ai, Dien niin Die see A4 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, May 7, 1997 ‘TERRACE STANDARD ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988 A Division of Cariboo Press (1969) Ltd. ADDRESS: 3210 Clinton Street Terrace, B.C. * V8G SR2 TELEPHONE: (250) 638-7283 « FAX: (250) 638-8432 EMAIL: standard@kermode.net Sign of spring BESIDES WARMER weather, rain, the Stanley Cup playoffs and tax time, there’s another sure’ sign of spring — the almost depressing regu-: larity of Mills Memorial Hospital ringing up an- other deficit. For more years than its officials — and the rest of us — care to remember, the books at Mills show yet more red ink. This time it’s just over $330,000. It’s not a whole heck of a lot when compared against a budget edging $12 million but it’s an indication of something the provincial government may just want to concede. And that’s the cold hard reality of what it takes to run a hospital such as Mills. Since the turn of the decade Mills has lived at or near that $12 million each year. It’s done pretty much every- thing humanly possible to cope with what it’s been given. So perhaps it’s time the provincial government recognizes that this is the figure Mills needs to at least provide a certain core level of service. In- stead of constant harangues about health care. spending and the need to do more with less, per- haps the province should instead pat Mills on the. back for more or less subsisting on what it’s been getting from the province. It has to be pretty demoralizing for the folks at: Mills to be under constant budget pressure without even the tiniest acknowledgement from the provincial government that they are trying their best. As it is, the hospital’s managers are preparing for yet another budget year without an increase in their base operating grant from the provincial government. No treaty THE HEAT’S OFF. At least thiat’s the case over speculation the fed- eral and provincial governments and the Nisga’a Tribal] Council are about to initial.a final land claims treaty. Word of that possibility grew early in the new year, tied in part to the heavy betting that Prime Minister Jean Chretien would call a spring elec- tion. The popular wisdom was that an initialed final deal could be held up by the federal Liberals as a sign that they could do the right thing when it comes to land claims. And it would act as one more reason why they should be returned to of- fice. Indeed, the federal Liberals and the provin- cial NDP seemed to be adding fresh troops to the negotiating tables in an attempt to hammer out something. But in the wonderful way that politics works, any chance of an initialed deal is being post-. poned until after the federal election. No govern- ment wants to be accused of settling on a major policy issue during a campaign period. Besides, there doesn’t seem to be any immedi- ate political advantage for the federal Liberals. They, as in other elections, will soon be con- sumed with issues concerning Quebec and what they mean in terms of winning seats in that pro- vince. i a) PUBLISHER/EDITOR: Rod Link ADVERTISING MANAGER: Rick Passmore PRODUCTION MANAGER: Edouard Credgeur NEWS Jcff Nagel * NEWS SPORTS: Dave Taylor . COMMUNITY: Cris Leykauf OFFICE MANAGER: Kathleen Quigley ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS: » , Sam Collier, Janel Viveiros, Tracy Cowan TELEMARKETER: Tracey Tomas ~ ADVERTISING ASSISTANT: Emma Law, Kelly Jean TYPESETTING: Sylvana Broman DARKROOM: Susan Credgeur CIRCULATION MANAGER: Karen Brunette SUBSCRIPTION RATES BY MAIL: $53.50 per year; Seniors $48.15; Out of Province $60.99 Outside of Canada (6 months) $149.80 - (ALLPRICES INCLUDE GST) MEMBER OF B.C. AND YUKON COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION, CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION ry Ne ae COMMUNITY MiwsPartnd m Asterciatinn Bravish Colambia ond Foban 7 =e reer B.C. PRESS COUNCIL i Serving the Tarrace and Thornhill area. Published on Wednesday of aach week by Caiboa | Press (1969) Lid, at 3210 Clinton Sireel, Tertace, Brilsh Columbla, V8G SA2. Storles, photographs, iflustrations, designs and typestyles in tho Terrace Standard are the property of the copyright holders, including Caribao Prass (1869) Ltd., ils tlustratton repro servicas and advertising agancies. Raproduction in whols oF in part without welten permission, is specifically prohibited. Authorized as second-class mail pending the Pos! Office Department, tor payment of postage in cash. Special thanks to all our contributors and correspondents for their time and taients ~ ae el nn niiainnte, iin Detles Min, Tile dee weil, ee, en, een 5 i Di, ite a tren ‘* the federal government to es- <- Je eee _——— =. Lift Well, Momm elt On My Waly Y Now.. fay /Pody as Sr me "I ing zofeeup in todd (458, in vicenbe A2B814-H6,..- ig cedar onthe be apa left timber Frerwanl’47 NM This bank could catch killers VICTORIA — Private mem- bers’ bills — legislation pro- posed by an MLA rather than the government — have about as much chance of becoming law as the proverbial snowball in Hades, The same goes for ‘ motions put before the House by individual MLAs. MLAs, usually those of the opposition kind, introduce them by the dozen every ses- sion, only to sec them die ‘when the legislature adjourns at the end of summer, ignored and rejected by the govern- * ment in power. But there is one motion be- "fore the B.C. Legislature this " session that shouldn’t be ig- nored: Barry Penner, the Liber- al MLA for Chilliwack, recent- ly introduced a motion urging tablish a nationwide DNA bank. The premise of Penner’s proposal is that any convicted Kkiller’s or sexual offender’s ‘ DNA goes into a databank, ac- cessible to police across Cana- da. If the person offends again, his or her DNA could then easily be compared to any of the stored samples. The idea is compelling, and * its basic premise isn’t new. In solving crimes, police have FROM THE-CAPITAL HUBERT BEYER relied on finger print databanks for years. Without it, their hands would be tied even more than they are. Penner was prompted to pur- sue his proposal as a result of the RCMP’s frustration over ‘the so-called Abbotsford Killer case, in which Tanya Smith, and Abbotsford teenager was slain. An RCMP officer told him that they had found enough DNA samples at the crime scene to convict a suspect if a match could be made. Police, however, had no suspect, from whom, in accordance with a law passed in 1995, they could have taken a DNA sample. If, on the other hand, there were a nationwide databank of DNA samples from convicted sex offenders and murders, the DNA found at the sight could be compared to all. samples stored in the databank. And if a match is made, a conviction would probably follow. “T thought about this idea and I wondered whether it would work, considering the restrictions that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Free- doms might impose,’’ says Penner, a lawyer himself. He hit the law books and came up with two Supreme Court of Canada cases where the current requirement to pro- vide fingerprints prior to con- Viction was challenged and upheld. There’s no doubt that any such DNA databank would best work if ever person ac- cused of a crime were required to provide a DNA sample, similar to the requirement to provide fingerprints. To avoid a lengthy constitu- tional battle, however, Penner believes it’s better to err on the side of caution and make DNA samples a mandatory require- ment only after conviction for murder and sex crimes. The disadvantage is that only repeat offenders would be identified as a result of a DNA Writers need not feel THE FEDERATION of B.C. Writers claims among its members renowned novelists W.P, Kinsella, Anne Cameron and Joy Kogawa, as well as poets Susan Musgrave, Bili Richardson, and P.K. Page. ' Published writers pay an an- nual membership fee of fifty dollars. But any aspiring writer can join for $25. Membership brings a 28 page quarterly journal Wordworks ‘‘providing in- formation to and promoting the work of members,” Wardworks keeps everyone up-lo-date with other mem- bers’ publishing successes; possible markeis; up coming workshops and conferences; as well as information, bow-to, and pep-em-up articles. For representational —pur- poses, the Fed divides the pro- vince into seven regions, each with a representative to attend organizational meetings: Lower Mainland, South Cen- teal, South east, South Island, T'VE. GOT A me G6 AT HOME a BOT (TS NOT PowER FUL om il oni REALLY ?!! THAD A GUT ITWAS Too Mucy !! CLAUDETTE SANDECKI Mid Island, North Island, and North. About half of B.C. Fed’s 800 members live in the lower mainiand, The north — taking in Prince Rupert, Terrace, Kitimat, Prince George and north to the Yukon — has about forty members, Most Fed members — be- cause they live in the lower mainland — have litde under- Standing of the isolation faced WELL, T'M GETING-V/ TLL Sticke, A 596 The oun! WITH MY by northern writers. Confer- ences and instructional courses tend to happen around Van- couver, For those of us in the north to attend a conference or workshop means a long, ex- pensive trip on top of several days off the job, To counteract this isolation, boonie writers have been lob- bying the Fed to record confer- ence and workshop lectures, Then we can buy copies of the tapes and share at least ihe in- structional talks. We've had some success, ~ Lectures given at both the £995 and 1996 Surrey school district's weekend writers’ conferences were recorded, ex- cept for one or two instructors who refused on the grounds they wanted to be free to march around the microphone. These tapes ~~ $7.50 for each 1995 tape, $8.50 for each 1996 tape — are available from Newton Continuing Edu- cation, Princess Margaret Secondary, 12870 72nd Ave- .309 AND THIS GUY SURE DOESN'T KNOW COMPUTERS !! match, Penner points out that DNA samples can not only help con- vict a criminal, but free some- one falsely accused of a crime, as in the case of Paul Morin. He says that. according to federal government estimates, it would cost about $3 million a year to operate a DNA databank, a small price to pay, considering the help it will give police is solving violent crimes. Administering the con- troversial gun control Jaw costs about 10 times as much. Penner’s motion should Teceive the unanimous support of the legislature. Unfortunate- ly, before it gets to that stage, it must be put on the agenda by the government. In the interest of the public, the NDP govéinment should: forget about partisan politics in’ this case and depart from the tradition of ignoring opposition motions. The DNA databank Penner wants the legislature to endorse could go a long way to putting away sexual predators. And that’s more important than any petty partisan squab- bling. Beyer can be reached at Tet: 920-9300; Fax: 385-6783; E- Mail; hubert@coolcom.com alone nue, Surrey, B.C. V3W 2M9. For a list of taped topics and their speakers, call 1-604-594 2000. Even if a tape is out-of-stock, the principal of continuing ed- ucation, Rollie Koop, assures me a copy will be made avail- able from the master tapes upon request, Our intention is to one day have a collection of instruc- tional tapes available at public libraries to be borrowed like videos. The north’s regional repre- sentative is Bridget Moran, 73, a former social worker, best known for ‘Stoney Creek Woman”, her biography of Mary John, a Carrier. Indian from the Stoney Creek Indian Reservation. First published in 1988, the book is now in its tenth printing. Moran invites all aspiring writers to join the B,C, Fed. It’s an inexpensive step toward a paid byline, ES KNOW Guas! i eels