A4 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, October 1, 1997

TERRACE:

STANDARD

4647 Lazalle Ava,, Terrace, B.C, VAG 158 (604) 638-7289 Fax (604) 618-8492
ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988

A Division of Cariboo Press (1969) Ltd.
ADDRESS: 3210 Clinton Street Terrace, B.C. * V8G SR2
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Costly colour

GIVE A POLITICIAN a map of B.C. and a
green crayon and they’ll inevitably start colour-
ing various areas green and calling them parks.

It’s a sign of progress that can be held up at
election time to show their accomplishments.

No one has coloured more of the province
green than former Premier Mike Harcourt.

Unfortunately, we’re still paying the bill.

Last week, like a zombie from the crypt, the
creation of the Tatshenshini-Alsek Wilderness
Park returned from the Harcourt era to haunt tax-
payers once again.

The vast area, in the extreme northwest of B.C.,
was made a park by Harcourt in June 1993.

The cost of preserving it at the time was un-
known: the biggest claim for compensation came
from Royal Oak Mines, which held rights to the
giant Windy Craggy copper deposit in the area.

It took until this June before a $166 million
settlement for Windy Craggy was reached.

Now it turns out, there’s still more to come.

Small placer miners in the area that became the
park were never compensated, and an arbitrator
has ruled Victoria’s delay in addressing the issue
means the settlements will be higher.

The first such settlement has been nearly
doubled to $7.4 million due to the government’s
“‘unreasonable delay’. There are about 40 more
claims yet to be settled there.

Also Jast week, MacMillan Bloedel went to
court seeking $200 million for timber rights
taken away for park land.

It’s starting to look like those crayons are
coloured green for a reason.

The province as a whole is still only a little bet-
ter than half way to reaching Harcourt’s goal of
preserving .12 per,.cent, of ,B.C.’s. land base. in
parks. "
Herein the -northwest, the’ proportion of parks
to the land base already exceeds that goal.

And we’ve paid for it: parks like the Kitlope
and the Khutzeymateen have cut into the forest
base of area companies and the Tat cost
hundreds of would-be mining jobs.

Ready for the final kicker?

B.C. Parks officials say they don’t actually
have enough money to manage all the new parks
in this region.

It’s enough to make a northerner cry.

HOW ABOUT that FRBC?

Ask the Crown corporation for $47,000 and get
a grant $94,000. That’s exactly what Terrace city
council did recently when it went after money to
hire a “‘forest industry specialist.’’

Not only did Forest Renewal B.C. officials dou-
ble the request, but they said they’d offer the
same deal to Prince Rupert and Smithers as well.

Meanwhile, it’s impossible to get a breakdown
of where money is being spent on watershed
restoration and other projects in this area.

Before the loot runs out, maybe we should set
aside a few extra grand and hire an

“accountability specialist.”

Fn
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aeeeci ation
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Serving the Terrace and Thornhill erea. Published on Wetinesday af each waek by Cariboo Press tl 969}
Lid. at 3216 Clinton Sireat, Terrace, British Columbia, VaG 5A2.

Stories, phatographs, illustrations, designs and typostyies In the Terrace Standard are the property of the
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Special thanks to all our contributors and correspondents
~ for their time and talents

VICTORIA — All those who
recognize the name Graham
Lea raise your hand. No,
Madam, you don’t count.
You're his wife. Nobody else?

Hew soon they forget.

Graham is CEO of the Interi-
or Truck Loggers Association,
but in a previous life, he was a
politician, a colorful politician,
representing the riding of
Prince Rupert, and serving as
highways minister during the
Dave Barrett administration
from 19772 to 1975.

In yet another previous life,
Graham worked as an an-
nouncer for the CBC’s Prince
Rupert station, where he once
referred to Mother Corp. as the
“Canadian Breadcorping
Castration,”’

I ran into Graham the other

day at a coffee shop actoss °~
“from the Parliament Buildings: *
- He was scheduled to: have a —

meeting with Forest Minister
David Zimhelt. Our conversa-
tion proved once again they
don’t make politicians like
Graham anymore, which is the
reason for this somewhat

nostalgic piece.

One time, Graham bad in-
vited Gary Lauck, another cab-
inet minister at the time, to be
guest speaker at a riding asso-
ciation meeting, Gary was a

FROM THE CAPITAL

HUBERT BEYER

bona. fide city slicker who took
a lot of ribbing over his owner-
ship of a Mercedes convertible.
Some folks thought that didn’t
quite go with the grass roots
NDP image as the champion of
the underdog. Lauck also

-achieved ever-lasting fame for
having publicly predicted that ~

the Bank of Commerce was
about to go belly-up.

At any rate, Graham intro-
duced Lauck and told the
audience that on the way up,
Lauck had pointed to a herd of
animals by the roadside and
asked why some cows had
horns, while others didn’t.

Graham said he explained
that some cows lose their horns
as a Tesult of crashing through

\Z

ITS JUST AN E

the woods, others are geneti-
cally steered that way. ‘But
the reason those cows don’t
have homs, Gary, is because
they’re horses.”’

Graham has always sported
an impressive beard, When a
Prince Rupert radio station
owner ran against him, the guy
told reporters (his own) that he
was making two promises: ‘‘T
won't live in Victoria and I
won't grow a beard.”

Dutifully, the reporters asked

Graham for his reaction, and '

he told them that his opponent

- had obviously decided he

wasn’t going to do the job
properly. As for the beard, “‘If
] couldn’t grow one, I, too,
would promise nat to.’’

Graham’s biggest caper a5 a
cabinet minister had to do with
the extension of road that be-
gan as a six-lane highway in
Victoria, only to peter out at
the city limits.

When the municipalities
through which the extension
was the pass wouldn’t stop
quarreling over cost-sharing,
Graham called a press confer-
ence and announced that he
would build a tunnel instead. It
was a loony idca and he never
had any intentions of im-
plementing it. But it did the
trick. Shorily after, the

NOTHING PERSONAL ABOUT
+ ISSUE, CANADA ,.-
CORT
ta
ENTERING OUR COUNTRY,

municipalities came to an
agreement regarding the rout-
ing of the extension.

My favorite Graham Lea line
is one he uttered after his sec-
ond divorce. ‘‘Why — get
married, Hubert? Just find a-
woman who hates your guts
and buy her a house.’’ That
one got him in trouble with his
third wife.

Graham professes to quite
some admiration of Glen
Clark. ‘‘He’s like a bulldog. I
like that.’ But he has some ad-
vice for the premier: ‘Hold
fund raisers for the Reform
Party.” And his advice to all
politicians is ‘if you want to
get re-elected, stay the hell out
of your riding.”’

When he was a newly-
elected MLA, one of his col-

leagues said to him that~he’. -

needed to discuss something . -
with his constituents.

“Constituents?”” asked Gra-
ham. ‘‘Have you ever seen one
of them from up close? Ugly!
Beady little eyes!”’

It was good to have coffee
with Graham. Like I said, they
don’t make ’em like that any
more,

Beyer can be reached at Tel:
(250) 920-9300; Fax: (250)
385-6783, E-Mail address:
hubert@coolcom.com

Attitude separates two towns

FINANCIAL FACTS may
persuade Thornhill to vote
for amalgamation; the atmo-
sphere at the Sept. 18 meet-
ing at the REM, Lee
won't.

Watching political zingers
ricochet, I wondered if a
parking lot vendor was of-
fering a reduced rate on
barbs, skewers, and flak
jackets,

Many in attendance came
armed to inflict maximum
embarrassment as though it
were a pre-election rally.
Scabs were tom off, old
wounds chafed, personal
differences honed. At times
the acrimony was so thick it
could have been sliced into
strips and rolled up like turf.

And turf is at the bottom
of this. I’m no behavioral
scientist or political analyst,
but even I recognize friction
that comes from years of
party differences, voting
records on community is-

WON'T PRINT !!

f THROUGH BIFOCALS .
CLAUDETTE SANDECKI

sues, and personal gulfs.

On one side sits urban
chic ~ suits, ties, and lapel
pins proclaiming service
club membership, On the
other side slouches country
casual — shirt sleeves, open
collars, and unheralded
good works.

Wednesday’s information
meeting etched some of
those differences clearer

than ever. As the final
questioner phrased it, ‘‘It’s

not a nice question to ask,"
but when did voters give the
regional district permission
to forgive Shames Mountain
Ski Hill’s $350,000 debt?”’

Thornhili’s single Area E
vote opposed forgiving the
debt. But we were out-
gunned by ten district direc-
tors many of whom
represent areas that lost
nothing by it.

Thornhill has always felt
Terrace wants us to amal-
gamate for two reasons -
our water and our land,
Little wonder we feel like a
homely, uncouth bride gin-
gerly welcomed by the
aristocracy because of the
coveted dowry we bring
with us. :

Over the past twenty-five
years Thornhill has grown
into its skin. Where once we
corralled horses in the back-
yard and monkey-wrenched

wHar'st ese Pewers TF NT YOU A */f SAY? FEASE oRpet

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MATTER! you Give THEM g)SBLE JET AN) fEep OAL CAPS FOR THE,
NEED ietaey Wo THe Step STATISTICS. PAVISt ON!

derelicts n the driveway,
we've progressed _— to
perimeter fencing, lush
lawns, and designer homes.
We just don’t make a big
deal out of it.

But our differences. are
there, like the difference be-
tween Americans and Cana-
dians, Subtle, but palpable. I
tensed every time a shared
microphone was lifted back
and forth, In future,
organizers might consider
securing mikes in a sliding
track.

If Thornhill opts for amal-
gamation October 18, for
the first eighteen months
we'll all be governed by —
those presently elected.
Given the level of oneup-

_ manship prevailing among

these people, could they
cooperate to govern the new
municipality in the best in-
terests of Terrace and
Thornhill?

With difficulty, I’d guess,

DOGS 4 J phhRR- mn -MMM.
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