A4- The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, May 17, 2000 ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988 ADDRESS: 3210 Clinton Street Terrace, B.C. * V8G 5R2 TELEPHONE; (250) 638-7283 * FAX: (250) 638-8432 TER R ACE PUBLISHER: ROD LINK EMAIL: standard@kermoce.net Wood words IT’S TIME for Premier Ujjal Dosanjh to get a bit more excited about the discussions between for- est companies and environmental groups about a coastal logging freeze. To be sure, Mr. Dosanjh was emphatic about the situation during a recent visit to Terrace. The ' greens and the loggers could make all the deals they wanted, said the premier, but the ultimate de- cision-maker would be the provincial govern- ment. After all, the wood is not owned by the greens or the loggers, It’s owned by the people through the provincial government. Yet there’s a feeling that should the province not make more of a ruckus it’s going to be pre- sented with what the greens and the loggers will ' term a lock solid deal. That will make the province look as if it is a la- tecomer to the situation which is a disadvantage that will be hard to overcome. Mr, Dosanjh’s style is to be cool and calm in an obvious effort to put a great deal of distance: from the raucous style of Glen Clark. As a political tactic that might be a good thing. But logging means jobs and jobs are a scarce commodity in B.C. A bit of table-thumping would at least give-people in logging communi- , ties a sense of comfort that Mr. Dosanjh is send- ing a strong signal about who is exactly in charge of B.C.’s forests. Friendly Giant . YOU KNOW the words. “Look way up and: ri call Rusty.” With the exception of Foster He- — witt’s play-by-play of Paul Henderson’s winning goal against the Soviets in 1972, there’s probably no television memory that sticks most in the minds of Canadians, For years Bob Homme’s 15-minute television show, The Friendly Giant, entertained and educa- ted generations of Canadian children. Rusty, Jerome and those musical cats offered a quiet and calming period each day. The Friendly Giant read us books. He was never excited. Never shouted. He played music. He always had good things to say. Now contrast that to what passes as children’s television today. It’s hard to pick out the show it- self because the characters are wedded to pro- ducts they are created to sell. Multi-coloured ani- mation explodes off of the TV screen. Mega-de- cibel sound pummels the senses instead of educa- ting young minds. Entertainment? More like: cruel and unusual punishment. The Friendly Giant may today be regarded as old-fashioned and stodgy, something quaint even. But when you think of that drawbridge coming down and that hand arranging those chairs, we could sure use that kind of television again. 1998 WINNER CCNA BETTER PUBLISHER/EDITOR: Rod Link ADVERTISING MANAGER: Brian Lindenbach PRODUCTION MANAGER: Edouard Credgeur NEWS Jeff Nagel *« NEWS/SPORTS: Christiana Wiens NEWS /COMMUNITY: Alex Hamilton FRONT OFFICE: Darlene Keeping CIRCULATION SUPERVISOR: Carole Kirkaldy ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS: Sam Bedford, Mark Beaupre & Stacy Swetlikott TELEMARKETER: Stacy Swetlikoff DARKROOM/COMPOSING: Susan Credgeur ‘ AD ASSISTANT: Kulwant Kandola SUBSCRIPTION RATES BY MAIL: $84, 88(+$3.85GST) per year, Seniors $48.62 (+$3.40GST); Out of Province $61.69 (+$4.32GST) ‘Outside of Canada (6 months) $151.60 (+$10.61GST) MEMBER OF B.C. AND YUKON COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION, CANADIAN CONMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION G CN A BC, press COUNCIL copeeierets Serving the Terrace and Thomhill area, Published an Wednesday of aach week al 3210 Clinton Streel, Terrace, Sritish Columbia, V8G 5R2. Stories, photographs, illustrations, designs and typastyles in the Terrace Standard are the property of the copyright holders, inciuding Cariboo Press (1969) Ltd,, its illustration repro services and advertising agancias. Rleproducton In whole or In pait, without wiitan parnission, is specifically prohibited, Authorized as second-class mail pending the Post Offica Department, for payment of postage in cash, Special thanks io all our contributors and correspondents for their time and talents © “Mockey ah eam We're ona iy 10 be the cdnadid nd | 4 Gai. 7 We can’ VICTORIA - Scratch the sur- face of undeniably beautiful British Columbia, and you find one sick puppy hiding under all that natural splendour. Oh, life's just grand when you have a job, a roof aver your head, drive a nice car, take the odd vacation and have no health problems. And yes, that's the majority of all British Columbians. But what of the minority, the treatment of which defines a society? What of the lost souls wondering city streets, sleeping in doorways? What of the teen prostitutes kept in bondage by pimps? What of the old people whose twilight years are spent in substandard seniors' homes? What of the single mothers who have to support them- , selves” and_ their children on. minimum Wage?e >< i dog "What of the’kids, who need” and can't find foster homes. What of the children who are living in sexually and physic- ally abusive conditions? What of the drug addicts, for whom . there are not enough detox centres? And what of the mentally ill who historically have been short-changed by whatever system or government was in power and should have looked FROM THE CAPITAL HUBERT BEYER after them? Politicians do pay lip ser- vice to the need for care and support systems of the mental- ly ill. In October 1998, the pro- vincial government appointed a Mental Health Advocate. Recently, Dr. Nancy Hall re- _ Jeased -her first report’, and it - doesn't paint a pretty picture. More than 600,000 mental- ly ill British Columbians are suffering from discrimination and a lack of support from every level of society, Hall says. The mentally ill are crushed by poverty, tormented by the justice system and shunted to the margins by the health care system. “Discrimination lies at the root of the severe problems IT WILL be a momentous ac- casion when society finds a cure for the NIMBY syndrome, especially if it’s due to fear of - lower property values. Couple that with politicians who con- sult first, legislate later, and we'll have many fewer citizen confrontations, The latest local dust-up comes from a last minute an- naouncement of a detox center for northwest drug or alcohol addicted youth to open near the corner of Halliwell and Eby. Cunningly, Victoria gag- ged the news until fanfare was rehearsed, bigwigs invited, and ribbon cutting scissors oiled. Litlle wonder neighbours exploded at yet another exam- ple - this one on their door- Steps ~ of our provincial gov- ernment fixing to cut and run, The dust was only settling after the no-smoking ban in workplaces was quashed by a court because of lack of con- sultation, Oddly, 20 neighbours were THROUGH. BIFOCALS: CLAUDETTE SANDECKI notified by letter March 1; only three responded. Yet now much of the neighbourhood seems to be incensed. What fanned those three respondents into a neighbourhood uprising? Because Victoria's secrecy So upset neighbours, the bene- fits of the detox center have been overlooked. The detox centre is a priority especially in the light of the Maple Ridge nine-year-old’s death faced by the hundreds of thou- sands of British Columbians suffering from mental illness, and this simply must stop,” she says. Twenty per cent of the po- pulation, Hall says, suffer mental illness in varying de- grees in any given year, but only seven per cent of the pro- vince's $7.5 billion health care budget goes to mental health programs. Even if one considers the 60,000 British Columbians who suffer from severe mental illness, there isn't enough money to go around. Only 12,000 received treatment, ac- cording to the Health Mini- stry's 1997-98 report. Services for the mentally ill are bad enough in urban centres, but worse in rural areas, Hallysays. Some 40 gen- *eraly hospitals i in B.C. commu~_ “nities have no psychiatrist or psychiatric beds, One result of this neglect is that an proportionately large number of mentally ill people run afoul of the law. Quoting a 1999 survey by the Attorney General's Ministry, Hall said that 32 per cent of inmates in B.C. had a mental disorder, few of them treated. The mentally il] wait for services, Hall observed, but and the subsequent allegations involving a 20-year-old suffer- ing from fetal alcohol syn- drome. Those to be treated at the detox centre will be between the ages of 12 and 19. In alt likelihood, more than one of those females will have given birth to a child or two. And any child born of an alcohol-con- suming mother runs the risk of brain damage, setting up our community with yet another unhealthy, troubled child de- pendent upon social services and foster care. We all want our youth to be free — and cured — of drug and alcoho] addictions. One hitch here might be that the kids themselves have to ask for this treatment. Kicking addictions isn’t usually a priority for them. Which makes me wonder how soon this program, too, will be shut down, if not for lack of clients, then for with- holding of funding. This gov- ernment has a record of You KNOW THERE'S AND IF GRAVITY NOTHING BETWEEN FEVER CLICKED OFC THE Tor OF YOUR | You Pp JusT PRIFT HEAD AND THE SUN. AWAY INTO OUTER SPACE FOREVER 71! the mentally ill they're waiting in jail. She also says she gets many reports of rough treatment of mentally ill by police and stall at hospital emergency TOOms. Hall's report contains a number of recommendations, . including to foster more public awareness and understanding of. the mentally ill, measures to lift them out of poverty, stan- dards for access to treatment and the creation of a mental health commission to oversee the transition to effective com- munity care. The commission would be independent of the health ministry. It appears that in spite of all the information available to us, we still treat the mentally ill as if they were responsible for their condition. Cancer agencies have no problem generating | donations. how mare ‘worthy of support to many people, Hail ought to be commen- ded for bringing an unaccept- able situation to the public's attention. If only now we had a government with the political will to do something about it. Beyer can be reached at: gE - om a i I huberi@coolcom.com; Tel (250) 381-6900; Web Attp:/www.hubertbeyer.com nen ee nn Don't condemn detox centre launching programs with much hoopla, only to let them die. Sleeping Beauty Lodge comes to mind, The detox program is billed at $850,000. Six youth at a _ time are to spend 30 days under close supervision and ' treatment. By my math, that works out to $11,805.56 per child for 30 days care. Coincidentally the Betty Ford Clinic in California charges the same rate. We'll A physical ‘illness: seems some- _ be giving our addicted kids the same royal treatment Liz Tay- . lor got, Neighbours worry about lower property values. Victoria says there’s no proof that will — result. Maybe if neighbours don't draw attention to the treatment house, and instead welcome the kids like any other new resident, won't be so inclined to turn down their nose at property for sale in that area, | Remember, while the kids lunch at your table, they can’t’ thieve from your carport. buyers .