+ The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, February 26, 2003 - AS BUS RIDER Lili Wale looks at a poster affixed to the bus shelter council began talking about trimming back the B.C. Transit ser- outside of the Skeena Mall. The poster went up shortly after city vice here. Transit user numbers have been rising in the area. Bus service growth needed so forget about cutting it By DAN HAWKE AFTER READING the recent article entitled “Buses are the latest target for provincial gov- ernment cuts” I began to research the facts as stated in the article. The numbers reflect a growing transit SyS- tem, When one goes back one more year, the figures are even stronger. Terrace Regional Transit realized an 85 per cent increase from September 2000 to Sep- tember 2001. This is unprecedented for a system that has just undergone a schedule change. The usual pattern is a ridership drop for the first year until people become accustomed. to the changes. This, in addition to the 53 per cent increase realized from: Sept. 2001 to summer 2002 shows a growing system that needs expansion Tather than cuts. ~ September and October 2002 surpassed all previous student pass sales, They ran out. They actually had to alter-the adult passes with felt pens to student passes to meet the demand. Terrace Transit ridership speaks for itself and in these tough economic times. out of it. They knew what the cost was going to be when they approved the expansions. They knew it'was a step in the right direc- tion, as city councillor Stew Christensen put it. To cut it back over a $23,000 shortfall is short sighted and ultimately destructive. Our council knows this. © You don’t stop changing the cil in your car to save money do you? And those nice new busses Terrace waited for the last 15 years to- get will be sitting rusting in the bus yard. Remind you of a ferry system? A number of expenses arise when you cut a bus service. Revenues will drop because the service no longer meets the needs of its riders, instigating more cuts in the future because the busses aren't being used, This will continue until the cily is crying: “Nobody rides the busses, why don't we get tid of them” like they did five years ago. ' Thank goodness there was a public cam- paign, some farsighted city councilors and an ‘open-minded mayor to stop thal. There is also the cost of printing new riders guides; that’s not cheap by any means. I be- lieve these costs would be better spent in per year to cover those costs (and that doesn't include a contribution from: the regional district). So where do I send my cheque? The fact is that $23,000 is a pittance in the scope of an entire city budget. What is city council thinking anyway? The system, though expanded in recent years in the conventional Transit, has already — undergone cuts which are often forgotten. The handyDart system which used to run on ' Saturdays was eliminated. and placed under a taxi supplement in September 2001. This meant no Handi-Dart on Saturdays un- less you pre-booked during the week and you only got a ride if youcould walk or had a wheelchair that would fold up so you could get into a taxicab. In September 2002, the Saturday taxi sup- plement was also discontinued, leaving spe- ‘cial needs riders without a ride unless they . could pet on and off the conventional transit bus. Now there is talk of a new renal unit going in at the hospital to treat sialysis. patients. This is-expected to increase the load on the HandiDart which city council } is also threaten- Many people who arén't, working’ are “at- - thaihtaining t the system, not cutting ie Me tole! enn bing Shs hey" he eetradaadituhat ‘Addition GE in thé teath! fie the“disablea.- tempting” ‘to“upgrade' their? educations... Many... can't afford to keep their vehicles on the road, thus an increased in ridership. The. Southside route had to be expanded in 2002 to accommodate the extra riders to the college and schaols. ‘Further, B.C. Transit has not implemented cuts to transit, they have frozen expansions. They realize that now is not the time for cuts and the-city needs to follow suit. Our city council has to realize that to throw away all the time, work and money that have gone into this transit system is counterproduc- live. You don’t make a commitment then back “$23,000 dolidrs for the’ syste to tnaintain’ its current service. The first year after expansion, the city saved on its lease fees by taking one year old | busses instead of brand new ones, this saving. was substantial. The second year (2001) Coastal Bus Lines relinquished their contractual raise which was supposed to cover increased labour and fuel costs.. Now it’s the city’s turn and their answer is “no way, we won't contribute.” Assuming approximately 6000 homes in the city, the cost is about $3 to $4 per household tes ough cuts, and to keep a growing system down is acutin itself, Don’t undo the hard. work that has been done by letting it slip backwards. * Terrace has a good Transit and HandiDart system and it finally serves the needs of its ti- ders. I urge city council to do whatever is neces- - sary to keep our transit system as it is. Better yet, implement the needed expan- sions to Kitsumkalum and to the city’s irport, It’s finally working. Let’s keep it that way. Dan Hawke is a Terrace resident. This is a war we must all oppose By BRUCE HILL 1 HAVE a hard time swallowing that it’s just a coincidence the most oil-hungry nation on earth wants to control and occupy one of the most oil rich countries on earth. So the media puts its blinders on, and fol- lows the moral lead of the nation that gave us Jerry Springer, reality TV, Madonna and Mi- chael Jackson; a country with two million people in prison, rampant corruption in its bu- siness. community, who assassinates its best leaders, has the 37th best health care in the world:and a deficit of 370 billion dollars caused by supporting the most javish military machine on earth. The U.S. is alone at the top when it comes to military power. And make no mistake it’s becoming increasingly politically incorrect to question whether that military supremacy has anything to do with right, or honour, ‘or fair- ness, or virtue. - But only a fool would believe this has any- thing to do with Saddam. It’s about geopoliti- cal superiority, it’s about self righteousness, and it’s about money. [t's surely not aboul human dignity and freedom; there have been too many slaughters and famines and despots butchering innocents that the U.S. has blithely ignored to justify that illusion. Nor will this war solve festering problems like the increas- ingly insane Semitic civil war in Palestine. Saddam Hussein deserves. to die for what he’s done to his own people and his neigh- bours. As do many other despots on this earth. But what will be the price? U.S. war plans call. for the massive bombardment of Iraq. Will this kill Saddam? Unlikely. It will destroy what’s left of the infrastruc- ture of Iraq, and it will cost billions to rebuild that infrastructure. It will kill thousands of Ira- qis conscripted into Saddam’s army, and it will kill many, likely thousands, of innocent non-combatants. The spin doctors of the US Pentagon will call these dead, mutilated inno- cents “collateral damage”, but it will be human bodies torn to bits, and it will be un- speakable horror, and the unspeakable pain of families burying their loved ones. But we will be spared the graphic footage of this because the U.S. has learned its lesson well, and it knows to well the media shining the light of truth on this reality would cause a backlash of immense proportions, so there will be no reporlers allowed to witness the carnage. We will be spared the truth, because we can’t handle the truth. What we wilk see will be much like a video game. Sometimes war, as horrible as it is, is ne- cessary. My father and his generation fought such a war, and it fills me with pride that he did. But this will not be that kind of war; this will be the calculated slaughter of people a half a globe away to contro! oil, But it will re- semble most wars in this — young men will be sent by old men to die for ideology, for power, for some craziness. that men have to descend into madness from time fo time, A corrupt media will glorify the courage of men pushing buttons to rain death down ona third world country ruled by a mad man, but there will be no honour. . Canada should join Prance and Germany in questioning this madness, And we should sup- port our government in doing so. Bruce Hill lives in Terrace, B.C. The West needs the East to survive By MATTHEW SWANSON PERSONALLY, [ agree with the East. The West is like a school kid who won’t keep his hands to himself, Democracy, like all major government types before it, even if it was pure and true in the way it was meant to be, would fail in areas that would take a whole other speech to tell Ou. , America has George W. Bush as its war hungry president. America is by far the world’s _ Superpower, concerned only with others, think- “ing she is perfect. Well, not by far. America “blames others for her problems. and refuges to .ee any other path besides war. ‘A nation must somehow rise far beyond her, destroying her sense of invincibility, her sense vof perfection and her sense of power and -au- 7 thority, plained. In America’ 8 sense of Perfection, she . “The. terrorist | altacks can ‘be easily ex- has tried to assimilate and bend the will of every other nation. She was simply experien- cing the retribution that awaited her for her blindness. ] am grieved by the loss of life, truly | am, but America seemed, for even those first hours, truly exposed as the frail bady she is. She cowered, regaining her strength quickly. She struck Afghanistan, which was justifiable, but doing the same in Iraq and the Muslim world is not. America believes that Iraq is a direct threat,-when the only way to fight a threat is with a threat in the world of democracy, ° Saddam Hussein is an evil man, but the Americans enthroned him. He. needs to be overthrown, but not by a power that will only make matters worse. America called the Iraqis to disarm, and when a few missiles were found, they called tt mandatory that war begin. immediately. : She did this because she saw the missiles as a possibility of terrorism. Why won't Ameri- ca disarm herself. She has still at least enough nuclear missiles to blow this world into smoul- dering space junk. Arguments against the East stand in such comments as the “East is a terrorist, uncivi- lized and bloodthirsty.” © My answer to this is simple, in my studying of history 1 have studied closely the Arabs, their accomplishments and civilization. { have seen them do things the men of the mediaeval West thought bizarre, like letting rivals go and. treating prisoners better than a merchant was treated in Europe. The West and East fit together like a Chi- nese Yin and Yang symbol. Neither is anything without the other and we, the West, are de- stroying the East, the. other part of the Yin and Yang dise that is the world, Matthew Swanson ] 2 i is < a. Terrace resident. I say our transit 'system hds undergone’ Sra ‘RCMP, she was just another “Indian” CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD The Mail Bag It’s about freedoms | Dear Sir: Over the past few weeks, the decision to take the Harry Potter books from the shelves of Centennial Christian School seems to have caused some people io fear the the safety of free speech in our country. Yel some of these same peaple have made. statements contrary to their apparent concern for this wonderful freedom. I refer to the letter from Daisy. McGriffin, (The Terrace Standard, Feb. 19, 2003). I. quote, “Please keep your close minded views to yourself.” Some have even gone so far as to suggest that there might be a Nazi conspiracy behind all this. I believe that the real issue behind some of this criticism is not a concern for free speech, but rather an opportunity for some Christian-bashing. A popular past time these days, possibly due to the Christian creed of turning the other cheek. There are religions . that are not quite as tolerant of criticism or © demeaning terminology. It is true unfortunately that some Christians do not live their lives according to the teachings of Christ. This might be the reason wherein some people find ~ cause to doubt the validity of Christian teachings or those who profess a belief in the Christian religion. But some doctors do not practice medicine, according to the Hippocratic Oath. Are we to criticize the oath or the vast majority of doctors who try their best to live up to its ideology? J do not know any of the parents whose children . attend Centennial Christian School, but I am sure it was not their intent to create a.controversy in this or any other town. | believe they are merely trying to raise ‘their children as best they can in a world where there no longer appears to be a clear distinction between right and wrong, or good and bad. Does Harry Potter depict this distinction in a manner that is in accordance with the Christian beliefs of these parents? I think not, ’ They are not trying to shove their opinions down anyone’s throat nor are they attempting to raise their children to be bock-burning Nazis who would suppress any of the freedoms we enjoy in this country, They are merely exercising their right guaranteed under our charter to raise their children by. the influences of their own choosing and to restrict from them the influences that they believe to be harmful. Don't all parents? Norman McMurray, Terrace, B.C. What’s with this? Dear Sir: Racial profiling has come to Terrace. On Feb. 14; 2003 in the Skeena Mall oa or about 3 -p.m., 1 observed two members of the Royal. Canadian - Mounted Police walking through the mall. © An elderly first Nations. woman and her granddaughter were also ambling through the mall at the.entrance of Norther Drugs. I had just passed the 1 gldex on thy, way Jo Coles, when, Lnoticed the RCMP. . mempers walking, toward the woman and stopping her. "Without | any “explanation, she 'was ‘asked to produce same picture identification. When the elder asked for an explanation, I was told later that one of the members retorted with an “J don’t want any crap from you. Where is you Ip?” threat, Of course, this aboriginal elder like most First Nations people of her generation having lived under the bootstraps of the various enforcement agencies of the Canadian stale, recognized the imbalance of power and prudently acquiesced. To most people, the above incident would be an insignificant sideshow. To the elder however, it was the ultimate humiliation and indignation: To the shoplifter suspect. Which brings me to the profiling issue. I was told >Jater there was an allegation of a shoplifting and the only information the constable and his partner had to go on was that the “suspect” was an elderly First Nations woman. Obviously, the commission of the alleged crime had been committed elsewhere, so the two policemen could dispense with the lack of “reasonable - and probable grounds” that should have protected the elder against the “unreasonable search and. seizure” and “arbitrary” detention that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees to most Canadians, It would be interesting to hear the RCMP’s explanation for the actions of their members. Ignorance or stupidity should be at the top of the list. There is a clear distinction between these terms, The callous disregard for the elder's constitutional rights and the officer’s condescending remark leaves little room for a third explanation. The foregoing incident should raise a red flag for the Terrace merchants. Terrace is literally surrounded by - aboriginal communities. With the recent addition of Gingalx to the fraternity, aboriginals now wield even more economic power. It would be foolish. to antagonize them as & group. | . Ray Guno, New Aiyansh, B.C. Liberal troubles Dear Sir: Whether it’s B.C. Hydro deregulation to let the corporate boys at the money trough, raw logs to the U.S., health care cuts, cuts in education, the sale of liquor stores and the privatization of B.C. Ferries, it has become quite clear this Liberal government is hell bent on changing the recognizable face of BC. What part of the Jessons don't the liberals understand? Unparalleled havoc has been created for many of the good citizens of B.C. : Gactan Pozgay, Kitimat, B.C, About the Mail Bag The Terrace Standard welcomes letters. Our address is 3210 Clinton St, Terrace, B.C, V8G 5R2. You can fax us at 250-638-8432 or e-mail us at newsroom @terracestandard.com, No attachments, please. We need your name, _address and phone number for verification. Our. - deadline is noon Friday. o or noon n Thureday fl its: ‘a long: weekend.