a Painting the town yellow

WORKERS WERE OUT painting curbs and lines on our roadways last week,
proving that the streets of Terrace are, in fact, divided into Janes.

Locals doubt
Rupert airport
bridge concept

A TASK FORCE on norlh-
west transportalion is trying
to dispel fears that it will
embrace construction of a
$100 million bridge to the
Prince Rupert airport.

The bridge issue — which
is seen as critical to Prince
Rupert’s future — is viewed
as a potentially expensive
white elephant by some
skeplics in Terrace,

Some city councillors here
have already said they'd be
upset if the bridge goes
ahead at great cost —
making the airport on Digby
Island more viable — while
the province slonewalls on a
cost-Eree deal to hand over

lands surrounding — the
Terrace-Kitimat airport.
Andrew: Webber, _ the

Kitimat-Stikine regional dis-
trict’s economic develop-
ment officer, told members
of the Northwest Trans-
portation Corridor Task
Force which appeared here
recently that ihe bridge issue
could make the panel’s
work difficult.

Webber said the challenge
of the federal task force is
“maintaining ils
credibility” given the con-
siderable pressure being ap-
plied in Prince Rupert for
the costly bridge proposal.

“If that sits in there as a
wonderful idea then the
credibility of all the ideas
are going to be suspecL”’

**] fear that whalever good
that comes out of this will
falter quite quickly.”

Don Krusel, co-chair of
the task force and president
of the Prince Rupert, Port
Corp.; said the panel is hear-
ing many presentations
about many different ideas,
and they’li all be judged on
a cost-benefit basis.

He also added that he’s
been told by Rupert officials

working - .on
proposal that their report
will justify the project and
show the benefits outweigh
the costs,

Krusel said early indica-
tions are the savings of not
running a ferry to Digby Is-
land could top $10 million a
year, and that the other
potential development and
economic spinoffs associa-
ted with the idea could
make the giant bridge quite
feasible.

“We recognize the
credibility has to be there,”
Krusel responded,

“T don’t think this task
force will be supporting
something that doesn’t have
clear analysis that supporis
that kind of expenditure,”

Terrace airport manager
Darryl Laurent suggested a
clear regional vision is
necessary for the task force
to succeed,

“The biggest thing hold-
ing up development has
more to do with the people
living here than any external
agency,” he said. ‘'The
communitics that live here
— Termce, Kitimat and
Prince Rupert — can’t agree
that today’s Tuesday.’?

“We have to agree. on
certain fundamental issues
instead of fighting over
every bone or crumb that’s
tossed bysomeone.”

Only seven people at-
tended the Terrace meeting,
most of them governnient
bureaucrats or Repap em-
ployees.

The task force is to submit
its plan to federal trans-
portation minister David
Anderson by Dec. 1, and it
could be made public carly
in the new year.

Iis work is aimed at
determining the northwest’s
untapped potential, and how

PsSERIMERICA

Financial Services

PETE ARCADI

Bus: (604) 635-7800
Res (604) 638-8505

By Appointment Only

Breasts iene fatee

the -bridge-jt could be unlocked Ihiough

transportation changes. -

Daily ferry service in and
out of Prince Rupert and
aim at the cruise ship busi-
ness have emerged as two
key ways suggesied of bol-
stering ourism in the
region,

James Gilham even sug-
gested ferry service to
Kitimat would help keep
tourists in the area.

One old idea that was
resurrected was Dave
Parker’s 1990 suggestion of
opening up a toll highway
through the Telkwa pass.

Kitimat resident Anthony
Yao said it would provide
an extra circle route for
fourism, and that the grade
is only three per cent — Icss
than the existing highway
through the Hazeltons.

Gilham noted the Lakelse-

Telkwa route was surveyed |

in the 1890s for a proposed
Kitimat-Omineca railroad,
and said it would cut off
about an hour and a half of
travel,

Highway improvements to
Prince Rupert and further
north have been key to the
economic success of the
Terrace area in the last 10
years, says Terrace econom-
ic development officer Ken
Veldman,

you see a

THE NUMBER of northern
B.C. MLAs in the B.C.
legislature may be preserved
by a proposal tabled lasi
weck by the NDP.

A legislative amendment
proposed by — attorney-
general Ujjal = Dosanjh
would give the Electoral
Boundaries Commission the
power to increase the num-

ber of seats in the house —

from 75 to as much as 81,
Without an increase in the
number of seats, a number
of northern constituencies
will likely be eliminated in
the next round of boundary

te-drawing — ta be com- .

pleted by the independent
conmission by carly next
year.

Rapid population growth
in the Lower Mainland is
making the north appear
over-represetited in com-
parison.

Provincial law states that
cach conslituency must be
within 25 per cent of the
average constituency popu-
lation.

Liberal crilics are slam-
ming the move, saying the
public is not interested in

paying for another six
politicians in Victoria,
Liberal leader Gordon

Campbell also suggested the
increase is intended to pra-
tect NDP seats in the north
and interior.

Campbell bad pledged in
last May’s election to
reduce the number of MLAs
to 60.

Skeena MLA Helmut
Giesbrecht hammered
Campbell for his opposition,
saying. the Liberals would
have: northerners travel
-hundreds of miles to mect

“their MLA.

‘Unfortunately, the Liber-

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, August 14, 1996 - AS

Government has a plan
to keep northern seats

al party is ruled by a
Vancouver-based Howe
Street cabal that. couldn’t
care Iess about the needs of
the province beyond the
Lower Mainlaad," -Gies-
brecht said.
Adding six more. seats is
expected to ‘allow. more
MLAs. in. the burgeoning
Vancouver suburbs, while
keeping miost-of the rest of
the province essentially the
same,

Giesbrecht warned there

could still be significant.

tiding boundary changes in
this area,

“If North Coast. needed
more people would you add
‘a portion of Terrace? Thal’ 8

a difficult thing,’’ he said.
**You might have halt of
Terrace having to go to
North Coast to visit their
MLA.”’

He also suggested Skeena
could see further enlarge-
ment to the north and east,
possibly out as far as Hous-
ton.

Giesbrecht said courts.
have upheld. the plus-or-
minus 25 per cent rule, bul

added that range. doesn’t
seem broad enough to ade-
quately represent both the
sparse north and the densely
populated urban south.

“We would of course
argue that it’s much easicr
fo serve 50,000 people who
live within 10 square blocks
than to serve 50,000 people

_who are spread out over half

of northern British Colum-
bia,”’ he said.

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