Free parking | Some say it’s time to run the overnight campers out of parking lots downtown\NEWS A2 Great coach =. Local basketball guru Cam MacKay is the coach of the . year\SPORTS B4 Office space 4 Two local non profit societies move in — # under the same a am roof\COMMUNITY BL. $1.00 plus 7¢ GST ($1.10 plus 8 GST outside of the Terrace area) ANNIVERSARY 2003 City councillor fears Firm employs 250, spends $9m here : By JEFF NAGEL KITIMAT’s mayor and administrator made the pitch but Terrace councillors remain cool to the idea of joining their campaign to block Alcan power sales. Marylin Davies said the evidence laid out by Kitimat officials.in an April 23 meeting did not persuade her that their aggressive stance is justified. “Do you want an employer who has given them many, many advantages over the last 50 years feeling like they are being run out of town?” she asked. “Is this the message they want to give the investment community?” Mayor Rick Wozney and Kitimat officials fear Victoria’s failure to firm- ly enforce the 1950 deal that gave Alcan rights to the water of the Ne- chako River will allow the company to sell any electricity it doesn’t use. They believe that will set the stage for Alcan to rebuild its aluminum smelter so it uses'much less power — freeing up huge amounts for lucrative exports -and employing as few “as 1,000 workers. “For me, I think 1,000 workers is better than no. workers,” Davies said, citing the number Kitimat officials predict Alcan could slash its workforce to from recent levels of around 1,800. Other industries have had to adapt to losses of jobs from the levels of the 1950s, she added. _ She said Kitimat’s tactics — parti- cularly a possible lawsuit to restrict power sales — are dangerous and could prompt Alcan to punish the northwest. “T think there will be some serious repercussions out of it whether Alcan is right or whether Kitimat is right,” she said. “I don’t think you can ant- agonize a major employer by taking them to court after 50 years of benefit,” she said... Davies noted Alcan says the smel- ter is near the end of its lifespan. “They could shut the doors and go away. It is a possibility,” she said. ~~» Wednesday, May 7, 2003 Alcan’s wrath “They’re the largest employer in Terrace now,” she said, citing the sta- tistic that 250 Alcan workers live in Terrace and commute. Or, she said, f Alcan's purchasing depariment could buy fewer goods and services locally. The company spent $63 million in northwest B.C, last year - $9 million of that went “to 14 businesses in Terrace. “Terrace has been getting some nice contracts late- ly,” she said. “Those are things that Davies: could just maybe go somewhere else.” Councillor David Hull doubted . Alcan would act out of revenge rather than sound business aims. “I don’t think they're going to be in a major snit,” he said. “But I don’ t know what their poiicy is on smiting: those that have wronged them.” The Kitimat presentation made strong points, he said. “It's persuasive,” Hull said. “But so is Alcan’s presentation.” Hull said he suspects the province - _ likely over a large number of years ~ has been lax in monitoring the agree- ments and contracts governing Alcan and its use of a Crown watershed, Continued Page A2 aiming for December JOE DIAMARO and Mike Rouw were part of a crew from Terrace on the way to the old bridge. The Bridgeview viewpoint is the Paving that put dawn a layer of blacktop last week at the pullout Beautification Society's latest project. JENNIFER LANG PHOTO Bridgeview sroject gets pavement -ASPHALT WENT down last week at Bridgeview, the latest project of the Greater Terrace Beautifica- tion Society. It’s a lookout just off of La- kelse Ave: on the way to the old bridge, which, when’ finished next month, will provide ‘a view of the Skeena River, the old and new bridges and the mountains. There'll be a fenced off view- ing area, perennial and annual flower beds, a lawn and shrub area. Also present will be two infor- mation boards containing a dis- play of photos from the days be- fore the bridge, construction of the bridge, the big flood of 1936 and more. A special feature will be two benches made out of African hardwood taken from the deck of the old bridge. The project’s cost is more than $13,000 and it has been paid for » welcome to help defray expenses. by the beautification society. This year’s flower plantings will be blue and white in tribute ' of the city's 75th anniversary. On the list for another time is another history panel, old-fash- ioned lamp posts and more flo- wers. The cost has depleted the society’s savings, 80 donations are Layoffs hit school workers ‘It’s everybody,’ CUPE pres says By JENNIFER LANG MORE THAN 400 Coast Moun- tains school district employees have learned they will be laid off at the end of the school year. Layoff notices have gone out to 425 non-teaching staff across the district - from payroll clerks and custodians to counsellors and support workers who assist students with special needs. “Every single CUPE’ member in this district was:laid off as of Tune 30," local 2052 president _ Rita Hall said. “We're assum- ing it’s because of the four-day week,” The district expects to save more than $1 million in opera- ting costs by moving to a four- day school week next year. City speeds land rezoning , By. JEFF NAGEL . THE. CITY has accelerated, its. rezoning of iand’ for Wal-Mart because the company wants to. start building immediately to open the big box. store be- fore Christmas. , Council on April 28 re- zoned the city-owned ani- mal shelter property and adjacent parkland to ser- vice commercial, Planner David Trawin said the rezoning had to pass by the end of April to achieve a December open- ing. “They want to get going the beginning of June,” Trawin said. “From what I understand they'd like to be open for the Christmas rush.” That's the first indica- tion the big box store in- tends to be open this year. The city had been hold- ing off on final adoption of ‘the rezoning bylaws + which had been intro- duced earlier — until deve- loper First Pro Shopping Centres meets a series of conditions. Not all of the original conditions are met, In particular, there’s no final agreement yet on the land sale and exchange agreement . that.will see the city give up the animal shelter and park land for a strip-of park land that will become a riverside trail.’ - What ‘is in place.is gov-- ernment approval. from both the transportation: ministry on highway: ac- ; cess and from water land’ and ‘air protection officials approving construction closer to the river. Trawin sald . Wal-Mart: wanted to wait until 30° days after the rezoning —the appeal period for ’ legal challenges — before closing the land deals. If the rezoning waited until mid-May for council approval, that would have pushed the land deal sign- off to mid-June, he said, | meaning construction. couldn’t get started until the end of June. “That one month is cri- tical,” Trawin said. ' But Trawin said drop- ‘ping the extra conditions - isn’t a problem given the amount of money develo- pers have spent so far, making it clear they intend. to proceed and not sit on rezoned land. In the event: the land deal falls apart, he said, the city could re-— zone the land back again. While the plan doesn’t re- duce the amount of time stu- dents and teachers will spend inside a classroom over the year — it will have a huge im- pact on non-teaching staff, “It means a 20 per cent cut in wage to every single CUPE employee," Hall said. “It’s everybody.” A four-day week may not be the only threat on the horizon for non-instructional staff. Just last week education minister Christy Clark told the Terrace Standard the ministry is encouraging neighbouring tural school districts to.congoli- date financial departments like payroll services to save money. . When asked if this meant cutting more jobs, she said, “Not classroom jobs.” She added, “I don’t think we should be trying to preserve bureaucracy jobs when it comes at a cost to jobs in classrooms.” That comment stings. “You bet it does,” Hall said. “I think what upsets me most is we are considered an essential service. We have no way to’ fight this and yet they can lay. us all off.” Like most CUPE locals across B.C., local 2052’s con- tract expires June 30. CUPE job security money. from the last round of bargain-, ing saved the jobs of noon-hour supervisors in the Coast Moun- tains district this year. That money is now gone. Hall warns parents. could: be asked to pay noon hour supervi- sion fees next year.:' It's the fourth time in two years the district's CUPE mem- ‘bers have been issued layoffs. _ While many can expect to ‘ be called back in September, — Hall said her members face a 20 per cent reduction in work- - ing hours across the board. She said the district's aver- age custodian can expect a $400 per month pay cut thanks to the four-day week. “We're going to lose a lot of people because they simply can't survive on $400 Jess on their -pay cheque.” Clerical workers won't be able to work more than 28 hours “per ‘week because they won't be working Fridays, she said. She’s especially concerned about special services assis- tants. They work. with special needs students and don’t work ‘longer than six hour days, so they also act as noon-hour “gsupervisors to top up their hours. “SA “lot of them are single parents,” she added. ~~ Meanwhile, the school board office in Terrace will continue to operate five days a week. SIGN HERE: CUPE orasident Rita Hail is collecting signa- tures on a petition against the four-day school week. Hall has already gathered more than 400 signatures on a petition urging trustees to back down from the four-day school week. She believes there's still time to fight the plan. The district plans to adopt a local school calendar based on a four-day week at a special meeting May 27. The district recently agreed to a school-by-schoal consulta- tion process now underway. Trustees have said they en- dorsed a four-day week because it meant up to three schools would be able to keep their doors open next year.