best and brightest
2 Last week an independent arbitrator decided that the

_Ministry. of Environment was justified in its dismissal of
“Terrace biologist Jorma Jyrkkanen. Arbitrator: Hugh

“Ladner said in his decision that there is no question of |

Jyrkkanen’s qualifications or his: commitment to his
job, but ‘he violated the oath of -confidentiality ad-
‘ministered to. all civil servants-and ‘that violation was

causeforfiring = a
~ Confidentiality is an absolutely necessary principle in
certain government operations to protect.the privacy of
individuals and businesses in some areas, an example be-
“ing taxation records which, if revealed, could be used
‘unscrupulously. The requirement for secrecy, however,
“is an obstacle when issues of public safety are‘involved
or confidentiality:is used to prevent public scrutiny of
“the actions of government officials or corporate entities.
There is an alarming question of accountability here,
“anda question of which matters: should ‘remain. con-

‘fidential and which should be opened to public examina-

= F a %

wwers. in go

-themiselves, on: whose behalf this oath is being sworn. —

Sa TN me agg gS Ea PT ce rn A ga See oa eer area

oe

7 ae gery a ee

‘ath-of confidentiality is a matter ripe for review.
vernment.-should. perhaps. be asking

The Terrace Child Development Cenire needs
volunteers to assist our therapy and pre-school staff
with individual treatment programs. Activities include:
bike riding, swimming and other staff recommenda-
tions. For more information contact Maureen or Mon-

ique at 635-9388 or 635-7557.

Terrace Review ©

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protected under Canadlan copyright Registea-
tion No. 362775 and cannot legally be repro-

Established May 1, 1985
The Terrace Review is published

each Wednesday by duced for any feason without permission of the

, publisher.
Close-Up Business Services Ltd Ernors and omissions. Advertising is accepted
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:‘ Mark Twyford typographicat error, that portion of the advertis:
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Editor: not be charged for, but the balance of the adver-

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Advartisars musi assume responaibilily for ar-
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Michael Kelly
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expressed are not necessarily those of the Terrace Heview.

_by Victorla correspondent
Mark Collins

Privatization of the en-
vironmental laboratory has
become the NDP’s issue of the
week, but they’re not having
much success stirring up public
sentiment against the Social
Credit government’s privatiza-
tion plans.

Environment and Parks
Minister Bruce Strachan has
been calmly. pouring water on
the brushfires being started by
his critic, NDP MLA Joan
Smallwood. Unlike some of his
less polished cabinet colleagues,

- Strachan uses the timing he

learned during the years he
worked as a pianist playing in
the Inn of the North in Prince
George. ;
When the questioning during
his spending estimates gets a
little hot he replies with a
longer, slower, often entertain-
ing answer. It’s easier to ask-
tough questions if you dislike
the person being questioned but
Strachan makes that difficult.

_He’s not quite unflappable, but

it takes a concerted effort to
make him lose his cool.

When Smallwood asks about
public accountability once B.C.
Research starts to act on behalf
of the Environment Ministry,
Strachan simply compares the
role of the private firm to that

- Strachan’s a cool player

of an auditor, ‘‘Whenever you
have an audit, whether it be in
the financial world or the en-
vironmental or scientific world,
the auditor acts on behalf of
the person who employs him to
do that.’? The minister went on
to describe the standard audit-
ing tests involved.

The NDP critic questioned
the changes to the role of the
B.C. Research Council which,
since its establishment 40 years
ago, worked very closely with
industry to transfer technology.
She acknowledges the great
record of the outfit but says its
closeness to industry is a con-
flict of interest. Strachan, -
however, says B.C. Research is
‘pure, academic, and at arm’s
length, everything you want a
good audit function to be.””

As for the environmental lab
itself, the government’s descrip-
tion of the privatization bene-
fits for all is as glowing as can
be. The purchaser must meet
strict standards and have the
capacity to support a full range
of testing programs. ‘‘Not only
will the standards for this
testing be maintained, but
reorganization of the labora-
tory’s other functions will ac-

Local letter carriers
collect for sick kids

TERRACE — Local mail car-
riers are participating in a
nation-wide fundraising drive to
assist Canadian hospitals for
sick ‘children. Anne Payne,
president of the Terrace local of
the Letter Carriers? Union of
Canada (LCUC), said last week
that local members will accept
donations while on their rounds
and return receipts for tax
deductions the following day.
Payne said all donations col-
lected here will go to Children’s
Hospital in Vancouver. The Ter-
race LCUC has to have its dona-
tions sent in to Victoria by July 1

ness ownership between either

tually increase their effec-
tiveness,”? Strachan said. A”
purchaser must demonstrate ca-
pacity for immediate response,
24 hours a day and seven days
a week.

What we are heading for is a
situation where a sample from
a private company is analyzed
by a private lab and the results
are checked by-a private
auditing firm. The government
is taking it one step further by
having the audit results checked
from time to time by splitting a
sample and sending it to two
different private labs.

So long as the government
carefully ensures there are no
problems with common busi-

of these levels, the test results -
should be objective. If the
minister’s prediction of a 15
percent cost saving to the tax-
payers comes true, this
privatization may prove to be
worthwhile. It remains to be
seen whether the savings are
achieved through real efficiency.
or just by making people work
for less money and fewer ,
benefits than they had as |
government employees.

to coincide with the beginning of
a cross-Canada bicycle ride be-
ing undertaken by a group of
carriers from the Maritimes.
Their goal is to reach St. John’s,
Newfoundland by July 31, col-
lecting donations along the way.
Last year the letter carriers
raised $50,000 for the Children’s
Wish Foundation, an amount
that was matched by the LCUC
national office. The $100,000
total was used to grant the last
wishes of terminally ill children.
Anyone wishing to help in this
years’ cause can simply make the
donation to their letter carrier,