2. Terrace Review — Wednesday, August 10, 1988

_ Regulators torpedo CBC Radio plans

The Canadian Radio
and Telecommunications
Commission has ordered
the B.C. division of the
Canadian Broadcasting
Corporation to maintain
an originating broadcast
facility in Prince Rupert.
That means radio station
CFPR will stay in the port
city, and CBC will have to
scrap its plans to relocate
personnel and equipment
from Prince Rupert to
other areas of the pro-

vince,

The CBC first presented its
plans to redeploy its radio
resources about a year ago. Its
concept for the north involved
establishment of a _ central
“storefront’? bureau in Prince
George that would broadcast
regional news from a number of
stringers in northern com-
munities. In order to realize the
idea, CFPR would have been
closed down as a broadcast sta-
tion and all but two of the
Prince Rupert personnel would

have been moved to other areas.
The plan encountered determin-
ed opposition throughout the
Northwest.

The CRTC, who held hearings
in Northwestern communities
and received dozens of interven-
tions from groups and indivi-
duals in the region, stated in
their decision that CFPR “pro-
duces regionally relevant pro-
gramming’’ that plays “an im-
portant role in uniting the
region’. The panel further
stated they were moved in their
findings by ‘‘persuasive argu-
ments”’ from intervenors that in-

Excavation began Saturday on the extended care wing
$760,000 building project being undertaken by Kermodel
completion in January 1989.

of the Terraceview Lodge. The
Construction is scheduled for

Terraceview expansion begins

Kermodei Construction began
work on the Terraceview extend-
ed care unit last Saturday, and
Kermodei manager Bruce Toms
is expecting the job to go
smoothly. Toms said that con-
trary to any rumors, the labor
force was hired locally and the
project is a union job. He says
that all his employees earn $16
per hour, plus benefits, through
an agreement signed with the
General Workers’ Union of
Vancouver. ,

The awarding of the Ter-
raceview contract became an
item for controversy when the
Terrace Health Care Society
recommended that Terrace H &
H Builders be offered the con-
tract because their bid was only
three percent higher than Ker-
modei’s and they had a proven
track record. The Ministry of
Health, however, failed to ac-
cept that recommendation and
instructed the society to award
the contract to the low bidder.

In a telephone interview from
Victoria, Walter MacLean, the
Executive Director of Facilities
Planning and Construction Divi-
sion of the Ministry of Health,
said that accepting the low bid
was a standard government pro-
cedure. He explained that the
policy is based on the premise
that all government funded pro-
jects should be open to all
qualified bidders on the basis of
their qualifications, and in order
to avoid any preferential treat-
ment the contract must be
awarded to the lowest bidder
unless there are substantiated
facts which would indicate
otherwise.

Toms is the former
owner/operator of Skeena
Homes and Trusses, but that
business, he says, ceased opera-
tions when the owner of the
facility he was using refused to
renew the lease. Toms says he
then went into the general con-
tracting business under the Ker-
modei name last April.

Toms says he has done other
jobs in the Northwest, and at the
present time is also working on a
major project upgrading the
Smithers airport terminal. The
bottom line, he says, will be in
the final product when the Ter-

raceview project is complete. He
says that no one will be disap-
pointed and Kermodei will have
a reputation for quality work.
The Terraceview project is ex-
pected to be completed by
January, 1989.

Site declared ‘hot’

The Terrace Carpenter’s
Union has declared the extended
care project at Terraceview
“hot’’, according to the union’s
business agent. Paul Johnston
said Monday Kermodei Con-
struction is not hiring union
tradesmen, and local union
workers applying for work at the
job site last Saturday were told
by Kermodei manager Bruce
Toms that all labor would be
hired in Vancouver.

Johnston admits that the Ker-
modei employees are working
under an agreement with the
General Workers Union, but he
argues that this organization is
not a union in the true sense of
the word. Johnston says that he
defines a union as ‘‘a group of
workers banded together to
bargain collectively and who
have a voice in the bargaining
process’’.

However, the General
Workers Union, says Johnston,
is better described as an associa-
tion. He says the organization
was designed only to keep union

Weather report

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workers off the job site. He fur-
ther indicated that an agreement
is signed by the company and the
union without any input from
the workers before any unions
can organize the workforce.

Another problem his union
sees with the General Workers
Union, says Johnston, is that the
agreement varies from one job
site to another according to the
value of the job. This, he says,
has a ‘‘destabilizing’’ effect on
the industry and is undermining
the union movement.

As examples, Johnston cited
contract terms with the General
Workers Union: the Smithers
airport upgrade which he said
pays carpenters $14.65 per hour,
the Terraceview extension which
pays $16 per hour, Humphries
Construction which pays $18 per
hour and Day Ross Construc-
tion which pays $18.65 per hour.

The Carpenters Union agree-
ment, in contrast, pays $19.15
per hour province-wide and has
a uniform package of benefits,
says Johnston.

Aug. 1 - Aug. 7

Forecast: Continuing
cloudy with showers and
cool. Clearing and warmer
after Thursday. For the
first part of the week
highs to 17 and fows to 10.
After Thursday, highs to
22 and lows 10- 12.

dicated ‘Sclearly and
eloquently”’ that the Northwest
is a unique subregion. The deci-
sion concluded by denying the
requested amendment, ordering
that the CBC retain an origin-
ating broadcast station in Prince
Rupert with staffing levels
‘commensurate with the size’’
of the region.

Skeena MP Jim Fulton called
the CRTC decision ‘‘a victory
for Northwest communities’’,
and he added that it will help
other remote communities in
Canada as a precedent for main-
taining basic CBC radio ser-
vices. Fulton said continued
monitoring of service levels will
be necessary because ‘federal
underfunding of CBC will mean
continuing pressure to reduce
service’,

The CRTC directive has
caught the B.C. radio division of
the CBC between a rock and a
hard place. CBC spokesman
Eric Moncur said in an interview
from Vancouver that on one
hand the federal government has
told them they must operate
within a budget allocation for
B.C, while maintaining an ac-
ceptable level of programming.
On the other hand, the CRTC
has told them they have to con-
tinue operating an expensive
facility in Prince Rupert. ‘‘It’s
had a serious effect on our
plans,’? Moncur said of the
CRTC decision. ‘‘We felt the
plan we had was the best plan to

make the operation | self-
financing. This will alter the
whole principle, making us look
at a more expensive Prince
Rupert component, and other
areas are going to suffer.”

The planned reallocation of
CFPR staff and equipment was
scheduled to have taken place
around September 1, with peo-
ple and technology transferred
to Prince George, Kelowna and
Victoria. The CBC building on
Stiles Place would have been
sold, and two reporters would
have remained in Prince Rupert
to cover the Northwest for a cen-
tral bureau in Prince George.
The transfer plans were well ad-
vanced, and Moncur expressed
concern about personnel who
were expecting to move but must
now remain in Prince Rupert.

He said leases and property
sales are now up in the air,
children have to be registered for
school, and relocation plans
cancelled, ‘‘It’s heartbreaking,’’
he remarked, ‘‘Their future is in
a vacuum, It isn’t an easy situa-
tion, and we’re concerned about
staff morale.’’

Moncur said he and other
senior officials of the B.C. radio
operations have gone back to the
drawing board in an effort to
come up with alternatives that
will satisfy the CRTC directives
an allow CBC radio to live
within its budget allocation. He
expects to have proposals in
about a week.

ARIES

Mar, 21-Apr. 19
reality.

TAURUS

Apr. 20-May 20

GEMINI

May 21-June20
direction,

CANCER

June 21-July 22
ofsame.

LEO

July 23-Aug. 22

VIRGO
‘Aug, 23-Sept. 22
secrets,
LIBRA
Sept. 23-Oct.22
asset.
SCORPIO
Oct. 23-Nov.21
SAGFITARIUS
Nov. 22-Dec.21
prosperily,
CAPRICORN
Dee, 22-Jan. 19
AQUARIUS
Jan, 20-Feb. (8
influences.
PISCES
Feb, 19-Mar. 20

Forecast Perlod: 8/14 -8/20/88

Pleasure trips bring you into contact with some
upbeat people. Hopes and wishes can become

This is a good time to do things (hat can increase
your income and add to your possessions.

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You may find yourself contributing your time
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Some of your ambitions are realized with little or
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good aspects.

Public recognilion is yours as a result of your
official capacity in an organization, Thereare no

A working knowledge of the language and customs
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doubles the enjoyment. Good foriune points to

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taking, Enjoy this period of beneficial planetary

It’sa favorable time for making improvement on
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probablyturna nice profit.

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