Ad - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, December 18, 2002 TERRACE. PUBLISHER: ROD LINK ADDRESS: 3210 Clinton Street Terrace, B.C. * V8G 5R2? ESTABLISHED APRIL. 27, 1988 TELEPHONE: (250) 638-7283 « FAX: (250) 638-8432 WEE: www.terracestandard.com EMAIL: newsroom@terracestandard.com Road words LAST WINTER this newspaper called for a northern coroner, any northern coroner, to have the courage of his or her convictions and to step forward and hold a public inquiry into the high number of road deaths during the win- ter months. This newspaper felt then that what is needed is some sort of thorough, impartial and com- plete laying out of the hows and whys of winter road maintenance framed around accidents re- sulting in fatalities. We still do. And now, the tragic highway accident death Dec. 4 of northwest carver Freda Diesing and a number of other incidents have once again sparked public debate. We cannot believe there is some action on the part of the provincial government, which sets road maintenance standards, and on the private contractors that do the work to deliberately downgrade those standards to the point that lives are put at risk because of the need to save money. Nevertheless, there is a considerable body of public concern and skepticism out there that de- mands the provincial government follow through on its campaign promise of being open, transparent and accountable in its functions. Earlier this year the provincial government demanded that its road maintenance contractors cut costs by as much as 10 per cent. It worked out to $32 million on a province-wide road maintenance expenditure of $320 million. For the local contractor, the hit was more than $600,000. Most of this was accomplished by the contractors re-negotiating wage “agreements | with their workers to freeze planned pay in- creases. We were told then this was being done with- out affecting the standards of road maintenance. If that is indeed the case, the province should pony up and outline those standards and expec- tations and how the contractors measure up. In the north, highways are the vital link con- necting us to everything. They provide the means to transport resources to markets, to take us to hockey games, to take us to medical ser- vices. Northerners must be assured that our roads are being maintained to the highest pos- sible standards. If a coroner won’t — or can’t — perform this task, then the responsibility sits with transporta- tion minister Judith Reid. If she won’t — or can’t — do it, then the responsibility rests with the 10 Liberal! MLAs making up the northern caucus. Forget the hullabaloo surrounding the Olym- pic bid, forget the rhetoric of the New Era pro- mised to us by the Liberal government. Let’s have the province fulfil its responsibility of listening to taxpayers in this one critical area — where the rubber hits the road. PUBLISHER/EDITOR: Rod Link ADVERTISING MANAGER: Brian Lindenbach PRODUCTION MANAGER: Edouard Credgeur NEWS: Jeff Nagel NEWS/SPORTS Sarah Zimmerman NEWS/COMMUNITY: Jennifer Lang 2002 WINNER CCNA BETTER FRONT OFFICE: Darlene Keeping & Carol McKay NEWSPAPERS CIRCULATION SUPERVISOR: Terri Gordon COMPETITION ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS: Bert Husband & Stacy Gyger TELEMARKETER: Stacy Gyger COMPOSING: Susan Credgeur AD ASSISTANT: Sandra Stefanik SUBSCRIPTION RATES BY MAIL: $56,25(+$3.94 GST)=60.19 per year; Seniors $49.50 (+$3.47 GST)=52.97; Out of Province $63.22 (+$4.43 GST)=67,.65 Outside of Canada (6 months) $152.34 (+$10.66 GST)=163.00 MEMBER OF B.C. AND YUKON COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION, a CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION ie CNA —— Conuerry + AND B.C. PRESS COUNCIL (wwe.bepresscounctlorg) Fen thai a tie Serving the “Tetace and Thomhill area. Published on Wednesday of each week at 3210 Clinton Straet, Terrace, Brlish Columbia, V8G 5R2, : Stories, photographs, liistrations, dasigns and typestyies in the Terrace Standard are the property of tha copyright hotders, inctuding Cariboo Press (1969) Ud., its Mustration repro services and advertising agencias. : . _ . Reproductioy in whole of in part, without written permigsian, is spdaifically prohibited. Authorized ss second-dlass mail pending the Post Offica Department, for payment of postage In cash, Special thanks to ail our contributors and correspondents ~~ for their time and talents EL nt Osa a -. ie 43000% Cost OVERRUN ON mM GUN REGISTRATION.... NO IDEA WHERE ALL THE AIRLINE SECURITY TAX MONEY WENT....NO CLUE WHAT KYOTO WILL COST BUT RATIFYING IT NOW AND DEBATING (T LATER Fim a eee, GOVT NO QUESTION ABOUT IT! THEY AAVE To BE SMOKING SOMETHING TO SCREW UP THIS BAD / WHICH EXPLAINS THE RUSH TO SSS PoT. (i? ——_ DECRIMINALIZE _“t ty This ferry tale has a good ending VICTORIA — Hallelujah. After having felt compelled for the past year and a half to come down on the B.C. Liberals like a ton of bricks at least once a week, | am happy to say they got the ferry thing right. Last Monday, the provin- cial government announced a new course for B.C. Ferties. An independent company will take over the service to im- prove efficiency and keep it more out of the reach of politi- cians. Yes, there will be fare in- creases, but those were as un- avoidable as the hikes in uni- versily tuition fees and ICBC rates. In a desperate attempt to lure voters back into the NDP camp, former premier Glen Clark froze just about anything that under normal market con- ditions was bound to increase. The problem was that you can freeze rates only .for so long, be they for hydro, tuition or ferries, There is only one way to take a government-provided service out of the rate increase equation: provide it free and pay for it out of general reve- nue. Freezing rates will only re- sult in inordinately big hikes down the road. Eventually the piper must be paid. Providing a service without user fees-has always been a touchy political question in _ increases will be, Patt OF BC, vis, vearg, ois ‘FROM. THE CAPITAL. HUBERT BEYER Canada, but elsewhere it Taises no eyebrows. Some European countries, Germany included, have no university tuition fees. The en- trance requirement, on the other hand, are so strict that only. the best and the brightest are admitted. ; Thus higher but modest fare Ferries’ new structure. Starting Dec. 15, passengers will have to pay 3.8 per cent more. Si- milar fare increases will occur annually, Outlining the five-year plan for B.C. Ferries, transportation minister Judith Reid empha- sized that service levels will be maintained. The new operating compa- ny, B.C. Ferry Services, will be run by the B.C. Ferry Au- thority which will be modelled after the Vancouver Airnort Authority, the minister said. The authority will be run by a nine-member board. To get the ferry system off the government’s debt list, the Crown corporation will be sold to the ferry authority for $490 million, its book value. The shares will! be held by the authority, and the sale is structured in a way that makes the takeover of the service by the private sector impossible, The move is to be wel- comed for a number or reasons. As Reid pointed out, political interference has cost taxpayers an estimated $1 billion in the past 10 years. That includes the $454 mil- lion for the fast ferries project pushed through almost single- handedly by Clark. To upgrade terminals, refit aging vessels and order new ones, the new authority will raise $2 billion, in the next 15 The B.C, Ferries fleet. con- sists of 40 ships, serving num- erous small and large commu- nities. It carries 21 million passengers and nearly eight million vehicles a year on 25 routes. Another change will be more commercial enterprises at terminals and on beard ves- sels. At present the average passenger spends $4 over and above the fare. Ferry officials are confident that with better and more di- verse services, this figure can be substantially increased. While the major routes be- tween the Mainland and Van- couver Island operate at a pro- - fit, taxpayers will still have to provide a subsidy, the extent of which is not yet known, for those smaller moncy-losing routes. There is nothing in the agreement that could be inter- - preted as the privatization of the ferry system. It will remain . in public hands, Privatization, once Premier Gordon Campbell's hobby horse, appears to be off the list of the government’s priorities. Further proof of the govern- . menl’s move away from priva- tization is a recent report by a government-commissioned consultant who basically told the Liberals: that: the: private be better left alone. The new course for B.C. Ferries will allow an orderly operation, free from overt gov- emmeni interference while guaranteeing existing of better service levels. [ have absolutely no pro- blem with that. Beyer can be reached at: E-mail: hubert{@coolcom.com; Tel (250) 381-6900; Web Aitp.//www.hubertbeyer.com Dog owners must read this IF YOUR your dog is the sort who might nip or chomp a meter readet’s ankle, from now on you'll want to pay al- tention to the left hand sidebar on your hydro bill where it says “Next meter reading on or about” followed by a date. Effective immediately, to safeguard its meter readers who frequently suffer dog bites, B.C. Hydro has adopted a tougher policy toward custo- mers with aggressive dogs. If the meter reader is able to ascertain safe access, your meter will be read. If, how- ever, the meter reader feels usage entering your yard, she won’t enler to read your meter. The new policy wants all dogs ta be on leash or housed indoors where they cannot en- danger the safety of hydro per- sonnel. Effective province- wide, this policy follows al- most a dozen dog bites in September alone. For addresses where meter readers have identified aggres- sive dogs, B.C. Hydro intends . phoning the day before the meter is to be read, or early on GRACIOUS LIVING ! THROUGH BIFOCALS: CLAUDETTE SANDECKI the morning of the day the meter is to be read. Where the meter is not read because the meter reader feared entering the yard, B.C. Hydro will contact the home- owner and request the dog(s) be secured on a specific date so the meter can be read. In cases where the meter reader is denied access to the meter, B.C. Hydro will gues- stimate the amount of power used and bill accordingly. In extreme cases where the | THE LABEL ON 7 "ERACIOUS LIVING ” ) homeowner fails to accommo- date safe access by the meter teader, or hydro bills go un- paid, power to the home may be cut off. When I learned of B.C., Hydro’s stern policy 1 suffered a moment of panic. Suppose the meter reader shows up on a day when I’m not home? Or what if a family works and can’t be home that day to ac- commodate the meter reader? T have the luxury of working at home. For years we’ve met the meter reader (and every- one else) at the gate, kept the dogs aside while she read the meter, and escorted her back to the gate. This practice began when we had a dog who would bite off anything from a finger to a foot on his side of our fence. Escorted in, visitors were safe. Enter by themselves, the situa- tion was entirely different. I can agree with B.C. Hydro taking steps to safeguard their personnel. It’s just another case of half a dozen rotten apples spoiling the barrel. ome Hey! THar's us THE CHAIR WE { ue BN vA. ALRIGHT !! Dume Is CALLED B.C. Hydro should target those addresses known to be a problem, and not scare the daylights out of the rest of us. By-laws would be a help, but our dog control by-laws are toothless. More than one kid in our neighbourhood circles the block to the right to reach a playmate’s yard, even though a left turn offers a shorter route. But living on the left is a free roaming dog that terrorizes kids and sends them screaming when they try to walk past on the street. Does the dog owner care? Guess how much. In our neighbourhood, most of us have built secure five-foot fences. We open and close the gate cach time we go in or out, and keep our dogs in the yard. Yet with regularity, those with bitches have puppies to give away, thanks lo one roaming dog whose irresponsible owner is above the law. With its ability to cut off power, B.C, Hydro wields more clout that local governments. BIGGEST LIVING ROOM 1 , tad evsloy lelgadrorteduldw’t provide ohéaper - -aiio’ insurance and that ICBC ’ te