O > Page A4 — Terrace Standard, Wednesday, September 16, 1992 PublisheriEditor: ———— "TERRACE STANDA " ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1088 _ Rod Link Phone (604) 638-7283 "Registration No. 7820 4647 Lazelle Ave., Terrace, B.C., V8G 188 Advertising Manager: Fax (604) 638-8432 = ike L. Hamm Serving the Terrace area. Published on Wadnasday of each week by Cariboo Press (1969) Lid. at 4647 Lazelle Ave., Terrace, British Columbia. Stories, photographs, Illustrations, designs and typestylas in tha Terrace Standard are the property of the copyright holders, including Carlboo Press (#969) Ltd., its iF Production Manager: Jel Nagat ~ News/Community, Mafcelm Baxter — News/Sports Aose Fisher — Front Office Manager, Carolyn Anderson — Typeselter Arlene Walts — Typasetter, Susan Credgeur — Composing/Darkroam, | danat Vivelros — Advertising Consultant, Sam Collier — Advertising Consultant, ° | Charlene Matthews — Circulation Supervisor DIAN CS {ule ally. Special thanks toall | our contributors and =|. correspondents for =} their time and talents. A -) a 8¢ Og VERIFIED In less than a week the group that came up to review northwest health care will submit its report to the provincial govern- ment. It’s an important document because it will provide the framework for northwest health care leading into the next century. The group has a difficult and challenging job. It has to brutally examine the existing level of health care and determine what should be in place. But it also has to deal with the human side of the issue. And the human side was extremely well represented during the public sessions held by the group in Terrace, Kitimat and Prince Rupert. Each community did an ex- cellent job of stating the case for health care. Yet an almost selfish side came out which gave the impression of communities competing with each other for the limited amount of health care dollars available. This might be the kind of trap the provin- cial government wants. Failure of north- western communities to come to common Toast to health agreement can very well be used against us. Divide and conquer is a well tested tac- tic. And regional health care jealousy is also contrary to the ultimate aim of the provin- cial government, And that is the establish- ment of regional bodies that’!l blend to- gether the complete range of services. Hos- pitals that stand alone as one kind of health care service could very well disappear. The - buildings. will, of course, remain but the premise upon which they were started and - how they will run will change. A glimmer of that came through in the royal commission on health care and costs last year, It had been already stated in a previous study on how northwest health care should work. Just last week a provin- cial health care official re-iterated the plan ta decentralize the health care bureaucracy. Northwest hospitals have begun talking along those very same lines. And so should we. Anything to the contrary is dangerous. A bumpy landing There’s something comforting about the sound and sight of a jet coming in to land at the airport. It represents a link to the out- side, that feeling of being connected to the rest of the country. The jets boost commer- cial opportunities, bring us friends and rel- atives. They also give us a sense of impor- fance — we’re in the big time and we idgserve,that kindof service, 6, ib d thimg-has'to give. #9, n e@ ee wtb BP CH a 1a * So we're going to-be:in fér a shock’6 ‘the: merger of ‘Canadian’ Airlines and Air Canada is complete. We’ ll-likely see cuts in service and convenience. We'll be paying more for tickets and that'll affect © our pocketbooks and those of the business — communily. Yet could we have expected anything dif- ferent? Not really: Competition is the stuff that drives business. Supply is generated to meet a demand that is either existing or contemplated. The airlines took their best shot. We benefited from more flights and from lower fares. But it doesn’t make sense for any business to operate below its capacity. Expenses will run above revenue, the debt begins to mount and sooner or later, some- 4 "ge 4. Me Mea Heed Smithers has already experienced this. It _ was-serviced: for years bya single airline. . And then Air B.C. moved in. It soon real- ’ ized the business wasn’t there and pulled out. Both of the airlinés . were running government-size deficits. Regardless of the merger decision, cuts in service and in jobs “were going to happen. Rarely a day goes by without a potential customer warily in- Coverup revealed i ey quiring, ‘‘Do you guys do...?”’ Then hell explain: what he wants done. Often it’s a job- which, though it may seem. bizarre to him, is routine for an upholsterer, like sewing a new zipper in a tent or Jeep, repairing a torn truck seat, or recovering a worn recliner. Through Bifocals by Claudette Sandecki dl Twenty years ago [I couldn’t have defined an upholstcrer’s: work. But after 19 years in the trade, P've learned that many assignments fall oulside of Webster’s definition of uphol- stery, ‘‘materials (as fabric, padding, and springs) used to make a soft covering especial- ly for a seat.” . As a rule, upholsterers are trained in one or more of three areas - furniture, including. sofas and other padded fur- nishings; auto trimming, which takes in refurbishing of, the interiors of vehicles from carpels, seals, and dodr panels to headliners and. convertible - tops; and canvas for specializ-: ing in boat tops, boat tarps, and other all weather covers. Oddly, upholsterers nation-. wide are steadily employed despite these recessionary times, according to an. in- formal survey by NEBS Busi-- ness Forms of Mississauga. No doubt to keep busy, uphol- sterers are taking on any job that shows wp at the front gate. My criteria for accepting a job are few. Will it fit through the shop door? Do Ihave the necessary equipment. and material? Can. I’expect to pro- duce an acceptable result? Js - the customer willing to pay the cost? . I avoid tarpaulins -im- pregnated with tar, concrete, or exhaust. , With these criteria to guide me, over the years I’ve done my share of traditional chores, rcupholstering sofas and seats ~ of all kinds; sewing replace- ment cushion: cover’ fitting waterproof covers on spare tires and mobile machinery; | recovering skidoo and motor- cycle seats; joining scat beits; - lacing leather on’ steering wheels; mending hockey pads; renewing baby car seats... I’ve also had a crack al one- of-a-kind assignments that taxed my. ingenuity, per- severance, and shop. dimen- Sis, 0 00 Such ‘jobs. have. included designing a padded helmet for a handicapped child, sewing a skirt’ ‘for a prototype hover- craft, customizing a dust cover for an auto repair shop’s ding- nostic computer, constructing a briefcase for Nishga talking sticks ‘to travel: in. to. Brazil's Earth conference, and drum covers for Nishga drums that ~~ took part in «the opening: ceremonies. of Ottawa’s Muse- um of Man. I could have used a forklift and my son-in-law apprentice when I sewed safety pads for Peaks Gymnastics’ 42 ‘foot | long trampoline, added zip- pered windows and screens to a- 24 foot garage tent to turn il into a river bank dormitory, and rebuilt a 90 foot long schoo! gym curtain. , After such. gigantic propor- tions it’s a treat to mend a sail, anchor fraying seams in a back pack, add a buckle to a. car- penter’s apron, or put-a new window in a boat top. You know those ads, ‘‘No job toa big or too small’. They say it all. So if you ask an upholsterer, ‘‘Do you guys do...?’*, chances are he’ll say *Yes’, _. [hate to See him sit there, torturing himselt -forfiours trying to find 2 logic in Harcourc's reasonings.... ~ lustration repre services and advertising agencies, Edouard Credgeur "ea Seas a5108) Sr” CIRCULATION Reproduction In whole or in part, without wilttan permission, 's specitically pronibited. CNA FWsDapras COM vOMTROLLED Authorized as second-class mail pending the Post Oflice Department, fot paymant of postage in cash. “ con D IT O RI A ' é oo B.C,.’s economy — heading downhill - VICTORIA — ‘‘Finance minister Glen Clark today released figures showing that B.C.’s economy grew slowly through the first half of 1992 but continues to outperform the rest of Canada,”” ing the first quarterly financial report, made public last week. I can’t tell you how good that made me feel, until I read the _ second paragraph. The first quarterly report covers the period April to June — 1992. During this time, revenue was up 6.3 per cent, expenditures were up 8.8 per - cent, and the deficit totalled $525 million --compared to $402 million for the same pe- riod the year before.’ . Wait a minute, I’m not very good at math, but I think those figures translate into an annual deficit of more than $2 billion. Seems that Liberal leader Gordon Wilson came to the same conclusion, because it didn’t take him very long to take a shot at the government. “The NDP promised they would be financially responsible and not spend beyond the taxpayers’ ability to pay, but we are not even half way through their first budget year, and already we are looking at a record budget deficit much larger than the estimated $1.8 bil- lion,”” he said. ‘The NDP have failed to reduce the deficit, despite the fact that the government has saddled taxpayers with record . tax increases, a corporate capi- tal tax, and a long list of -jicence and fec increases,”’ “Wilson added, Couldn’t have said it any | better. To rack up a $525 mil- lion deficit in the first quarter: of the fiscal year is quite an achievement, considering that the Bill Vander Zalm govern- | ment, which was pretty well WHAT'S I ALL OUR HOPING AND STRIVING! | MEAN ? WHAT: MAKES US TRULY HAPPY 2? 7 WHAT'S IT ALL That was the lead:paragtaph ,, of a pres release, accompany-. From the Capital Ee Lo rt out of control in the spring of 1991, ran up only a $402 mil- lion shortfall during the first quarter of that year. The figures given us by Clark dramatically weaken his favorite argument about the Socreds’ fiscal mismanage- ment, and no longer allow him to blame British Columbia’s problems on the ‘‘financial mess’’ the NDP inherited from the previous government. The finance minister offers some valid reasons for the high deficit. Labour disputes in the pulp and paper and min- ing industries, he says, cut production. and exports be- tween May and July, and con- sumer spending and business investment were weaker than expected, . Which begs the question why consumer spending and business investment were down. Critics of the govern- ment will say that both con- sumers and the business com- munity don’t have confidence in the political climate, That " assessment may not be justified, but it will hurt the NDP nevertheless. And while British Colum- bia’s economic recovery is, in- - deed, still outpacing the rest of the country, Clark has had to revise his forecast for econom- ic growth from three per cent -to 2.5 per cent, _. Prospects for employment — ‘don’t look very rosy either. Recent declines in emplay- _ment, the finance minister says, pushed (he seasonally- - adjusted :rate into the 11 per- _ cent range in June and July. by, Hubert Beyer sg 4. ME... TRULY HAPPY 72, WHEN THE TORONTO BWETANS BEAT THE. MINNESOTA THINS #11 The only economic indicator that gives any reason for hope is the province’s housing sec- tor. During the first seven months of this year, urban housing starts in British Columbia were 33 per cent higher than in the same period last year, ; The main reasons for this in- crease in housing activity are, of course, the low interest rates and people moving to B.C. in record numbers. The net increase in migration to the province was more than 13,000 people. On ihe down - side, some of the new arrivals came here without jobs and helped swell the income as- sistance rolls. Clark hopes fervently that ~ things will pick up during the remaining three quarters of the fiscal year. In fact, he’s pretty optimistic about it. ' “This is only the first quarter of the year. We're con- linuing to take actioh ta con- trol spending to meet our budget targets, and we expect the economy to pick up over the rest of the year,’’ he says. Wilson, not surprisingly, sces it differently. He says that this year’s. budget deficit will force the government to im- pose even more drastic tax measures next-year, and that, he adds, ‘‘spells a one-term government.’ wo And while those statements are mostly political rhetoric, __ Clark shouldn’t underestimate the potential danger another. record deficit may pose to the government’s longevily. ANDTHEY SAY NORTHERNERS AREN'T DEEP!