What Mike says

There's good news coming for our
forest and mines industries, says
the premier/NEWS A5 |

The heder

Frances Birdsell and her family
report back from their new home —
in El Salvador/COMMUNITY B1 -

Golden moments

| Two golds and other medals were
by local skaters recently in.
Houston/SPORTS C1

WEDNESDAY
MARCH ®, 1994

-ST

TANDA

75¢ PLUS 5¢GST
VOL. 6.NO. 47-9

Daycare to run 24 hours a day —

MICKEY AND SHARON Brom-
ley say they’ve found a way to in-
crease the number of children
they can legally take care of at
their Discovery Daycare’s new
Hamer Ave, location.

And that's to expand their busi-
ness beyond its normal daytime
hours,

“We're going to try shift work-

ing child care,’’ Mickey Bromley

said last week,

The switch could also involve
overnight care and emergency
care should the latter need arise,
he said,

Veni

The Bromleys beeame well
known last month when council
denied their request lo amend the
city’s R1 zone.

They had wanted to take care of
up to 20 children at any one time,
more than doubling the number
now allowed under the Ri zone,
Their new 4700 Block Hamer
Ave. location is in that zone,

“There's nothing in the by-law
that says we cannot operate 24
hours a day,’? Bromley pointed
out.

There would not be more than
eight children on the premises at

= Determined run -
SKIING CAN be an individual sport as this lone downhiller
demonstrates. Good weather and good snow on Shames

There would not be more than eight children on the
premises at any one time in accordance with zoning
regulations, says daycare operator Mickey Bromley.

any one time in accordance with
R1 zone regulations, he added.

While admitting the change will
be tough on the couple, Bromley
said they didn’t have much
choice.

That’s because an cight-child
facility would simply not provide
enough income for the family to
survive on.

| Mountain have combined. for an excellent s season to ‘dete,
“PHOTO ¢ COURTESY OF JAMES. SPRENGER.

“One of us would have io go
out and get another job,’’ Brom-
ley said, adding he saw. little
chance of their Gnding one in the
field for which they have trained,

Noting Discovery would be the
first licenced overnight child care
facility in the community, Brom-
ley said there seemed to be some

Finances said the reason

Crisis line closing down —

THE NORTHWEST’S only crisis
line is closing down this Friday.

It'll become a phone line for
sexual assault victims, its original
purpose when first installed in
1985, an official For its sponsor-
ing agency said last week.

Paul O’Deil of Ksan House
Sociely said it can no longer af-
ford the expansion to a full crisis
line which took place in 1992.

“We have a contract to run a
sexual assault centre from the
attorney-general’s ministry. and
the phons line is part of the
centre’s operation, We never did
have the money to mun a crisis
line,’ he said,

The starting polnt for the deci-
sion to revert back was financial,
O’Dell added. ;

That’s because the two full time

counsellors. now on duty with the,

sexual assault centre were consid-
ered underpald by the. attorney
general’s ministry, ~

This was taken care of when ine 2

centre’s contract was renegotiated
last fall, said O'Dell.

Those two counsellors will get
a further raise when a half-time
person, hired to co-ordinate the
volunteers who now staff the line,
is eliminated, he said.

A second consideration came
aflcr speaking to the volunicers
who staff the line, O'Dell said,

“We -recently . evaluated the

- crisis line. ‘The volunteers said

there weren't 100 per cent com-
fortable due to the nature of. the
crisis line,’’ he said.

“They didn’t feel comfortable
with the skills they had.”

Volunteers- also felt they at
limes worked in isolation because
ihey worked out of their homes,
depending upon calis conting: in
on beepers;

The crisis line. look atl average
360 phone calls a year, lets than.
15 per cent of which. had to do |.

with sexual assault,

categorized as people needing
emotional support, said O’Dell.

“This is not a ploy,’ said
O’Dell of the decision. ‘All
we're doing is going back to our
mandate.’”

There were efforts made to gain
more money to properly operate a
crisis line but no responses were
rectived from the provincial
government, lie said,

O’Dell said he realizes the can-
cellation of the crisis line will
take some. time. to percolate
through the northwest.

“It's unfortunate, but when
somebody does call the number,
as of March 11, they’ll get a mes-
sage saying the number is no
longer in service,”* said O'Dell.

‘He is confident that those who
do need sexual assault counsell- |

ing will call directory information

and get the new. phone number

for the service,

_“For the others, there I¢ a 1-800

Sixty per cent of the call were . number for vietins* services and “

demand for the service.

All that was needed to meet the
licensing Tequirements was the
purchase of some beds.

This week was to be the Dis-
covery Daycare’s first at the
Hamer St, address.

They moved to the new location
after their Agar Ave, spot was
sold to 4 church.

The zoning there permitted the
Bromleys 10 take 16 children,

kaekkk

In the meantime the Bromleys
still have to contend with cutting
the number of children From 16 to

eight for their daytime operation
to meet the R1 zoning: Tegula-
tions,
Mickey Bromley said. be was
leaving that to the parents.
Conceding the parents might
have difficulty finding altemale

child care quickly, he was critical °

of council’s refusal to grant even
a temporary permit to alow them
time to do so.

‘SIE they cannot even allow usa
coupie of weeks, I think that's
pretty sad,’’ said Bromley.

“Pm not going to turn any chil-
dren away,”’ he added.

Surgeon tale
not over yet

LAST WEER’S decision to leave
the northwest’s orthopedic surgi-
cal service in Kitimat doesn’t
mean it will be there forever, says
Skeena NDP MLA Helmut Gies-
brecht.

Although happy the planned
move of the service to Prince
Rupert was cancelled, Glesbrecht

., Said the issue could still be raised

when a new northwest regional
health board is in place,

These regional bodies are being
created by the provincial govern-
ment to make health care deci-
sions.

They'll replace the current sys-
tem in which Victoria-based
health ministry officials have the
final say on money and services.

Interim regional health boards
are to be in place, along with
community-based ones, by this
fall.

“Eventually some decision will
have to be made about where it’s
going to go and that'll be up to
ihe regional health board,’’ said
Giesbrecht last week of the
orthopedic service. ,

The decision to leave the ser-
vice in Kitimat and to add an ad-
ditional service in Prince Rupert
bought the region some time until
the tegional health board is in
place, he added. :

“After a couple of years ‘it'll
have some experience in terms of
necds,’’ sald Giesbrecht of the
new body.

Ultimately decisions will have
to be based on where the service

_ will do the most good and on how

much health care money is avail-
able, he continued.
“It could very well be a case of

*here’s the money and you figure

out what should happen,’ ” said
Giesbrecht.

In the meantime, Prince Rupert
is getting its own orthopedic
surgeon and the money to run the
service.

The decision by health minister
Paul Ramsey to leave surgeon Dr.
Sean Phalen in Kitimat and lo

Aire an additional, surgeon. for...
Prince. Rupert followed massive

protests by Kitimat.

Those began in January’ when
Ramsey announced the service
was being moved to” ‘Prince
Rupert.

His decision, based on a recom-
mendation in a 1992 review of

_forthwest health services, came —

after northwest hospitals couldn’t
agree among themselves on what
should happen.

At the time, Ramsey’ said he

didn’t want to wait’ until «the
regional health care board was in
place.

But protests and arguments by

Giesbrecht and by many people

in Kitimat caused Raney to

reverse his decision. =~

Giesbrecht said the ministry
couldn’t defend the decision as
circumstances had changed since
the. 1992 recommendation. was
Teleased.

A lack of specialized medical
services two years ago in Prince
Rupert was a problem but isn’t
anymore because improvements
have since been made,’ said Gices-
brecht. ~

“What this would have done is
take something out of Kitimat
and not put something in its
place,” be said of Ramsey” 8
original decision.

Cont'd Page Aa

i

Paul oO’ Dell

that’s in the (telephone) book,’’
said O’Dell.
If people do call the new num-

ber and are not sexual assault vic- .

tims they will be ‘referred to the

victims’ services 1-800 number in, 4d

the phous number.

ONCE COUNCIL has made
a decision om an Issue, that
should be the end of il, one
of ils members has svg-
gested.

Councillor Gordon Hull's
reaction came after last.
week's council © meeting
opened with 40 minutes of
presentations on the Dis-
covery Daycare issue.

Council has already
denied a request for a:
zoning change bui the major
players showed up again
when the. daycare centre
wanted a temporary permit,

Hull found little support
for a suggestion that council
‘introduce. a policy to repetl-
tion,

“We are a: public forum,'”.
mayar Jack Talstra:poitiled.

: oul, “We have to eileourage:

Once is plenty,
says councillor

Said it was often difficult to

‘said he wouldn’t object to “

, decisions were fe inde,

the public to participate.”

Councillor Ruth Hallock ©
agreed, noting, ‘We are not”
the Royal family.” ;

While not endorsing Gore |
don Hull’s position, council- ©
lor David Hull suggested |
council require petitioners’
to pre-register aiid submit
written copies of their.
presentations. 7

Explaining the latter, he:

keep up. to speakers When

irying to make ndtes of the.

points they were raising. : a
Councllior Ed Graydon

having an open phone line ~
‘to council meetings. - a
Huil later sald the problem _
was having to hear presenta
tions over. again cven after.”

aire