AI0 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, November 7, 2001. North called ‘forgotten area’ WHEN RUTH Mangnus heard that the planned kidney dialysis unit here was frozen by the provincial govern- ment, she got out her map of B.C, She carefully circled all of the locations where dialy- sis clinics are located. There were a lot of circles — Fort St. John, Prince George, Williams Lake, Kamloops, Vernon, Creston and Kimberley in the Kootenays, Duncan and Nanaimo on Vancouver Island just to name a few. The only place there wasn’t a circle was northwestern B.C. and that made Mangnus mad. “We're the forgotten area,” said Mangnus who has been separated from her husband, Chuck, since he had to move to Prince George six months ago for life-giving dialysis. He needs the cleansing procedure every second day, making it impossible to stay at home. There is the possibility of home dialysis but the cou- ple docsn’t have the money to make it happen. And, said Mangnus, her husband needs a level of treatment not conducive to home dialysis. “Sometimes it gets really, really painful and he gets muscle contractions. They have to call the doctor right now.” “His life is being wasted,” said Mangnus of Chuck who lives in rented room in Prince George and who has trouble finding salt-free food to maintain a proper diet. He’s lost weight and has side effects from medica- tion, Mangnus added. Chuck is able to come home the occasional weekend by bus — a trip that’s eight hours long. Manegnus said selling their small hobby farm here isn’t an option because of the recent drop in real estate prices. “We'd have to give it away,” she added, Mangnus said the problem is not only physical and fi- nancial, but psychological when people are forced into moving away to obtain dialysis. “It’s hard to keep a positive outlook. Your hopes get dashed,” Mangnus said. Since her husband’s kidneys failed and he was sent to Prince George, Mangnus said she’s learned a lot about the disease. But the most important thing she has learned is that there are a lot of people like Chuck who have had their lives disrupted because there is no northwestern dialysis ‘ service. “Just look at the map,” said Mangnus. “Where else would we move to?” From front | Action wanted to thaw freeze It means northwesterners have to move to an area where there is one. The proposal to locate a six-station dialysis unit in Terrace as a-satellite to the main clinic in Prince George has been under development for years. Fort St. John in the northeast has had a satellite service to Prince George for some years. Planning for the clinic here accelerated about a year ago after the then-NDP government in Victoria accepted a needs assessment. That set the stage to determine con- struction, equipment and staffing costs. A never-used section of the second floor of Mills was tagged as the 1o- cation for the unit. The detailed planning for the unit ran afoul of the nurses’ work-to-rule campaign this spring and early sum- mer and was only revived again in early fall. Another Terrace Health Watch member, Don Rit- chey, said he’s convinced the unit would have been up and running by now had there been a regional health care authority with the power to make decisions. Instead, community health councils have been at odds with each other whenever a decision has to be made, he said. “It all simply comes back to that,” said Ritchey. He said the need for a kidney dialysis unit in the northwest goes beyond any jealousies between health care councils, “We don't care where it goes,” Ritchey added. “It should’be in our geographic region.” New penalties hit wood exports NEW PENALTIES slapped on softwood lumber exports won't hit West Fraser as hard as other forest companies. A new 12.57 per cent anti-dumping penalty will apply to most producers shipping Canadian lumber south to the U.S. But West Fraser, which runs Skeena Sawmills in Terrace, will pay a lower 5.94 per cent dumping penalty. The mill was re-opened last week after a two week closure. Its planer did keep working during that period. West Fraser is one of six companies that were asses- sed specific penalties by the U.S, commerce department. West Fraser’s penalty was the lowest of the six, which were averaged together to produce the 12.57 per cent penalty that will apply to all other producers, The dumping penalties, which the U.S. says are to punish Canadian mills for selling lumber to the U.S. below cost, comes on top of the 19.3 per cent counter- vail duty imposed in August. The softwood lumber battle has unfolded since the expiry last March of the Canada-U.S, Softwood Lumber Agreement. [t set quotas, or limits on the amounts of lumber companies could ship south without tariffs, Most producers are now paying a combined tariff of close to 32 per cent, Forest minister Mike de Jong said the U.S, move is a major setback to talks between the two countries to reach a new and hopefully long lasting deal on lumber trade. “We've brought real substantive proposals that some people are describing as revolutionary and the response today is we get another kick in the teeth,” de Jong said. The minister said the U.S. government is doing a “hatchet job” on Canada, “God, with friends like this...,” de Jong told reporters, not completing the sentence. “It is frustrating.” Skeena Liberal MLA Roger Harris said the new rate had little to do with American claims that Canadian wood is subsidized and everything to do with wanting to freeze out competitors to American producers. “The longer they can keep us out, the more they can cultivate the share they’ve grabbed,” he said, : De Jong said he expects higher level talks soon be- tween Canadian and American officials. Phone: 604-689-0878 a Ca “James W. Radelet RADELET & COMPANY Barzisters & Soliciors Tax Law © Trusts ¢ Corporate & Commercial 1330 - 1075 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, B.C. 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