A4 - Tha Terrace Standard, Wednesday, December 10, 2003 TERRACE Se 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 WEB: www.terracestandard.com EMAIL: newsroom@terracestandard.com lf’s up to us WITH A capital cost in the neighbourhood of $60 million, the planned container port at Prince Rupert doesn’t rank up there in the history of provincial mega-projects. It pales next to the ill-fated northeast coal development of the 1980s, is far less than the fast ferry episode of the 1990s and doesn’t cut the mustard next to this decade’s massive public commitment to bring the 2010 Winter Olympics to Vancouver-Whistler. What it does do, according to the provincial ‘Liberal government, is take the northwest, ‘now isolated in terms of the global economic landscape, and move it way to the front of the line. Containers are all the rage in transportation circles. Simply take whatever it is you want to Ship, place it inside a container and slam the lid shut. Load the container onto a rail car and take it to what is essentially a large paved parking lot equipped with cranes at port side and load aboard a ship and that’s it. No complicated handling. Given that there already is a rail line in the north and that Prince Rupert is a day and a half closer in ‘sailing time to Asia than other west coast ports and you have the perfect marriage — ease of shipping and proximity to the huge Asian market. So far so good if you are a large industry someplace else looking for a cheaper and faster way to get a good or product to Asia. In terms of jobs, there will be railway work and port employment, but not much else of a benefit to the rest of the northwest. Yet the provincial Liberals say there’s more. Ease of shipping and proximity to Asia should lead, the Liberals expect, to interest by industrial and business concerns to locate théiriselvées in the nérthwest. © °° Compared to other places in North America we have cheap land and cheap housing. We have an airport. We have the basic amenities of education and health care. We have a relatively younger population of working age than other places. The Liberals are priming the pump by providing seed money from the sale of B.C. Rail for the port and money to the region to attract container-using industry. But basically, in yet another example of the peculiar kind of tough-love the Liberals are exhibiting in the northwest compared to other places, the rest is up to us. And that’s OK, Itis far better for the northwest to develop its own methods of success than to rely on somebody else to deliver their plan and expect it to work. Considering that we have one large industry under yet another round of bankruptcy protection with a dicey future, a municipal council hell-bent on taking on the region’s sole remaining large industrial concern (hardly the business-friendly environment the folks in Victoria are trying to project), there’s a lot riding on the container port. PUBLISHER/EDITOR; Rod Link ADVERTISING MANAGER: Brian Lindenbach PRODUCTION MANAGER: Edouard Credgeur NEWS: Jeff Nagel NEWS/SPORTS Sarah A. Zimmerman een vane ee NEWS/COMMUNITY: Jennifer Lang 2002 WINNER FRONT OFFICE: Darlene Keeping & Carol McKay cha BETTER CIRCULATION SUPERVISOR: Tammy Donovan ern receennnis ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS: COMPETITION Bert Husband & Debbie Simons COMPOSING: Susan Credgeur AD ASSISTANT: Sandra Stefanik SUBSCRIPTION RATES BY MAIL: $57.94 (+$4,06 GST)=62.00 per year; Seniors $50.98 (+$3.57 GST)=54,55; Out of Province $65.17 (+$4.56 GST)=69.73 Outside of Canada (6 months) $156.91(+10,98 GST )=167.89 MEMBER OF B.C, AND YUKON COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION, CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION + CN A AND B.C, PRESS COUNCHL (www bepresscouncil.org) Wet Colom bre gad Febe Serving tha Tartace and Thomhit! area. Published on Wednesday of each week at 2210 Clinton Steet, Terrace, British Columbia, V8G 5R2, Starias, photographs, Hlustations, designs and typestyes in the Tarraca Standard are the proparty af tha copy- nght holders, including Cariboo Prass (1969) Ltd, Its iiustration repro services and advertising agencies. Reproduction in whola or in part, without written permission, is spacificaly proiblted. Authorized as sevond-class mall pending the Post Otfice Department, [ar payment ol postage in cash, Special thanks to all our contributors and correspondents for thelr time and talents Let's make parks more friendly VICTORIA - Canada’s western national parks are in crisis, the Banff National Park's annual planning forum was told fast week. Among the concerns expressed by the groups taking part in the forum were cracked roads, dilapidated washrooms, and broken picnic tables. “Tt is in a state of crisis and it needs upgrading if we are going to remain competitive in international tourism,” said Kim Andres, executive director of the Association for Mountain Parks Protection and Enjoyment. “In some cases, instead of fixing things, they are just shut down, which is a cheap solution but has a big impact on visitors.” Parks officials don’t deny that things need fixing, but say they're doing the best they can with the financial resources they have, Now, I am not sure I would call it a crisis. There’s a crisis in Irag. When it comes to our national and provincial parks, problems might be a better word to describe the situation. No having visited either Banff, Jasper, Yoho or Kootenay National Park for a while, I can’t comment on their state. But I do have some suggestions for the Pacific Rim National Park and our provincial parks. A few years back, well, a few decades actually, | was quite FROM THE CAPITAL HUBERT BEYER happy to rough it in our national and provincial parks. “Strict guidelines could be established to regulate the kind of accommodation allowed in provincial parks,” "We'd ‘take’ the kids camping ' and canoeing, slept in tents, that were invariably erected on rocky ground, ate canned pork and beans, cooked over a camp fire, washed in cold creeks and rivers in the morning and happily explored the wilderness around us. As your bones get a little creakier, your idea of a wilderness experience isn’t quite the same. We’ re not all Pierre Trudeaus, who went on gruelling canoe trips at a relative old age. My preference these days involves a nice and comfortable hotel, a hot bath or shower in the morning, . Teslaurants that serve good food, and maybe a well-worn trail of no considerable length. Alas, try to find these things in our parks. Sure, there’s Banff and Jasper, two towns with all amenities smack in the heart of two national parks. But what of our provincial parks? What's a senior to do with no hotel or restaurant is sight. Arthritis won't let them walk for any length of time, At best, they can enjoy a picnic, and even picnic sites are often difficult to find. But enough about me. Let's talk about all the other British Columbians and out-of-town, province and country visitors. Many. of them are elderly and |. _shaye, problems getting. arqund on foot, Back in 1970, when the Pacific Rim National Park was established, the powers that be, egged on by the nature purists, did their best to have the Wickaninnish Inn demolished. Fortunately, saner heads prevailed and the luxury resort is still around. But not everybody can afford a luxury hotel. More affordable _ would be accommodation welcomed by many tourists. That doesn’t mean we have to allow cheap motels, hamburger joints and tourists traps in our parks. Strict guidelines could be | established to regulate the kind of accommodation allowed in provincial parks. Space would be leased by prospective developers, interested © in building a hotel in keeping with the surroundings with restaurant . and lounge facilities for those. who have left their wilderness exploration years behind. British Columbia has to do- more than rely on its’ natural beauty to attract visitors. We fret about the decline of the forest and mining industries and do little to pick up the slack by developing © the one industry that makes’ ~this province a second-to-none destination. altempting such sacrilege would, have to. brace for s storm that would make the controversy over the sale of B.C. Rail appear.to be mild disapproval. But hope springs eternal or at least another 15 or 20 years in my case, Someday, we may geta government with guts enough to implement my suggestions. Beyer can be reached at:. E- mail: hbeyer@coolcont.com. Barriers can prevent burns NATURAL GAS fireplaces can be hazardous to toddlers. In the past year, in one Vancouver hospital alone, 16 toddlers have been treated for severe bums after they rested their tiny palms on the hot door. The glass door of a gas fed fireplace can reach temperatures of 200 degrees. This is not enough to produce third degree burns over the entire inside of a child's hand in seconds, Unlike a wood burning fireplace, the fake flames of a gas fireplace don't look that dangerous to a child. Young ones tend to lean toward the glass and brace their weight against the got door. Before they can react and pull away, their delicate hands are scarred forever. ‘In the Global T.V. news Story, an 18-month-old girl had undergone numerous surgeries, including having skin from her wee buttocks grafted to the palms and inside of her fingers of both hands. After weeks (maybe months) of treatment, she still wore gauze bandages enclosing her hands to ‘THROUGH BIFOCALS- CLAUDETTE SANDECKI the wrist like boxing gloves, Aside from the weeks of anguish and excruciating pain to the child, inconvenience and extra work for the family, and the cost in health care, add the child's physical limitations at a time when she should be picking up toys feeding herself, hoisting her juice bottle. Why are so many children being burned on gas fireplaces? a THIS HERES Goop f] BUT VIC woulb Ger OP OF-THE -LINE! ANDOLD SVEN Still HAS A HAND DRILL! Besides the deceptively benign look of the fake flames, we no longer live in a single room like Little House on the Prairie homesteaders. Mommy may not always have the child in her line of sight. A few seconds is plenty for a child to approach a fireplace and reach out to feel what it’s like, One of our family has experienced severe burns and it wasn’t just to one hand, The pain is excruciating, and . goes on for weeks as surgeons remove the dead burned skin and physiotherapists force the fingers to extend to prevent them from becoming claws. Preserving maximum flexibility and range of motion of a burned hand requires weeks of dedicated, torturous exercise, No one would wish the pain upon an enemy let alone an innocent inquisitive toddler. ; With Prince Rupert's gas .pipeline interruption, how many preschoolers will be treated for burns as families plug-in electric heaters or bunk with friends who may have heating appliances unfamiliar to the youngsters? . YEP! You CANTELL ALOT ABOOTAMAN BY HIS TOoL!! a ~~ Kids soon learn to avoid stoves and heaters but adjusting — takes time, Yelling at them every time they approach a fireplace, even smacking their diaper when they ignore a command will eventually steer them around off limits appliances, but can a family afford the risk of a child being quicker than a parent's eye? ; In unfamiliar circurnstances, such as Prince Rupert's, kids can forget, and run or wrestle too close to hot surfaces. Once burned all the “Sorry's” in the. - world won't alleviate the -pain and perhaps permanent scaring. | send . along. Manufacturers safety manuals and warnings with. their fireplaces, But as with many. wamings, wearing. protective glasses while weed whacking, - or wearing ear muffs while chain - sawing, owners downplay the risks and often make do. with a minimum of protection. Cautious parents, their fireplace, inexpensive and convenient, compared to third degree burns to a toddler's hands. ee Of, course, any government , though, set up a barrier in front of © Barriers are.