A4 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, May 3, 1995 TERRACE: 2 STANDARD ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988 . ‘ADDRESS: 4647 Lazelle Ave., Terrace, B.C. « V8G 188 TELEPHONE: (604) 638- 7283 * FAX: (604) 638-8432 MODEM: (604) 638-7247 VE Day, 1945 “ON_THE continent of Europe we have yet to make sure that the simple and honourable pur- poses for which we entered the war are not brushed aside or overlooked in the months fol- lowing our success, and that the words ‘freedom,’ ‘democracy,’ and ‘liberation’ are not distorted from their true meaning as we have un- derstood them. There would be little use in punishing the Hit- lerites for their crimes if law and justice did not rule, and if totalitarian or police governments were to take the place of the German invaders. We seek nothing for ourselves. But we must make sure that those causes which we fought for find recognition at the peace table in facts as well as words, and above all we must labour to ensure that the world organization which the United Nations are creating at San Francisco does not become an idle name, does not become a shield for the strong and a mockery for the weak, . It is the victors who must search their hearts in their glowing hours, and be worthy by their nobility of the immense forces that they wield.” British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, in a radio speech to the British people, May 8, 1945, As reprinted from John Toland’s ‘The Last 100 Days.’’ Canada’s role “IN THIS. prolonged and "bitter: struggle, now crowned with victory, the army of Canada has played a stirring part. Canadians everywhere are entitled to be very proud of their soldiers. 1 am certainly proud beyond words to count myself one of them. It has been a great inspira- tion and a great challenge to one’s capacities to be a commander of such men. I have never met a Canadian commanding of- ficer who has regarded his responsibilities other- wise. The very best one has been able to give them has never been as complete as one would have wished. Yet the compelling urge to be fully worthy of these responsibilities has shown itself during all ‘our operations in the outstanding conduct of the Canadian commanders, They. have led their men in battle. They have never spared themselves. Also they have paid the full price. We have reached the time when the great and gallant company which has formed the First Ca- nadian Army is about to dissolve. By group and by units, with anticipation and joy in their hearts tempered by memories of friends they have lost, the Canadians who sur- vived will be returning home to Canada, I believe the future of Canada rests in their hands. It will be a grand future should they be given the opportunity in peace to prove and prac- tice the admirable characteristics they have demonstrated in war.’’ Excerpts from a statement given by First Ca- nadian Army commander Lieutenant-General - HD.G, Crerar on May 7, 1945, G5 PUBLISHER/EDITOR: Rod Link ADVERTISING MANAGER: Mike L. Hamm ‘PRODUCTION MANAGER: Edouard Credgeur NEWS Jeff Nagel * NEWS SPORTS: Malcolm Baxter COMMUNITY: Cris Leykauf OFFICE MANAGER: Rose Fisher, Terry Miller DARKROOM: Susan Credgeur TYPESETTER: Susie Ande ‘ton ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS: Sam Collier, Janel Viveiros, Tracey Tomas CIRCULATION SUPERVISOR: Karen Brunette MEMBER OF B.C. PRESS COUNCIL serving tha Terrace and Thornhill area. Published on Wednesday of each week by Cariboo Press (1969) Lid. al 4647 Lazelle Ave,, Tarrace, British Colurnbla. Stories, photographs, Hlustrations, dasigns and lypestylas in the Tesvace Standard ate the property of the copyright | hotdars, ‘including Carlboo Press (1969) Ud., its Utustration repro services and adverilsing verinuo CIRC! ag Aa ba A CONTRGLLED agencies. Reproduction in whole of in pad, without written permission, |s spacifically prohibited, Authorizad a second-class mall parting the Past Olfice Deparment, for payment of postage in cash, Special thanks to all our contributors and correspondents for thelr time and talents , ie PII, “de 4 ( Ugh | | OPEN UP... THAD TO BAKE IT AND YOU DAMN WELL WILLEAT IT... TES oS oo VICTORIA — There’s a sinall group of dedicated indi- viduals in the Comox Valley on Vancovver Island, promot- ing an idea whose time has come, The Lands in Trust Society wants to establish a mechan- ism by which private land owners can donate lands of regional recreation or ecologi- cal importance without getting involved with Big Brother Government in Victoria. Any lands donated would be administered by local non- profit societies, along the lines of the Nature Conservancy of Canada or the B.C. Nature Trust. The difference would be in scale, “Often the goals of many na- ture .conservancy- groups are too ‘lofty and, therefore, ex- clude many of the lands within the urban landscape,’ says Trevor Jones, chairman of the Lands in Trust Society — Comox Valley. “The small wetlands down the read, which thousands of families visit, may be an exam- ple of a regional preservation objective, but is too small to be considered ecologically sig- nificant by the big boys of the land conservation arena.” The sociely got some help last week from Margaret Lord, MY UNCLE Gordon suffered a Stroke Friday night and died Sunday. He was 90. His pass- ing strips another petal from the family onion, bringing my turn closer. I first felt this aging process when my parents died. As [ hung up the phone after learn- ing my dad was gone, four years after mom, I suddenly realized two things: I was an ophian — a frightening thought even late in life — and Thad become the second oldest in our family of five. From then on my older brother and I would be age benchmarks for everyone else, Uncle Gordon was the sec- ond of six uncles to come into my life. It was 1947; I was 12, Before that, uncles were characters in books. Then the war ended, and Uncle Everal arrived from Ontario to take aver the local post office, his reward for wearing an air force P FROM THE CAPITAL. HUBERT BEYER the NDP MLA for Comox Val- ley, who introduced a Private Member's Bill in the B.C, Legislature, calling for the es- . tablishment of a Community Land Trust. Lord’s proposed act is modelled after the United Kingdom’s National Trust Acts, which administer every- thing from small parks to castles. Lord told the legislature that the need for such legislation has been shown on numerous occasions when communities rallied to preserve lands of regional and provincial impor- tance, including Jedediah Is- land, which recently became a park after government and pri- vate organizations raised the money for the purchase. According to Jones, one WEIL SKOOK You VE SIREP A COURE oF LITTERS EvERY YEAR 1 FOR THE PAST 10 YEARS! CLAUDETTE SANDECKI uniform. Uncle Gordon, his ex-teacher wife, their two picture-perfect daughters and a Boston terrier named Bing, ar- rived that summer for a weekend visit. He managed the Toronto- Dominion bank in Neilburg, a small farming community west of North Batleford. Each Wednesday he opened a AYEAR ¥ AH NE Litt ite PuP PRODUCED EAC A hee OR TWO 3 au b docsn’t even have to look as far the United Kingdom for successful local land trusts. He says there are numerous exam- ples in the United Siates. “Tn fact, through public land trusis, the U.S. has quadrupled the amount of land set aside for both recreational and ecological purposes within the last six years.” Jones says the regional land trust mode] the Comox Valley society is promoting would provide individual com- munities with the necessary administrative structure and legislative teeth to take the leadership and develop the lo- cal land conservation mandate. The various regional land trust societies, he says, should ultimately be directed by an clected community board of directors. The administrative structure should be in the form of a non-profit Jand trust society which has been desig- nated by provincial legislation to hold land in trust for the Crown. ‘Tf these organizations are community-based and admin- istered, the public has a far greater assurance that the trusted lands will be looked after properly,’ Jones says. A key factor, according to Jones, is that locally-rum land branch in nearby Marsden. He and a teller drove back and forth along with a pouch con- taining enough cash to handle farmers’ grain cheques, and a glove compartment holding a handgun. He was prepared to telinquish cash and gun withant protest, He was wise to do so. He was small, with a scrub-brush moustache, bony wrists, and knobby knees often displayed in his favorite garb, Bermuda shorts and a polo shirt with a regiment of cigarillos march- ing across the breast pocket. Except for golf and joke col- lecting — his major incentives for attending bank conventions — money was his sole interest, Which gave him little in com- mon with Dad and our family. During visits he never ven- tured beyond the house to see cither the garden or the barn- yard. He claimed as a kid he had a pet pig. I never figured WHICH ¢S WHY THIS ToloN (S OVERRUN BY MORE “THAN 5,000 HuSKIES !!! Land plan is a great idea trusts will be perccived as hav- ing only limited resources. “This is extremely important in dealings with the develop- Inent communily. When - the province becomes involved in the land transaction, all too often the asking price instantly jumps two to five-fold, be- cause the government is cori- sidered to have a bottomless treasury, whereas the focal community is working within real limitations.” What makes the idea of small, community-based land” trusts especially appealing ‘is that they would be a catch basin for recreational and ecologically important land In urban and rural areas. People would actually be able to use the lands held in trust:- mony While it is wonderful to! know they exist, few of us will ever have the opportunity. to visit magnificent wilderness areas such as the Tatshenshini or the Khutzcymateen. We need as much protected land as possible, close to where we live, And even though Private Members’ Bills rarely become legislation, the government might make an exception In this case, Not only are local land trusts an idea whose time has come, but Margaret Lard is, after ali, onc of their own. Her turn’s coming closer how he spent time with: ‘it, given his aversion to every- thing except close-mowed fair- ways, He regularly admonished his daughters, ‘‘Rermember. who you are.”’ And they did. The phrase did more than his up- ~ turned nose to widen the guif between us. But late in the evening, when the grownups gathered in the kitchen for coffec and family accounting, Uncle Gordon’s outer reserve melted. He had a million jokes and knew how to tell them, complete with ac- cents. We kids lay on our stomachs- peering down through the cold air register into the kitchen, Cighting back guffaws as we enjoyed his comic routines. Pll miss him. His passing removed another barrier : be- tween me and the inevitable. | t OD. uaguNAnT GEOMETRIC ROG RESSION, a ARE DsS SUPPOSED & OUTO KNOW ABOUT , ae SN a meta ots a