~ Ad- The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, January 27, 1999 TERRACE. STANDARD ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988 PUBLISHER: ROD LINK ADDRESS: 3210 Clinton Street Terrace, B.C, * V8G 5R2 TELEPHONE: (250) 638-7283 * FAX: (250) 638-8432 EMAIL: standard@kermode.net Taking stock ON A WARM spring day in 1996, Skeena NDP MLA Helmut Giesbrecht stood. outside Skeena. _ Junior Secondary and announced a pricey $1 million package to plan a replacement school. . The money would be spent on meetings, design concepis and architectural drawings. - Following the election a couple of months later, with the NDP safely returned to power, the money disappeared back into provincial coffers as schoo] construction was temporarily frozen until less castly methods were found. One of those methods was the stock plan, the concept involving picking an existing design off _the shelf and making a few modifications for lo- cal conditions. So far so good as architectural fees can be daunting for one-off projects. The idea of having one solid design that can be modified seemed a reasonable way to save tax money yet still provide value for the expenditure. But now, with a new Skeena school looking like it is a reality, there’s a problem. No "secondary schools have been built lately so there aren’t really any existing plans available, leaving the district to cast around for plans dating back to the early part of the decade. (Things are dif- ferent for the new elementary school on the bench because more schools of this type have been built in the last few years.) The new Skeena plan appears to be this — the sum of $20 million has been fixed for the new school. Everything from nails to windows to the architectural plans will be required to fit the sum. It might be that the architectural plan for Skeena, however modified from another school, will become the model for others which follow. Or it might be the beginning of yet another pub- lic sector project where costs exceed what was budgeted:"Now'add this’ to-a’'preater control: the provinice Bvet'soHoo) boardsland'ft wi interesting time. - ee IT IS a rare thing to read a press release which actually makes sense both in what it says and in what it is announcing. That was the case Jan. 15 with a release an- nouncing $63,037 in federal money to hire two part time people here for one year to give new mothers help with breast feeding. in the first two weeks after birth. a There won’t be any facilitators, co-ordinators, studies, reports, conferences, focus groups or other mind-numbing bureaucratic trappings which leaves taxpayers wondering what exactly did happen and why. These people will be ac- tually doing something to assist the most pre- cious of all human beings, newborns. Mother’s milk doesn’t come out of a laboratory or a government mega-project. It’s a natural source of nutrients and antibiotics, containing all that is necessary for the growth and nurturing of a baby. Any amount of money spent to promote breastfeeding, where medically possible, will repay itself hundred-fold as the baby grows. - The wonder of it all is that this project is only $63,000. And that should make paying taxes just a fittle bit easier. Be PUBLISHER /EDITOR: Rod Link ADVERTISING MANAGER: Brian Lindenbach PRODUCTION MANAGER: Edouard Credgeur NEWS Jeff Nagel = NEWS/SPORTS: Christiana Wiens NEWS /COMMUNITY: Alex Hamilton OFFICE MANAGER: Sheila Sandover-Sly' CIRCULATION MANAGER: Karen Bruncite _ ‘ ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS: Sam Bedford, Bunnie Cote TELEMARKETER: Patricia Schubrink AD. ASSISTANT: Kelly Jean COMPOSING: Susan Credgeur " AD ASSISTANT/TYPESETTING: Julie Davidson - 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 GST) MEMBER OF = [BLG. AND YUKON COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION. i CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION vo . AND WENA comerrrter B.C. PRESS COUNCIL Seiemoe Cplambae 408 Fabee Serving the Terrace and Thornhill area. Published on Wednesday of each week at 3210 Clinton Streel, Terrace, British Columbia, V8G 5R2. . Stories, photographs, illustrations, designs and typestyias in the Terrace Standard are the property of the copyright holders, Including Cariboo Press (1969} Ltd., its illustration repro services and adverlising Prproducton in whol of in pat, witout writes pomission, is specifealy prohibited Authorized as second-class mail pending tha Post Otfica Depatment, for payment of postage In cash. Special thanks to all our contributors and correspondents _ for their time and talents - KNOW WHAT... [| ‘99 SUCKS \h ata aay SS ISR CS SSS RY by Ferry sir VICTORIA — Every decade in B.C. politics seems to produce at least one big scandal involving government cost overruns. In the 1970s, Dave Barrett’s NDP government landed in hat water when then-welfare minis- ter Norm Levi had to admit that there was a $100 million error in his budget. And even though, strictly speaking, it wasn’t an overrin, Levi added fuel to the fire when he said something along the lines of “what’s a 100 million dollars?” To this day, people with long memtories, such as me, gleefully call Norm “100 million dollar Levi.” During Bill Bennett's reign of Exp have cost $500 million. When the last kilometre of asphalt had been laid, taxpayers found them- selves on the hook for more than $1 billion. . Nineteen-ninety-nine: The venue has shifted from dry land to water. The first of three cata- maran fast-ferries, under con- - struction now, will exceed origi- nal cost estimates of $86 million by at least $57 million. FOR FAKING our attention off government’s shortcomings, nothing beats haywire legislation. That’s why I’m suspicious of B.C.’s recently revised fire — code, Victoria has declared posting of students’ art. work. on. school corridor walls to be a fire hazard, Since the fire commis- sioner’s office comes under Jenny Kwan’s municipal affairs ministry, could it be the new code is intended to slip leaky condo tax breaks past us? Or, because the new fire code requires displayed art work to be done on fire-retardant paper, is the code expected to stimulate a market for the special ‘paper? Which paper manufactur- ers might benefit? And which of _ their CEOs are buddies of the _ BAC. government? I'm told the price of fire- the bag. veo LE Ensue,” Coil This art FROM-THE CAPITAL HUBERT BEYER The revelation of this latest boondoggle came earlier this week, when Dan Miller, deputy premier and minister responsible for B.C, Ferries, let the cat out allow timethoaouted Script. The politicians ran for cover, the B.C. Ferries boss resigned, before he was pushed, I’m sure, the media professed extreme shock, clucking about the gov- emment’s fiscal bungling, and the opposition howled for the minister’s head and demanded a public inquiry. Public inquiries are always a favourite with oppositions. So have demands for ministerial resignations, When Hundred troversy “won't: happen ‘during’ this-gov- Million Dollar Levi goofed, the Socred opposition wanted his resignation and an inquiry. When the Coquihalla Highway ran into trouble, the NDP opposition did likewise. In both cases, the gov- ernment told the apposition to get lost. The Coquihalla Highway controversy actually became the subject of an inquiry, ordered, ironically, by another Socred government. Bill Vander Zalm just could- n’t pass up the opportunity to embarrass his predecessor, as well as Alex Fraser, the high- ways minister who presided over the Coquihalla project, and for whom he had an extreme dislike. _.... Khe ferry scandal, too, may ~ yet make-itto a public inquiry. It-~ ~- ernment’s term, but I’m sure Gordon Campbell would relish opening that can of worms, if and when he becomes premier. In the meautime, don’t expect Miller to resign. Modern- day politics is somewhat similar - to law-enforcement in as much. cas the little guys get busted, while the big ones go free. And don’t expect Premier Glen Clark to make apologies for the debacle, Sure, he was the one ks in debt-laden sea who relentlessly pushed the idea and convinced former premier Harcourt and his cabinet to buy into the catamaran scheme. But as long as there are others to blame, the premier .will try. to avoid admitting responsibility. < Getting back to the- Coquihalla for a momeat, it’s a magnificent highway. It: cuts * travel time from the Interior to: the coast by more than an hour, and few motorists using. ‘it, remember the cost overrun, or 2... care about it. And that’s where the fast- “ | : ferry fiasco differs from the Coquihalla one. Miller: has hinted that even after the things --. are built, they may not work * _.Worthadamn, ns st: of problems have sur- “: faced:-The engine cylinders had to.be ‘rebuilt, the ship can-only - run with half a tank of gas to ‘save weight, the kitchen had to ee a dae a4 agaa be scaled back for weight pur- - poses, the cars have to be tied - - down, and so on. Ah, well, see you at the 2a nd inquiry, in a couple of years or = 50. (250) 920-9300; Fax: (250) 356- Beyer can be reached at: Tel! ; 9597; E-mail: hubert@coolcom.com is Too hot to handle THROUGH BIFOCGALS. CLAUDETTE SANDECKI retardant paper is about 50 per cent more than regular paper. Right now some schools lack salt to de-ice their main doorstep. How many cupcakes would it take to supply students with the special construction paper? Now that’ corridor art has been advertised to be a fire haz- ard, you can bet some under- occupied, super 1.Q, arsonist-in- : training will stroll the Iength of a THESE. BRUMS HAVE GEEN LEAKING HERE FoR. (0 #G YEARS! AND WE PUT Howl MANY LETTERS HAVE WE WRITTEN ABouT THEM 71! school hallway during assembly torching the curled corners of kindergarten cutouts to satisfy his curiosity. Students’ creativity deserves public display. At Copper Mountain Elementary School's Christmas concert, families had the pleasure of a whole end wall filled with cutouts in the shape of a ladies’ 1920s high top button shoe. The variety of designs, colours, and trimmings crayoned by the class made each cutout unique. * Under the revised fire cade, that much art work on one wall would probably exceed accept- able limits. Clearly this fire code revi- sion wasn’t discussed by all MLAs or education minister Paul Ramsey wouldn’t have been taken by surprise - and outrage - like the rest of us. Watching the fire commis- } WELL. UM, WE. COULD LOAD THEM INTO YouR TRUCK “AND TAKE THEM TO THE DUMP : 76-23 sioner interviewed on BCTV news, he looked as shifty-eyed as Andy Scott. He couldn’t cite a single instance where corridor art _ had in any way contributed to a scheol fire, He went on to say B.C. was. just falling into line behind the’ other provinces, that this rule — already existed in the rest of - Canada. Yet when BCTV visited schools in Calgary, Edmonton and the Maritimes, their corri- dors were liberally festooned with kids’ art; and no one men- tioned fire-retardant paper. Buried in the new fire code is this line: Contravention can . result in a $50-a-day fine. Maybe . that’s the true reason for this .-. revision - a chance for the gov-- > emment to rake in $50 per day - from every province, KE f DUl FAX THE or! oer DWE’ Aub OFFICES AND CALL THE MEDIA! TBAT C6GEr ACTIONS: On school .in the fret You wats!