Ben +e - Page, Ad ~ Terrace Standard, Wednesday, October 24, 1990 tay % STERRACE : STAN DA _ atelier: nipro yerrices bad advertising apencies. Reproduction in ‘whole or In part, without written permission, ‘9 specifically pronited. , ESTABLISHED APRIL 27,1088 -Faianton No. 7820 4647 Lazelle Ave.. ‘Terrace, BC., veG 188 (604) 038-7283, ‘Sareeg th Tora ara. Pobited os Wednesday of gach week by Cariboo Press (1969) Lid. 41.4647 Lazede Ave, “Tarate, uitish Cokmbla, -. ‘bat, phograt, Meabar, ces sd pss nh Teac Sana re riper of te epi eters, meagan Piss (1968).H, ish Authorired as second-class mail pending the Post Olfica Department, for payment of postage in cash. re Edouerd Gredgeur , ‘Donna Ountan — Typesetter, Rass Fisher — Front fice Manager > Carolyn’ Anderson — Typesatter, Susan Credgeu’ ~ Composing/Darkrecrn . , dite Coutter — Advertising Manager, Janet Vivelres — Advertising Consultant | * Sam Galler - “ Aavertsing © Consultant, Tony, Miler ~ + Circulation Supenisat ; |. Spacial thanks to all. |. our-contributors and - |. correspondents for - “their time and talents. © ~~“the northwest comes the familiar delays ‘in air travel, as planes are turned away due to the bad weather that can sock in our. airports for days at a time. . But that’s something northwesterners have got used to over the years; It's part of the price they more-or-less happily pay by choosing to live in God’s country. However, what they don’t expect or have any desire to put up with is the ordeal suffered by passengers on a recent -Canadian Airlines International flight. As reported elsewhere on these pages, “on Oct. 11 a CAI 737 jet found itself so ‘low on fuel it had to execute what was ef- ‘fectively a forced landing at Smithers airport in conditions that would normal- ly have precluded any attempt at doing sO. Airplanes follow a careful formula for calculating how much fuel to carry. They are required by law to carry enough to travel to their destination, an alternate airport after that, plus another 45 minutes worth of fuel. _ Airline officials admit the flight in question was carrying the bare minimum amount of fuel required by law. Company representatives said the weather was good when the jet left Smithers, and that the snow squall sud- ‘Peace of mind | 7 “With the return of the rainy season in denly blew up while they were winging over to Terrace and back. Passengers on the flight have a: very different story. They are adamant it was already snowing before the plane took off from Smithers. : 7 "Never mind the obvious terror of ‘the passengers, or what they characterize as ' the pilot’s desperation to get the plane on the ground. The nagging question remains — what mechanism exists to. ensure extra fuel is carried over and above the - bare minimum when conditions clearly in- dicate it would be prudent to do so? Granted, fuel is not cheap but then neither are lives. Three investigations are now “under- way into what happened, and the fuell- ing of the aircraft is likely to be a major issue. . But with the most extensive of those investigations not likely completed for another year, northwestern air travellers deserve some peace of mind in the mean- time. , ~ That should start with a few reassurances from the airlines. Come on guys, next time it’s snowing outside and you drive a 737 up to the pumps, just say ‘‘Fill’er up." _Notagain — “Once bitten, twice shy, or so the say- ‘ing goes. . Not so as far as council is concerned, rit t‘appears’ i fo Bharti “The drowning death of Joey: Parso on March 23 this year plunged the city into a controversy over the role it had played in attempts to eliminate the pond in which the tragedy occurred. At issue was a 1986 order issued by council requiring the pond be fenced off and filled in. However, the pond remain- ed, no fence appeared and the city found itself being accused of failing to carry out its responsibilites, Since the tragedy there has been much discussion as to whether the city ever had any jurisdiction in the first place. After ail, the Pond in question, so the argu- ment goes, was on private property. Council says it is trying to sort out.the _ jurisdictional confusion. That move isin . ine-with a recommendation ‘of th -oner’s inquest: into: Joey’ s:death However, a further’ recommendation states that in future, where it is determin- éd the city has no jurisdiction, ‘‘it should not attempt to act as a ‘mediator, as this can give the illusion that such a problem is addressed and solved to all parties.’’ The inquest report was in front of aldermen at last week's council meeting. Yet, despite clear indications it has no jurisdiction in the matter, council has agreed to get involved in the north Ter- race clear-cut row. That looks remarkably like another at- tempt at mediation. Better than TV. ‘Television Sitcoms always un- fold ‘along predictable angles. - Not real life. Consider a few Through - local issues currently in the - _ news. Bifocals > Smithers is organizing a by Claudette Sandecki = - rescue party to do a line search -for Dave Parker, who hasn't ~ been sighted east of Hazelton . since: Skeena riding's boun- «-daries shifted. Smithers knows he's alive: he's frequently reported in Ter- :race or Kitimat for photo op- ! portunities. Smithers is just a ; trifle miffed Parker has aban- , doned them long before Bulkley valley voters gave him permis- sion to do so, Terrace can’t afford biffies in . Lower Little Park. At the same * time, one alderman seems to : make all council’s decisions, By - trimming council to its vocal . member, the six salaries saved ‘could fincance a potty palace. : At least then voters could watch . their tax dollars at work. _ Scarcely a week goes by “without a Grand Opening for ‘one more fast food eatery or : furniture store. Soon we'll have , another pub. To balance the | Staggering demand for alcohol ; counselling, Victoria has fund. . '. fed-a second drug and alcohol ‘ counsellor. And awarded [stga75 in TRY grants, “A-$12,000 grant goes to the [outa ‘Development Center to j educate, us about the effects of ‘alcohol. on -unborn = children | d 1.Q's,. noses flattened like prizefighters). A $13,375 grant will sponsor a drug and alcohol awareness poster con- test. That should empty a few pub stools. Some citizens objected to. the prospect of a pub kittycorner to a church, though such zoning could have pluses. Saturday night drunks could be first in line-for spiritual guidance before returning home to beat up the wife and kids. With rising gas prices and gas rationing likely, combining er- rands should be encouraged, Secondly, since pub and church peak hours are offset, the two establishments could share a parking lot.. Golfers should smile at the minimal _ B= land use. It might save them a. court challenge. a afar Just when 1 -was curbing my . craving for caffeine,: scientists - tell us it isn’t coffee that kills — i’s peanut - butter). brands are safest; peanut but- ters sold in health food’ stores may be highest in: carcinogens. The scientist giveth, and the scientist taketh away. “ ue High school students cleaning _ Out Howe Creek. have run up. ‘National. against two governments. While the city ‘‘isn't negatively oppos- ed’’ to changing the creek from a debris-choked drainage ditch into salmon habitat, there would be a risk of flooding pro- perti¢s bordering the creek, And if the creek. fosters spawning salmon,. Fisheries would take over jurisdiction. ; _ All this had me reeling, when I read some forlom soul is seek- ing a source for a Friendship Muffin starter, 1 don’t know if that’s. a yeast subsitute like sourdough starter, or a single woman’s code for a sperm _ doner. . TV was never like this. SOTK Put THS HERE TO Pick LP ony mY Way To Tee, SHOP AND THIS | by a CAN STAY WNTILL GO, 7 Pawn To THE LAKE » / Tow ABOUT GOOD BYE AND. 6000 RODANE F Election issues elude premier VICTORIA — Well, at last . Premier Vander Zalm revealed what he hopes will be his secret weapon in the battle for the hearts, minds and votes of British Columbians — ersatz restraint. _Fough aie ea cake tou “the. premier fc ant tion, and he was ready and willing to do whatever it takes to make the province recession-proof. Unfortunately for the premier, this isn't 1982 and he’s no Bill Bennett. Not even the public sector union leaders are taking him seriously. John Shields, president of the B.C. Government Employees Union said already if the premier is hoping for a confrontation, he can forgetit. . : When Bennett introduced his restraint program, we had double-digit inflation. Now in- » flation runs at about 4.5 per cent. Interest. rates then were _ on their. way up io eventually reach 21 per.cent; interest rates . how are at 13 per cent and g0- ing down. Getting rid of enough public servants to effect savings is another avenue closed to Vander Zalm. Bennett trimmed the public service by about one quarter or 10,000 bodies, but he never talked about the fact that most of those let go were hired back on contract, mak- ing net savings negligible, That leaves public sector wage controls which, according to the premier, are necessary to restore the balance between the private and the public Sec- tor. Wage. settlements i in the public sector, he claims, have been higher than those in the private sector. That’s a highly misleading statement. In ‘percentage terms, some public -$ector settlements have, in- deed, been outpacing their private seclor counterparts, but percentages are meaningless, unless they are applied to iden- “tical base salaries, AND IL PuT THESE TOGETHER To TAKE OVER “TOVIC LATER AND THs 5 CAN GO HERE. ONT IL - LGETTHE TRUCK... f =A ‘delegates’ ‘atthe Socred: mn po measures, most public sector From the Capital by Hubert Beyer Scena cates ha Natal oatals Re eee te ne ey : Because of previous’ testraint.”"**: union employees fell far ‘behind the private sector col- leagues, And even after negotiating contracts that gave them a bigger wage hike in ° percentage terms than their _ private sector counterparts got, they kept falling behind in ac- tual dollar earnings. T have about 30 examples of 1987 base salaries for identical jobs in the public and private’ sector. In each case, the private sector employee earned more than his or her colleague’ in the public sector. In the interest of truth and fairness, I’d be happy to share the fruits of my research with the premier. My doar is always opea. But just in case he doesn’t avail himself of this ‘opportunity, here are a couple of examples for him to read. Machine operator 1, public sector — $12.14 an hour: same -job in the private sector fetch- ed $14.89, $2.75 or 22.7 per cent more. A warehouseman 2 working for the government ’ earned $12.45 in 1987; the same job with the Teamsters Union paid $17.11, 37.5 per cent or $4.66 more. “I can, of course, understand the premier’s anxiety to find an issue with which to fight the next election. So far, it’s been slim pickin’s, Meech Lake didn’t bring him the laurels he was hoping fors the Native land claims ‘issue is too volatile and could . backfire; Ottawa-bashing has lost its potency as a vote- getter. All in-all, not very en- couraging for a premier whose popularity Is roughly that of a skunk at a birthday party. MARTEN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING vet Peet r eth GHATS (T Leow. like 21: heater trial ‘balloo hes floated’af the convention was the madhatter “B.C. Tncor~ porated”’ scheme, his proposal to create a Crown corporation to oversee all Crown cOrpora- tions. The premier said the idea was to combine the economic © ‘and fiscal clout of all Crown corporations and use that clout to survive bad economic times, The scheme is as un- © ‘ necessary as it is dangerous. Placing all Crown corprations ‘under one umbrella doesn’t give the whole any more finan- cial clout than the sum of its parts. B.C. Hydro’s borrowing power will not increase because it’s linked with ICBC and about 20 other Crown corpora- tions. . What would result from the "proposal, however, is a con- centration of power and in- fluence oer Crown corpora- tions, presumably i in the premier’s office. And that scares the hell outof me. The whole idea of Crown corporations is that they can - operate at arm’s length from . government. Each Crown cor-. poration has its own board of directors, and'even though there’s usually a cabinet: ‘ minister on the board, political influence is minimal. . . 1 shudder to think that this or any other premier — don’t forget, Mike Harcourt is a distinct possiblity — could | manipulate Crown corpora- tions by pulling the few strings of the Super Crown Corp. that oversees ail the others, . Uf public sector ‘restraint and B.C. Incorporated are the best election issues Vander. Zalm : can come up with, he’s still i in. deep trouble. out THERE T'M DYING UP!