M- The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, June 3, 1998 _ STANDARD ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988 ' PUBLISHER: ROD LINK ADDRESS: 3210 Clinton Street Terrace, B.C. * VBG SR2 TELEPHONE: (250) 638-7283 * FAX: (250) 638-8432 EMAIL: standard@kermode.net Doubtful move THE DECISION by Human Resources Develop-' ment Canada (the new name for the Canada Employment Centre) to create a separate office to help young people find jobs has to be ques- tioned by even the most liberal-minded taxpayer. We’re told the reason for this is to specifically help young people find employment in an en- vironment that’il make them feel comfortable. It’ll have all the features of the regular Human Resources Development office on Lazelle. All this is because somebody has determined that young people feel intimidated by that regu-. lar office, are unsure of how to use its facilities, and just don’t think that this is a place which can help them. Now bear in mind that governments nowadays have advanced the age that a person is consider- ed to be a youth. It’s not until the late teens or even early 20s or perhaps 25, but right up to the: age of 29. Somehow the image of a 27-year-old being frozen with fear or uncertainty about going into the regular Human Resources Development office jusi'doesn’t wash. : To be sure, governments can unleash all kinds of studies and statistics indicating youth unem- ployment is a problem. But what seems to be. happening in Terrace is the creation of yet anoth- er bureaucracy and mindset which sets aside yet. another segment of society for special treatment. In effect, Human Resources Development Can- ada is embarking on a nifty piece of social. engineering which could very well result in es-' tablishing a new form of a victim culture. The longer people are kept separate from mainstream culture and society and the more they are told. they are different and are consequently treated’ differently, the harder it will be for them to eventually take part in the responsibilities of reg-. ular life. ; -What’s interesting is that for decades ‘Human Resources Development Canada has run a stu- dent employment centre out of its regular offices. For four months of the year, students can register . for work, look at job orders and receive job hunt tips. It’s not a big stretch to expand this service to all young people add another eight months to the budget and keep it right where it is. Spending more money to ghettoize more people won’t help them one little bit. Aid for what? SO LET’S SEE if we’ve got this right. India and Pakistan are squaring off in the dangerous game of kicking nuclear sand in each other’s faces. It’s not as if they could have popped on down. to the hardware store and picked up a nuke off the shelf. They have spent many millions of dol- lars in developing this most lethal weapon. Yet all the while these same two countries are on the list of nations supposedly needing vast amounts of foreign aid to feed and clothe their citizens and to grow their economies. But the very process of giving that humanitarian aid has allowed India and Pakistan to use their own money to play in the nuclear sandbox. And that simply does not add up. a PUBLISHER/EDITOR: Rod Link ADVERTISING MANAGER: Brian Lindenbach PRODUCTION MANAGER: Edouard Credgeur NEWS Jeff Nagel * NEWS: Anita Dolman NEWS COMMUNITY: Alex Hamilton OFFICE MANAGER: Sheila Sandover-Sly ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS: Sam Collier, Janet Viveiros TELEMARHETER: Patricia Schubrink ADVERTISING ASSISTANT: Kelly Jean TYPESETTING: Sylvana Broman DARKROOM: Susan Credgeur . CIRCULATION MANAGER: Karen Brunette SUBSCRIPTION RATES BY MAIL: $56.18 per year; Seniors $49.76; Out of Province $63.13 Outside of Canada (6 months) $155.15 (ALL PRICES INCLUDE Gh ~ “MEMBER OF rr C. AND YUKON COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION. _ CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION B.C. PRESS COUNCIL cna Serving the Terrace and Thombhill area. Published cn Wednesday of each wack at 3210 Gtinion Steet, Terrace, British Columbia, V8G 5R2, Stories, photograghs, Hustrations, designs and lypastyles in the Terrace Standard are tha property ol the” copyright holders, including Cariboo Prose (1969) Lid., its illustration repro sarvices and advertising agancies. Roproduction in wiole or In part, withoul written permission, is specifically prohibited. Authorized as second-class mail pending tha Post Office Department, for payment of postage in cash. _ Special thanks to all our contributors and correspondents ‘ forthelr time and talents OK,. OK... WILL ee COME DOWN MISE 10 THROW aN THE REST OF MY VIAGRA PILLS °,. , least one call A human rights nightmare VICTORIA — George Orwell got his timing screwed up. Other than that, he was right on. Big Brother’s politica] cor- reciness police is watching our every sicp, from the cradle to the grave. There was a job ad in my daily newspaper the other day. The Capital Regional District was looking for ‘“Tobacco En- forcement Officers.’” Those are the watchdogs that will patrol restaurants, bars and other public places when the 100-per-cent no-smoking law goes into effect, Jan. 1, 1999, Never mind that prices for neighbourhood pubs have hit rock bottom because of the looming smoking ban. The value of some of the more elaborate pubs has dropped by as much as $1 million. Never mind that restaurant owners are scared 30 per cent of their customers — the per- centage of the adult population that smokes — will siay away if they can’t light up a cigarette after dinner, Governments have declared open season on smokers, and they will stop at nothing to beat (them into submission, Mind you, Florida rescinded its ban on smoking in bars and Just stop the ringing, please FRIDAYS ARE for gearing down, tidying up for Monday. Consequently, I wasn’t emo- tionally tuned to make a snap decision when a B.C, Tel rep- resentative suggested a high tech tool to boost my business sales. Fer only $8 a month, Kathleen offered me a six- month trial of a 1-800 number. At the end of six months, if my sales hadn’t increased to my satisfaction, B.C. Tel would tefund my $48, no argument, and cancel the number. During the six-month trial, each 1-800 call would cost me 18 cents a minute. B.C. Tel estimates the average business inquiry lasts 3 1/2 minutes, or 63 cents. At even one call per ' day, my monthly bill would be $8 plus $18.90, or $30.67 with -PST and GST included, Kathleen pointed out if at each month resulted in work, B.C. Tel’s monthly charge would be cov- ered. But what about my share of the largess? FROM.THE GAPITAL HUBERT BEYER restaurants, after wide-spread! public protest. Restaurant owners even had their own no-smoking signs ' printed, large posters featuring a swastika and a cigarette with a slash through il. Must have worked wonders, So, maybe | there’s hope yet. On the human-rights side things look equally dismal. What began as a much-needed and long-overdue drive to end | discrimination against minorilies, including women, has degenerated into a circus. Tribunals and commissions, set up to deal with genuine abuses of human rights, : are going from the ridiculous to the sublime, defining ever a THROUGH BIFOCALS CLAUDETTE SANDECKI In-coming calls are itemized on a monthly statement which reveals the phone numbers that called and where they originated. Along with the 1-800 num- ber, I would receive over 500 stickers ] could slap on every- thing from customers’ bills to business cards heralding my absorption into the age of faxes, E-mail, and beepers. B.C. Tel’s offer would seem to be foolproof, if the economy more ludicrous offences, I need only mention the recent case in which the B.C, Human Rights Council found in favour of a man from Oregon who complained that the staff at the Rogers Pass restaurant wanled him and his family to sit in the restaurant section rather than the dining room. And then there is, of course, the case before the B.C. conn- cil involving a complaint by a trans-sexual — a man in the process of becoming a woman by way of surgery -—- who was denied access to the women’s washroom in a Victoria area gay bar. Something tells me this is not what the women and men who supported the human rights and feminist movement ; Back then, there was Heald lis 1-5. i crimination to battle“ T ¥einein: ber a time when female reporters were routinely paid less than their male colleagues, That was discrimination, I also * remember writing a story, long ago, about a single women who had a good job, earning Taore money than most men, but couldn’t gel a morigage unless, the bank manager sug- weren’t in such a_ general slump. A 1-800 number might bring more inquiries but not necessarily more work. After all, each communily has its own upbolsterers. To siphon work away from them means lowering prices. Kathleen noted ihat one of my competitors has a 1-800 number. Therefore I must have ane too? Sure, [’d like to boost my salcs, but to do so this way would risk further invading my family’s privacy. Because my shop is attached to our home, already phone calls come in after hours. Once a Cassiar fishermat called al midnight — probably from his tent on a cell phone — to ask about repairing a rip in bis riverboat canvas. And housewives exasperated by broken chair springs oc- casionally phone when we should both be in church. Do | really want to invite strangers to call me on a whim at my ex- pense? _rewrilten. And people’s right gested, she get a hysterectomy. That way, he figured, she. wouldn’t quit her job if she got pregnant. Must look out for the bank’s interest, eh? , At any rate, there was a hor- rendous amount of discrimina- tion against women, but noth- ing excuses what human rights councils call abuses these days. As for rea) discrimination against women, yes, it is sti] | with us. There are the allega- tions of sexual harassment and assault against women in the military. Thank God, they will | be dealt with by the courts. We know what would hap- - pen if the B.C. Human Rights Council were to investigate that one: the case would drop by the wayside after three years, just like the allegations i | former MLA Robin | att ek high. time the eprrectneas ‘police“ate | reined’” ih.’ The mandate of human rights coun- cils must be revisited and to make mistakes, even if they are dangerous to their health, must be restored, Beyer can be reached at: Tet; (250) 920-9300; Fax: (250) 356-9597; E-mail: hubert@coolcom.com For an addilional §9 a month ; B.C. Tel could program my phone with a distinctive ring for the extra line. Then I could ignore 1-800 calls after hours without snubbing family. ‘ Trouble is [also have an out- side bell, my low-tech answer to carrying a cell phone like a jocy in my apron pocket. At the close of cach business day I'd have to muffle the ontside bell, and uncloak it every morning, Otherwise neigh- bours, too, might be disturbed by around-the-clock jangling. I’m sure Kathlecn’s ‘right, a - 1-800 number would increase out-of-town calls. -Plenly of people shy away form paying — even a minimal long distance - fee, preferring to drive 40 miles, As | see it, a 1-800 num- - ber simply. eucourages people to reach out and . touch some- body. Anybody. Probably,.B.C. ‘Tel hoped the prestige. ‘of a 1-800 number’ woul ‘sway me into a snappy Yes, That'll be a frosty Friday! Nig. a ae sts. AND YoU NEVER AND I HANE LEARN IF IT'C A NO IDEA WHAT Briefcase IT'S & THEY ARE USUALLY AN oorié!