ce eR a A draw box will. be ~ Human rights suffer here An open letter to: Nathan Cullen, MP, and CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD think that far, ahead. The local newspapers “Robin Austin, MLA | Dear Sirs: Recently a person was lured from: one minimum '’ wage job to another. The new ~ employee thoroughly enjoyed the new job and was very sur- prised when he was fired after. 30 days and wis told , “Sorry, things didn’t work out as we expected.” The Employment _. Standards Act does not protect these, people in entry-level jobs and they are treated as a dispensable commodity. The employer should have at least told the fired employee 7 why things didn’t work out and reviewed their own employ- " ee selection practices and processes. This person now has. become unemployed with: no social net recourses such as Employment Insurance or the restrictive social assistance programs. But what is worse, being a part of the minimum . wage domain and inevitably form part of the working poor or become a social assistance recipient? These are the thou- sands and ‘ihousands of. jobs, . according to the provincial government, that remain unfilled. | wonder why? ° : The plight of this person got me interested in a recent ~ report by the U.N. Committee on Economic, Social and Cul- tural Rights, of which Canada is a proud and non- participat- ing member. say non-participating because Canada has a poor human rights record in the area of social and economic rights. The present national government's initial reaction to_ _ this report is that the former Liberal federal government ig- ' nored the plight of lower-income Canadians. And they (Con- servatives) claim that the latest budget will remove 650, 000 low-income Canadians from the tax rolls, Mr. Austin, as a former worker i in the social field, you: must’ have’ witnessed the ‘consequences when ‘the. present. provincial. ‘government severely overhauled the social as-. sistance programs. Many people are forced to look for:jobs that inevitably lead to situations cited above when they must ‘ accept menial jobs at the minimum wage: level. The high employment statistics look wonderful on paper but there are , people out there who still have to’ worry about feeding them- selves and their families on meager earnings. This makes for an unhappy and stressed group of people. Did the Liberal: government do a study on the social . consequences of drastically making the social assistance so restrictive? A recommendation of the U.N. report was to es- tablish social assistance at levels that ensure the realization of an adequate standard of living for all. The Liberals did not Thanks for a job well done — ing into the estate to have a look at the fire. This couild have : impeded you in doing your work, . An open letter to: . The Thornhill Volunteer Fire Department - As a resident of Copperside Estates I’thank you all, in- cluding firefighters from other areas such as Hazelton’and Telkwa, for the work that you have done to ensure. our safety during the.recent forest fire. The countless hours also keeping us informed as to the : progress was very much appreciated. Whilst it was concern-— ing for us as residents, it was also‘concerning for you to be- ing on the front line. A sincere thank you goes out to the forestry personnel and the air personnel. A concern we had was to the amount of People just driv:. a | FEATURE Home | france Best deal. on the fram ’ market today! Bus: (877) 635- 2404 Res: (BEC) 798-9565 ‘Cell: (250) 631-3100 Email: vance@royallepage.ca . Royal LePage Terrace ROYAL LEPAGE 4724 Lazelle Avenue, Terrace, B.C. RR 11111 1c asi Heroes Among Us Central Flowers is sponsoring a monthly draw for an award in recognition of good deeds. The award is based on nominations, and recognizes those kind. souls who live among us, silently doing altruistic deeds for the good of our: community without any expectation of : personal gain. laced inside Central Flowers on Lakelse Avenue | where nomination slips can be filled ‘out by anyone who knows someone | responsible for doing good'deeds. The slips will be entered in a draw. The person whose name is chosenin the draw at the end of the month will have their name, picture and a brief description of . | their good deed appear in the Terrace | Standard. The: lucky Samaritan whose § name is drawn will receive a bouquet | | of flowers from Central Flowers to celebrate their acts of kindness. -Come in to Central Fi lowers to enter ~ “local heroes” in our draw. * The Mail Bag week after week cite reports of a crime spree which could’ be a consequence of people doing what they think has to be done to survive from day today. = | 6 " The minimum wage pegged at a level set by the provin- -cial government does t not meet the need§ of the working poor but it certainly meets the needs of the small businesses and franchise operations, a body that fully supports the present - ‘Liberal government. The poorest seniors in Ontario earn a’ little more than $15,000 after tax, but:someone working 32 hours a week at minimum wage makes $3,000 less than. that. Human Resources and Skills Development Canada openly ‘advertises that certain employers. are Willing to pay $8 a an hour. Where is the fairness here? _ Mr. Cullen and Mr. Austin, next time you go. grocery ” : shopping, please note ‘that the healthy choices of foods would be generally out of reach of those carning minimum» wage and-on social assistance, Invariably, parents buy whatever they can altofl and. these choices are off the charts for food groups cited by ‘Health Canada. There are numerous reports of the danger-: ‘ous levels of obesity hitting and endangering our younger people. The affordable foods for. the people of this group might be processed foods and other cheaper and dangerous foods. Even for adults, it has been cited that far too many » people have. high blood pressure or at the dangerous levels for high cholesterol. Obviously, these war nings are for only” those who can afford and have the means of changing their lifestyle and prevent themselves from becoming.a statistic. ‘The recent report from the U.N. committee found that the. social and human rights conditions that existed in their 1993 * and 1998 findings. have basically remained unchanged in = 2006. Why are we allowing this to happen and what gives us the right to tell other countries that they, must overhaul their - Social and human rights standards when we can t even look . after our own back yard.? -, Will the 2006 recommendations face the same ‘fate as pré-. vious recommendations by being swept under the legisla- tive rugs and leave the working poor and social assistance : recipients to unwillingly wallow in poverty for the next five — years?, What is so cruel about this is that all this poverty is | -legistated poverty. Albert V. Robinson, Terrace, B. C. caused a serious ptoblem. ° I was. pleased to see that secutity-v was: placed on Copper. _ River Road turning away non residents... dj We were only too happy to assist in any small way, by the: -use of the land line for.comimtinication to other firefighters. .. We are indeed indebted to you all. Congratulations fora job — well done. | ‘ 7 Charlie and Eleanor Meek, . of 2,000 forest fires put it all at risk. threatening property and affecting tourism. Protect yourselves and our forests. 4 ay Thornhill, B.C. Protect c our Forests. Our forests are a-tremiendous source of pride for all British | 7 Columbians. Tourists and residents alike marvel at their - grandeur. Working families, forest communities and our parklands rely on our forests. Yet every year, an average People cause about half of all forest fires, endangering lives The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, July 5, 2006 - A? Pychic Medium Trene Me Nab6 Will be in Terrace at the | | Best Western Terrace Inn, 4553 Greig Ave. fe Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday & Friday, July 4th, 5th, 6th &’7th: : » between the hours of 10am and 9pm. | She is well known and highly respected throughout Western Canada and United States and has appeared with such notables as John Edward, _ James Van Praagh and Dannion Brinkley. © . For advance appointments or further information, call (toll free) 1-877- 454. 5274 before the above dates and (toll free) 1-866- 483 401 1 on the above dates only x Now Open At Our New Office 4€55 Lazelle Avenue, Terrace (250) 638-1424 www.terraceinsurance. com “We are Committed to the Community” Campfire Safety ll Runaway campfires area leading cause @ of unwanted | oe | forest fires in B. Gcosting millions of dollars to fight each © a year. Before you start a campfire, consider these tips: . Ensure there are no. campfire restrictions i in place. . i + © Ensure having a campfire is, and will continue to be, safe. * Take reasonable precautions to ensure the fire i is contained. * Be equipped with sufficient firefighting tools. * Never leave a fire unattended. * Report the fire if it spreads beyond the burn area. ° Extinguish the fire before leaving the area. | For more information on how you can prevent forest fires, visit www.gov.be.ca | BRITISH COLUMBIA ‘The Best Place on Earth SES A ae