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4 Terrace Review — Wednesday

“august2, 1989

-*. ‘Tomorrow will be the second occasion in a week
that Premier Bill Vander Zalm has trod the tarmac at
the Terrace-Kitimat airport. Last week-he rumbled up
the kidney-pounding road to New Aiyansh with his.

-new: Native Affairs advisory council in tow, along with
a truckload of provincial media representatives who
were no doubt cursing whoever assigned. them to this |
story. Vander Zalm and the advisory council met with:
the Nisga’a, returned to the airport, ‘and held a brief

press conference there before flying out. -
He’s coming back tomorrow, this time

to spend the |

day in Terrace. His appearances are rare up here, and -
one has to wonder what sort of an impression he’s got
of our community at this point. The only occasions on
which stories relating to this area come out in the’
lower mainland news media are when another major

_child sex abuse. scandal breaks or MLA Dave Parker
makes another outrageous remark in the legislature. —

‘In short, Terrace has an image problem, something

we're sure Vander Zalm should be able to relate to in-
stantly. We’re-wondering what sort of an impression
we Ought to send him away with. :

‘Looking around here, what we see are a number of
components that taken together form a picture of a
community that has a pretty stable and diversified
economy, most of the amenities for civilized living,
and a series of elements that in. combination could
make it an attractive tourist destination. ;

One of the elements in the latter combination is a
major skiing development primarily characterized by a
gestation period exceeded in length only by that of the.

municipal swimming pool project. Rumor has

it that

‘local journalists have custom-ordered T-shirts with the

ony

embossed message, ‘I lived through the Shames _
” Mountain story — all three (four? five?) years of it’’.

The benefits to the regional economy of this project
are beyond argument: with your indulgence Mr.
Premier, we would like 4 road to carry us there.

As one Shames Mountain corporation director put
it, quit thinking of this as a ski hill and ask yourself
whether there would be this much hestitation if it were
an industrial park or a coal mine... or if it were

located just north of Squamish.

«

When you visit the Kinettes Kiddies Karnival, dur-

ing the photo opportunities think ahead a bit to
winter. Imagine kids engulfed by ski jackets, miniature
slats tied to their tiny feet, ready for that first tumble |

down the bunny slope. How’s that for an image?

,CONA

Established May 1, 1985
The Terrace Review is published
each Wednesday by
Close-Up Business. Services Ltd.

_. Publisher:

_. . Mark Twyford

or Editon” -

. «Michael Kelly

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Dts Tod Strachan
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Carrie Olson
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oe lm Hall

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von. Office:

'.  Garrie Olson

+ Accounting:

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_Harminder Dosanjh -

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; ~\
| APPRECIATE YOUR CONCERN,
FOR YOUR SISTER IN NORTHERN |
MANCTOBA, BUTI DOUBT IFA} 7
BUCKET OF WATER ISGOING «=| |
~ TOMAKE IT THROUGH THE =| |

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Fi . ra oe

Paa Lane

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Ya TR a ld be

Victoria — a

by John Pifer

VICT ORIA — Three years ago |

this week at Whistler, on July
31, 1986, a former B.C.
Cabinet minister who over the

- years had been branded a rebel,

a maverick, a loose cannon and

_a right-wing extremist, came

from out of a pack of 12 to

~. become the leader of the Social
‘Credit Party, and with thé vi¢-

tory, automatically took the ©
chair as Premier. ~ |
‘To say that it has been an
exceptional period since then
for Bill Vander Zalm and for

‘provincial politics would be the

greatest understatement of the
past 36 months.

For the first year-and-a-half,
he was the media’s darling, the
public’s charismatic leader, and

- the saviour of free enterprise,

sweeping the Socreds to victory
in an October 1986 election and
announcing sweeping reforms
for education, the judicial
system, privatization, labor
laws, and regional economic

‘ development. Even a June 1,.

1987, one-day general strike
against Bill 19 — the replace-
ment for the old Labour Rela-
tions Act — left him relatively
unscathed, politically.

‘But for the past 18 months,
he has been labelled by the .
‘now-hostile media as the. -
party’s chief liability who has-
alienated whole segments of
B.C, society through his
reforms and policies, and his
anti-abortion rhetoric. He also
has been probed by the RCMP
concerning possible conflict of
interest, has had to withstand
the rancorous resignations of
two senior Cabinet ministers,

revolt by dumping his loyal,.

~ readers!

has had to head off'a caucus —

albeit inexperienced; go-pher

hes danted

David Poole for meddling in’ -
assorted governmental pies,
and has watched his popularity

slide steadily into depths .

possibly beyond recovery,

despite a booming economy

and a generally optimistic,

upbeat attitude among the

POPULACE... eipaitainen or xara,
Now, it may not surprise you:

to find that Bill Vander Zalm

-has a pretty good idea of who

is to blame for much of this

change in his fortunes... the

media.

During the course on an
hour-long, one-on-one inter-
view I had with the Premier
this week for a special project I
had undertaken as a freelance .
journalist, Vander Zalm talkd
about the ‘unfair’? way he had
been treated by the likes of _
Vaughn Palmer of the Van-
couver Sun, and Jim Hume of.
the Victoria Times-Colonist,
and yes.., even by me, dear

“} think the media has failed
to focus as much as they might
flave on all of the good things
that have happened; it’s a very
competitive business, and 1
suppose the sensational things
sell. It’s unfortunate,” said the
premier.

He went further: ‘‘From time
to time, there is no doubt” that
columnists have been unfair.
“Their focus has been more on.
that which could be sensa-

_ tionalized, as opposed to con-
centrating on the very solid
achievements. The emphasis
has been on selling the papers,

_ rather than presenting the

message.*’

Now you know.

Checking on the plans for a.
Cabinet shuffle or “‘adjust-

ment’? which the Premier has.

_ had “on-hold” since the March |

Throne Speech, I can tell you
with reasonable certainty that it
will happen after Labour Day, .
er, probably.

Vander Zalm was sO vague ,
about what he was going to. do
regarding the promise of a
ministry for women’s affairs,
or for making environment a -
full: ministry, that I am con-~
vinced he simply has not yet
made up his mind about who

~ might be moved, removed or —

promoted from the smoldering |
backbench. So that means peo-
ple such as Forests Minister
Dave Parker and Environment
Minister Bruce Strachan will
have to keep their fingers cross-
ed for another few weeks and
hope that The Boss ignores _
them. Methinks those two will
have different portfolios, if

any, when the dust settles.

Now, it. could be Vander

- Zalm will wait until the

Cariboo. byelection, widely ex-
pectéd to be held by mid- °°
September, before making any
changes. Given the fact that —
even members of his own —
Cabinet are saying that the
Cariboo vote is crucial for the
future of the party and for the:
premier himself, he might be:
wise to play it that way.

With an obvious split up
there in Socred ranks — for
and against the premier — the _
party could be in danger of los-
ing a seat it has held forever.
Mix in the bitterness of those
loyal to the late Cariboo MLA
Alex Fraser, whose death forc-
ed by byelection, and the voters
could stay away itt droves,
leaving the way clear for the
New Democrats.