ast récently as the result of a fong. standing ae with the. . Ministry of Environment. It seems that aresidential atea | had. grown up around the once-isolated operation, and the owner failed to find an acceptable method for deal- ing with large volumes of chicken manure and other detritus. The hammer came down in February. Interestingly, Sam Kinkead was put: on’ probation * rather than being hit with a crippling’ fine or. a jail term. . The week prior to that court case, the Ministry of En- . vironment announced the addition of four new positions in the Skeena region’ for the. purpose of bringing violators into compliance. At that ‘time the ‘ministry issued a list of priority polluters, all of whom had been exceeding their emission standards for a long time. © During that same week an accidéntal spill occurred: at the Eurocan Pulp: and Paper operation in Kitimat, with an indeterminate amount of toxic mill effluent spilled in- to the Douglas Channel. Results of the Ministry of En- _vironment investigation are not yet available; a penalty i ° ail probably take the form of a fine. In all these cases, if past precedents are any indica- tion, the violators involved, whether a pulp mill or a — chicken farm, will. be: given every last opportunity to comply with environment regulations and remain in business. That’s good for the region, in the sense that it doesn’t damage the economy. - But there’s also the question of what’s’ actually going to work in terms of a deterrent to fouling the air and- water. The probation order against Kinkead may just be a run-up to a jail sentence or a total shutdown of his business if he doesn’t set things in order. It’s hard to im- agine anything that absolute happening to ‘Eurocan, Skeena Cellulose, Westar or, for that matter, the City of Prince Rupert, all of whom. have been fingered by the ministry as chronic environmental nuisances. Fines certainly have an effect on large companies, but up to this point balance sheets would dictate that viola- tion is cheaper than compliance when compared to the cost of pollution control modifications. The danger may be that multinationals have the option of relocating if ia the cost becomes too prohibitive; Sam Kinkead 8 ufealistically has no such option. #« A scenario that occurs to us isthe prospect of having. the board of. directors for'a multinational corporate polluter appearing in court to be put under probation orders, but that development seems as unlikely (effective as it might be). ylerirace Second-class mall registration No. 6896. Ail material appearing in the Terrace Review is protected under Canadian copyright Registra- thon No, 362775 and cannot’ lagally be repro- Established May. 1, 1985 The Terrace Review is published | each Wednesday by . Close-Up Business Services Ltd. duced for any reason without permission of the - a publisher. Publisher: Errors and omissions. Advertising Is accepied Mark Twytord on. the condition that in ‘the event of Editor: typographical error, that portion of the advertis- s ~ [ng apace occupied by the d¢ronsoua item will _ Michael Kell net ba charged for, but the balance of the adver- y Statf Reporter: -_ Meement wilt be paid for at the applicable rate. — ___ .Skatt Reporter: _Advertleera muat assume responsibility for er- . Tod Strachan . rors In any clasaltied a which ls supplied to the ' ‘erraca Review In handwritten form. eae tot Nerd ee in compfiance with the 8 Sc. Human Rights Act, no advertisement w ublished whic’ ; . diecriminates agalnat & parson! due to age, race, Typesatting: # faligion, color, ex, nallonality, ancestry or place - Carrie Olson _ of origin Production Manager: 4535 Greig Avenue, JimHalt Terrace, B.C. Production: . ; Alvin Stewart, Phone: 635-7840 Gurbax Gill, Linda Mercer Fax: 635-7269 Office: | Carrie Olson yoor subsoriptions: Accotinting: . opi canada 824.00 | 0 Mar] Twyford Seniors In Terrace and District $12.00 Harminder Dosanjh Seniors out of Terrace and District $15.00 Piease inc r ciocnone Seer. td wat it it WE. . The view from Victoria . - by John Pifer VICTORIA — So just what. is the “permanent forest resources commission’? all about, you ask? And will it — - solve some of the problems within the province’s largest revenue-producing industry? In answer to my second question, it might. But already the critics are dumping on the commission of inquiry before it has been given a chance to © operate — even if they have some salient points to make, such instant attacks are all too common in politics today, I’m afraid. . ; Anyway, to question one _— the commission has been. set up to review all aspects of the in- dustry and:to advise the forests minister, Terrace’s own Dave Parker, Skeena MLA, himself a registered professional forester. “Its initial tasks will be to review the effectiveness of tree farm licenses as a form of tenure, to recommend ways to improve public participation in forest planning and manage- ment, and to review logging . practices, especially clear- . cutting, and their impact on the environment. ‘Tts overall mandate will be to provide policy advice, to under-- take special investigations on various areas of forest opera- tions and’ management, and to set up independent task forces to look at specific concerns, says Parker. _ Now, that all sounds very good and noble, and may at least be a partial answer to the growing cry for a royal com- mission into the troubled in- dustry. But what’s riled the op- ponents the most is the fact that the commission appears not to be truly independent, ‘despite government claims to the contrary. | It answers to Parker only. - and it-will be he who directs - the 11-member group as to. - - what areas need its attention, rather than the commission set ting its own agenda. ; ' NDP forests critic Dan’ « - _TRSOINNS OF ONDE. \ie can. [ ... if they find they are hamstrung ‘poeta fs of dant control from the top, some. of: them’ 4 might not like it, and-might say so “publicly.” Miller of Prince Rupert says - the permanent watchdog falls far short of a royal commission overhaul that is needed; and it is merely ‘‘on a Socred leash’. Sierra Club president Peter - McAllister, known as “‘the chief tree-hugger’’ by many loggers and industry officials, says the whole set-up “‘is a very © _ weak response to the public’s - angry call for a royal commis- ‘sion... (and) it reeks. of com- promise.’’. He's also miffed. that: none of the major environmental groups are represented, although there are a couple of - commissioners with links to the B.C, Wildlife Federation and - the Federation of Mountain Clubs of BC. 2 :. There are some notable peo- ple on the commission, but if they find they are hamstrung ’ because of tight contro! from the top (i.e. Parker), ‘some of - them might not like it, and . might say so publicly. (There's a list of who’s involved at the end of this.column). “What's thé difference be- - tween this advisory group and a fuli-fledged royal commis- sion? Well, one notable fact is - that government may, and. often has, ignored recommen- - dations from a royal probe, - ‘thus wasting millions more of . our taxpaying dollars. But that might be worth the tisk to have the public'believe. the teview of an industry is completely independent. and -aboveboard. It is not for me to. suggest that this latest move-is -. purely political, or that it will be ineffective — I’ll hold back on any such suggestion until it’s tackled a few major issues. (For the record, the commis- sioners include: as chairman, "+ arbitrator Don Munroe, 42, chairman of the B.C, Labour | '. Relations Bord from 1976 to 1981; former’ B.C. lieutenant- - governor | Robert Rogers, A Loe * former industry senior éx- ecutive, and past chairman of the Canadian Forestry Ad- visory Council; feisty IWA | Canada president Jack Munro, "an outspoken critic of forest . management issues in the prov- oe ince; Robert. Kennedy, dean of forestry at the University of British Columbia since 1983;. and Peter Burns, dean of the law faculty at UBC, © (There.are also Roger Freeman, professor of _psychiatry at UBC and chair-_ — man. of the recreation and con: | ‘servation committee of the Federation of Mountain. os of B.C,, who has: written — several books on hiking trails: in B.C. and Arizona; Joyce ‘Harder, major of Lillooet, a ~ | businesswoman and pilot who’ spearheaded the drive to have — Lillooet declared the forestry . capital of B.C.; Carmen Purdy, industrial relations manager for . Crestbrook Forest Industries near Cranbrook, and former - - president of the B.C. Wildlife Federation; former B.C. agriculture minister Cyril Shel- ford, who recently conducted. .. inquiries into the management. eee ” of peregrine falcons in B.C. _and into the B.C. Milk Board; - professional forester John — Szauer of Williams Lake, - recently retired as-regional :’ manager of the Cariboo Forest os Region, who now acts as a _ forestry consultant; and Matt . Vickers, executive director of . the Gitskan Wet’suwet’en gov- ‘ernment commission in. oS Hazelton, a civil engineering - technologist). -‘P'it refrain from making any a quip about it not being surpris- ing to find a psychiatrist in- volved with this lot; but it - would seem to be evident that having some healthy skepticism about the effectiveness of this latest move in our most crucial - industry is displaying | common - - semise, not. a phobia.. "Stay tuned. wen iD aierg atc pitt Bis ea 5 seekemeneaiahineddeas a