Despite some recent interna- tional criticism of the manner in ' which the B.C. Ministry of En- vironment executes its mandate, congratulations are in order for both department personnel and Minister Bruce Strachan for the progress in developing a com- prehensive program for dispos- ing of hazardous waste in the province. . It remains to be seen how thoroughly the incineration, chemical : neutralizing, sealing and burial of toxic materials will eliminate these contaminants from the environment, but it is certain that the system will be an improvement 6n the wholesale dumping of poisons. The public at large is par- ticularly well served by provi- sions within the Special Waste management guidelines that in- vite municinalities to participate in a householder collection ser- vice, People who have previous- ly had no safe way to dispose of leftover paints, solvents, herb- icides and other commonly used chemicals will now have the means to express their concern Letters {0 the editor will be considered for publication only when signed. Please include your telephone number. . The editor reserves the right fo con- dense ond edit letters. Opinions ex- pressed are not necessarily those at the Terrace Review. One year subscription: In Canada $24.00 Out of Canada $50.00 Gna Terrace Review Established May 1, 1985 The Terrace Review Is publishad each ; Wednesday by Close-Up Business Services Ltd. Publisher: Mark Twyford - Editor. ‘.. Michael Kelly ; Staff Reporter: Tod Strachan Advertising Sales: Mar] Twyford Typesetting: Linda Copeland Producilon: Jim Hall, Alvin Stewart, Arlene Wand, Gurbax Gill,-Linda Marcer, Arlene Gaspar Office: Philip Musselman Accounting: Marj Twyford, Rosemary McGettigan Second-class mall registration No. 6896. All material appearing in the Terrace Review is protected under Canadian capyrignt Regisira- tion No. 962775 and cannot jegeliy be repre duced for any reason without permission of the publisher. : Errore and omlesions. Advertising la accepted on the condition that In the event of typographical error, thal partion of the advertia- Ing space occupled by the erroneous item will not be charged for, but the balance of the adver- theament wilt be pald for at the applicable rate. Advertisers must asoume responsibility for er- rord in any claeaifled ad whichis supplied to the Terrace Review In handwritten form. : In compliance with the B.C. Human Rights Act, no advertisement will be published which discriminates against a persen due to age, race, religion, cotor, 86x, natlonallty, ancestry of piace of origin. 4535 Greig Avenue, Terrace, B.C. Vv8G 1M7 _Phone: 635-7640 A positive action © for the environment B.C. Special Wastes Inc., ap- pears keen to operate a province-wide collection system - dustrial wastes. This is one issue for the environment by keeping them out of sewer systems and unsecured landfills. The company selected to build and operate the disposal plant, for both household and in- at which the B.C, government can throw money and get im- mediate and positive results. Now that the toxic waste pro- blem has been approached in a constructive manner, perhaps the government will be en- - couraged to examine the overall questions of solid waste disposal on the same sort of comprehen- sive basis. Free lunch program for schools gets thumbs-down from government Well, it looks like the NDP proposal for a government-sponsored meal program in Vancouver schools is dead, Good thing, too, . . Social Services: Minister Claude Rich- mond gave the plan the deep-six at a recent press conference. He said the government had carefully considered the scheme and come to the conclusion that it would, at Hubert Beyer _ best, address the symptoms, but not the in Victoria causes. Here are the facts: Between 400 and 700 children in Vancouver come to school hungry. They have not had breakfast and often bring no lunch, These are estimates by teachers and principals who recognize the problem but are unwilling to identify the kids out of respect for their human dignity. To address the problem, the NDP proposed a general school meal ~ program. Any student could take advantage of the offer, but those ~ who could afford te pay.would do so. Assurance of anonymity for those who couldn’t pay made.the program inherently complicated and, therefore, costly. | Richmond said the biggest problem was that any such program would probably get out of hand, even if the number of hungry kids doesn’t go up. Anyone familiar with government has got to agree with that assumption, Government programs, even the smallest ones, have a tendency to become empires unto themselves. The ad- ministrators of the programs will see to that. The minister also pointed out that even if the program succeeded jn feeding the hungry children, it wouldn’t address the root problem — parental indifference, neglect or a family’s inability to manage its budget. Right again. | Contrary to many claims, B.C.’s social services is quite adequate. Nobody needs to fall through the cracks. Here are some examples. A single parent with two children gets $435 in monthly support benefits, $486 in shelter allowance, $10.99 a month (averaged) in. school start-up and Christmas allowance. The federal family allowance, child tax credit and federal sales tax credit add another - $147.84 a month, te, Lt That gives a single parent with two children a total monthly in- come of $1,079.83. Free drugs, dental, medical and hospital care add an average of $114 a month to that total. And if, for some reason, that amount should ever fall short of what’s needed, the government will provide crisis grants. ; The benefits increase with the number of dependents. A single parent with three children has a disposable income of $1,256.a month plus free health care; the figure for two parents with three children is $1,368 a month. : Keep in mind that the provincial portion of those benefits is fot taxable income. The federal portion will also end up non-taxable if it’s the only income. An employed person would have to earn at least $1,600 a month to take home $1,368 a month, . | Keep in mind that the provincial portion of those benefits is not taxable income. The federal portion will also end up non-taxable if it’s the only income. An employed person would have to earn at least $1,600 a month to take home $1,386. That amounts to $9.85 an hour, not a princely wage, but more than a lot of working people make, Don’t get me wrong. The question is not whether it’s fun to be on welfare. It isn’t. A job beats welfare six ways to breakfast. Unfor- tunately, our free enterprise system is unable to provide work for ~ stomachs. everybody. The question here is simply: are welfare payments too low for families to feed their children? Based on the figures above, the answer to that question has got to be no. Cries by the NDP that the Socreds have no compassion for hungry school children were as predictable as they are unconviric- ing. The NDP has no monopoly on compassion. It 1s, however, often convinced that there’s a‘government program for anything that ails society. 7 Richmond said he would much rather see his ministry’s financial advisers counsel families who can’t seem to manage their budgets. He urged teachers and principals to identify children who come to - school hungry and without lunch. . When reporters asked Richmond what he would do if teachers refused to co-operate, he was evasive, saying that it was their moral _ responsibility to identify the hungry kids. As for their legal respon- sibility, the minister wasn’t so sure. Maybe he should check into — _ that. oy According to the law, any citizen has the legal responsibility to - notify the authorities of child abuse. Letting children go hungry is as much of an abuse as any other, and professing to lofty ideals of respecting the dignity of children doesn’t put food into their That Ain't So Bad The government’s announcement that will sell the B.C. Steam- . ship Co., which operates two casino-equipped ships between Vie-. toria and Seattle, got some unexpected response from Victoria . Mayor Gretchen Brewin. . ; Brewin, a long-time NDP member with even longer NDP family ties, said the proposed sale’s potential is exciting, as long as it doesn’t involve the elimination of the Victoria-Seattle run. Stellar Internationa! of Seattle appears to have the inside track on. * ‘the deal, so far. According to a number of companies interested in purchasing the Crown corporation, it is the casinos and slot machines on the two ships that make the deal attractive. To be able to keep an eye on the floating gaming activities, the government plans to keep a minority position in the operation. a -New Awards = | What with the black eyes errant teachers and principals have been ' giving British Columbia’s education system, news of award-winning | teachers is a welcome relief. Last week, Advanced Education Minister Stan Hagen presented . two Comox teachers with a Youth Advisory Council award for “their dedication and commitment to young people in the com- munity.” The two were David Vranjes, vice-principal, and Heather Van Holderbeke, house co-ordinator at Highland Secondary School. . Super Salestady . Super sales person of super-natural British Columbia, Grace Mc- Carthy, announced last week that B.C. businesses will get a fair shot at securing part of the action from two major federal procure- ment contracts. Up for grabs are numerous sub-contracts involved in the con- struction of between 40 to 50 helicopters for ‘Canada’s military at a cost of $2 billion, and the building of a $150 million sonar system for the choppers. | Prime contenders for the two contracts have already briefed B.C. € companies on the opportunities for lucrative sub-contracts, © \ Leen re primera aera 8 are