A6 Terrace Review — Wednesday, August 14, 1991

The doors went where? ©
m4. ome people are wondering, “Why did they put the doors
S where they are?” So we asked. | 7
® - The doors in question are, of course, inthe concrete

- punker washrooms currently in final stages of completion
in George Little Memorial Park. One city employee suggested that
perhaps the contractor had the plans up side down. The city’s desire
was that the doors should be installed on the east-facing wall, not the
west. We got a different answer from one of our city politicians: "It’s
one of the mysteries of life."

The truth, however, came from our Superintendent of Parks and
Recreation. The are a number of reasons the doors were installed in
the east wall, one being that it would be easier for city crews to
service the $42,280 building, another being easier access for the
Farmers’ Market across Davis St. ;
~ But -what about park users? Their children will come and go out of
the view of mom or dad, but in full view of the Farmers’ Market, a
private home, people waiting in the Emerson St. parking lot, and any
number of sundry and miscellancous passers by. .

It would be wrong for parents to become unduly suspicious of the
new park washroom; to suspect every old man lurking in the
shadows of immoral thoughts. It would be wrong to be afraid. But
this design, reflecting the group that created it, does not inspire
confidence. ;

US. president Theadore Roosevelt said in a June 14, 1917, speech: -

"Nine-tenths of wisdom consists of being wise in time." Wise words —

from a wise man, but in the case of the park washroom, the time for
a wise plan is gone.

Don’t build the washrooms there, the city’s building manager
warned. It takes up valuable park land, it will be expensive and a
prime target of vandals. The washrooms should be a part of the
library expansion. They can be heated, monitored by staff and an
existing alarm system, they can be maintained by the library’s janitor,
and in the winter when they’re busy, provide a few extra indoor
library stalls. Wise words.

Don’t build the washrooms there, one city resident wrote ina
private letter to alderman Ruth Hallock. Vandalism is a factor, but of
greater concem are the undesirables sometimes seen roaming the
park... side-by-side with small children at play. Wise words, says
Hallock néw. Wotds oir city ‘aldermen should have heeded. “It may
never happen," she says, "But if it does..."

At the June 24 council meeting chaired by acting mayor Bob
Cooper, Hallock tried at 8:19 p.m. But she now admits that her
eleventh hour effort was too little, too late. She tried convincing her
peers that none of the tenders should be accepted. The matter should

be tabled pending further study. She found support in Mo Takhar, but

her motion was opposed and the low bid accepted by the weight of
aldermen Danny Sheridan, Rick King and Darryl Laurent.

Work on the washrooms will be complete in a few weeks. The date

and time for the official opening ceremonies are yet to be.
announced... As is the name of the city representative who will cut

the official ribbon.

NO WANE MRE TS
| "INGARABES AND GROCERY STORES.”

a

oo BLVINIERTAM.

WHAT DID WWE DO
10 DESERVE THAT®...

aaa
=i

by!
° Wy,
-
*
=

Sf

, . REARS
914) ’ G Ube Oll

by
| Ni

SEN

Wile aA rae

To the Editor;

Letters to the Editor

be made

there’ll be secret reviews of the
proposal by a variety of govern-
ment departments. Even though we
— as taxpayers — will pay for
those reviews, we're evidently
considered toc unimportant or too
unintelligent to be allowed to see
them before Victoria makes its
decision. We'll get to see them
later, of course. Maybe much later,
when Victoria’s decision is finally
published. In the case of Orenda’s
earlier Meziadin proposal — 4
dead duck for several months now
— the release of the autopsy report
is still some time away.

The Major Project Review Pro-
cess seems seriously skewed. An
outfit applying for project approval
seems to be able to tell the public
just about anything it chooses;
there is no compulsion for them to
tell the truth, the whole truth and
nothing but the truth.

You can apparently get away
with saying — as Orenda Forest
‘Products has said in reference to
its groundwood pulp and paper
plant proposal — that the proposed

plant site is covered with 50-foot
trees (and therefore will be in-
visible from Lakelse Lake) when
in fact that stand is uniformly 20
to 25 feet high and the plant will

So what we're left to assess
(without the benefit of any impar-

Established May 1, 1985 Second-class mall
The Terrace Review Is published registration No, 6896.
each Wednesday by

‘ Close-Up Business Services Ltd.

- wget Publisher: cannot legally be reproduced for any reason
; Betty Barton without permlesion of the publisher.

Editor: Errors and omissions. Advertising Is accepted

. or. on the condition that in the event of

Michael Kelly typographical error, that portion of the advertis:

ied by the erroneous item witl

- Staff Reporters: ing space occupl

Tod Strachan, Betty Barion

Brian Slater,-Charles Costello,
George McLean, Gurbax Gill,
Ranjit Nizar

Fax: 635-7269

One year subscriptions:
in Canada $39.00
Out of Canada $100.00
Saniora in Terrace and Disirict $30.00

Accounting:
Marj Twyford, Harminder K. Dosanjh
Art and Graphics:
Marianne Brorup Weston
Mark Twyford, President
Close Up Business Services Ltd.

GST will be added to the above prices.

Ail material {including original art work) appear-
ing in the Terrace Review Is protected under
Canadian copyright Registration No. 962775 and

not be charged for, but tha balance of the adver-
tisement will be paid for at the appticable rate.
Advertisers must assume responalbility for er

National Advertising: rors in any clacsified ad which ie supplied to the
Marjorie Twyford Terace Review In handwritten form. nichts Act
' im: pan” | c ¥
Local Advertising: Sa ucharemantwit-be_publehed which
Jack Beck discriminates agalnat a person due 10 age, race,
Office/Typesetting: ralighon, color, BEX, nationality, ancestry or place
Carria Olson of origin.
' Production Manager: 4535 Greig Avenue,
. Jim Hall Terrace, B.C.
Production: V8G 1M7
Phone: 635-7840

Seniors out of Terrace and District §33.00

lave & the editor will be considered for publication only when signed. Plesee

be on the lake’s southern horizon.
We expect a bit of exaggeration
with a promotion like this, but this
inflation of the facts seems a little
extreme.

The company can even claim —
as Orenda did at its Lakelse resi-
dents’ open house — that an event
is "part of the B.C. Government's
Project Approval Process” when in
fact it’s a straight P.R. ploy with
no official standing whatsoever.
No two-minute penalty for un-
sportsmari-like conduct, there; no
slap on the wrist for violating
truth-in-advertising rules. Just on
with the MPRP game.

When we finally get right into
the game, when Orenda finally
_ decides just what “truths” it wants

weighed in its prospectus examina-
tion, we're only going to have —
at most — two weeks to assess
those claims before “public hear-
ings" on the matter are opened and
quickly closed. That is too short a
time to digest what promises to be

"tives are to swallow it whole or
Ieave the table.

Hendy your telephone number. The editor reserves the right to condense and

After that two-week period,

edit letters, Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the Terrace Review.

a fairly fat document, the alterna- |

tial analyses) are Orenda’s chosen
claims. How can lay-people be.

expected to quickly judge those |

claims? On the basis of Orenda’s
fancy P.R. packages? On Orenda’s
past performance in purveying the
truth, the whole truth and nothing
but?

There are supposed to be some
tules to this game; there's sup-
posed to be a referee making sure
the game’s played fair and square,
Instead it looks like it’s left to
Orenda to decide what’s in or out
of bounds. In the MPRP guidelines
-— the rule book for this process
—- there seems to be only one
remedy for the infractions against
fairness that the process has per-
mitted so far.

_ MORE
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
ON PAGE A8

‘How will Orenda decision
and by whom?

After the initial prospectus stage,

under something called Stage 2,

there is a provision for "an inde-
pendent review panel to... hold
public hearings in order to make
recommendations to Cabinet". This
seems to me to be the only way to
ensure that the truth, the whole
truth — and not just Orenda’s
vision of it — is publicly exam-
ined before any decision on this
major project proceeds.

Stage 2 procedures are supposed
to kick in when "significant public
concerns” are raised in the pros-
pectus stage of the review. Public
concerns about the impartiality or
credibility of the information being
assessed in the review would seem
to me to be significant. Only refer-
ral to an independent review panel
and full public hearings can restore
some semblance of credibility to
this sadly skewed process.

John How,
Terrace.

Editor’s note: With reference to
the third paragraph of Mr. How's
letter, a mailing from Orenda to
Latelse residents tiinouncing their
July 18 open house stated, “As
part of the B.C. Government's
Project Approval Process, Orenda
Forest Products Lid. invites you to
attend an open house for the resi-
dents of Lakelse and vicinity, to
discuss their proposed zero-effiuent
pulp and paper mill.”

4
j

q
2g
ssi

7
ay
ahs
og
ra