A4 ~ The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, December 21, 2005 TANDARD ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988 PUBLISHER: ROD LINK _ ADDRESS: 3210 Clinton Street Terrace, B.C. - V8G 5R2 TELEPHONE: (250) 638-7283 - FAX: (250) 638- 8432 “- _'»” WEB: www.terracestandard.com EMAIL: newsroom@terracestandard.com a . THERE'S CERTAINLY a different feling in Terrace and area this Christmas. It’s a feeling of optimism, a notion that things are. better coupled with the promise that there 1 iS more improvement on the way. 7 ’ Probably the biggest reason for this is the: ree] . opening of the former Skeena Cellulose sawmill under its new name, the Terrace Lumber. Com- pany, the end of August. 7 One of the more popular games in town ‘became “count the logs in the yard” during the summer _ ‘months as the re-opening date drew nearer. Tt was much better than the other game, “count . the for sale signs,” we all took part in during | the mill’s four-year closure which did as much psy- ; * chological. damage as it did physical harm to the area and people: - That Terrace became the marshalling point for two mining development companies with projects ‘up north, Eagle Plains and NovaGold, also con- | tributed to renewed spirits. ' This year also marked the fifth anniversary of. ‘the Nisga’a treaty, the first and so far, only. mod- - ern-day agreement of this type. There’s no question the: treaty’ brought social -. and economic stability to the area. It recognized ~ not only the aspirations of the Nisga’a but set the ~~ standard for what is possible ‘under a new rela- tionship. Similar agreements with others in the “northwest can only benefit us all. In Terrace: proper .the construction of a new ; transition house » by the Ksan House Society serves as a fine example of what’s possible when | like-minded people come together for a common purpose. * OW ithin'a short period of" tirié; those Who are the most vulnerable te oii soblety will have services and accommodation at a place specifically built for them. ° As much as Christmas is a celebration, it is also a time to remember that there are people less for- tunate. Once again local citizens have responded by way of donations raised through community "groups, businesses, schools and the like of food and presents. for the people who need it. . . This goodwill once. again reinforces the words ~ of Tommy Douglas. He began as a Baptist min- ister, then became the Co-operative Common- wealth Federation premier of Saskatchewan and brought the country’s first Medicare program to that province. He later became the the first leader — of the federal New Democratic Party: | “Jf Christmas means anything, it should mean that, like the shepherds of old, we catch a vision of the world as it ought to be and not as it is. This . Is the season where we should renew our determi- ~ nation to do what we can, each in our own way, to build a world founded on human brotherhood and concern for the needs of others.” ig PUBLISHER/EDITOR: Rod Link - ADVERTISING MANAGER: Brian Lindenbach _ PRODUCTION MANAGER: Edouard Credgeur - NEWS: Sarah A. Zimmerman _ COMMUNITY: Dustin Quezada NEWS/SPORTS: Margaret Speirs FRONT OFFICE: Darlene Keeping, Carolyn Anderson CIRCULATION SUPERVISOR: Alanna Bentham ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS: — Bert Husband, Susan Willemen AD ASSISTANT: Sandra Stefanik _PRODUCTION: Susan Credgeur SUBSCRIPTION RATES BY MAIL: | $57.94 (+$4.06 GST)=62.00 per year; Seniors $50.98.(+$3.57 GST)=54.55; Out of Province $65.17 (+$4.56 GST)=69.73 Outside of Canada (6 months) $156. 91(+10, 98 GST)=167. 89 MEMBER OF —_ B.C. AND YUKON COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION, tan _” GANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION G tN AL Bo, , AND © Communmy Seely NOT B.C. PRESS COUNCIL (www.bcpresscouncil.org) eit etree “Solin Coleatte aad Yotow Serving the Terrace and Thornhill area. Published on Wednesday of @ - each week at 3210 Clinton Street, Terrace, British Columbia, V8G 5R2. = @) Black Press Stories, photographs, illustrations, designs and typestyles in the Terrace Standard are the property of the copy- tight holders, including Black Press Ltd., its illustration repro services and advertising agencies. Reproduction in whole or in part, without written permission, is specifically prohibited. Authorized as second-class mail pending the Post Office Department, for payment of postage in cash. 2005 WINNER CCNA BETTER _ NEWSPAPERS COMPETITION Special thanks to all our contributors and correspondents for their time and talents YES, VIRGINIA, THERE IS A SANTA CLAUS...; 2 AS A MATTER OF FACT, THERE ARE | THREE OF THEM. S3 | i A we \\ 33 : Witt W\ TAR WY N 2p LW Ry Political parties? Who. needs ‘em I WAS talking to my good © friend Anna in a popu- lar coffee spot, the Hogs- breath, on main * after the last election. The coffee. bar, owned \ by. a local businessman, was packed with . locals and tourists alike ~ Its eclectic aroma of an- _ tique furniture and other treats seemed to pluck people off the street. The air was: thick and:== ’ the .. conversations strong and heated. Anna, ashorter soul with - light hair and lighter sense of humour, was the foster . parent for many kids who ’ never had alot of luck. ' A dynamic individual Annahas always beencom- mitted to working with the community around her. We'd talked for a good half hour about the local arts scene before we both started eavesdropping on an unusually intense con- versation by the pair of ‘elderly gentlemen sitting next to us. One was happy. The other was decidedly not. The older of the two, a gentleman with a soft wrinkled face and a kind eye, was railing on about the newly-formed opposi- tion parties. He had had _sstrategi- cally voted Liberal mainly to keep the “Conservative “Reform Alliance Party” from getting in power. His friend, a tall guy with a long stare, was quick to opine that, “The rotten Liberals have been Street ‘Penticton a few months" were = ARON STRUMECK] in power for far too long,” and that the “NDP’ers will never get themselves into power by putting the country into more debt,” concluding that “The Con- servatives were the least evil option left.” Anna smiled and asked - if I had voted in the last election - adding ‘“she’d pretty much given up on the whole thing herself”, something that surprised. me considering how in- volved she was locally. “Yes,” I replied, “I voted all right, but it was more out of duty rather than anything else.” I took a sip of my cof- fee and: thought about the . whole thing again, mulling : over different thoughts I'd ° had about elections. over the years. — “T don’t know why: any- one even bothers these © days,” she replied, “I’ve --learned more about de- “mocracy from watching American television than I ever did in school, which you’ ve got what, is sad really.” “They have consumer’. education in the system, why can’t they have de- mocracy education as well? It’s all so stupid re- ally.” - “TI know what you’re saying,” I said back to her, “It’s sort of funny when you stop to think about it, | but it’s totally true, con- , sumers , first, democracy second, or third if you’re _ lucky.” _ [had another sip of cof- fee and eyed the two old guys locked i in debate. “We’ve got a funny ‘system of government all. right, but I can’t see it get- ting reformed short of .a . revolution.” “Politicians will never change the system that’s ~~ put, them: into power, and quite frankly, I can’t’ say they’re quite likely to lis- ten to anyone but their own people on that topic anyways.’ Anna, who’d been toy- ing with her cinnamon roll while I'd been talking said, “The real problem is the parties if you start to think about it.” “They’ re so busy fight- ing “amongst themselves that it’s hard to think of how. they get anything done. I mean it’s so dumb it’s hilarious. Basically three main-stream parties, one left of center, one right of center, and the other one swinging back -and forth - -in between them the other two.” “Oh, and let’ Ss not for- get the Quebec national- . ‘ist party in between doing nothing for nobody. How stupid do we have to “be | before we can geta system that works?” “Even the Americans | system .of government looks saner than ours does. At Jeast their President, has some checks: on him to keep him from ruining the country — well at least. somewhat” she said laugh- — ‘ing. “Mark my - words, po- litical parties and parti- san politics. are ruining democracy for. everyone, especially when. everyone is crowding the political ‘ center, it just doesn’t make sense.” I replied ‘Well, our ver- sion of democracy was ,invented ; some, time.;.in the .seventeen-hundreds, : you’ve got expect some deficiencies. “It is ‘sup- posed to be representative isn’t it?” “Well that’s: just the point”, she said. “Who do they represent? | “We don’t even vote for the local representatives, we vote for the leader of the party we like. You might as well be asking what colour we like best. “You ask me, I say the best thing Canada could do is get rid of the party’ system altogether, and get . to voting directly for rep- _ resentatives, not parties or their leaders.” “Aron Strumecki is the Kalum Horseshoe Com- munity School Society’s Thornhill co-ordinator. The proof is in the wrapping». READYING A Christmas parcel for shipping frazzles both my patience and my con- fidence. '- While parcels from fam- ily arrive bedecked in glitter, and addresses written in red felt tip marker, my.parcels resemble a cold case evidence file from cheery season stickers, police archives. My no-nonsense wrapping style is “genetic. I’ve never cared for frills. Thus I under- take the annual’ mission with one goal — to transfer our gift to its recipient as intact as pa- per, tape, and twine can guar- '’ rofoam peanuts wedge into antee. To this end I begin with a _ Sturdy cardboard box, tape all . the seams, and wrap the box in heavy kraft paper subcon- sciously driven by the memory of a gift we received gathered like garbage in a clear plastic bag fastened by a ratchet tie, courtesy of the Post Office. The original carton had been squished until gifts extruded in all directions through torn gift wrap. Before fitting each frag- ile item in the box it must be | THROUGH BIFOCALS CLAUDETTE SANDECKI swaddled in bubble wrap. Sty- every leftover space. I then truss the box with two-inch tape over every seam until the parcel could travel to Truro on tape alone. _Next I wind the box in heavy kraft paper, tightly fold- ing the ends in an envelope pattern worthy of any: RN. Here the address is writ large and in black felt tip marker. Though I should have learned by now, I still may be- gin the address too far to the right so each Avenue or Street ends uphill. For my return address I slap on a printed label chosen at random from a bulging assort- ment supplied free as fundrais- ers by various charities. Usually right about here | realize the letter 1 wrote to ac- company this gift lies folded on my desk. So another gift package will arrive with a letter taped like a supplier’s _ packing slip on the outside. If my parcel broke open in transit or was skinned of its brown paper, not a hint of its origin or destination would leak from inside. From here the parcel moves along our home assembly line to my husband’s station.’Sup- plied with an array of twines from sisal to button tufting nylon he cinches the parcel snug as corset stays with knots learned as a longshoreman lashing marine cargo. By the time the parcel rests on the post office scale, it can be equal parts gift and packag- ing. For me, Christmas gift wrapping offers all the charm ~ of pulling quills. . My parents, too, to survive the season, shared gift wrap- ping to lessen the tension. With help from one of us- older kids, usually me, Mom did the internal wrapping, first filling the box several different ways before being satisfied. _ After-applying the kraft pa- per (Scotch tape had yet to be invented) she sealed each seam by dripping ona smoking blob -. of red sealing wax from a wax stick held over a candle flame.. ° I liked to see the dimple pattern left in the wax when | she pressed’ the blob flat with — athimble. - . The parcels sat -accusingly on the sofa until next evening when Dad. would: roll up his shirt sleeves, unwind a good length of butcher cord, and do. the spider thing with my pinky pre-pinning each intersection. for him. The hassle, like sealing wax, is still around. Sealing ‘wax in 30 colours j is available from England.