a Man saves drowning pair _ Tim Judd is: being recommended for an award after a Lakelse Lake rescue/NEWS A3 | Off to Europe Two students will spend a year overseas on a Rotary | Summer games harvest &§ ‘Locals come home with medals. from the B.C. Summer Games in Kelowna/SPORTS C1 exchange/COMMUNITY BL. WEDNESDAY AUGUST 3, 1994 a In hot pursuit CHRISTY PARK has been boiling with activity as Terrace . That's Bavatian Inn player ° Ryan Sergarié: jet, ‘and. Ryan Youth Soccer Association teams not only kept up with regular — Crawtord from the Bandstra team after the ball. In this regular play and held a Riverboat Days invitational toumament. schedule match, the Bavarian Inn team won 8-2: Airport job cuts po THREE FIREFIGHTING JOBS will be cut at the Terrace airport fire hall if a. Transport Canada plan is put in place. The draft Emergency Response Service policy proposes reducing. the nuniber of firefighters at ihe airport here from seven to four, The same reduction would be imposed at Prince Rupert airport _ and numerous. other . airports across the country. plans to contract airport Gre pro- tection there out to the _Mruncipal fire hall. Terrace airport manager. Darryl Laurent said the plan for here depends om the airport getting money for a new, larger fire truck. A’single large truck would be able to spray the required amount of water and dry chemicals that are presently carricd by two trucks, he said. Fewer people would be required to operate one large truck instead of ihe two existing Irucks, he added. The plan would also reduce the minimum number of firefighters required to be on duty at the air- port at any given time from two to one. Laurent says some - questions remain unanswered:— such as what kind of truck to gel or who. would pay for it and own It... “Ts Transport Canada going to own itor is. the new owner rr going. to own it?” - He said Transport Canada has agreed to provide money for what il calls “‘airside improvements” ‘{o help with its plans to privatize regional airports. “T would argue that a fire truck . is an airside improvement,’” Laurent said. Laurent says it is clear the new | ~ owner of the airport will have to cut costs or clse find some way to pay the airport's more than’ ve _ $600,000 annual deficit. Smithers airport would lose" all ‘ three airport firefighters, with" “The Terrace airport is expecting to recelve $576,500 in-revenus this year — -well below ils anticipated 1994-95 ‘operating and maintenance expences of $1.2 million. Fewer firefighters will be needed if one large fire truck replaces the two now in service at the airport. **Some day this airport will op- erate on what it makes,’’ Lauren! said. “There will be no subsidy from “anybody to run the airport. How we do that is being determined now.” . The likely, if reluctant, new owner of the airport will probably ‘be the Kitimat-Stikine Regional. -District — an elected body to which taxpayers from Terrace, -- Kitimat, Stewart, Hazelton, Dease - Lake and the region’s rural areas. all contribute, Skeena’ MP "Mike § Scott is tot . where in the federal civil service. impressed with the decision to chop airport firefighting service. He points to other recent government nioves to reduce staff levels at flight service stations and to automate lighthouses. “Why are we looking at areay that potentially compromise pub- lic safety instead of other pro- grams where there are major ex- penditures taking place for dubious benefit,” Scott demanded. , “Tt gets to a point where you have to ask if safety is being compromised,’’ Airport manager Darryl Laurent rejects that suggestion. “It's not a safety issue,’’ he said. ‘*No airport operator is golng ta jeopardize airport safety for anything.”’ Scott said the decision is based on Transport Canada’s ‘analysis that the danger of a serious Gre’ on a plane at one of the airports is extremely remote — and that the Service can’t be justified in light of those odds. . What they’ re saying is that the potential is so low you’ve got a better chance of buming in your house or in your car {han at the airport”? | He suggesied’ local people : might have opted for cuts to job skills tralning programs, or the many .‘‘grants, subsidies . and handouts to small business” df given the choice. ” Laurent * said: fitefighters . who . lose jobs here will likely have op- . tios for taking new jobs. else- SS » MP says THE NISGA’A TRIBAL Council has been offered hundreds of mil- lions of dollars and 780 square _ miles of land to settle its claim to the Nass Valley and surrounding area, says Skeena Reform MP Mike Scott. Scott, who said the information was given to him by a person he considers credible, says the pro- posed settlement made by the federal and provincial govern- ments includes a ‘‘significant’’ portion of the annual Nass River fishery. The cash amount, says Scott, amounts to $100,000 for each Nisga’a citizen. Although the Nisga’a are in the , middle of determining how many - Nisga’a there are, previous estimates have been made ‘in the 6,000 range. _ That means. a cash settlement could amount to close to $600, million. + The 780 square miles amounts to approximately 8 per cent of the 12,000 square ‘miles originally claimed by the Nisga’a. “This is the best information I have,’? said Scott last week in commenting on the figur “Tve been told the federal and provincial negotiators have urged the Nisga’a ta accept this offer,’ he said. “T have no knowledge or feed- back as to what the Nisga’a people or leaders feel about this offer. I don’t know if it’s good, bad or indifferent.”’ Scott -icrmed the proposal a joint one made by the federal and provincial governments. The MP has taken an active and — ible TWO, Two trucks in one is t the > plan i the airport gets a bigger emergency vehicle. It also means fewer firefighting jobs. That's airport firefighter Mark Kennedy with the vehicles. (FILE PHOTO) Booze | price hit THE PRICE of alcohol is too high, says a local man who wants others to tell the government the _ same thing. And Ben Ludditt is taking ad- vantage of the new: liquor store’s opening to make his views heard. He filled. ont one of the cards ‘How available at the store asking _ for opinions from customers, “Tt ts the right of every Cana- dian to be able to have a drink m. whenever they want to al a rea- j.. sonable cost. “Tax hungry ~ B. politiclans ‘have made that ‘im- ~ possible,” sald ‘the 82-year-old Ludditt last week. :. - A telired heavy equipment op- - erator, Luddit! sald politicians are - J. Taising taxes ito ay themselves : “\: More money, ° ‘ -_78¢ PLUS 50.GST VOL.7.NO.16 Nisg . | ‘a os | urged to s ettle a. Mike Scott critical stance on land claims ne- gotiations, saying the federal and provincial governments are being too secretive, ‘Tvs disheartening as an elected representative of the people in Skeena to find it so hard to get any information what- sover,”’ said ScotL | - : Chief federal negotiatior David Osborn iain to.comment on Scott’s - saying his voverament os bound by-a con- fidentiality agreement preventing discussion of what may or may not have been introduced for 1 nie- gotiations, . ‘It's always interesting to see what’s filtering back,'’ said Os- borne when told of Scott's fig- wes, | But Osborn did say the pro- vince and the federal government did respond two weeks ago to Nisga’a proposals, . Con't Page A2 Groups boost Kemano TERRACE and Kitlmat chambers of commerce made a strong pitch for Alean’s $1.4 billion Kemano Completion Project this morning. : Appearing before the provincial government's B.C. Utilities Commission, which is holding public hearings into the project here, chamber rep- resentatives estimated a direct’ and indirect economic impact "of nearly $27 million in this area should construction resume. “Though not, quantified, it is expected. that net economic benefits will also be realized within the study area,’? the chambers added. Begun in 1988, Alcan spent $500 million on the project vefore suspending .work:. in 1990 as a result.of court ac- tion taken by environmental groups. -- Although the court. action was later overturned, the provincial government then said if would hoid hearings. They are to determine pro- ject impacts and to suggest ways of casing any harmful environmental effects, - . They began last year and the scheduled three and a half days here this week could be the last before the commission submits its report ‘to the Provinclal govermment.: 2° That report should be fine ished by oy fall: Pee: a