i

Fase A At — Terrace Standard, Wednesday, August 14, 1991

{TERRACE STANDAR |

ESTABLISHED APROL 27, 1988 .

Phone (604) 638-7283

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Fax (604) 638-8432 .

Marlee Paterson .

> production Mensger.
Edouard ‘Credgeur ne

. uta — Spats, icin Bt — Nowa, Ariane Watts ~ ~ nye,

_ Publisher/Editor:. Raat — Front ofee Manager; Goh Aeron — 1 cet,
: Rod:Link, a Susan Grndgeur ~ Comppesing/Dakroom. 3... ‘
pes * Janet vos: Advertising Conspttant, Sam Colles ~~ = Avertsing Consultant,
Advertising Manager | vo «Charleen Matthews 'Gitutaton Bapent ane

RnnnAn Sonn uaty

- porrespondents- for
thelr time and... ;.
{alent cn ai tents doe:

Let’s} hope council members are enjoy-
ing their ‘summer vacations. They’ li need

me to be rested up for this fall. That's when
* council will embark on public discus-

sions to decide what the city will look
like and where growth will take place in-
to the next century.

One of the challenges to be addressed
in the next official community plan is the
lack of rental housing. There was a brief
but concentrated flurry earlier this year
when council denied two rezoning ap-
plications that would have resulted in
apartment buildings. That came at a
time when the rental vacancy rate dipped
to an all-time low.

Since then the stories about people
having no place to live continue to cir-

-culate. How about the organization
looking for a manager? It chose not to
advertise outside the city because it knew
somebody moving here didn’t stand
much of. a chance of finding a place to

this, week? A good ni

pe sabusiean

“figure them‘out. Armed. witt-eafeulator, “

-péncil and paper, we make‘up lists and
- head out to the stores.

_ But there's a good number of people
‘who can’t make purchasing decisions
because they can’t read. Exact figures
are- hard to come by but in the nor-

_ thwest, an estimated 7,000 people lack

the most basic reading and writing skills
needed to survive and prosper.
It’s the greatest tragedy in what is sup-

. posed to be one of the most modern

countries in the world. Through no fault

No vacancy >

3 R’s |

rent.

One way of looking at rental housing
is that it represents the starting ‘point for
people who one day will own their own
homes. That natural progression is the
type of thing any city should encourage.
It represents stability to a community
and it encourages a population to make
an investment.

Governments make much of their ef-
forts to provide what they term as a
suitable climate for the people they are
supposed to serve and for the businesses
they want to attract.

Much of that is so much hot air unless
they, can provide some of the basic
building blocks to back up their verbal
proferrings. In this city, that means
sound decisions for rental housing. And
that means having 4 council dedicated to
a reasonable, rational and progressive
development plan.

of their own, several millions ‘of: ‘people

BS TU) Mop

their lot in'life Because they can’t read or

.. have abso utely no chance, to Amprove...

| write.

In human terms, the cost. is enormous. -

; Lack of self respect and the feeling of be-

ing left behind can add up to untold
greater problems.

There’s also another side. And that is
the cost to the economy. Without a pro-
perly educated workforce, a country
can’t be expected to prosper. A person’s
individual well-being adds to the well-
being of the society in which he or she

‘operates,

Compost heaven

“i Bach decade has its status

¢

“symbol. The 1930; had the ~ Through —

Cunard steamship excursion to alg
‘Burope. The 1960s had the Blfocals '
threé-car garage. The 19905 by Claudette Sandecki

vhave the compost heap.

‘eh

" Suitable, ‘given aur choice of

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| ub ) oehce By :
-YOWS THE ID GOIF

OE COMING ALE Pe

WAT. AWAUL OPEN
LETTER TOMEL QP
ALOT OF DAMAGE 70 -
OM, VA ¥. AMD, Ee

LONE 10 TANK ae ie
iT es Bd gute

Ly STEPS.
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4 ee OY YEAH ? . tos '

a Pole Ae 7

WYO! STULL KOS
“AN, WAM ARAL

‘governments.
“Compost”, according to
“Webster, “‘is a mixture that con-
sists largely of decayed organic
“matter, used for fertilizing and
“conditioning land.’* He should
-have added, ‘‘by urban
_ dwellers’, Farmers have always
- left it to pigs, cows or chickens
to. deal. with compostable lef-
. tovers.
- Until recycling became as ‘“‘de
“rigueur ‘as ragged bluejeans,
. compost heaps hid in a far cor-
“mer of the yard shrouded by
dropping branches and belt-
high grass. There rhubarb
“leaves, pea vines, and weeds
were left 10 rot. Except to dig
. through them is search of trout
- bait, they were ignored.
No more. Today’s compost
. pile is poked and prodded like a
hog on its way through a
. Stockyard chute. And arandom
-stack of discarded greenery
doesn’t have to measure up.
The pile must be defined so
- neighbours know It's there.-
Points are awarded for using up
‘serap materials, therefore

“greens” build their fences of.

‘snob said to himself,

green”’ gained the cachet of in-
herited wealth, composting: is
used for more than fertilizing
land. It rates with fishing lures
and pickle recipes as a conversa-
tion starter. It earns en-
vironmental notches. And for
economical one-upmanship, it’s
hard to beat,

Composting was becoming as
commonplace as VCRs and
riverboats until some dedicated
"That
heating mess of slimy stems and
moldy leaves is really a fertilizer
plant staffed by eager ear-
thworms and bustling bacteria.
They need a constant supply of
food, moisture, and air, How

_can I assure that? Aha! 1°ll hire

a sitter,’

There ended the practice of
homeowners letting their choice
of vegetable matter proclaim

their status. Grass ‘clippings, §
banana peels and no-name tea:
bags had shouted Ordinary; .

‘avocado pits, lemon peels. and
‘espresso ground had murmured

‘ chicken wire lengths, or leftover.

‘fumber of varlous dimensions,
‘the more-varied the better.

Webster's ‘definition should“
bé ‘expandéd, Since “going “course. However, I can: imagine

Highbrow, Now neighbours will

be watching for the daily visit.”
from the compost sitters. ‘

‘The role has only recently. |

sprung up; neither Kinettes nor

. St. John’s Ambulance has had -

timé to asssemble a training

wy .

the qualifications an ideat com-
post sitter should have.

They should have an abiding
concern for Mother Nature, a
green thumb, and a willingness
to get down and’ dirty.. Like
Prince Charles, they should be
vegetarians, conversant in

chlorophyll -language, able: to |

chat with rutabagas and roses.
If they carry Walkmans, the

tape should be one of Vivaldi’s.

“Four Seasons’ violin concer- -
tos.

T expect good sitters will be as
hard to find as good govern-
ments. We all know its tough to
find reliable sitters for children
and pets. And we don’t ask .
them to listen.to Vivaldi. = -;

Enough already.
: Leave Zalm alone

VICTORIA —Enough ought
to be enough. The single-
mindedness with which ‘‘the
system”’ appears determined to
strip farmer premier Bill
Vander Zalm of whatever self-
respect he’s got left is nothing
short of alarming.

And the blood-thirsty, at-

From the

Capital
by Hubert Beyer _

ae

“ thindé “With! which’d! titgé ‘deg fiw aothe intbcthe: anf ABA
ment of the public, including ° a ‘Builfy'contept: didn't help’

those who once hailed the man
their political saviour, is
awaiting his ultimate humilia-
tion is downright disgusting.
Vander Zalm himself ap-

pears almost resigned tothe -~

fact that the worst may yet be
to come. In a recent interview,
he said there’s no way. he
could get a fair trial anywhere
in Canada if he faced charges
for his role in the sale of Fan-
tasy Gardens. -

Considering the wide media
coverage of his part in the $16
million sale of his Richmond
theme park last year to.

- Taiwanese businessman Tan

Yu, an impartial jury, Vander
Zalm said, would be impossi-
ble to find,

“Some people far more
knowledgeable at law than me"
have suggested the only way
you could ever get a fair hear-
ing is to have it out of the
country somewhere,”’ he said,

That, of course,is out of the
question. Vander Zalm, like

_ anyone else suspected of hav-
ing run afoul of our justice
system, will have to take his
chances right here is British °
Columbia,

Vander Zalm has no choice
but to wait until special pro-
seculor Peter Freeman com-

pletes his report on whether or .

not the former.premier should
face criminal charges. And:
that could still take some time.
-Peter Dueck had the judicial
axe hanging over his head for
‘more than a year. That’s how
long it took for the RCMP to
‘complete an investigation into
“alleged wrong-doings in con-

~ nection with the government '

purchase of medical equipment
from Siemens, @ German firm.

Dueck'very much.’ While‘he~
was waiting to be‘cleared of
the charges, the allegations
were repeated ad nauseam in
the media.

“Why the hell is Freeman or
anyone else allowed to drag his
heels when a man’s future is at
stake? It certainly didn’t take
that long for Freeman to be
placed on'diversion after he
was charged with having joked
about a bomb in his luggage.

And lets consider the
charges Vander Zalm may

‘face. We're talking about some

: dastardly deed. We're talking

” abou the possible contraven-

tion of the real Estate Act,

. Which forbids the splitting of

_commissions from the sale of
“Property: or the collection of.
commissions by anyone not
licenced as a real estate agent.

Vander Zalm's problem was

that he. was unable or unwill-

ing to separate his private
‘business interests from his .
public duties, He was, is, and

. always will be a salesman. It -

was his indisputable skill as a

7 éalesman that made him
‘premier and-it was the same

“skill that ultimately caused his

downfall,

His removal from the office
of premier was necessary,
‘make: no mistake about ii. He

~ did. abuse the office, albeit. not
jin a sinister way. He had ab-
‘solutely no idea of the proprie-
_ty‘such high office demands,

but that doesn’t mean he -

“should now be hounded to. a
death.

- And what of the people who
might have been able:to-keep
him out of, harm?s way? What
of his. former cabiriet rhembers

UME,

Pease. TH es 's ma) , ge. Mba

NS THAT. BIG

i?

NOTE:

ie DEPARTMENT store! ARE You LOOKING
Gur ‘ yp hts For Aseecrae

Wf

a ee

. What of Premier Rita” at
Johnston who sacrificed a
20-year friendship with Vander
Zalm? For what? To save thie
«party? More like to cement her
own place in history.”

Ah, yes, they all tried |
desperately to keep their leader
on the straight and narrow:or
so they claim. But they did'so
behind closed doors. Cabinet
confidentiality, you know. .
* Family business. Dirty linen
shouldn’t be washed in public.

- Well, 1 didn’t buy it then and 1
don’t buy it now.

Why. doesn’t anyone of the
latter-day converts: to honesty
and integreity. have the guts to

_ say that Vander: Zalm has suf.

fered enough? That would be
an honest and decent: thing to
say othe oh

Tnstead, they all hide behind
the blind lady whosé:scales:
may, after all, tip against the
man they once revered. They
don’t want to ) be srncor
could face charges?“

~ Méanwhile," Vander’ Zalin is

~ walting for the ‘oiher’ shoe to“

drop. Nobody will telt'him “
how long it. might be before a
there’ s-8-bomb-iti-my-luggage
’ Freeman completes | his. feport,
‘There's a thin dividing | line
‘between justice and revenge...
. Perhaps those who clamor for
. justice to. be done, in this.case,
are really salivating: for: ! ae
 Fevenges yee!
For the sake of our own:
concept of fairness, 1 sincerely
hope that no charges will beer

~~ Ipid against the former~

‘premier, Enough ought to, be .
“enough, :

pet A ety At ge apf es smn cbs nn 2