How about Japanese?

Historical writing

French shouldn’t be the only _
language taught in elementary
school, says parent/NEWS A11

Pioneer Floyd Frank recounts:
| more stories of early day events
tin Terrace/COMMUNITY B1

WEDNESDAY
JANUARY 25, 1995

By JEFF NAGEL

A CALGARY-based company
is looking at Kitimat as the poten-
tial site for a $2 billion liquid nat-
ural gas (LNG) processing plant.

The massive proposal by Pac
Rim LNG is still in the
preliminary discussion stages, but
if it goes ahead, it could provide
up to 200 full-time jobs.

The construction of the 30-inch
dedicated gas pipeline from
Prince George to Kitimat would

by itself cost several hundred mil-
lion dollars.

And three specialized tanker
ships would have to be built to
move the liquificd natural gas to
probable markets in Japan and the
rest of Asia.

The project would exploit the
vast unlapped reserves of natural
gas in northeastern B.C., for
which so far there has been litle
market

The piant would cool and com-

THE BEST part of Ross Sten-
quist’s job is what he leaves
behind — sand, salt and high-
ways cleared of snow.

Stenquist drives one of
those large, tandem yellow
plowing and sanding diesel
trucks belonging to Nechako
Northcoast, the company
which does highways
Maintenance in this area,

The first part of one day
shift last week had Stenquist
patrol =Hwy37 = south = to
Kitimat.

The company’s

based truck was in the shop

Kitimat-

2b gas plant toute

press‘ the natural gas into liquid
form suitable for shipping to Pa-
cific Rim markets,

Company director Ray Roth last
week confirmed Pac Rim LNG is
in negotiations with both Haisla
natives and the District of
Kitimat.

“Is been very low profile,’’
Roth told the Standard. ‘It’s a
major project which can be of
tremendous benefit to British
Columbia,”

| Comox bound Terrace’s

Midget rep hockey team is
heading off to the B.C. Winter
Games/SPORTS A13

details of the proposal.

But all indications are the

for Ki

up. ”

The proposed site is Bish

volume of natural gas consumed Creek, a Haisla native reserve

would be huge.

Kitimat councillor Ray Brady
says the plant would use an
amount of natural gas equivalent
to all the natural gas used in the
rest of B.C.

“It’s big dollars and everything
has to fall into place,’? Brady
said, “‘Ft’s not just six ducks to

reserve
would get a certain number of
guaranteed jobs and possibly an

_ the  half-built....

WHAT'S BIG and yellow and prowls highways in the
winter? One of Nechako Northcoast's tandem snow plow-
ing and sanding trucks, That's driver Ross Stenquist with

Salt, sand and plowing ©
work just never ends

for mechanical work so Sten-
quist was assigned to help out,
It had been snowing all
night and while the graveyard
shift had done its part, con-
timuing snowfall meant more
plowing was needed.
Stenquist’s truck this day
carried a front plow for wing-
ing snow off to the side, a bel-
ly plow good for clearing
slush and a full load of sand,
“Those old highways trucks
— they were terrible,”’ notes
Stenquist in comparing his rig
to the smaller orange and
white highways ministry

one of the vehicles. It's equipped with two plows and a
sanding machine. The road maintenance company opera
tes around the clack during the winter.

trucks which used to plow the
roads,

“We've got a lot nicer
equipment then we used to
have.””

The truck handled the air-
port hill without any problem,
something those older tracks
just couldn’t do.

Snow from the front plow
atcs off to the side and there's
lots of noise from the belly
plow coming into contact with
the surface below.

All the while the radio chat-
ter was of temperatures —- **
2.5, -3.2.”' Foremen and oper-

ators keep a close eye on air
temperature gauges in their
trucks as sand and salt won't
work when the weather’s too
cold.

What everybody wants are
warmer tempcratures so the
salt and sand break up what
compact there Is.

It’s dark and still snowing
but not enough for Stenquist
to have to cut his 80km an
hour speed.

‘Sometimes it’s snowing so
hard you can hardly see any-
thing. You have to guess

where you're going,” he says.

| Users protest

CITY COUNCIL will
reconsider the 37 per cent
youth rate increase it's
imposing upon arena and
swimming pool users,

Councillors referred the issue
to its recreation/community
services committee after angry
ice and pool users stormed
council chambers Monday
night to protest the fee hikes,
Julian Mitchell ‘of the Terrace -
Skating Club accused council
of turning swimming and
skating into ‘elitist activities

that only the rich can afford.
“Ih your haste to cut costs,
you have decided to make this
city one of have's and have-
not’s,”” MItchell told council,
Blueback swim club

president Candice Kerman said

the increases will put Terrace

fees far above fees charged in

Kitimat and Prince Rupett --
whete users also get much.
more ice time for (heir money.
“A 38-per-cent increase to
the youth groups of this
community is a direct affront

ta the members of our club,”
she said,
Councillors ngreed to take
another look at the issue,
“If we get stormed by half
the city I think we. should sit

up and pay heed,*’ councillor |

Ed Graydon said.

But most council members
Said they believe their initial
assesssment is correct and that
they have the support of the
laxpayers who don’t use the
pool and arena.

Councillor Rich McDaniel

i

Cont'd Page A2

rec fees

said 48 of the 59 people who
called his answering machine
supported the fee increases, .

“This will be a bit_of a bite
the bullet year,'’ added
councillor David Hull.

Hull noted $50 an hour for
ice spread out across 30 kids
on two teanis wotks out to
$1.66 per | hour per child.

“It’s cheaper ‘than bowling,
going to movies, it’s chéaper
than a lot of. activities,” he
said, 7

southwest of Kitimat.

The company would lease the
land, and the Haisla

equity position in the plant.

Brady said the project would be
too large to fit within the reserve
land and would likely spill onto

_ Crown Yand within the District of

75¢ PLUS 5¢ GST
VOL. 7/NO: 41

timat

Roth refused to release specific line up. It’s like 100 ducks to line

Kitimat.

“Whether or not it will fly, -

that’s another question,’’ Brady
said. ‘“These are very, very
preliminary discussions.'"  ~

“Pye seen these things come —

and go, There have been a num-
ber of proposals over the years.’?

A Petro Canada-headed con-
sortium several years ago called
for a nearly identical liquid natu-
ral gas plant at the Bish Creek
site.

Feds reject
Kemano bill

By JEFF NAGEL

B.C. PREMIER Mike
Harcourt has torpedoed
Alcan's $1.3-billion ‘hydro-
electric project at Kemano. |

But what isn't yet known ‘is
haw much the decision to kill

Completion Project will cast
B.C, taxpayers.

Before the B.C. Utilities
Commission review of the
project began Iwo years ago,
the province received legal
advice that it would be liable

for hundreds of millions of .

dollars in compensation if it
cancelled the project.

Now Harcourt is trying to
lay most of the responsibility
for compensating Alcan. on
Ottawa's doorstep. .

“The federal government
bypassed an environmental
assessment. of this project: --
which would have established
the threat to B.C. fish stocks,
Particularly our salmon
fisheries -- and authorized
unacceplable, water levels. in
the 1987 deal," Harcourt told
‘the Standard Monday. ~~

B:C. also signed that
agreement giving Alcan the

right to divert about half the -

remaining water in the: upper
Nechako und reduce the river
to as little as 12 per cent of its

_pre-1950 flows.

Harcourt, however, argues
the federal sovernment should
shoulder most of the cost
because it has overriding
jurisdiction over fisheries and
because federal Tory fisheries
minister Tom Siddon in 1987
fave the province his
assurance that there would he «
adequate protection for
salmon. Co

Bul current federal fisheries
minister Brian Tobin said
Ottawa Won't pick up the bill,

“That is a decision of the
Government of ' British
Columbia. and therefore it iy

Kemano..

that government. which. must.
beur responsibility for the
repercussions,’ Tobin said. “I.
reject oul of hand “any
suggestion that the federal
government should now’ be.
responsible for compensation
to Alcan...

‘Hareoure~
options ‘pul. forward. ;by -the
commission to ! ‘Protect fish in-
the :Nechako by increasing
water flow levels,

The third option would
boost the ‘volume of, witter,
flowing in the river an average.
of 45 per cent over: the levels.

'. set out in the 1987 agreement, -

and -- according eto. the
commission's report. would:
have .given **reasonable-
confidence" that”, the - fish
stocks would be protected. :-

All three: options would.
have reduced the amount ‘of
water ‘Alcan’ could dse:.to
generate power, resulting -in,
operating losses over. 50 years.
ranging from $267" million’ .to
$307 ‘million,’ the province

estimates. Bren with: the flows

‘agreed . in. (1987): "the:

~ company Would loge early

$200 million;

‘Alcan would hdve- to al
least triple the price it charges .
-B.C, Hydro. for: KCP power to
break even, according to.the

' province's analysis...

If the company. couldn't

’ break even’ anyway, says.
Harcourt, it's not entitled, to

vast compensation.

i

1 think: this - is the prudent :

and: most Honest. way: to go,"
he: said: -**On énvironmental
and..economic. grounds}: wwe
decided that. a decisive
decision . Was, in: the . best »
interests of British Columbia

If Ottawa doesn't : follow
suit, Harcourt Wowed. to
introduce legislation’ to: black
the Project.

tejected--three - ed

NORTHWEST | COM-
MUNITY COLLEGE is be-
hind picket lines today as stu-

' dents mount a one-day strike
lo protest possible tuition fee
increases.

_ Those increases could come
from a serles of changes the
federal government wants to
bring to various social and ed-
veatlon programs.

Some of those programs are

_ government. through trasisfer
payments from the’ federal
government.

Cuts to those transfer pay-

_ ments. would affect the
provincial government's

provided by the provincial

Students strike.

ability jto finance . its Pro-
grams.

Students say tuition fee ine
creases, coupled with the need
ta borrow more money. to:at-
tend post secondary school in-
stitutions, would reduce the
number of people getting an
education. ° =:

The strike is one of a series
organized by a: national stu-
dents group called the Cana--
dian Federation of Students.

The: pleket lines went up at
8 a.m. and are scheduled to
come down at4p.m. =

Althowgh students aren't in
class today, other operations —

of the college aren’t affected,

ie ie

+ ne