A8 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, February 12, 2003

fits.

dustry is interested in.”

ad

on.

Out &
' About

Truck buy

draws fire

‘ KITIMAT council is ana-

“lyzing its purchasing po-

‘licy after outrage there
‘that the town bought five
vehicles from a Terrace
car dealer.

McEwan GM sold the
two vans and three half-
tonne pickups last May but
the issue boiled over last
month when the owners of
Snow Valley Ford in Kiti-
imat protested.

i The Kitimat dealers
said they couldn't bid be-
‘cause their 2003 price list
‘hadn’t come out yet. The
town instead got bids from
‘McEwan GM here and:
_ Metro Ford in Coquitlam.

“This is a disgrace,”
‘said Kitimat councillor

‘Joanne Monaghan, wha
‘led the push to review the
* policy.
' “How much money
‘does Terrace spend in our
-community?” councillor
- Graham Anderson asked.
“I suspect highly the flow
‘is only in one direction.”

Jobless up

. UNEMPLOYMENT edged
“up again in the northwest
‘ to Li.7 per cent in January.

That’s up a tenth of.a

point from December.

The jobless rate is high-

est in the Cariboo region,
- at 13.9 per cent.
_ Unemployment is. 6.5
: per cent in Victora and 7.6
‘per cent in the lower
: mainland,

Grounded

‘A REVISED city sign
: bylaw makes way for more
- use of “ground signs.”

: Those signs — like the
Park Ave. Medical
- Centre’s — are built into
‘landscaping at ground
level.

ee ee

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Northwest Smile

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© Latex Fres Office

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_ Terrace, B.C. V8G 1V5

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“The resource is all up here,”
McGuigan said, “This is what the in-

“We want support,” he added.
“We want the communities to sign

‘He said pressure needs to be ex-
* erted on federal officials, particular-
‘ ty natural resources minister Herb
; Dhatiwal. “He's facing some opposi-
> tion from [environment minister
: David] Anderson,” McGuigan said.
* “He's the big problem on the issue.”
: Bob Payne, also with BCOQGA,
‘| called offshore oil the biggest single

DAVE MCGUIGAN holds a poster
aimed at boosting loca! support.

industrial opportunity ever to come
to B.C. “There are huge opportuni-
ties for everybody,” he said.

Some speakers at the business
luncheon were skeptical, however.

Isaac Sobol, the region’s medical
health officer, asked how drilling
will proceed in the face of aboriginal
land claims.

McGuigan said people must re-
spect that First Nations have a posi-

Us
G

Your Decor ,#

EE

TERRACE :STANDARD |

Business REvVIEw
Offshore rivalry brews

THE NORTH coast must lobby far
offshore oil drilling or else it may
lose a race with Vancouver Island to
become the centre for that activity,
‘a Prince Rupert-based group says.

Dave McGuigan, who heads the
B.C. Offshore Oil and Gas Associa-
- tion (BCOOGA), urged business lea-
- ders here last week to put up posters
in their storefronts backing oil and
gas exploration and to write letters
to top government officials.

He said a Nanaimo-based rival
group is trying to ensure Vancouver
Istand becomes the drilling centre,
capturing many of the spinoff bene-

tion, but also predicted they will
sign on through some sort of resour-
ce-sharing agreement coupled with
jobs and education.

Sobol also feared few local
people would get specialized jobs,
while the area's cost of living rises,
~-“Housing prices go-up, the cost of

food goes up,” he said. “People
can’t compete.”

McGuigan said local employment
at: Hibernia in Newfoundland has
tisen to 85 per cent.

He said plans are being laid by
the college and university to train
people who are already here.

“We can’t be afraid of these eco- .
nomic impacts,” McGuigan said.

Questioner Jeannine. Knox said
NAFTA trade rules may mean that
requirements that: companies hire
locally may only be valid if the gov-
ernment subsidizes those costs.

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mp

“Is the B.C. government ready to
pay these companies a subsidy ta
enforce local employment given that
the B.C. government is opposed to
business subsidies?” she asked.

McGuigan said such regulations
might not be enforced, or else non-
U.S, companies could be courted
that wouldn't be subject to NAFTA,

FABRICLAND

, FEBRUARY.
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When the doors close at 2 p.m., our

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]S

Your Decor...

3202 Munroe Sireat, ¢ Terrace e 635- 2976