| Our trust must be earned Repap record hangs over NWBC’s vision for future Dear Sir: In response to the letter to the editor written ‘by Daniel Veniez, and the story that included his plea for the people of the northwest to invest $15million in NWBC, I have to say, how bloody gullible do you think we are? Mr. Veniez and NWBC chairman George Petty were actively involved in the premeditated _ plan by Repap to decimate the northwest divi- sion. They stood by and let contractors continue working, knowing that they would be pulling the plug, and leaving the contractors high and dry. “If these two men had come into our homes in the night and stolen thousands of dollars in cash, . they would be called thieves and crooks. Somehow they have become saviours? Just because they say that they’re trustworthy, we can - trust them? Give me a break. If these two men really want the trust of the ‘northwest people, then they’re going to have to put some action with their words. One action that would get my attention would be if Veniez and Petty liquidated all of their per- sonal assets and repaid all of the unsecured cre- ditors that were shafted for 10 cents on the dollar under the Repap regime. They could follow that up with a personal _. apology and a statement of regret, outlining all of their former mistakes, and how they plan to . manage differently. Since I'm a sucker for an apology, if there were one, I might consider investing the $15-20 dollars a year that I would normally blow on scralch-and-win tickets in this great NWBC "scam instead, ‘Kudos to Terrace mayor Jack Talstra for hav- ing the courage to speak openly and honestly about his doubts for NWBC success. : We need more honest and courageous leaders like this to stand up and speak up for north- “western ‘Management of our resources. Ronnie J. McCreery Smithers B.C, Irresponsible ranting clouds search for truth Dear Sir: viel’ can’t take this anymore. The squabbling, bickering, and whining all boil down to selfish- teas ness., “the only thing no one wants is to give up anything they have, and that’s sick. _ What got to me is the nonsense from all sides. In no way am I defending the Liberals. They lied, but I’m not surprised. Everyone demands short term answers to long term problems, but it doesn’t work like that. The Liberals have broken contracts and cut jobs. Their integrity is lost, but I don’t need to hassle ‘them because that’s happening enough. . Apparently Campbell’s life has been threa- tened, and if that were the case, would you walk out of your office to face a crowd that wants -blood? I didn’t think so. If you criticize the Lib- - erals, then do it properly. “At first I thought the ill logic was obvious, but the continuous flow of propaganda for “just causes” says otherwise. For instance, Ed Dolemore’s letter “Let’s go for a ride, Mr. Harris” appears to blame Roger Harris for highway deaths to come. ’ That fallacy is far too simple. What about the atrocious driving in this town? Recently, | was _-. almost hit twice in one day using the crosswalks. * If drivers would drive properly for the conditions, then those deaths would be minimized. Another example is the college student coun- cil. T attend the college, and they've told me ~. “Most European countries don’t charge tuition fees.” However, they failed to note the different and ~ more severe tax system and that the institutions in Europe are more difficult to enter. It would then be an irrelevant argument, unless they have a plan to fund it. It’s propaganda, all of it. The Standard recently ran a photograph of a frowning family. Their mother had lost her job, -and the kids were holding protest signs for a fight KEN AND LEIGH-ANNE Schofield and their ‘family protested government cuts after learning in January that Leigh-Anne may lose her support staff job at the 8, C. Envir- onment office. The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 20, 2002 - A5 CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD The Mail Bag MACHINERY MAY toll 2 again soon in 1 the Skeena Cellulose log yards if NWBC Timber and Pulp complete their purchase, but some writers who remember the 1997 collapse of the operations under Repap’ 5 5 ownership say their trust won't be regained as quickly, at least one of the ‘children couldn’t understand. Younger children can’t understand abstract ideas. Hell, I can think of adults who still don’t un- derstand politics or philosophy. It reminds me of the child soldiers in the east, but here it’s okay because they don’t have puns, so no one gets hurt, tight? That’s sick. Can’t we teach kids to think instead of blindly following? The political poet Alexander Pope wrote in his Essay on Criticism, “Ten censure wrong for one who writes amiss”. Censure means judg- ment, and that statement means anyone who writes what will be read holds a responsibility. That responsibility is to make correct and fair judgments and not rash half-truths like what I’ve been seeing. Our minds should be open and egocentric se- gregation should be stopped. We shouldn’t stand apart, only together, But whatever, I’m only 20, still a kid. What do I know? Mike Whitlington Terrace B.C, Premier makes others to slicing and dicing An open letter to Premier Gordon Campbell: [am ata loss to figure out who exactly voted for you in your landslide victory in the polls at the last provincial election. There is evidence that many seats were won by your party because of a division of votes be- tween NDP status quo voters and Green NIM- BYeccentrics. Neither here nor there, we’ve got to live with you for a while. My feeling is that a majority of your magni- tude is not healthy for a province as diverse as B.C. Peopie voted out the NDP because of Glen Clark’s bonehead arrogance. It is really too bad that Ujjal Dosanjh didn’t get a longer run at it. I think he had some honest virtues about him, but that wouldn’t do in B.C. You haye amazed me at your arrogance and the ridiculously short time frame that it took you to show your true colors. Your dream team of yes men (and women) i is truly spectacular. I'm not sure where you can find such low-life, but you've excelled at it. I guess a big paycheque is more addictive than crack cocaine. What bothers me the most is your organiza- tion's ability to pass the buck. You make legislation and decrees, to reach your goal of reducing the debt and deficit, bul you twist the numbers just as well as any other bandit who has been at the helm. But you put it on everyone else to do your dirty work by requiring everyone else to make the bad guy decisions as to how and where the slicing/dicing/mutilating will occur, School boards, health boards, government ministries, first nations, environmental groups, IWA mem- bers with more wood to be exported, etc. Actuaily, just about everyone In this province who has a disagreement with your modus operan- dii; ‘has: been ‘described by your people as splinter groups of dissention. Well, I thank technology and innovation. Splinters of wood are what makes up composite/ glue-laminated wood products. My understanding is that a glue-lam 2x4 is much stronger (and heavier) than a traditional old growth 2x4. Gotta love it. All the splinter groups can rest assured that with a bil of supersensible glue that we can beat your arrogance back into the dark ages of big business bank vaults. Oh, hey Gordo, if you need ancther yes man up here in the northwest, I will have to pass, be- cause although I could use the money, I have this strange affliction, that of being a human being. Chris Spanel Terrace B.C, Tuning out Lib rhetoric _ Dear. Sir: "The tedious rhetoric that Huber Beyer alludes to in his recent review of the “Liberal” govern- ment in B.C. could perhaps be improved by sim- plification. Even the most ardent supporters must have become bored with the vacuous political shibbo- leths bleated daily by Gordon Campbelli’s flock of MLA’s: “structural deficit...eight years of mismanagement...it’s the right thing to do..-patients and student first...fiscal responsibil- it hese dithyrambic incantations could be re- duced in Orwellian fashion to one simple formu- la: Liberals good, NDP b-a-a-a-d. Then, at least, there could be no doubt as to the meaning or the intent of the rhetoric, lan Jordan Terrace B.C. Anti-democratic An Open Letter to Roger Harris: As you did not reply to the e-mail letter I sent you three weeks ago, [ thought [ would attempl to get a response via this newspaper. As 1 said previously, I thought you might be interested in the following quote. It is excerpted from the opening address of the United States to the Nuremberg trials. “On. May 19, 1933, this time by government decree, it was provided that ‘trustees’ of labor, appointed by Hitler, should regulate the condi- tions of all labor contracts, replacing the former process of collective bargaining (405- PS).” I am not suggesting even for the briefest mo- ment, that your government will ever go to the extremes of the Nazi government under Hitler, bul I believe you need to understand that several of your government’s actions are without ques- tion anti-democratic. It does not matter what the justification: is. “There just isn’t enough money (considering the current tax structure),” is no more a valid justifi- cation than, “the Jews are destroying our economy.” Democracy is not the naturat:state of man. Democracy is also much more than tule by those who get the most votes. Demoeracy needs to be maintained by adher- ence to a set of democratic laws. For this reason the laws that support and allow our democracy to flourish must always lake precedence over whit might seem most economic to any particular group at any time. It-is‘democracy that has made our western civilizalion so great. There can be no doubt: the erosion of our democracy will ultimately erode our econamy. The accumulation of wealth by the few will not result in the affluence of the many. Without those widespread economic rights which are fostered only within a true democracy, “that wealth will never spread itself-out through our society and generate the generalized af- fluence which has made our civilization $0 pro- sperous. Thomas Boston Terrace B.C. They’re like bananas Dear Sir: Enough gloom and doom already. Let's look at the good news coming from Premier Campbell. Looks like the bus passes for seniors will be teinstaled, do not concern yourself as to whether this decision was made to protect the oldest or the poorest members of society. Someone in Victoria clued in to the fact thal not withstanding changes to healthcare, some of us may live long enough to take part in the next election. We will ship 28,000 truckloads of unprocessed logs out of the north, letting someone else do the hard work processing the stuff. This will greatly improve the line of sight to the horizon for unem- ployed IWA workers. We will get rid of B.C. Hydro, the corporation started by a left-wing socialist, W.A.C. Bennett. Since it is making a profit we should be able to sell it with only a small loss. Teenagers on welfare receiving as much as $195 per month will be cut loose to fend for themselves. They will join all those other dead- beats on welfare who have been living high off the hog for two years. This will save a bundle. Well, perhaps we will have to spend a little more on policing to prevent starving people from criminal activities. No, that will net work since we are closing the jails and courthouses, firing the public defen- ders etc. Way to go Campbell. Looks like we will have a lot more fish-farms added to the ones that presently held fish with diseases of epidemic proportions. This move makes sense. Once we kill all the farm and wild fish, nothing is stopping us, not even bunny or tree huggers, from putting oil rigs off the North Coast. If the oil business becomes successful we may even afford to reinstate the book tapes for the blind. It is a little disappointing that the sates tax was only increased by 0.5% when we know that such tax makes the poor pay their fair share. On the other hand, it is reassuring to know _ that our. MLA, Roger Harris, is so principled that ‘fhe is tempted’ to and almost ‘willing to do the ‘Tight ‘thing’ when- votlng ‘ont behalf of hi Web asti- tuents. To end on a more serious note, this quote by Yukon Smith, a union organizer/philosopher says it al “Politicians are like bananas, they hang together, they are yellow. They go bad quickly and they are never straight.” John Jensen Terrace B.C. Nursing info wrong Dear Sir: I read with great interest your article in the Weekend Advertiser Feb 23/24 and The Terrace Standard Feb, 27 that a home nursing program has been started in the Nass Valley and that stu- dents will be learning “home nursing skills”, all in 24 weeks. I happen to be a community home care nurse in Terrace and it may interest you to know that home cafe nurses are all Registered Nurses and most have their degrees, taking years of training. A newly graduated RN is very rarely hired as a home care nurse as experience is needed. Patients are leaving hespital much sooner than they did in the past. Patients now need more sophisticated care at home. It may be a simple dressing change post surgery. They may be on a six-week course of inlravenous antibiotics. They may need help with medications or dia- betes management. They may be sent home with a new colostomy. They may even be palliative care and need multifaceted care. Pain manage- ment critical. The communily home care nurse can help with all this and much more. There is no doctor in the home to consult with. They are available by phone. Home care nursing differs from a hospital setting in that you are the one making assessments and decisions based on those assessments. There is no colleague to consult with. Does the patient need a change in treatment, should they go to their doctor, should they go to Emer- pency? Home support workers are really what your ar- licle was referring to as in the title of the course, They provide an invaluable service but should not be confused with nurses. If you are not actu- ally a aurse it is illegal to use the title and mis- represent yourself. [ am writing this as 1 worked very hard to be- come a registered nurse and [ think people should be informed accurately. Communily home care nurses and home support workers are two different areas. The names unfortunately can be confusing, the key is nursing in the title. Only nurses are nurses. Ursula Mackman, R.N. Terrace B.C. About the Mail Bag The Terrace Standard welcomes letters. ‘Our address is 3210 Clinton St., Terrace, B.C., V8G 5R2. You can fax to 638-8432. And- you can e-mail to standard@kermode.net. No attachments please. We need your name, address and phone number for varification.