Ad - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, June 19, 2002 TERRACE STANDARD 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: standard@kermode.net Power play “ALCAN’T.” That was the headline that once ran in a Van- couver newspaper in 1995 when the B.C. gov- ernment decided Alcan would not be allowed to finish its half-built Kemano Completion Project. Today northwesterners need to see that head- line again. This time it should apply to the com- pany’s desire to sell power when it could be using the electricity to smelt aluminum. The creation of industry and jobs in Kitimat, after all, was the explicit payback demanded of Alcan in exchange for it getting water rights to the Nechako watershed. Yet all indications have been the company is more interested in becoming an electricity seller here — fitting nicely into provincial plans for independent power production — while smelting its aluminum in places like Quebec. _ Despite an increase in production announced -last week, Alcan plans to continue to run its Ki- timat smelter below full capacity while selling electricity for export to the U.S. And there remains no indication of what Vic- toria is doing to steer Alcan back to a long term ‘plan of smelting aluminum in Kitimat — and _possibly building a second smelter, Indeed, both Alcan and Victoria have been somewhat furtive about all this. Alcan has been secretive in disclosing its de- sires for future power exports. Government- owned B.C. Hydro’s contracts with Alcan are -Shrouded in secrecy. And the provincial gov- ernment won’t release details of its legal opi- -nions on whether, Alcan, power exports violate the 1950 agreement. °° " Government officials indicate they’ see Alcan “as a source of ongoing electricity for B.C. Exports of Alcan power by B.C. Hydro also generate profits for the government. At a time of severe deficits, officials in Vic- “toria might well be tempted to let Alcan go as far as it wants — up to and including eventually closing the Kitimat smelter — if they thought they could get away with it. Concern in Kitimat about this issue, however, is acute. And so should it be elsewhere in the region, Throughout the Skeena Cellulose crisis, Alcan’s Kitimat smelter has been the one consis- tent rock of stability in the economic maelstrom ‘that is northwestern B.C, Kitimat and the northwest deserve a more substantial answer on the Alcan power sales ‘issue — one residents and businesses alike can bank on as they plan for the future — than a pat on the head and instructions to not worry, be happy. Victoria can end this simply: by firmly and publicly telling Alcan it won’t sell a megawatt of power until the smelter runs at full capacity. 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Published on Wednesday of each week at 4210 Clinton Street, Terrace, British Columbia, V8G 5R2. ‘Stcrias, pholographs, illustrations, designs and typestyles in the Terrace Standard are the property of the conv holders, Including Carlboo Press (1969) Ltd., its Hlustration rapro services and advertising agencies Febvoduction in whole or In pari, wilhaut written permission, is specifically prohibited, Authorized as second-class mail pending the Post Gifice Department, for paynient of pastaga in cash. 8.6. PRESS COUNCIL (www.bcpresscounell.org} Special thanks {o all our contributors and correspondents for thelr time and talents @IRILEOL GOTTA CALL THREAT To THE G3 FOREIGN MINISTERS’ WHIT! LER FROM THE FBI About A SHADOWY TERRORIST MEETING IN HECK, WHO NEEDS TERRORISTS ? THE MINISTERS WILL Be PLENTY TERRORIZED BY DRIVING: THE Sea To SKY Hiawuway To & WHISTLER: Senet mE eT TO = | a dnnay SoH Le) i a Dibenbs Hh Ja wT LaWhs me, Wy Sgitenhiy La 44 nati Smif) Excuse me for not giving a damn VICTORIA — 1 have heard and tead just about all I care to about the unseemly battle for the leadership of the federal Liberal Party. At stake is who should be prime minister, Jean Chretien or Paul Martin, who was fi- Nance minister until he got sacked last week. The media have pulled out all stops reporting and com- menting on the story, invoking every silly metaphor from the “battle of gladiators” to “epic battle” to Martin “facing a po- litical firing squad.” Frankly, my dear Scarlet, I don’t give a damn who will win this infight. I do not ex- pect Martin to become the sa- viour of Canada his supporters appear to believe he has the potential to be, That doesn’t mean [ don’t have an opinion on the sorry mess. I do. To statt with, a leader ought to remain leader, , until he decides ta‘step down. , To my knowledge Chretien has made no such decision. Why then have a whole lot of cabinet ministers been work- ing feverishly on campaigns to succeed the incumbent prime minister? 1 don’t believe for a mo- ment that concern over ethics or the lack thereof has any- thing to do with it. This has nothing to do with the scandals, real or per- ceived, that have swirled around the PM, largely courte- sy of the National Post which, FROM THE CAPITAL HUBERT BEYER for same reason, seems to be- lieve Chretien is bent on de- stroying Canada as we know it. The struggle is over who shall wield power over us dumb Canucks. Now, if there was an even slight chance that Martin or any of the other clowns seeking the top jab might actually change the way ¢ we are governed, -I' could ‘be. persuaded to join in. the con-, spiracy that is aimed al put- ting the prime minister out to pasture, We have witnessed similar struggles before, but not in the Liberal Party. The Progressive Conserva- tives were masters at politic- ally assassinating their lea- ders. The most blatant exam- ple was how John Diefenbaker was double-crossed by his party. Here in British Columbia, premiers usually resign before i any real opposition to their leadership is mounted. The most spectacular case in- valved, of course, Bill Vander Zalm, a nice guy, but clueless about the demccratic process, Why, he once said to me, shouldn’t he be able to force his beliefs. on the public. He is the premier. If he can’t have his personal views reflected in the way B.C, is governed, he might as well turn the province over to the Mafia. A thought process worthy of the Zalm. Every leadership race in B.C. started after the incum- bent had announced his re- signation, not before, as is the case with the federal Liberals Tight now. And just what did Martin expect when he defied Chre- tien’s order that his would-be successors stop plotting his overthrow and work full-time tunning the country? That, I elected for. believe,sis, whats they were, “ I would have fired hi him;too. | Well, no, actually I might have said, “Paul, I’m outta here. If you want the job that badly, you can have it.” But that’s because I have no sto- mach for such fights, and my idea of fun does not include being prime minister. Chretien, on the other hand, seems to really revel in the job. And he has been pretty good for his party, what with winning three elections. So why get rid of him? Beats me. Martin wants ta be prime mithstanding, minister so badly he can taste it. The job was denied his fa- ther, Paul Martin Senior, so he is hell bent for leather to get it himself, I can understand that, but what I don’t understand is why he didn’t just wait for his turn. He was bound to be a shoe-in if and when the time came. Now he may well have thrown away his chances to succeed Chretien. Eugene Whelan, former Lib- eral agriculture minister, known not to mince words, said dast week that Martin, might well be facing a firing squad for leading an insurrection if he didn’t live in a free country. As it is, he may merely have fat- ally shot himself in the foot. Canadians stand to gain nothing from this internecine fight. Martin will no more get tid of the GST than Chretien did, his promise to do so not- t t whteatise saaiectu The’ ‘softwood lumber dispute will .not; end a week earlier with Martin as prime minister. Our armed forces will not get a penny more if there’s a change in leadership. So why should Canadians care whether it is Martin or Chretien who will lose the fight? | know J don’t. hubert@coolcom.com Beyer can be reached at: E-mail hubert@coalcom.com; Tel (250) 381-6900; Web http: Aww. hubertbeyer.com Evidence will betray tree thief “YOU CAN get away with anything if you do it with con- fidence,” says Frasier's pro- ducer, Roz Doyle. That philosophy cloaked the thief who stole a $300 maple from the Millennium trail May 25. In full view of Saturday traffic, the 60-year-old pear- shaped woman dug up the sa- pling, stowed it in the trunk of her burgundy older two-door sedan, and drove off. This incident would inspire a Seinfeld routine, except the City of Terrace doesn’t find it funny. After hours of landscap- ing 800 trees paid for by a 2000 millennium grant, this pilferer has left a gap in the traii’s balance foliage. More than one citizen has expressed total disgust with this woman's thievery. “What kind of a lesson is she teach- ing her grandchildren?” is their second thought. I] expect her grandchildren are familiar with Grandma’s light-fingered behaviour. [’ll bet she has towels from mo- tels, ashtrays from pubs, and THROUGH BIFOCALS | CLAUDETTE SANDECKI books from libraries. Until she’s caught (depend on the sharp-eyed grandchil- dren calling attention to the new tree in Grandma's lawn) we can only guess she’s a gar- dener with many desires but few scruples, Chances are her backyard bristles. with pink flamingos and other lawn ornaments whose theft has been blamed on marauding teenagers. © Digging up a tree from a landscaped parkway mere feet _ from through traffic takes un- common brazenness. Anyone could have been driving past Terrace’s chief gardener, the mayor, or the city worker paid to plant the maple last sum- mer. To know such a maple exis- ted on the Millennium trail, she must have walked the trail, perhaps as a daily consti- tutional, been present when the tree was bought at a local nursery or chatted with some- one familiar with the plants spaced along the curved walk- way. - Clearly her crime was pre- meditated, the worst kind, “Why else would she have a shovel handy in the trunk of her car on a 22-degree day in May? Or was she prepared for snow? This thief has me taking note of pear-shaped seniors with more than a fleeting in- terest in greenery, Last Satur- day I watched a woman fitting the culprit’s description climb the steps to Sears and move along a row of recently planted shrubs, checking for caterpil- lars. Had she been driving a WELL.ITS ALL Busy! MARTEN CAN JUST STOF EAA i, OD. VAQUAAR T SHE'S NEVER Gone “OUT OF DooR S*.. INHER LiFe)! burgundy sedan I might have followed her home. If she were the thief, I'd ex- pect to find in her backyard a young maple, its leaves droop- ing from its recent transplant, Any neighbour noting sevy- eral clues meeting the crime ~, a maple sapling and a burgun- dy sedan, might be inclined to walk over after supper for a chat about that wilting tree, one keen gardener to another, Sure, she can claim to have — bought it recently from a nurs- ery, But if several facts fit, I'd ask for proof of her purchase. She could argue it’s only a tree, and public property as well. Because she has no te- Spect for public property - doesn’t mean: others agree with her. Someone disagreed enough to Teport her theft to police, Thett of plants is not new, One sponsor caught a woman filling a bag with pan- . sies from a concrete planter outside a hairdresser's. And in Vancouver, a thief made off in the night with five of the library’s rhododendrons, But Grannies know better.