A4 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, September 17, 1997

TERRACE

STANDARD

4847 Lazalte Ave,, Terrace, B.C. VAG 1S8 (504) 698-7283 Fax (604) 698-8492
ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988

A Division of Cartboo Press (1969) Ltd.
ADDRESS: 3210 Clinton Street Terrace, B.C. * V8G SR2
TELEPHONE: (250) 638-7283 + FAX: (250) 638-8432
EMAIL: standard@kermode.net

Vigilance
IF A deal struck to save Skeena Cellulose hangs
together, the temptation might be to celebrate,
make major purchases once again, or erect
shrines to Dan Miller.

Make no mistake, the employment and invest-
ment minister deserves some kind of medal for
apparently stitching together an eleventh hour
solution between banks, unions and the govern-
ment to restart the region’s mills.

How it will all shake out — and in particular
the company’s long term prospects and what this
deal has cost taxpayers — is still a bit fuzzy.

But one thing must be remembered in the
months ahead.

The fundamental problems and challenges of
the northwest forest industry have not gone
away,

We continue to live among and depend on for
our livelihoods vast forests of beautiful but
largely rotted trees.

Until we can find new, more innovative ways
of using those trees, pulp will remain a four-
letter word and one that tends to threaten the jobs
in our region periodically.

This is not a time for complacency but one to
redouble our efforts to find innovative ways of
making the forest industry here work.

The fact that the province will now be a part
owner of the operations is the best guarantee the
northwest is ever going to get that the unique
characteristics of these forests will get the spe-
cial attention they deserve.

For that simple fact we should all be thankful
— even those among us deeply opposed to
government involvement in the private sector.

It gives some breathing room to find long-term
solutions, And finding those solutions will likely
depend on the people with the most af siiki
northwesterners. ce. 1 8

Nonsense

TERRACE the third worst place in B.C. to do
business?

Not likely.

But that’s the rating we got in a survey of local
business views of municipalities across the coun-
try.

Although the survey is seen as something as a
black eye at city hall, the results just don’t make
a lot of sense.

Granted, business property taxes here are high,
but that’s a function of the lack of heavy industry
here that form the backbone of the tax base in.
places like Kitimat and Prince Rupert.

City council] here has historically been com-
prised of small business people who are particu-
larly understanding of the tribulations of private
enterprise. How they could be much more busi-
ness friendly is difficult to imagine.

The product of that attitude has been record
construction in recent years and the most vibrant
commercial sector in the northwest.

Clearly it isn’t all that bad around here.

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Dilitee Coteette oe Tubes

Serving the Tartace and Thombill area. Published on Wednesday of each week by Cariboo Press (1969)
Ud. al 3240 Clinton Strest, Terrace, British Columbla, V8G 52,

Stories, photographs, illustrations, dasigns and typestyles in the Terrace Standard are the property of tha
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Special thanks to all our contributors and correspondents
for thelr time and talents

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Stop the boot licking, Ottawa

VICTORIA — Last time I
wrote aboul the Alaskan fish-
ing fleet behaving like a horde
of pirates of old, I got skinned
alive by some readers, particu-
larly those from Alaska who,
thanks to the Intemet, read my
column.

A few days ago, an indepen-
dent expert in international law
confirmed just aboul every-
thing I had ‘said, except he
didn’t refer to the Alaskans as
pirates, not in so many words
anyway.

What Dr. J. Alan Beesley did
say, however, was that
Alaska’s claim to B.C, salmon
on the grounds of what it calls
pasturage, ‘‘has no basis in
fact or law.’’ Now, if he’s
right, the behavior of the Alas-
kan fleet during the past fish-

‘amounts: ‘torpiracy; I: swould. Says

"Beesleyiis'atretired: federal,

diplomat. He has served as Ca-
nadian ambassador in a num-
ber of countrics and United
Nations posts, He also headed
the Canadian delegation to the
Law of the Sea Conference
some 15 years ago. His report
probably prompted the B.C.
government to Jaunch a $325
million Jaw suit against the
U.S., Alaska and Washington.
His credentials make Beesley
a more reliable expert on inter-
national law than the Alaskan
cowboy attorney general who

oingce SEARO A pretty . muchyes

FROM THE CAPITAL

HUBERT BEYER

is trying to seize Canadian
fishing vessels that took part in
the recent blockade of the
Alaska State Ferry in Prince
Rupert. Some Canadian law,
never designed for that pur-
pase, allows him to do that
ied in our own ports.

- Alaska's claim to the salmon

“is based on what they cuil

pasturage, referring to the sal-
mon runs’ brief journey
through American waters on
their way to British Columbia
streams, where they eventually
spawn.

While the fish are in Amer-
ican waters, they say, the Alas-
kan Oeel can scoop them up
like cattle caught on some U.S.
pasture.

Nuts, says Beesley. Such a
claim is ‘‘diametrically op-
posed to the accepted princi-
ples of international law on

anadromous species (species
migrating, from the ocean to
spawn in fresh water).

‘A claim as unfounded and
legally frivolous as the Alas-
kan invention of a pasturage
concept should be finnly re-
jected by both of the treaty
parties, namely: the USA and
Canada,’’ says Beesley.

The frivolous paslurage con-
cept emerged only recently, 12
years after the Pacific Salmon
Treaty, which expired-a few
years ago, was signed by the
two countries.

Beesley bases his opinion

. largely on the 1982 United Na-

tions Law of the Sea Conven-
tion which was signed by more
than 150 countries, including
Canada. The U.S., however,
wasi’t a signatory to the treaty
and, therefore, evidently feels
free to pillage the salmon runs
on their way to the spawning
grounds.

Article 66 of the convention,
the Intemational Law = of
Anadromous ‘Species, often
referred to as the Constitution
of the Oceans, however, is
legally binding on all nations,
including the U.S. and Canada,
says Beesley.

So why isn’t the U.S,
government insisting —that
Alaska adhere to that law?
Good question, considering
that the salmon treaty was be-
tween the two federal govern-

inents, and neither states nor

provinces were signatories to .

that treaty.
Of course, as long as Ottawa

lines up with Washington —
apainst British Columbia in -

this international
there’s little chance the prob-

dispute, ©

lem will be resolved in time °
for next year’s fishing season.
And not even the legal opinion ~
of a respected expert on inter- "

poveming
oceans will

national = laws
fisheries and
change that.
Frankly, I’m sick and tired of
our federal govermment’s
sycophantic tap dance on the
international stage. And so are
most British Columbians. A
recent Environics poll showed

that 58 per cent of British .

Columbians are supporting

Premier Glen Clark's tough .

Stand on the issue.

And don’t tell me that diplo- .
macy is where it’s at, 1 don’t:
believe it. And neither do most

British Columbians.

We want the federal govern-
ment to stand up for the rights
of British Columbians, Federal
Fisheries Minister David
Andersen should give Bees-
ley’s report a careful read and
start standing up to American
bullies instead of licking their
boots.

Beyer can be reached at Tel:
(250) 920-9300; Fax: (250)
385-6783. E-Mail address:
huberi@coolcom.com

Come here, piggy, piggy

“SPECIALIZED pig herds
might become the source of
human spare parts in the fu-
ture,” says Dr. Vivian
McAlister, a transplant
surgeon at Dalhousie Univer-
sity in Halifax.

Can’t you picture a Manitoba
pig farmer showing off his dif-
ferent pens full of animals.
“These are all heart ‘Those
weanlings are kidney beings.”

Pig organs have been used as
temporary substitules while
patients wait for a human
donor. Unfortunately the hu-
man body always rejects pig
organs. But scientisls have
found that some pigs provided
organs with fewer rejection
prablems than others,

Researchers at the Nova
Scotia Agricultural college in
Truro are trying to find a way
to identify these animals and
use them to breed a herd that
uniformly bas the trait.

Still, scientists say they must
either change the pig so it is
less likely to be rejected, or

WELL BRIEFLY MR.
MINISTER OUR.

THROUGH BIFOCALS.
CLAUDETTE SANDECKI

change the donor to be more
tolerant of the pig organ.

So how would you make a
person more tolerant of a pig
organ? = Especially —_—since
making people more tolerant
of human homosexuals is so
uphill.

Is there a way to trick people
into living in less fastidious
fashion? To lear to love fer-
mented foods besides yogurt?
To savour a munch of greens,

QUANTITATIVE ANA er

roots, and kitchen orts? To not
bristle at the mention of the

Bay of Pigs? Or to forsake any .

phobia to a luau?

Interspersing pictures of
Miss Piggy among family
photos in the piano might help.
And scheduling family
reunions to coincide with fall
fairs.

Whisk pigskin gloves from
the home and never add them
to a Christmas wish list.

In conversation, make no
mention of bacon, ham, hocks,
or even selling the sizzle.
Restrict mealtime chit chat to
grunis, squeals, and snorts.
Many of us already do, except
for the squeals.

Prevail upon the CRTC to
curb Air Farce jokes about
Poland and China, Have a
court overnile Walt Disney
Productions; refuse to allow
more comic reruns of Parky
Pig being bested by a carrot-
chomping bunny. Censor hog
caliing fro America’s Funniest

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Home Videos.

Given the state of Canada’s
Health Care system and’ the
lengthy wailing periods for
surgery of all sorts, most organ
recipients have ample time to
leisurely modify their tolerance
leveis; some may benefit from
propping up by a support
group.

The odd one facing imminent
surgery can go for a crash
course, attend a spa, sleep on
Straw-filled mattresses, and
wallow in mud. Let a

psychologist persuade them «

chipmunk cheeks and Wilbur
width are sexier than Sarah
slimness.

Dr. McAlister says making

the donor more tolerant to the .

pig organ is the more hopeful
area of research. I dou’t know.

2

My Unele Gordon, who -
raised a pet pig, maintained -
Pigs are cleaner and smarter -

than we give them credit for.
Maybe they'd also be easier
to teach tolerance 1o,