A grim graph_ And here they are The tale of natural gas price hikes isn’t very pretty now or for the next little whileNNEWS A14 Way to go, folks Local seniors won more than 45 medals at the B.C. Seniors The results of the 30th annual Skeena Valley Fall Fair are available\COMMUNITY B1 Games in Kelowna\SPORTS B5 WEDNESDAY September 20, 2000 Docs decide strike fu Two patients flown out over weekend TERRACE DOCTORS head into a meeting tonight which could cither worsen their strike here or mark the beginning of its end. Physician spokesman Dr. Bill Redpath says one way to end the strike, which. began Sept. 11, isto learn if Mills Memorial Hospital will get substantially more 2 money than last year. But “if the hospital's budget i is a poor one, and specialists are not getting the TANDARD “The doctors hate this job action, We would luve to step down.” Doctors will also be looking for a break in their monetary dispute with the province, — The 35 specialists and general practi- lioners in Terrace have already rejected an offer made by the provincial government Iwo weeks ago as inadequate. ~ Inthe meantime, Mills Memorial of- ficials as of Sept. [8, said two people have been transferred out to other hospi- tals because of the doctors’ strike. One was sent to Peace Arch hospital in White Rock on the lower maintand and the other to Vancouver General. Both went out early in the morning of ~ mat been treated here but couldn't because of the strike. The second pa- tient could have heen treated in Kiti- or in Prince Rupert but could not because of strike ac- tion there, she added. . Petrick said the main medical servic- es floor as of Sept. 18 had [12 acute care patients registered, about half of the normal amount. $1.00 PLUS 7¢ GST (51.10 plus B¢ GST outsldo of the Terrace area) VOL. 13 NO. 24 ture tonight More on page A13 = 8 Mills Memorial budget rumoured at $1m boost. @ Second obstetri- cian’s future here un- in known. is part of a $40 mil- lion package set aside for northern and rural physicians. According to previn- cial officials, the oft- er includes a yearly bonus of $45,000 for general practitioners and one of $56,250 for specialists lo stay Terrace and $4.400 0 year for ed- ucation for each doc- tor, — Those officials say the increases are on top of an existing province began going o1t his week, telling them what their budeets far the year will be, They've been delayed for months pending the transfer by the federal gov- ernment to the provinces of billions of dollars, details of which were finalized just last week. — The provincial government held a special session-of the legislature to ap- prave spending $290 million, some of “Which comes from the federal govern- ment. tobreaks down to $180 million for hospitals, $70 million far equipment and the $40 million for doctors; . Terrace and Area. Community Health Health ministry officials said the fat- program to attract and keep doctors in Council chief administrator Dieter Kuntz, equipment they need or the operating time, we will be Jess likely: ta make'a settlement,” he said, Sept. | Mills “official Marg Petrick said one patient in need.of surgery could have f MILLS. MEMO we SUPPORT LY HOSPITAL Ni OUR ‘HOSPIT, wun BEDS a» Crowd packs docs SIGNS BY tocals in support of striking Terrace physicians are almost becoming a common sight in the city. These people were on hand Sept. 15 at Mills Memorial Hospital when gen- eral practitioners handed in letters resigning their privileges at the facility. The last 10 days began with a public rally on Sept. est offer made to local doctors by the province amounted to $1.8 million and the north. Letters to health authorities across the 10, specialists resigning their hospital privileges on Sept. 11, a vacal city council meeting the evening of Sept. 11, the re- signation of specialists Sept. 15 and a northwestern mayors public meeting Sept. 16. Health ministry officials and Skeena NDP MLA Helmut Giesbrecht were at the last meeting. City to speak up about gas By JEFF NAGEL THE CITY of Terrace will intervene on behalf of homeowners and local businesses at hear- ings this fall where Pacific Northern Gas is ex- pected to seek a new round of price increases. PNG has not yet applied to the B.C. Utili- ties Cummission for a rate increase. How large an increase it will seek for everyone else depends in part on whether or not PNG and Methanex conclude a deal to re- duce gas transmission costs to the latler’s Kiti- mat methanol plant. Methanex buys natural gas directly from suppliers and than pays PNG to ship it through its pipeline from to its Kitimat methanol plant. The company has temporarily shut ils me- thanol plant and threatened ta make the clo- sure permanent unless PNG and various levels of government agrée to concessions. City councillors last week said somebody must stand up and represent the interests of average homeowners and businesses. “It behooves us to act on their behalf before the utilities commission,” councillor Val Gearge said. “We're gelting caught in the middle of a political thing between Methanex and Pacific Northern Gas.” It’s particularly alarming, George said, that commission officials, in comments to The Standard, have conceded in advance that large price increases will probably be necessary. “[ was shocked to read senior people in the B.C. Utilities Commission basically saying it’s a fail accompli,” added councillor David Hull, Natural gas prices have been rising every- where because a new pipeline to the U.S. has tapped into a virtually insatiable market for gas and created strong new demand there. But people in the northwest face a double whammy not being experienced elsewhere be- cause of the Methanex crisis. In addition to the rising cost of the gas at wellhead, PNG will want to put a greater bur- den of the gas transmission costs onte ordinary consumers to make up for the revenue from Methanex it expects to lose. If PNG and Methanex reach a deal to cul the methanol plant’s gas transmission rales, that will result in higher transmission costs to regular consumers. However, if there is no deal and if Metha- nex carries out ils threat to close permanently, the loss of the biggest gas consumer could force a far worse increase in rates to regular users. “| don’t know how residents and people on a fixed income will manage this,” said. coun- " cillor Lynne Christiansen. “We've got to try to do something.” The threat of further increases — on top of ones already endured by northwesterners — is “horrendous and unjustified,” George said. The city and other governments, such as the Coast Mountains School District, also face much higher natural gas bills, he noted. That means northwestemners will pay twice or three times — first at their home or business and then later in the form of increased property laxes. — It also poses a threat to other industrial users in the region, such as Skeena Cellulose. Prince Rupert SCI pulp mill manager Stu Taylor said the company has experienced a more than 50 per cent increase in energy costs. Skeena Cellulose. had budgeted to pay $875,000 a month for natural gas in 2000 — well up from the previous year, he said. “Those costs are running at significantly over $1 million per month now,” Taylor said. “It is very, very difficult.” SCI hasn't yet decided whether it will also seek representation at rate increase hearings, he added. Hull, who crafted the motion to apply for intervener status, said city councillors have been approached by numerous local residents and businesses urping them to acl, He said he figures his own natural gas costs are $500 higher for a year than what they were a year ago. . If that’s about average for the 3,000 homes in Terrace, Hull said, the increases to date have sucked $1,5 million out of the city’s economy. Taken across the northwest, he said, it must add up to tens of millions of dollars. Eric van Soeren, the job protection com- missioner, said he continues ta broker meet- ings daily and even several times a day be- tween Methanex and PNG. Those talks, he said, are productive and “heading in the right direction.” But a deal, which would then be presented to the utilities commission for approval, could be a number of days or weeks away, he said. said-a $710,000 nuclear scanner tops the list of local equipment requests. student drop spells trouble AN UNEXPECTED drop in the number of students who were stipposed to return to classes this September could create a budget shortfall of up to $500,000 for School District 82. “Now we're 75 students short of our predictions,” Randy Smallbrugge, assistant superintendent of educa- lion personnel, said tast week, The district had planned for 7,190 students this year, which is already 382 fewer students than last year. As of Sept. 12, there were just 7,115 students enrolled throughout the school district, a drop of 457 students from Sept. 30, 1999, The 75 missing students represents more than — $500,000 in operating money for the district from the education ministry. It pays school districts a set amount for each student registered. That could mean trouble be- cause school districts set their spending targets in ad- vance of registration numbers at the start of each school year. In past years when enrolment has declined, the edu- cation ministry has provided additional grants to help . school districts meet expenses, A final tally will be done Sept. 30. Smallbrugee hopes? al least another 30 students will register by then. “Fhat’s. the snapshot we send down to Victoria on how many stu- dents we have,” Right now, schools are tracking down former students’ to see if everyone wha is supposed to be enrolled this’ year has done so, and to determine who has moved out of the district. “We're hoping thal some of them are just late in re- applying,” Smailbrugge said. Most of the decline in enrolments has taken place in the elementary grades across the district, he said, Kiti K'Shan Primary School in town, for example, had six kindergarten classes last year. But this year there's just four. Kitimat’s elementary school population is declining al twice the rate as in Terrace or Hazelton, Smallbrugge added. Depending on how many additional students are ac- counted for by Sept. 30, the district’s 2000-2001 opera- ting budget — based on @ projected enrolment of 7,190 sludents — could shrink by $300,000 to $500,000, Bears just love garbage, fruit PEOPLE JUST aren’! getting it when il comes to bearproofing garbage and backyard fruit, says a Terrace Conservation Officer. Adrian Juch says that complaints will be fielded by officers from the same residence over and over, when all they have to do is store garbage indoors to prevent bears from being attracted to the detri- tus. Juch added that officers can order people to store garbage indoors or pick up fruit if it’s al risk of attracting dangerous wildlife, but that such or- ders are quite labour intensive. “If we have a fruit tree and there's fruit on the pround posing a risk we could ask the owner that the fruit be picked or taken away, and if that isn't done, we could issue an order," Juch said. If the order isn’t complied with, fines can_ up ta $50,000. Juch said that orders are — complied with, but added that the situation shouldn't even get to that stage. “The problem isn’t whether or not they- do it when they’re asked, it's whether they do it before they have the bear problem,” The time an offender has to comply with an order depends on the siluation and the the discre- tion of the officer, Juch said.