Ad - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, July 26, 2000 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 Pride, Part Two LET’S MAKE no mistake here. Mayor Jack Tal- stra and the city councillors who voted against de- claring a gay pride day here did so on personal re- ligious grounds. Toss out the excuses that the first request came from an outside group or that the request for the Aug. 5 declaration date would somehow conflict with Riverboat Days or that since the provincial government has already declared a gay pride week, there is no need for a local proclamation. All of these are smokescreens, and not very good ones at that. The decision to reject rests on Biblical prohibi-_ tions of any type of sexual behaviour or lifestyle that is not a sanctioned union between a man and a woman. There’s clearly a substantial body of people in the community who oppose the concepts of male and female homosexuality, bisexuality, and trans- gendered individuals. So in their actions, Mr. Talstra and the others can claim to be acting on behalf of some of their constituents. And they did so with the right each and every one has to express themselves. But to do so as a mayor and council is another matter altogether for what’s happened is a meld- ing of church and state. And that’s not something they were elected to do. But if this council and mayor wants to fully ex- press themselves in this combination of church and state, then it should not stop with refusing to declare a gay pride day. It should take a stance against Sunday shopping within the Terrace city boundaries. It should seek to ban abortions, ban the sale of explicit videos, ban the showing of explicit movies, ban the sale © of items used in sexual acts, ban the sale of tobac- co and ban the sale of alcohol. Sound a bit crazy? Not at all. Banning all of the above has as much of a grounding in Biblical principles as does the prohibition of certain types of sexual behaviour. (Truth be told, there’s a strong argument to be made that in doing so, the mayor and council would be farther ahead in ex- pressing their religious principles than by what . they did with their gay pride declaration refusal.) If the mayor and council really want to express their rights, this is what they should have done. Declare a gay pride day as requested. Then im- mediately have each and every councillor op- posed to homosexuality et al state their individual positions for the record. The mayor and council would then keep church and state separate. They would be able to give ex- pression to their individual rights and religious beliefs. They would also deny the declaration ad- vocates a sense of victory for the proclamation would be a hollow one at best. And they would also be able to get on with what they were elected to do as acity council. PUBLISHER/EDITOR: Rod Link ADVERTISING MANAGER: Brian Lindenbach PRODUCTION MANAGER: Edouard Credgeur NEWS Jeff Navel NEWS/SPORTS: Keith Freeman NEWS/COMMUNITY: Jennifer Lang FRONT OFFICE: Darlene Keeping CIRCULATION SUPERVISOR: Carole Kirkaldy ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS: Sam Bedford, Mark Beaupre & Stacy Swetlikoff TELEMARKETER: Stacy Swetlikoff DARKROOM/COMPOSING: Susan Credgeur AD ASSISTANT: Sandra Stefanik & Clare Hallock SUBSCRIPTION RATES BY MAIL: $54,88(4+$3.85GST) per year; Seniors $48.62 (+$3.40GST); Out of Province $61.69 (+$4,32GST)} Outside of Canada (6 months) $151.60 (+$10,.61GST) MEMBER OF B.C. AND YUKON COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION, CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION G@cn A B.C. PRESS COUNCIL cya 2000 - ~ BLUE » RIBBON Sarving the Tarrace and Thomhill area, Published on Wednesday of each waek at 3210 Clinton Street, Terrace, British Columbia, VéG 5Re, Storias, photographs, illustrations, dasigns and typestyies in the Terrace Standard are the property of tha copyright holders, including Cariboo Press (1969) Ltd,, its lllustealion rapre services and adverlising agencies. Reproduction In whole or In part, without written permission, is specifically pronibied. Aulhorlzed as second-class mail panding the Post Office Department, for payment of postage in cash. Special thanks to all our contributors and correspondents for thelr tine and talenia _ FAGER LITTLé DEVIL =e AREN'T YOU STOCKWELL». A person of class and distinction VICTORIA — His home is one of the most impressive estates in Victoria, but he gets to live in it only temporarily. Garde Gardom, Lieutenant- Governor of British Columbia, - greets me in his study in Gov- ernment House, the traditional residence of the Queen’s re- presentative, in the capital city’s exclusive Rockland area. “Have a cigar,” he says, but I decline, lighting a cigar- ette instead. In all likelihood, "he is the last occupant of Gov- ernment House who doesn’t follow the politically-correct no-smoking mandate imposed by all governments on their own properties, as well as those that should be none of their business. At 76, he’s as irrepressible and gregarious as he was when I first met him, more than 20 years ago. Back then, Gardom was 4 member of what was’ usually referred to asthe Liberal rump - in the B.C. Legislature, along with Pat McGeer and Alan Williams. Those were the days when after the House rose to the tra- ditional shower of ripped up acts from the press gallery seats above, Gardom would show up at our working quar- ters, close to the legislative chambers, with a case of champagne. These days, the politicians, with some justification, regard ‘FROM THE CAPITAL . HUBERT BEYER the media with suspicion and contempt, and few of the ven- ture into the press gallery. Gardom was in polities for 20 years, two months and 22 hours. Does he miss it? “Not really, although ] miss some of the people I worked with back then, I liked the policy part of polilics, not the personal,” he says, conscious of he fact that politics has become much more vicious than it was in his time. Although his five years are up, he has agreed to have his term extended for an indefinite period, presumably until after the next election. While his predecessor, David Lam, was the quiet, re- flective, hard-to-get-to-know type, Gardom is one of the most outgoing people I know. He puts people al immedi- ate ease with his boisterous laugh alone. A lieutenant-governor’s life is not for the faint-of-heart. Constant entertaining and tra- vel, as well as preparations or special functions would stress out a man half his age. On Confederation Day, July 15, commemorating British Columbia's entry into Confe- deration on July 19, 1871, Gar- dom and his wife Helen, ex- pected an estimated 7,000 people ta visit Government House. The program included the Pipes and Drums of the 78th Fraser Highlanders, the Pipes and Drums of the Canadian Scottish Regiment, a Chinese children Lion dance, the Saa- nich International Dancers and Marimba Mazuba, Gardom de- scribed as “an excellent group.” And then, of course, there are, on occasion, 16 grandchil- dren who can turn Government House upside down in no time flat. ce re During his tenure,’ “Gardom ” also undertook a project: to: make Government House and its expansive grounds wheel- chair accessible, a project which, when completed this fall, will have cost $250,000, most of it raised through dona- tions. And speaking of the grounds, consisting of the most beautiful gardens you have ever laid eyes on, they’re kept up by 17 full-time staff plus 220 volunteers. I ask him what comes to. mind when he looks back on his five years as the Queen's representative in British Co- lumbia. “The young people Helen and I have met on our travels ihrough he province are far more worldly than we were at that age. They want to partici- pate, not sit in the rusty dusties,” he says. ; “We have met people from every vocation, age and back- ground and we found again and again that there is a great col- lective wisdom in the general public.” I ask him for a theoretical example of what, in his api- nion, could move a lieutenant- governor to unilaterally dis- solve the legislature and force an election. If a government tried to shut down the free press, he says without hesita- tion. “Thank God for a free press. It’s one of the four pillars of our society, along with the govern-: ment, the legislature and the:. judiciary.” Needless to say | liked that quote. But even without it, I would say that British Colum- bians are very fortunate to have been served by Garde Gardom, as politician and as lieutenant- governor. Beyer can be reached at: E - m a i { hubert@coolcom.com; Tel (250) 381-6900; Web http://www. hubertbeyer.com Good riddance to this debt AFTER MORE than 10 years of the regional district of Kiti- mat-Stikine annually tinkering with Shames Mountain ski hill’s debt juggling the repay- ment schedule to ease of delay payments, the provincial government has passed legis- lation enabling the debt to be wiped from the books, We tax- payers were wiped across the floor in the process. Granted, we knew almost from the day Shames Ski Cor- peration won the Kitsumkalum ski hill assets with the highest bid thal we'd never get our money. From the time the first pay- ment came due Shames whined about the rustiness of the equipment they’d bought and made excuses for why they couldn’t be expected to pay even interest. That began the annual pil- grimage to the regional district begging for forgiveness of the entire debt on the grounds their venture wasn’t profiting. y GEE! 45 BELOW AND ‘ee gj 7 SNELL WOOPSMOKE = dame LVERYWHERE 'T THOUGHT fee (OWEN STRAIGHT UP AT ae ese TEMPERMTURES THROUGH BIFOCALS CLAUDETTE SANDECKI A quick scan of any article on ski hill management would have told them ski hills rarely make money, That weather, location, transportation links, and fuck must converge before ski hills break even. But guided by a love of ski- ing, advisors who can’t wait to buckle on the boards, and friends in government circles, the Shames people forged | ICE CRYSTALS FocuS SUNLIGKT OA PINES ANO THEY Burst INTO FLAN)E = ahead with their pet plan. And while they skied, taxpayers stewed. In the end the debt bal- looned to $620,000 from the original peanut package of $340,000. What you might call success at any cost. So far, Shames has man- aged little more than to re- cycle Terrace’s recreational dollars. And little wonder. Any advertising I’ve seen has been in the local papers. The appar- ent lack of wide angle adver- tising has always baffled me. For instance, until the ma- gazine quit publishing early this year, “B.C, Woman” car- ried a two-page or more winter Sports spread promoting our province’s ski hills and winter resorts in it’s mid-winter issue. But I never saw Shames Mountain mentioned. Similarly, during the winter the Province prints a daily snow report giving ski hill con- ditions, centimetres of new snow, base, and the number of tuns open. The report covers 15 BC ski hills from Apex Alpine to Whistler/Blackcomb and Whitewater. Again no mention of Shames. Why not? And how does the ski hill plan to grow if it only markets to local skiers? Is Shames trying to assure plenty of parking and no wait- ing at the ski lifts for locals? Wiping off the debt has one benefil for tuxpayers — now re- gional directors can focus their attention on vital issues with firmer business plans and brighter outlooks, issues like sewer, landfills, and a survey of the cost of. flying patients hi- ther and yon. I’m angry Shames was ever awarded the Kitsumkalum ski hill assets, but like the Y2K bug, [ hope we never hear of it again. And if someone ever authors “A Panhandler’s guide for Dummies” the genesis of Shames Mountain Ski Corpora- lion can supply much of the know-how. ANP WELL CALC ITA THERMAL INVERSION ANP TELL ALCOUR FRIENDS ABOUT YoU. Hip RN Nee re