AA- The Terrace Stondard, Wednesday, April 18, 2001 TERRACE | —_ STANDARD ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, [988 PUBLISHER: ROD LINK ADDRESS: 3210 Clinton Street Terrace, B.C. * V8G 5R2 TELEPHONE: (250) 638-7283 « FAX: (250) 638-8432 EMAIL: standard@kermode.net Revive Gimpy HE WAS a fixture for years along the Kalum Lake Road leading north of Terrace. He was re- cognizable, not only because he was a Kermode bear but, because of some injury, he had a limp. That limp brought about his nickname, Gimpy. Gimpy came to a tragic end, the victim of a per- son with a rifle who shot him in a case of mista- ken identity. Yet Gimpy lives on. He was stuffed and mounted and for the longest time was on display in the environment ministry section of the provin- cial government access centre on Eby. Gimpy has since been moved to a back area, away from public viewing. It’s now time to bring back Gimpy into the limelight. Given that the provincial government has now created a protected area for Gimpy’s antecedents, interest in the Kermode bear has grown tremend- ously. And given that Terrace abounds with images of the Kermode and given that the name is used frequently by businesses and other orga- nizations, it is just and fitting that Gimpy himself is once again placed before the public. He would make a suitable ambassador for the area, a symbol that would quickly be taken up by visitors. What tourist wouldn’t want his or her picture taken with Gimpy? This raises the question of a proper place for Gimpy. We suggest the Terrace and District Chamber of Commerce’s tourist information centre on Hwy 16. It is already the place where vi- sitors go for assistance and information. Having Gimpy there would only add to the mix. Talk it out: SURE, WE beat them in the War of 1812. Heck, we even sacked and burned Washington, D.C. But that’s not likely to happen again. Which leaves litigation or negotiations as two routes to ensure Canadian softwood access into the United States. . Litigation is expensive and time-consuming. Besides, we’ve already tried that several times over softwood, And even though Canada was successful in the past, the Americans kept rewri- ting the rules. There’s no guarantee that won’t -happen again. That leaves negotiations. One of our strengths as a country is that we’re good talkers, We’re also good at making friends. Combine these and we’re bound to make inroads. We need to keep arguing that if trade between Canada and the Uni- ted States is supposed to be free, a tariff on our softwood is wrong. More importantly, we need to make friends with American consumers. Americans, like any- body, hate to pay more for something if they don’t have to. A tariff on our softwood would do just that. 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Stories, photographs, Hlustrations, dasigns and typestyies In the Terrace Slandard are the proparty of the copyright holders, Including Cariboo Prass (1969) Ltd., iis ilustration repro services and advertising agencies. Fleproduction in whole or in part, without wittan pamiseion, is specifically prohibited, Authored as second-class mal panding tha Post Office Department, for payment of postage In cash. Special thanks to all our contributors and correspondents : for thelr time and talents | THE EFFECTS OF SQUEAKING SOFTLY AND CARRYING GIG STICK: A Mural removal simply u VICTORIA —~— The vandals are preparing to storm the B.C, Legislature, armed not with battle axes, swords, bows and burning arrows, but with their wretched hand- books of political correctness and revisionism. The object of the revision- ists, wrath is a four-panel mural in the rotunda of the B.C. Legislative Building de- picting natives working on the construction of Fort Vic- toria. The most controversial of the panels shows aboriginal men and women, the latter bare-breasted. The mural came first under fire some years back. That time, il was mostly the bare breasts that were deemed offensive. This time, the mural is said to de- pict natives as slaves. The current hot potato landed in the NDP govern- ment’s lap a while back. Not wanting to make a decision . one way or another, the gov- ernment appointed an advi- sory panel of art and history experts, as well as native re- presentation, to look into the matter and make a recom- mendation as to the mural’s future, Now the “experts” have recommended that the mural be removed. There have been timid suggestions that the mural be removed intact, if possible, and displayed else- where. The mural was painted by George Southwell in the 1930s. Southwell trained as FROM THE CAPITAL HUBERT BEYER an artist in London, England, specializing in historical paintings, landscapes and portraits. In 1932, provincial secre- tary S. L. Howe commis- sioned Southwell to paint the mural as a personal gift to be paid for by Howe. The advisory panel says the subjects of the mural are poorly researched. There is no proof that-na- ::- tive women ever went tap- less. “But regardless of its ac- curacy or lack thereof, the people’s house for all British Columbians ought not to be the location for works of art that cause offence and shame to any part of the people of the province,” says the pariel’s report. Ts it possible, these guys came back just in time for their report from advising a certain muilah on what to do with the Buddha statues that were so offensive to the Tali- ban? Art appreciation is more Keeping track YOU MAY be the world’s best filing clerk, but when it comes to your keeping a one- of-a-category item, and I'll bet you can’t find it on the first try six months later In our house, filing has al- ways fallen to me, for several reasons. For years I made my living as a secretary; fil- ing was part of the job de- scription. Be default, paying bills and all that entails has been my bailiwick. Mainly, I like knowing exactly where to find things and as the ex- pression goes, if you want something done right, you’ve got to do it your self. For most things, I can file with the best. Need a phone bill from 1993? Want to compare this month’s natural gas bill with a propane bull from eight years ago? I can even reach for a vacuum clea- ner bag at a moment of need. But where, or where, did [ — wee # THROUGH BIFOCALS CLAUDETTE SANDECK!I put the tea leaf basket we bought in October? Or the box of 500 window enve- lopes printed on standby? Most of my problem comes from deciding how best to categorize an item. For instance, the tea leaf bas- ket. IfI store it in the teapot, will I look for it there sup- posing I want to brew a sin- gle cup? Should it go in the ‘f 1 ¥ Vf Hi! 'M MARTEN AND T_]TRAT CANT BEL! yu-oul! anotaerR mie iS MY WIFE. SMMARTEN = Guiralin THE ROSIE ANDOURSON 7 |RUDTHATIS — REINCARNATION WINCHESTER | Rosle. AND ty WMESPACE, | wh WwiNCHESTER .. CONTIN UUM !! ae Ww ~ vs B TAB often than not subjective. What appeals to some leaves others cold. I am not trained to say whether the mural is good or bad art, but art it is and it has been part of the province’s history for nearly 70 years. I have seen the mural al- most daily for the past 18 years, but after the panel’s re- port, I looked at it again, this time closely. Any suggestion that the natives are depicted as slaves is ludicrous. They are shown working, no more, no less. The very suggestion that a work of art be removed be- cause it no longer represents the social fabric of the day is highly offensive and danger- ous. If this criterion were ap- plied the world’s art would be ransacked. We may as well give mid- dle east nations the go ahead fo“demiolish Christian, chur- ches and shrines that serve as reminders of the crusades, not the most glorious chapter in Christianity’s history. “We couldn’t see it in our hearts to perpetuate pain and suffering,” said Victoria- based aboriginal artist Art Thompson, a member of the advisory panel. “How would you feel if I said I,m going to take your daughter today and paint her naked and hang that in a pub- lic place? How would you feel about that?’ he said. - Pain and suffering? Really now. The women depicted in Epa om nfounded the mural existed only in the imagination of the artist who painted them more than half a century after Fort Victoria was built. They weren’t Thomp- son’s or anyone else’s daugh- ters. No controversy is complete without an academic or two weighing in. In this case, Bill Zuk, a University of Victoria professor who specializes in art in public places, says pub- lic art should evolve to reflect current values. “Times have changed. People are more sensitive to multi-cultural issues of the day and we have to honour and respect that,” he says. To that end, I have a sug- gestion. There is another dis- play in which loggers take great pride in cutting down huge first-growth trees. That's no longer the flavour of the day. Let’s get rid of that, too. And I believe I have also seen paintings of whale hunts in museums. Burn ‘em, I say. The whole idea of remov- ing the mural is reprehensible. And by the way, the cost of doing so is estimated at $280,000. But if the legislative man- agement committee, compris- ing MLAs from both sides of the House, does decide to get rid of the mural, I’m sure the mullah can spare a demolition crew. Beyer can be reached at: E -~- m a ?t db; hubert@coolcom.com; Tel (250) 381-6900; Web hitp:/lwww.hubertbeyer.com is a huge job drawer with the cookie cutters and rolling pin? Or should J snuggle it in between the coffee mugs and trust it won't roll off and bounce from the counter ta the floor? In my younger days, I would have bought a replace- ment tea leaf basket, and or- dered another 500 envelopes. Now I try to invent better me- thods for keeping track. T could use ways that work for keeping track of inventory in the shop: content lists on the inside of cupboard doors, on the ends of shelves, and under tables. Or a file folder with notes on items, their amounts, and their hiding places. My prime rule is never change the location of any- thing, Once a filing spot has been selected, stick with it, no matter how incongruous others deem it. WELL, tT woRKEp! SCREWED UP Naw !! This worry about losing track of unusual items paral- yses me at income tax time. Here [ am, my desk littered with papers, cash register slips, handwritten notes, re- minders, government supplied labels, rows of tallied figures. [f I lose any part of it, PL be in tears and arrears. At the end of each working session I corral every scrap in an oversized envelope boldly labelled as though for some- one visually impaired. After that, I circle the room like a returning jewel thief searching for that one loose brick. This year our granddaugh- ters opted for gift certificates for craft supplies rather than chocolates. Heaven help me if I lost track of them. After sor- ting through associations, | clipped the certificates in the chequebook. Surely I'll find them there ... in time. THEY ARE TOTALLY