4 Terrace Review — Wednesday, March 30, 1988 OPINIONS _ Lowering the stakes Finance Minister Mel Couvel- jer’s annual budget announced last week can be viewed as a series of political juggling acts, but the real question is whether the show’s going to work for BC. - We have witnessed the ma whose primary intent is to balance the current accounts on B.C.’s ledgers and eliminate the deficit (no to be confused with the public debt) being handed the materials to do so, and then backing down. A potential sur- plus of $55 million has been squirreled away into a new fund, the one-time shot of revenue from the sale of government op- erations and crown corporations — is earmarked for another fund, and at the end of the coming fiscal year B.C. will still have a deficit of $395 million. Why? The cynics are saying Couvel- ier is saving his grand finale for: an election year, and that’s a plausible argument, but perhaps nS al Letter to the editor will be con- sidered for publication only when signed. Please include your telephone number. The editor reserves the right to condense and edit letters. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the Terrace Review. Goya _ Terrace Review Established May 1, 1985 _. The Terrace Review is published -. gach Wednesday by Close-Up Business Services Ltd. ” . Publisher: Mark Twyford © — Editor: 2 Michael Kelly “=<. Staff Reporters: / Tod Strachan 2 Charlynn Toews “Advertising Sales: ~ Mar| Twyford 2. 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Human filghts Act, no advertisement will be published which discriminates against a person due to age, race, ratigion, color, sex, natlonality, ancestry or place of origin. 4535 Grelg Avenue, Terrace, B.C. V8G 1M? ee Phone: 635-7840 oe one year subscriptions: In Canada $24.00 Out of Ganada $50.00 Seniors tn Terrace and District $12.00 " Safiors oul of Terrace and District $15.00 point, Union spokesman é a > NO BRAKES... r WONT IDLE... ACCELERATES ERRATICALLY. PULLS TOTHE RIGHT. A GUGGEST YOU SGREP IT. a more compelling reason for making the government look poorer than it actually is can be discovered in the list of major union contracts due to expire this year. The people who will be going to the negotiating table include - operating engineers, teamsters, laborers, building trades, fish processors, wood- workers, paperworkers, teach- ‘ ers,. government employees, ferry workers, hotel and restaur- . ant employees and the govern- S ment’s professionals ... a total f, eT of 166,200 unionized workers. cOrReD ae A = —— It is a well-established fact TWN Aegy) om |! Sie : . ss that contract negotiations go y Ny ot ms. : smoothest when there is a mini- i | a ain ese. mum of money to argue about, “EY eel A and the recession of the early au -— 1980’s proved it. During the : = — x ~ boom of the mid-1970’s strikes ne ——— were almost a monthly occur- = rence. Couvelier, subscribing to al rs i | | ) MOTOR VEHICLE | TESTING STATION CJb) Tt ml j ri continued on page 23 Another ministry goes on the block Energy Minister Jack Davis calls it a sort of privatization, but no matter which way you look at it, the government is getting rid of a ministry. No, I’m not referring to the bridge and road maintenance of the Highways min- istry. I’m talking about the Premier’s latest brainchild —- the privatization of the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources. The latter two of the ministry's three functions are to be transferred to two boards which will be funded jointly by the government and the mining industry. The scheme was laid out before ministry employees last week by Hubert Beyer in Victoria "deputy energy minister Bob Plecas with the explicit warning not to talk to the media. But when you’re up to your fanny in alligators, you tend to ignore warnings that the water might be polluted. Some of the employees couldn’t get to a phone fast enough to spill the beans. Here’s the plan. Within the next six months, the government will establish a Petroleum Resources Board and a Mineral Development Board. The two boards will oversee and implement all policies now looked after by the ministry. Only the development of policy and. the collection of revenue will remain in government hands. Plecas told the 200 employees they would remain public servants, even though they would be working for the new boards. Their job security wouldn’t be threatened. The B.C. Government Employees Union is skeptical on that Mona Sykes says the crunch will come when the government cuts back on funding for the boards and when the boards will, in turn, cut back on staff and wages. That suspicion is understandable, considering that the energy minister expects a savings of $15 million a year out of a current $25 - ‘million budget when the transfer is completed. And that’s about it, With the stroke of a pen and a solid majority in the legislature, the Socreds are about to wipe out half a ministry. The most alarming part of the plan is the intention to place responsibility for the implementation of energy and mining policies into the hands of the industry. Talk about putting the goat in charge of the cabbage patch. The boards will, for instance, be responsible for gathering ail data that determines royalties; they will oversee safety regulations; they will be in charge of mine inspections. Glen Clark, energy critic for the NDP, calls this latest privatiza- tion venture “‘insidious’’. He says the Socreds don’t understand the difference between the public interest and the interests of the private sector. While the latter is driven by a desire to maximize profits, the public’s interest is not only a fair return on the resources they own, . but their protection, two aspects the industry couldn’t care less about. ‘The trend is clear. There is absolutely nothing in British Colum- bia that isn’t for sale,’’? Clark says. . If he’s right, what’s to stop the government from doing the same thing with the forest industry? Actually, that process has already begun. By placing close to 70 percent of the province’s forests into Tree Farm Licenses, the government will in effect turn over much of the forest ministry's responsibility to the private sector. It’s difficult to believe that Premier Vander Zalm doesn't realize how shifty the ground is on which he is building his and his party’s political future. Mike Harcourt couldn't do a better job of making sure that the NDP will form the next government. The premier has become the architect in charge of designing and the foreman in charge of building the NDP’s election platform. And what a job he’s doing. His scheme to privatize the highways ministry’s road and bridge maintenance alone is enough to lose him the next election. Alex Fraser, the old Socred war horse from the Cariboo, predicts that this move will cost the Socreds about 15 seats. The fact that 70 municipal councils have passed resolutions imploring the government not to sell off the highways ministry lends credence to Fraser’s forecast. The other big mistake was his decentralization scheme. When the public realizes that the plan-is a mirror show at best and a subver- sion of the parliamentary system at worst, a few more Socred seats will go down the tube. . ‘He also will get no thanks for his mischievous attack on con- federation in Jast week’s throne speech. He. may not know it but most Canadians don’t view confederation as an investment club. The more Vander Zalm reveals of his agenda, the more he shows that he’s not only out of touch with the people but also with the — system he’s supposed to serve. — . Vehicle Inspection Returns The jig’s up for that old jalopy with one headlight out and brake shoes as thin as a wallet a day before payday. Passenger cars and - light trucks will soon have to pass a safety inspection. Unlike the vehicle testing in effect until a few years ago in only a few major urban centers, the new program will be province-wide. Also unlike the previous program, the new one will be run by the private sector. Select garages will get government contracts for inspecting cars and light trucks. Only vehicles four years old and older will have to OS tested. The fee has not yet been set, but is expected to be around 20. The $6 Billion Question So Here’s a memory refresher. A few weeks back, Finance Minister Mel Couvelier said he’ll balance the budget this year and get a start.’ on reducing the province's overall debt which stands at about $6 billion. The entire debt load would be wiped out by the end of the government’s current term, three years or so down the road, Couvelier said. SS, Last week, Premier Vander Zalm said the government would ‘balance the budget before the next election. There’s a slight dif- ference between the premier’s and the finance minister’s versions, one of at least $6 billion. Good thing these guys aren’t in charge of your persona! budget. It's Not Funny . . It’s difficult to keep a straight face when you're listening to a — joke, but laughing out loud when the Queen’s representative ad- dressed the legislature? “ _ That’s what the NDP’s Bob Williams did during a speech by Lieutenant-Governor Robert Rogers the day the old session was wound up. Rogers was reading a fairly lengthy speech praising the government for a job well done during the session. That’s not sur- prising, considering the government wrote the speech. Things were going relatively smoothly until Rogers said that Bills 19 and 20 had ‘ushered in a new era of fairness and stability in labor-management relations in British Columbia.” , That proved to be too much for Williams, who laughed out loud. He probably remembered the thousarids of people who marched on the Parliament Buildings protesting against the ushering in of this era of fairness and stability. ee!