Page 4, The Herald, ednesday, June 16, "1980 ae

(TERRACE/KITIMAT)

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Published by
Sterling Publishers

Calvin McCarthy
Middleton

Kalum Street,

editarlal or

in the Herald. .

-(epiTorIAt |

Last week’s tragic
boating accident here
peints out only tao clearly how much
care must be taken In recreation on our

man drowned ina

rivers and lakes. °

Neither the Skeena nor even some of
rivers
A fatal accident can occur Ina
matter of seconds on even placid looking
water. On some of the rapids on rivers

its tributaries are
on.

like the Skeena a

Inevitable if novices attempt them.
Even for the experienced boater they |

can be tricky.
Unless you
craft suitable

intend on trying you
Even a suitable boat Is no
guarantee against a mishap. Take the
appropriate courses and
experienced until you
the required. skills.
Pian trips which take both your boat.
into account. Don’t press .
your luck or venture into unfamiliar
water unprepared. Exploring is all fine
done safely and you are
forwarned about the dangers ‘but you
should make sure’ you are not going to
suddenly find yourself in trouble. -

Do enjoy our waterways this summer
a safe and sensible

an n CL eau PMG See ete ae Ce aid cai aE ag ee ae te

trouble.
someone more
have mastered

and your skills

and good .if

but please do It in

have carefully ‘chosen a
for the kind of boating you

event In which one

to take chances.

tragedy is almost

are asking. for

go with

LETTERS TO
| THE EDITOR _

Dear Sir: ;
Perhaps its inappropriate
to write a second time on the
matter of Jacob Muller's
sunning paper on flood
ylains .but the situation
eppears to have taken &
irightening turn. The
suggestion that guidelines
are to be developed with
cegards to academic
research at Ube College i8,
however, itapossible to
ignore.’
Is academic freedom to be
sacrificed due to the opinion
of a civic politician? 1s the
college ta be our institution
committed to freedom of
thought, research and
debate or is it ta be tailored
wthe willofafew?
Canada to its enduring.
oredit, has always main-
tained such freedoms In its
post-secondary inatitutions.
Ttis a tradition that extends,
both in Europe and North
America, back many Cen-
luries. It hag served our
goclety well for it has meant
that thoughts and ideas can
re-jaln free from alitical
_antrol. Its essential for the
maintesance of democracy.
Hed Kitimat Mayor
George Thom recognized
this, he would have
demanded debate. and

threats and insinuations.
Gut college must be open to
both Muller's and Thoms’
opinions. One cannat be
forced to conform to the
others. Judgement comes on
the basis of the teat’ opposing
ideas, freely given.

1 personally cringed. when
a university I was at In
Gntatio , Bponsored two
American professor's lec
tures. Both helleve that
Black people are genetically
inferior to whites. They are,
in many peoples opinion,
iecist. Thom may believe
that Muller has insulted hin.
1 believed that those two
professors insult every
two are ‘well-known, well-
critics, however, prefer to
debate not repress.

The responsibillty
pressure irom any litician
cr group is that of t entire
community although It slts
primarily with the college
and ith employees. Is it

to resist

discussion instead of making -

thinking pereon, Yet these,
published academics. Thelr.

necessary to ask: the im-
portance of freedom of ex:
pression? Arewe to accept a
‘Big Brother’ as in Orwell's
19847 I trust not. .
Thom’s remarks an
Muller's theels have not yet
to convince a number of
people that Muller is wrong.
As I've stated before 1 don’t
agree completely with the
per but have, found it 8
good place to begin @
discussion of local-govert- -
ments.. There are two
examples of possible reasons
to accept the better part of
Muller's case. ;
He accurately assesses the
membership of the two city

fier

What to

By VIC PARSONS
KITIMAT, B.C. (CP) -- A fight is
brewing aver water ii northern British
Columbia and whether it should be used

to produce fish or aluminum:
(Aluminum Co, of Canada Ltd.)
Alean has proposed a. $2.5-billion
project that would dam two rivers and
ise the water to produce electricily.

Despite the promise of 6,000 jobs,
area residents are reluctant to give up
thelr rivers. They argue the plan would
damage the province’s $a0)-million-a-
year salmon Industry,. hurt tourism,
reduce water supplies to towns and.
other industries.and impair miniclpal
sewage disposal.

Thirty years ago the lure of cheap
hydroeiectricity, an eséential
ingredient in aluminium production,
attracted Alcan to this town at the head
of a winding inlet on B.C.'s northern
const. ;
Now, with energy prices soaring, the
company wants io use an agreement
signed then to construct another huge
production

' project that would triple ite
capacity. - -
Federal Fisheries Minister Romeo
LeBlanc has said the waler is needed
for the fish and warned that if ne
compromise can. be found the issue will
become a test of wills or legislation.
When Alcan came to this area in the
late 19403, it was known anly for its
abundant snowfalls and a legend that it
was first settled by an Tndian wife
slayer -feelng vengeance. .
~ Rivers rising in the mountains jusl 1
Lkitometres from
and south to the Fraser River taking a
1,100-kilometre route to the ocean.
Alcan hed a better idea. The waler’
could be diverted west and -would
tumble 760 metres in Mi kilometres,
creating a power potential that could be,
harnessed to. feed an energy-gobbling
aluminum smelter.
The company esked the province for,
a f0-year licence to harness all the

Nanika rivera, gat 1t, and undertook 8
$500-million, five-year project... ,

F

‘| Alean’s operation.

An agd-megawatt ‘powerhouse was
built at Kemano to supply energy. in
Kitimat, now A
‘madel town of 14,000, was construct
on the flats and slopes overlooking the

inlet. . -
But the campany did not vee all of its

- authorized watershed in the first

in an era of costly

project and now, !
tep the remutoing

energy, hopes ts
power potential.
Since Alean set up in the backwater
first settled by Wamis, the Usigla in-
dian wife-kilier, the ‘operation his gole
through ‘some lean years, especially
when competitors in the United States

councila, Thom has
defended the current -ad-—
ministrations records and
the attitude of aldermen to
flood plain development.
The record indicates thal one
of Thom’s political allies
owns land at Lakelse Lake
that is being reviewed by the
regional district board, The
committee review is an
application for re-zoning. 1
belleve that the property is
Inkeshore and in the flood
plein. Is one of thoue Thom.
defends currently en-
couraging development in a
flood plain? I am_ not
suggesting any impropriety;
only raising a question. =
Similarily, poorly con-
structed highways, for
whatever reason, are “not
unknown in B.C, There’a
heen more than one com-
ment passed about the
Gagliardi and Ginter gang.
Perhaps there is some
correction with fload plains
in some areas, maybe not.
Maybe this connection has
just developed naturally. it
bears investigation.
Investigation often upeets
people, some of whom hold
office. Sometimes analysis
stands the teat, sometimes it ”
doesn’t. An honest in-
vestigation cannot be tulded
to protest someone's
political sensitivities. h-
faliibility cannot be claimed
by anyone with the pobslble
exception of Popes. This
applies to those who would
wish ‘guidelines’ those who

-would attempt to write {hem

and those who would think of
following them.

Frateraally

Paul Johnston

wide open copamercial -

lobbied successfully against Conadian-

Power from Alcan’s Kemano plant runs
aluminum smelting operations in Kitimat

_ tnarket. -

the Pacific Nowed-eaat.

wajers of the upper Nechako and.

ed System, about seven

i

and offers the promise of

ats

more

KEMANO SERIES

pis : i

‘exports.

Now the area’s undevelope power
potential’ is’ a bonus as e company. 7%
vecks ta increase ita share of-the world levels of. the rivers.

The new “proposill would ‘involve low periods

construction of three. new smelters
employing 2,000 workers, The power
would come from re megawatts of
electricity generate y a second hydro ae
plant using water reserves: untouched Lake:
by the.tirst project. 7
“But for Alcan there is-a fly In the
ointment. Where such a project would
have brought only feeble opposition 30
‘years ago, today there are several
hurdles faciig the expansion.
Although the project is still on the
drawing hoards, it already itiustrates
dramatic changes in soclety since 1950.
The company now realizes industrial
development is not as highly regarded
as It was then and plans to temper its
final proposal to meet various cone

a

would

George

eros.”
Environmentalists see the debate as
a forerunner of similar disputes over
proposed hydro projects on the Peace
Hiver In the northeast and the: Stikine
River in the northwest.
The original project, completed in
_ 1984, was a marvel al the thme. —
The Nechako rising in 2,000-metre-
high mountains wes damm at a
-eanyon 200 Kilometres east ‘af’, the
“powerhouse tunnel. ‘The water backed more private

HPA ceyon Jakes fo foun ANE RIERS HNOKB.

Tpeservolr. ae
"A 16-kilometre tunnel was “drilled
‘through solid granite to Kemana and
eight generators installed, each with a.
capacity of 112,000 kilowatts, There was’
more. than endugh’ for, the present
Kitimat smelter and in recent years.’ private dain in the
surplus power, has been sold to'B.C. To pacify critic
Hydro, the government-owned utility.
Bd spillway was built around the dam
on the Nechako to allow water, to flow.
into the rivar, 705 WTR ws
The new preposal would halt the flaw
through the spillway. Anew dam would preparing stidies
be failit. on the Nanika River, @ “impact.
tribulary of the Bulkley-Skeena,- . The reports
square kijometres summer.
floaded around Nenika and’ Kidprice
lates and a tuntiel built Lo divert. the
flow infa the Nechiko radervoir. ‘
& second tunnel .and powerhouse
would be built-parallel to the existing
system, The hydroelectric expnnaion
would coat $300 million, = 7"
The sineiters. each with 700 workers,
would be bull in stages. One would be»
located bebwees Kitimat and Terrace,
40 jdlonietres north on the Seong
River. Sites of the others have not yet
been desided. ;
Alcan officials estimate another 3,000

Alean its licence.

. February

- bat
Meanwhile,

while secking

are

said.
minded people.”

levels in

and throughout the Pacific Northwest.

use the water for

But. many residents of northcentral
B.C, worry about the jmpact on water

Water resource officlals say that at
L the Nechako, ita flow
already halved by the first project,

e virtually dry fram the Kenney
Dam to the first maj
Nautley River, which drains Fraser

‘The Nechako would be cut by 76 to 80
per cent at Vanderhoof and Fort Fraser
and at Prince George,
major industrial lly,
be reduced by 45 per cent. ‘Total flow of
the Nechako and Fraser at Prince
would be ‘down 20 per cent,

With the Nanika dammed, the Morice
— one of B.C.’s prime fishing and
canoeing rivers -- would be reduced by
about 40 per cent. The Morice flows into
the Bulkley, which would be cut by ane- |
third east of Smithers. ot

One of the main opponents of the plan]
‘may bevthe féderal fisherles depart-
iment, which demands minimum water
levels for salmon spawning,
and ‘rearing. There may be
hatween the federal Fisheries
provincial legislation which granted):

The issue was
when B.C, Energy Minister
‘Bob McClelland said there would be no
development of B.C.

maintained its claim to
to allay. fears

Brian Hemingway,
spokesman, said the proposal stil} is in
the planning stage. : .

in, 1990, we'd be less than wise to
disregard changed expectations,” he
“We think we will have a proposal
that will be acceptable to most fair-

Hemingway said while the water
the affected rivers will not
meet the federal fisheries demands, |.
there are.other ways of protecting the .
fish resource, such oS artificial hat-
cherjes and spawning channels.

jobs here

RIS imean $1 billion a year in aluminum |.

‘or inflow from the

central B,C.'s
the river would

incubation
a conflict
Act and

complicated in

Be" ative! on Fallowed when an apparent
_Isophole was found that would allow
‘firms ta develop some bower’ sites.
Then McCleiland, alter saying’ there
would be no exceptions, approved a
plan by Noranda Mines to build a

Kootensys.

s, McClelland has
_ promised a public iaquiry of the project
details have not been announced.
Alcan ‘has

firm
the watershed,

on the. project's
expected by mid:

an Alcan

‘

" deficit,

nc: not’ Belfave
~othié treasure house,

Vietnamese occupation 0
~ Soviet armoured brigade currently in

produced aluminum,

ow ° By PRANK HOWAR

What does Sunday mean to you?

For many it isa day for worship;

tion, For others itis a day
for, and with, the family.

and should = be
Sunday is now

preserved

inoperative and regrettably

yacuum.

The Social Credit government recently, introduced @-

Bill (The Holiday Shopping Act) in

that vacuum, I, for one. ain appalled at the move
which the Socreds are taking. Let me explain why.

will change the meaning
change will be socially,

The Holiday Shopping Act
of Sunday and I believe that
spiritually and economically da

The Holiday Shopping : #45
Act proposal gives each
municipality the right to
permit business to be
open oh Sunday. Fran see
an horrendous mess
developing from this and
can see an escalation to

a

‘Sundays and a con-
sequential diminution of .*
the historic splrilual |”
force behind Sunday. ;

Let's look at this hy pothetical situation.

for leisure activities; a day
For others Sunday takes on
a different dimension, Whatever one’s own response
isto Sunday, itis a day vastly differant than
from

' legally regulated by. the
Lord’s Day Act. Thal federal act, though, is largely
weak.
Libera's do not seem interested enough to do anything
about the Lord’s Day Act, which leaves a hit of a

MLABEPORTS -.

D

a day for refleec- ‘Houston woutd then

the others
intrusion,
federal

order to keop Smithers money
soclal and economic tensions

The federal ido not wish to see

British Columbia.

Apart from

-mevelalone, [tis evident that

~ghares will be bit the hardest. If the

superchainy ave open on Sunday w
faraily-rur store got 0 survive.

| sent the Holiday

an attempt fo fill

THE. :
Bt te rewereee BOC

local governments to the act. So
nothing in reply,

provitice if
its responsibilities and pass
feel. obliged lo vate

preserve Sunday As
goflection, u day for the family.

Sminvers

Shopping Ac

it
’

wl - 1 . . a
ment from the legislature
Comment from ie legi r

for example, decides against having a commercial

- Sunday: But, Houston decides just the opposite.
, have stores epened on Sunday

while Smithérs would have them closed. .

The atlraction would be for some people to flock to
‘Houston for Sunday shopping which
“inferest of business people in Smither!

would engage the |

s to follow suit in

in Smithers. In short,
would develop and we
would see ‘the concept of Sunday being demeaned.
the situation in the United States
ef af open and‘commercial Sunday imported into .

the spiritual aspeal, there is the com-
gmail, family-operated
supermarkets and
hat chance has the’

t to each mayor,
* alderman and regional district member in Skeena as
as it was introduced into the House hoping

thereby to gel some communication in return so that if
- might have a fuller understanding of the attitude of
I have heard

far,

Apart from that Tweed to come to some conclusion
about the bill within my own conscience. The way I
see itihe spirit of Sunday. cannot be maintained in this
we let the provincial government abandon
pa then off to-local govern: |
ments. ‘Phe preservation of Sunday is not divisible. I

against this bill: in order to
a day of reverence, a day of

the federal
billion,

Don't bother calculating the.
involved, how it breaks down, or what it might mean

symbols of a slot machine, where it stops, and what,lf 4
any, the ultimate payoff might be, even to
- minister and perhaps

Canada could be close to incomprehensible. .

The nine-year Nova Scotia parliamenta star —he |.

much of Liberal methods and motives In taxing and"

ng
_ To sum up
back to 1891 and a

“People's Almanac,” reading:
_. “See the faces of the Grits
“Grizzly Grits, r
“What a woe-begone expression at present o'er:

thinking, thinkirig deeply *”.
this-country cheaply ©“

them, flits.
“They are
“How to run

_ “And they wonder
“How in thunder,

“Tt ig going to be done. . EE ae
“But the people -- those who vote ~ of their. twaddle oe

take no note.

“Por they know the dismal, dreary, -direful dale ‘

_“Of the Grits |
“Of the moribund,
"Grits, Grits, Grits, ©
‘The greedy; Brubbys-

much, if as much as a
billion-plus
- Right now,

defence.

“We control a very large percentage of real estate
on this planet, and a disproportionate amount of its
natural resources,” he observed. ue

“And I say thet unless we are kidding ourselves we <=
at ore ait eiin péltto
‘much less.defend it.”

Ottawa,- With $60 billion-plus estimated for spon.
ding this-fiscal year and face ae
government:
Parliament for authority to borrow up toa further §12 -

to the Governor of the Bank of se

his. thinking about-them, he went way,
“poem” appearing in the then

Morose and
garulous G Ce We

Whatreally was bothering Elmer MacKay was how -

penny, of

would go to defence. os

y, he warned, Canada was using only 1.8 ~~

- percent of its total government spending money on

4 witha: 14 billion-plus = ‘3.
has been ‘back to: +

arithmetic, what's. tas

by like the

the finance .<--4

extra $i2billion, ses:

he doesn’t think -.

4

ply a

tat

melanch y

Le EMAL tO wos a

ay
Th

the corrowed $12 .

Bid Bliorés' of -

The Soviet Union -- with its vast military apparatus,

electronic capability,
supposedly free world --

with the West in “disarray,
tempted, any time to adventures

Unlikely ?

_ What about Cuban troops.
really, in Angola and Ethiopia, he asked, .

| Ethippia and Libya? Soviet y

occupationof Afghanistan, the ‘Sovist-inspired: .-,

f Cambodia, and-the full © «17

bases in South Yemen,

andits covert penetration of the
worried Elmer MacKay that

the Russians might be —
of conquest." oo

Soviet mercenaries, *
And Soviet...

Cuba?

Recalling the great Winston Churchill, the Nova

open.”

“In ‘Canada’s case, he warned, with the North not *
- only unprotected but unguarded and unpatrolled, the .. °
didn't even have to try the doors.

Russians
They.were all open.

. “We fave been conducting our own open-door ||.

policy.”

The 1.8 percent of Canada’s national income being a
spend on defence would scarcely nudge the door ajar,
-. he lamented. : ; 4

But what about a piece of that $12 billion plus - soe
_ borrowing, not to mention the current $60 billion of "

spending?

- Seotian likened Soviet military-diplomacy ~ detente ~~~
and the empty Russian friendship treatles ~ as'"a
burglar in a hotel, going systematically down the =
halls, trying every door until finding one that is” | *

Poe

There Elmer MacKay left the Russian burglar at 4
the open door and went on to make a plea for ad
meaningful regional economic expansion. ve

And he left the House wonderi ‘haps even-a.
shade troubled, at the footfalls ng, Perhaps ove

along the hall.

-real or Imagined --

LETTERS TO
THE EDITOR

Dear Sir: .

It.is both with distain and
dismay that we watch the
antics .of the British
Columbia Social Credit
government. If not for the
seriousness of the situation,
their actlons would indeed be
laughable.
~ Recently, during the
debate on the Premier's
estimates, our local MLA,
. Frarik. Howard, and other
members of the Opposition
have tried to get answers to
certain questions from lhe
Premier.

_ successful for the simple
reason that Premier Bennett

simply refused to answer,

The pertinent questions,

over 23 in all, ranged from °

commitments of public funds
to subsidize the American

They were un-

operdted Seattle-Victorla. *
jetfoill service, to the: —
shadowy dealings between:
Doman Industries and B.C, : :
Development Corporation (a
Crown corporation). .
Unfortunately, the ~
Premier, in his infinate =
wisdom and unbelievable - .
arrogance refused not only:
to answer the questions bul . .:-
even to acknowledge them. |. -
Such lack of respect for the - +"
legislative procedure will ba. ..~
duely noted on election day,
Although the Social Credit - °"
party has been moving to”.
reorganize Itself, it can mot... ©
seem to shake off theaura of
dishonesty, arrogance and ©. -
indifference that has =i
plagued it since the electiofi., ©.
Co ovy Yours truly 25
waa § be Deter Poole <4