. a)

the moment, "There’s the whole question of what’s
going to happen to Stewart itself," says George.
"There’s still the question as to what the future is for
Stewart."

The mayor of Stewart is not discouraged. The
best the Industrial Adjustment Program might be
able to offer is retraining or relocation for jobless
residents. Cornell doesn’t want to consider the
relocation aspect, of course — they need people to
stay in Stewart. But retraining for some new oppor-
tunity might be the key.

The obvious question is, "What opportunity?”, of
course. No existing manufacturer or business seems
in a hurry to relocate to Stewart. "But maybe there
are some options out there," says Cornell. "Not the
big jobs with 150 to 200 employees, but the little
ones with 20 or 30."

And as the search for those "little ones" con-
tinues, Stewart will survive, says Cornell. The new
$2 million RCMP building is under construction,
creating a few jobs. And the new $5 million hospital
facility should go to tender by the end of March. If
the project remains on schedule construction could
begin as early as April, she says, and there could be

a few jobs there as well.

Longer term hopes might be placed on Westmin,
whose Premier gold mine is scheduled to close in the
fall. "They’ve struck an agreement with Dome Moun-
tain," says Cornell, "and they're hauling their ore
now and processing it here. I suppose if they get
enough they might be able to warrant staying open
full-time, full-bore."

On the other hand, "Maybe they’re going to have
to downsize their crews and keep it at a minimum.
There’s different options they have... Different days
per month, etc."

You may have noticed Cornell said "downsize"
not "eliminate" their crews, an indication that she
truly believes this latest Westmin venture will work.
It’s also an indication of good old Stewart optimism,
you might say.

The true Stewart optimism is much brighter,
though. Following the expression of her belief that,
at the very worst, there will only be a downsizing of
Westmin staff, Cornell offered this: "Unless they hit
the Mother Lode... Which we know they’re going to
do this summer.”

No one was seriously hurt, but as is indicated above some local drivers still haven't quite
figured out traffic flows at Sparks and Lazelle. In the meantime, city council as asked for
reports on traffic at the intersections of Eby and Lakelse and Kalum and Lazelle. RCMP
data for these two intersections will be reviewed during next week’s Public Works
Committee meeting, and a Public Works traffic count will be carried out next month. With

_ the above reminder of commercial and traffic growth on Lazelle Ave., however, council
might want to consider widening the scope of this current study.

Terrace Review — February 28, 1992 9