ef at rt

a

to

4

se of

Dear Sir:

The circle has closed. This circle started -
when people started Prostituting our white
bear.“

The first was young Russell, when he
wanted to sell his book. Young Jackson used
the bear to shut down Princes Royal, and get
- him some air time.

“It expanded when Joe Foy needeid some

support in his éndeavours to stop logging

anywhere.

Young McRory used the bear as leverage
to stop logging on our north coast. None of
- these people had the needs of the White Ker-

a

modei i in mind, they had their own agenda.

And that was their war against logging.
The barges now headed to Vancouver are
filled with used logging equipment, not lum-
ber from our mills.

Also on those barges was a-payroll of a
million dollars a month.

~ Will Joe Foy make ‘up the difference? Or

, Wayne?

Terrace council took a turn in the circle,
but their motives were slightly more noble

‘than those others.

Many environmental» groups used the

bear as leverage to tie up logging i in all the |

ermodei unbearabl

coastal valleys from Hardy to Alaska.

The Campbell government, believing all
the non science, secured the “Spirit bear
conservancy to protect the bear.

To adopt the bear, then use the ‘trade

" mark’ to make money selling the bears heri-

tage.
They are all now suing and counter suing

_saying they were the first to use the bear, lie

about the bear, to suit their own needs.

Bears, black or white, do not need ‘Pris- .
-tine”, environments to live and thrive. The

only protection they need is protection from

i

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, May 31, 2006 - AS |

of

to any bear. >
The conservancy does nothing to protect

the bears from that, all it does is prevent log-
' ging and mining.

, Contrary to the propaganda, bears thrive

in logging slashes, because the sun warm-

ing the ground produces more food than can

grow under the closed canopy of: a mature

forest.

Now look at this, just because a | bear is.

white, see all.the trouble he’s caused.
’ And he neither knows nor cares. |:

Les Watmough

_ Sportsplex could
breed next crop .
of Terrace minor |
hockey champs -

Dear Sir:

~As a former Terrace resident and 1 minor hockey league
player within. the TMHA, I have followed the Proposed

Sportsplex situation with great interest.
Whenever it appears the situation may be resolved, some-
_ thing always comes up and the project gets shelved (again).

While other similarly sized cities in'British Columbia have...
_ Managed to construct Community complexes with a second

‘ice sheet, Terrace continues to lag behind.
[realize that ice sports are not the only games in town,
but to those who use the Terrace Arena for competitive sport

_ or recreation, it’s important to‘allow those young athletes the .
opportunity to get to the next level and have success.

When I joined minor hockey hockey in-1983, Terrace was
on the hockey map as a power to be reckoned with. Com-
ing off the success of the midget rep team who had made it

- all the way to’ the national Air Canada Cup championships, . |

“many of us were attracted to the sport.

I°wonder how many Terrace citizens realize that i in the

_history.of that tournament (now called the Telus Cup), there

- have only been 2 B.C. teams that have made it that far (when -
__ they were not the host). The other was the Cliff Ronning- rled

‘Burnaby team in 1982.
Over half of the players on that Terrace Midget Rep team

_played at the Junior A-level or higher.In 1982, there was an _

excitement in the air and we were proud to play for Terrace
at the beginner levels and on to the rep programs.

We believed we represented a championship city with a

‘tradition to uphold. Now, it seems that other cities have cre-

’ ated more ice time for their athletes with a second i ice sheet _

‘and Terrace players are struggling to keep up.

In the iast 10 years or so,’ Kitimat has' manged to win. 2° .
provincial championships whereas Terrace has “not even |

come close.

The other frustrating issue is that citizens who reside out- -

‘side of the Terrace city limits continue to use the facilities
but do not contribute tax dollars to paying for them or to
fund new incentives. ]

I think the time has come for the unincorporated statusiof
Thornhill to change. Either Thornhill incorporatés itself as:-

a separate town or amalgamates itself with the city. The tax
payers of Terrace should no longer have to shoulder the load
for the entire region.

Following this story from a distance is very frustrating. I
know there are citizens in Terrace who feel the same way.
I know that if the citizens of Terrace and region work to-
gether, the sportsplex dream can be achieved.

It is important for small cities to have dynamic facilities
for the entire community to enjoy: Those of us who have
played minor hockey in Terrace and moved on have nothing
, to gain by the creation of a second ice sheet.:

-It is for the next generation of young athletes for whom
we must build the facilities so they can maximize their po-
tential and pursue their dreams.

Terrace minor hockey has a tradition of excellence. With ~

hard work, I know Terrace can someday again, be consid-
ered a hockey power.

eo, . Bob Basanti

Richmond, B.C.

Ex-bureaucrats getting cold

shoulder from gov’t

Dear Sir: -
Where’s the fairness? While the Provincial government is
sharing a large chunk of its billion dollar surplus on catch-up

~ contracts for thousands of deserving and hard working pub-

lic sector employees — including bonuses running to about
$4,000 a head — it continues to cold shoulder its former em-
ployees — retired government workers.

During our. careers. in the public service, we accepted
‘relatively modest wage increases because we believed that
government’ s solemn.commitment it would meet the cost of
premiums for the medical services s plan and extended health

_when we retired.

That, said the government, would compensate us ‘for the
‘bigger paycheques i in the private sector. :
_ But in 2002, the government renegged on the deal with
the result many pensioners, who also face increasing health
problems due to advancing age, are suffering real financial
hardship.
‘It s ironic that the government keeps using the words
“fair”

‘contract ot settlements.
I just wish I could hear them used to describe its conduct

‘towards the thousands of its former employees hurt because
government couldn’t or wouldn’ "tkeepits word, =
Norma King
retired government employee,

. Terrace, B.C.

Don't take it personally —

Dear sir:

As long as people are afraid of questions, answers and -

- the truth, scientists, archaeologists and scholars will be sub-
jected to the type of censorship, derision and mockery Brian
. Gregg so defensively exhibited in his diatribe (The Mail
Bag, May 10, 2006). *
If Gregg finds The DaVinci Code objectionable, he should
try reading The Jesus Papers by Michael Baigent. —
Have fun, Brian! And remember what ALF said:
“Boy! Point out one major flaw ina person’ $ basic belief

system and they take it personally.”
. . Sincerely,

Brenda Silsbe
Terrace, B.C.

h

mans’ rifles. That is the only mortal danger==

a

etches

oy

Thornhill, B.C.

CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD

SKEENA MLA Robin Austin looks out on the Skeena River. The chair of the province’s s aquaculture committee, he’ Ss ‘hoping residents i in ‘the
northwest will attend meetings here that will be a chance for people to speak out about their thoughts on fish farms. oe

Dear Sir, .

On May 3rd, a letter from Ms. Mary Dalen was
printed in.the Terrace Standard. 1 would like to -
ciarify a couple of the points Ms. Dalen makes in

her letter.

Regrettably, it is not within the Special Com-
mittee. on Sustainable Aquaculture’s powers to
impose a moratorium on new open net fish farms;
that responsibility lies with the provincial govern-

* same thing before having the confidence to bring

.recommendations to the Legislature.

Legislature.

Buildings, Victoria, BC V8V 1X4.

The committee is requesting submissions. from
all British Columbians so we can have all the i in-
formation with whi ch to make-our r report to the

To make a submission, please contact the com- |
mittee clerk, Craig James at Rm. 224, Parliament

MLA angling for submissions |
to aquaculture committee _

Dear Sir,

_ ter.

Raise: your voice _
about fish farms —

Thanks to Mary Dalen for: an excellent ee

One small clarification thougli. f
There were over 4,000 letters presented

ment.
At our first meeting, I asked Agriculture and
Lands Minister Pat Bell for a moratorium on any

‘new fish farm licences while the Committee is do- ‘

ing its work. ©
This request was denied by Minister Bell. Ms.

Dalen is quite right to lobby the Premier on this ©
- issue, but not the Special Committee. '

While many British Columbians such as Ms.

Anyone interested is invited to attend the pub-.
lic hearings. The Special Committee will be here

in the northwest on the following dates:

‘Monday, June 19: Prince Rupert and Kitkatla :

Tuesday, June 20: Terrace .

Wednesday, June 21: Kitwanga and’ New. Ha-
zelton

-I'd like to thank Ms. Dalen for raising the issue
and expressing her concerns and | look forward to

in the Legislature in Nov 2005: calling for a
moratorium on further expansion of open net
salmon farms and since that time Friends of :

Wild Salmon has received over 1,000 more. '

The. Committee for Sustainable: Aquacul- . .
ture will be holding public hearings 1 in Ter- T

race in June.
Please attend and make your voice heard.

d “equitable” in describing i its triumphant string of.

. Dalen have spent time availing themselves of the
facts surrounding fish farms. it is also necessary
for politicians on both sides of the House to.do the ss

Dear Sir:

I would like to reply to a
‘recent letter you published
‘from Gord Lechner of Kiti-
mat criticizing the appoint-
ment of Roger Harris as
BC’s first Forestry Safety
Ombudsman.

- There are three points:

First, the BC Forest Safe-

ty Council is not a govern- —

ment organization.

It is made up of orga-
nizations’ representing em-
ployees, owner-operators,
contractors of all. sizes, li-

-cencees, owners and key ae
‘government agencies.
We are funded by the

forest sector. We receive no

financial, support from gov-
ernment.We. don’t make pa-.

tronage appointments.
He was selected by a
nominating committee of

i

me ee a ee me eel ame el im a mm a cle el i ee al all eli ala Te - a ailin - l e lte le ile ar we Pe ol wie ‘ee

, Roger Harris

‘the Council and confirmed

seeing her at the hearings. |

ao

Forest council lucky to have
Harris as its safety ombuc dsman-

responsibilities. forfores t op- oe

cers raised within the sec-
tor by small owner-operators
and contractors and is there
to improve communication

Robin Austin
MLA - Skeena,

Kathy ‘Larson

a Hazeton, B.C. |

"sector...

Third, - Roget - Harris ..
comes to the position with
a breadth of experience and -

“We are funded by ‘the. forest.

sector. We receive no . financial ©
. support —.. from. government. We.
‘don’t make patronage employees,”

--Tanner Elton, CEO BC Forest Safety Council

and discussion of safety is-
sues and to try and find early
_ and, at times, _ confidential
resolution. —
' This is one of many. ini-

by the Council’s Board. - prove safety.

Second, the office of the
Forestry Ombudsman was

created in response to con- ombudsman in an industrial

tiatives of the Council to im- .

While an ombudsman is _
used frequently in different -
areas, this is the first safety .

\

“insight that will, serve. ‘the
position well — as a worker, .

an injured faller, a union
representative,.a manager
and a businessman. .

' He also sought a nomi-
nation, met ‘the electorate,

represented his community

in the -legislature, served
his constituents, and was a
Minister of the Crown with

erations.

We consider - his time |
“spent in government as an :

asset, not a liability.

His- overall. experience .

and insights will.add to his

ability’ to. understand the is- -

‘sues that will be brought | to
him.

“that he has accepted the Po-

sition. .

hi

We are: very fortunate .

I invite Mr. ‘Lechtier. and 2 7

any of your readers*
ested in forest’ ‘safety.

‘our website and write or: call: 7

. the-forest safety council’to

learn more of. the extensive

_ effortsthe sector is: under-

taking to improve its safety
performance.

CEO, BC Forest Safety
Council

Tanner Elton

i.
iv.
'
‘