against a strike. Although local IWA loggers did vote to strike and in sufficient numbers to override the millworkers, there very well might be an appetite here for West Fraser and its workers to consider a separate agreement away from FIR and the larger IWA local. There is safety and strength in numbers both from a company and union perspective. But the possibility of a local deal, particularly in this current economic climate, should not be overlooked. A “Made in Terrace” solution? Why not. . PUBLISHER/EDITOR: Rod Link ADVERTISING MANAGER: Brian Lindenbach PRODUCTION MANAGER: Edouard Credgeur NEWS: Jcff Nagel NEWS/SPORTS Sa. 2h A. Zimmerman roe NEWS/COMMUNITY: Jennifer Lang 2002 WINNER FRONT OFFICE: Darlene Keeping & Carol McKay cone. eee CIRCULATION SUPERVISOR: Tammy Donovan ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS: Bert Husband & Debbie Simons COMPOSING: Susan Credgeur AD ASSISTANT: Sandra Stefanik COMPETITION SUBSCRIPTION RATES BY MAIL: $57.94 (+$4.06 GST)=62.00 per year; Seniors $50.98 (+$3.57 GST)=54.55; Out of Province $65.17 (+$4.56 GST)=69,73 Outside of Canada (6 months) $156.91(4+10,98 GST)=167.89 MEMBER OF B.C, AND YUKON COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION, a CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION #¥CN A AND comm jewararses B.C. PRESS COUNCIL {wrw.bepresecouncl!.org) Wawa ae Serving the Tarrace and Thomhill area. Publishad on Wednasday of each week at 3210 Clinton Street, Tartaca, British Columbla, V8G SR2, Stories, photographs, illustrations, designs and typestylas in the Tarrace Standard are lhe property of the copy- fight holders, including Cariboo Press (1969) Ltd, Its illustration repro Bervices and advertising agencies, Repreduction in whole of in part, without written permission, is specifically prohibited. Authorized as second-class mail pending the Post Office Capartment, for payment of postage in cash. Special thanks to all our contributors and correspondents for thelr time and talents GORDON CAMPBELLS || SOUVENIR T-SHIRT TURNS OUT To A PERFECT FiT: BE “pie teat Mh, Mi uh Manne tint ef Y We're going to miss Chretien VICTORIA — Real Canadians don’t admit that any politician ever did anything right. It is deeply ingrained in our national character never to: say anything good about a politician, Rascals, everyone of them. Brian Mulroney suffered most from this public sentiment. Having presided over his first- time landslide victory, only to see his party reduced to two members years later, Mulroney still hasn’t managed to regain the respect of the public. Pierre Trudeau, reviled by half the population during his years as prime minister, adored by the other half, had to die before most Canadians would admit that he was somebody special the likes of whom will not appear on the political scene for some time, if ever. And now it’s Jean Chrétien’s turn. As the Littke Guy from Shawinigan exits the stage, Canadians, well, generally-don’t ‘give much of ahoot., «> > Chrétien never grabbed the nation by the throat and shook it into awareness as did Trudeau. Then again, he never alienated Canadians as much as Mulroney. So how does he stack up? First off, whatever his legacy, I have great respect for anyone who spends nearly a lifetime serving the public. On the minus side, Chrétien never lived down his broken FROM.THE CAPITAL HUBERT BEYER promises to get rid of the hated GST and review Canada’s role in NAFTA. “His greatest achievement was to get the country out of the. vicious‘debt .. cycle and put Can- ada on a more solid fiscal foundation.” His greatest achievement was to get the country out of the vicious deficit cycle and put Canada on a more solid fiscal foundation. But as a colleague pointed out the other day, nobody erects a monument to a former prime minister with the inscription: He balanced the budget, On the other hand, his greatest failure was that he almost lost the country. Having failed to actively participate in the debate over the last Quebec independence referendum, Chrétien's legacy nearly became the death of Canada. But he learned his lesson. The Clarification Bill that followed the nearly successful secession of Quebec, set out in unmistakable terms for future independence adventurers what in will mean to leave Canada. And it’s not a pretty prospect, In the succeeding years, Chrétien deftly all but stilled the siren song of separation, to the effect that another referendum is nowhere in sight. He kept Canada out of the Iraq war, a decision appreciated -by..most Canadians. The fact -«that.Sothe.of us were otherwise inclined notwithstanding, it was a wise decision, considering the public’s sentiment. The increasing alienation of the United States was an unfortunate side effect of that decision, and it is now left to Paul Martin to mend the fences. Good luck, Paul, _ History, 1 believe will judge Chrétien kindly, perhaps as somewhat of a caretaker prime minister, but what's wrong with that? : A prime minister steering a Steady, albeit somewhat uninspired course, was probably just what Canadians needed after the roller coaster years under Trudeau and Mulroney. For the most part, and I don,t mean this unkindly, Chrétien never had to worry about being understood, leave alone misunderstood, I will miss his mangled English. Never having succeeded in mastering . the English language, his words usually came from the heart. Not his the polished double speak so many politicians use to weasel out of having to give honest answers, Towards the end of his stewardship, it almost appeared that he was having a ball. I mean, how many politicians would have said publicly that they might try to smoke a joint, once it was legal? , Asked... whether:.: Jhe:-.wauld participate in the time-honoured tradition of: clasped hands in the air with his successor at the convention, he grinned and said, “T don,t know. Nobody ask me.” As Canadian prime ministers go, I believe Chrétien was one of the better ones. Canadians should wish him all the best in his retirement. He deserves it. Beyer can be reached at: E- mail: hbeyer@coolcom.com. Bad steri IN RECENT weeks, three Canadian hospitals have reported doing medical procedures with unsterilized equipment, putting patients at risk of life threatening infections. These reports involve over a thousand unsuspecting patients. The reports involve two Ontario hospitals and a Labrador hospital. : In Labrador over 200 women were examined gynecolagically with “dirty” equipment. They are now at risk for HIV infection. In the second Ontario case, more that 800 men underwent prostate exams with equipment had had been cleaned in only one soapy solution, rather than two, Those men are at risk for two kinds of hepatitis, and HIV. These patients must now wait, chewing their fingers, while lab tests are done to see whether or not they might have been infected by the improperly — cleaned equipment. Officials claim there is less than a one in 100,000 risk of any of these patients actually “TH ROUGH BIFOCALS CLAUDETTE SANDECK] becoming infected as a result of this cleaning shortfall, But imagine the anguish while these innocent, trusting patients wait for word on their lab results. _How many of them may suffer depression, family breakup, even suicide at the mere prospect of being stricken with HIV, Think of the extra lab work Been THIS YEAR RIGHT? Ye-€S| SUMMER DOESN'T LAST FOREVER AND | You HAVE ToGo BACK. and the overtime hours when hospital staff are still recovering from the SARS epidemic. Think of the unnecessary lab costs when health dollars are scarce already. How does any hospital explain an oversight this serious? And how many months did the sloppy cleaning procedure exist to involve from 200 to 800 patients? How was the oversight caught, and why wasn't it caught sooner? Both = gynecological and prostate exams are special procedures, Out of ten average patient visits, I'd guess not more than one or two people would be seeking such an exam unless these hospitals specialize in these particular medical tests and draw patients from a wide geographical area for just such exams. To realize that a breakdown in proper sterilization of medical equipment could happen at all is unthinkable, scary beyond words, Then to learn breakdown existed long enough to add up such big totals is truly frightening. Q2.ueaudt AAT the . FH) HARD ON SWTHERNERS { WHEN THEY HAVETO, GOKOME INTHEFALL Aye poe miey izations inexcusable We are advised to ‘ask questions of doctors tounderstand our diagnoses and treatment plan. But so far as I know we can’t tell by looking if a stainless steel tool has been sterilized or not. Instead we must trust. in the expertise and dedication of doctors, nurses, and other hospital staff. " Who goofed in these hospitals? And are other hospitals also dropping the ball only we haven’t learned about them yet? — When I worked in hospitals, years ago, every department had thick manuals setting .out protocols for every procedure, supervisors to check up daily, and a department head over all. I would expect hospitals have similar protocols today for cleaning instruments after use in surgery or tests. So I’m baffled to understand how a breakdown of this magnitude and seriousness could occur, However these sterilization breakdowns are excused, let’s hope these three hospitals will be the only ones. , YES! Bur WHAT WwoveD HUNG AROUND 7 ALL YEAR?!!