Taking on Goliath Eggcellent livelihood\NEWS A7 A local man says Revenue Canada has destroyed his Art and life merge in a delicate combination of skill and patience\COMMUNITY B1 They were winners CALDEONIA'S BADMINTON team has been voted most - sportsmanlike/SPORTS BS ats 2 ea WEDNESDAY APRIL 15, 1998 aoe ae) Ybie rr. tt TANDARD 93¢ PLUS 7¢ GST VOL. 11 NO, 4°..". Old notebooks help abuse suit A local person who was abused at a native residential school in Port Alberni now has proof he was there. Up until now, Leonard Patelas, 58, says he lacked documents proving he was there and so could join in fully to a landmark abuse trial which returned to court yesterday after a month- ‘Jong recess, But he now has documents from a fellow abuse victim that’ll swengthen his case. Patelas, along with 27 other victims seck com- pensation for physical, emotional and sexual abuse, The trial was moved to Prince Rupert from :Nanaimo to help lower the cost of attending the trial to many victims who live in the northwest. Patelas says he has not been able to find docu- mentation of his stay at the Part Alberni school nearly a half-century ago, because most of the school records have long since been lost or destroyed. “When I left school I left everything in my locker,’’ he says. ‘‘] was so anxious to get out of there.” Palelas was sent to the Port Alberni school at the age of four after a stay in Vancouver Hospi- tal for polio treatment. He says that’s when his nightmare began. *¥ pot a beating every moming for bed wet- ting,”’ Patelas says, ‘It’s a wonder J didn’t break any bones.”” Patelas’ kidneys had been damaged by polio, so he had trouble controlling bis bladder. For that he received a daily beating, and the abuse continued until he was 16-years-old. By the time Patelas was released from school, both his mother and father had died. The trial will decide whether the federal government and the United Church can be heid vicariously liable for the abuse Patelas and the other victims suffered. If they are held liable, it could open the door to millions of dollars in compensation to the victims. Patelas says he didn’t have written proof that he was one of those victims until an- other man came forward. Robert Dixon, 51, was also abused at the Port Alberni school. And he has kept his school yearbooks for the past 45 years. Called ‘‘Westem Eagle,’ the booklets list the names and grades of all the students at the school, along with stories and poems wrilten by the children, and commentary by school officials. Dixon was reluctant to let others know he had the books for fear that they might be taken from him. Even after all these years, he still doesn’t trust the government. Cont'd Page A2 taining proof he needs with Robert Dixon. LEONARD PATELAS (seated) and notebooks con- = ~ ef s ee a ” = Hy ae bers 1 Squeeze on mills A TOP West Fraser official says the com- pany can’t make a solid promise (hat more shutdowns at its Skeena Sawmills operation can be avoided. ‘We'll do everything we can to maintain operations,’’ said West Fraser woodlands vice-president Wayne Clogg. ‘But we just don’t know what the market is going to do.” Clogg spoke in the wake of further grim predictions for the B.C, forest industry and alter Skeena Cellulose announced a saw- mill shutdown, which commenced this week. That closure came just a few weeks afler workers at West Fraser’s Terrace sawmill went back to work following a 10-week shutdown. “Our philosophy is to be the low cost producer and be the company that doesn’t shut mills down,’’ Clogg said. ‘‘We don’t enjoy shutting a sawmill down for any peri- od of time.”’ “Our problem in Terrace bas been one of costs and markets, We have extraordinarily high Jog costs in the northwest and the markets for our products from the north- west — both pulp and lumber — have been poor. So weve been squeezed.” Clogg said he’s encouraged by govem- ment moves a week earlier to reduce paper- work and other costly requirements of the Forest Practices Code, and io approve a stumpage reduction. “They are very much aware of the prob- lems of the industry and the cost issues and they’re trying to do things about it,’’ he said of the province. West Fraser has been pressured by Ter- race city council in recent years to consider a major new investment in its aging Terrace could continue here operation. But Clogg said the company simply can’t do that under present conditions. “