Aé - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, January 19, 2005

oS TANDARD

ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988

PUBLISHER: ROD LINK

ADDRESS: 3210 Clinton Street Terrace, B.C. © V8G 5R2
TELEPHONE: (250) 638-7283 © FAX: (250) 638-8432
; WEB: www.terracestandard.com .
EMAIL: newsroom@terracestandard.com .

Bad. manners

SUKHDEEP ATWAL deserves. better than she
got from Terrace city council at its Jan. 10 meet-
ing. : »

.. Ae graduate of Caledonia Secondary School,
~ Ms. Atwal is now studying for a Bachelor of Sci- .

ence degree down south. Her eventual goal is to
attend medical school. _
But this week she’s in Montreal along with 50

other young women competing in the Miss Uni-'

~ verse Canada 2005 competition, a precursor to
the.Miss Universe 2005 pageant. — |
Through a letter to council, Ms. Atwal asked
- for $500 to defray the estimated $4,750 cost of
. going to Montreal.
‘If this sounds familiar, it should. Last fall
Caledonia student Theresa Marie Fenger appeared |
before council to also ask for financial help. She

placed well in an Edmonton pageant and was go-

ing to one in Calgary. While not placing in Cal-

gary, she did receive-an invitation to attend a pag-

eant in Guatemala and there was awarded the title
of Miss Teen Mayan World.

Council enthusiastically embtaced Ms. Fenger’ s
request, cutting a cheque for $500. |

Ms. Atwal was not so lucky. Two motions
made by-two councillors first by David Hull to
provide $500 and then by Stew Christensen. to
: provide $200. were not seconded so there could

ooo be no. debate on. the merits of either. ‘Without secs
“fs onders; both motions died and council moved on |

to other business. Why. Mr. Hull and. Mr. Chris-
. tensen could not second each. other’s requests so
a debate could take place i is a mystery.
What made Ms. Fenger’s request more wor-
thy than Ms. Atwal’s? Were council members so
cfiticizéd’ for’ providing the’ $500'to.Ms. Fenger
that they did not want to extend the same to Ms.
Atwal? Do council members put more weight on
young ladies from Terrace attending foreign pag-
eants than domestic ones?
‘Lest anyone think council may be in the throes
of a philosophical examination of beauty pageants
_ In general, remember that local wheelchair arm
wrestler Alan Heinricks also asked council for
help last fall. Mr. -Heinricks received $200 to at-
tend last November’s world arm wrestling cham-
pionships in Durban, South Africa. He placed
fourth in the physically challenged division:
In granting the Fenger and Heinricks requests,
council created a precedent it did not care to ex-
plain when Ms. Atwal’s request was turned down.
True, council members have asked city officials
to prepare a donations policy for discussion and
adoption. But that came only after granting those
.two aforementioned requests,
‘Council chose to hide behind that unfinished
policy when Ms. Atwal made her request. If coun-
cil ever entered a pageant, it would receive failing
marks for politeness and courtesy.

PUBLISHER/EDITOR:
Rod Link

PRODUCTION MANAGER: Edouard Credgeur
NEWS: Jeff Nagel

2002 WINNER

CCNA BETTER NEWS/COMMUNITY: Jennifer Lang
NEWSPAPERS NEWS/SPORTS: Margaret Speirs
COMPETITION _.FRONT.OFFICE: Darlene Keeping

ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS:
Bert Husband, Debbie, Simons

AD ASSISTANT: Sandra Stefanik

PRODUCTION: Susan Credgeur -

SUBSCRIPTION RATES BY MAIL:
$57.94 (+$4.06 GST)=62.00 per year:
_ Seniors $50.98 (+$3.57 GST)= 54.55;
Out of Province $65.17 (+$4.56 GST)=69.73
Outside of Canada (6 months) $156.9 1¢+ 10.98 GST)=167.89

MEMBER OF
B. c. AND YUKON COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION,
CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION
AND
B.C. PRESS COUNCIL (www.bcpresscouncil.ory)

Serving the Terrace and Thornhill area Published on Wednesday of each week at 3210 Clinton Street, Terrace,
British Columbia, V8G 5R2.

Stories, photographs, illustrations, designs and typestyles in the Terrace Standard are the property of the copyright
holders, including Cariboo Press (1969) Lid., iis illustration repro services and advertising agencies.
Reproduction in whole or in pari, without written permission. is specifically prohibited.

Authorized as second-class mail pending the Post Office Department, for payment of postage in cash

Special thanks to all our contributors and
correspondents for their time and talents

ADVERTISING MANAGER: Brian Lindenbach

_ CIRCULATION SUPERVISOR: Alanna-‘Bentham

COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS
( CN! astoctarion 7
“Puieh Cotewdtia ood Yoben

g
tA

ttre

K ee

No ke:

“, =

+ &
. Ni =.
= —

S

lec con

UCHMaTitY)

ORIco5

AMERICANS YE‘

|
Jap EF

J

THE | =r
ARE HERE

N
C7
om
Xu

‘a
Su

FOR GAWDS SAKE, EUNICE,

Don'T LET THEM SEE. Your |
MOTHER OR THEY ‘Lt NEVER
BELIEVE ALBERTA HAS
Just A COUPLE OF
MAD COWS

‘Mine deal looks oretty shaky _

VICTORIA - It looks like the
government did a pretty lame
job of looking after your money

when it came to dealing with the

Huckleberry Mine.”
The New Democrats: got the

_ ball rolling, coming up with a

-$14.5-million loan — 10 per cent
of. the mine development . cost
— back in 1997, That’-s your mon-

. ey subsidizing the investors in a.

mine, a wrong-headed approach
to the role of government in the
first place.

_ The mine opened, and> the

, company started scratching. cop-

per and molybdenum out of an.

7 open pit about 120km southwest -

of Houston, There were buyers
for the metals, but never. quite
cnough money to-send a cheque
off to the government to pay

down the loan. (Other creditors *

also faced similar payment prob-
ems.)

'” ‘Unlike most creditors — try not,

paying your BC Hydro bill and
see what happens —the govern-
ment was patient. Years went
by without a single dollar being
repaid. .

The election came, and the
New Era, but the Liberal govern-
ment didn’t take any more action
on collecting your money than
the NDP had.

Things were challenging for
the sharcholders as well, it should

be noted. Commodity prices were .

‘lower than they hoped and the

FROM THE CAPITAL]

PAUL WILLCOCKS

mine’s parent company, Imperial —

- Metals, had to seek court protec-
tion from its creditors ‘in: 2002
while it re-organized.

But that’s the risk sharcholders
and owners run, in return for the
opportunity to profit when things
do work out.

Still, it was just business as
usual under the Liberals, sadly
no better, but also no worse. The
interest owed on the debt piled up
on the government's books.

Until October. That's when
the Liberal cabinet passed an or-
der — not in one of those tclevised
meetings, where we could have
heard an explanation, but behind
closed doors — that forgave the
Huckleberry Mine for $3 mil-

’ lion in interest payments that had
piled up since 1997. Forget about .
‘it, we'll write it off.

You may find that surprising,

from a government that promised —

to eliminate business subsidies.
After all, if one mining compa-
ny can borrow from the loosey-
goosey government with no inter-
est. payments and no need to pay

“pack the principle, while its com-

petitors have to deal with those
crabby banks, that’s a pretly big
advantage.

But revenue minister Rick

“Thorpe said he had no choice but

to ask’ cabinet to give the com-
pany the break. The mine was in
a. precarious position, with only

about four years of life left. If

the government said no, it might
close'and 175 jobs would be lost.
It wasn’t a subsidy, just a busi-

ness decision, he said, that made:

the. best of the situation.

Here’s where the government's
assessment of the situation starts
to look shaky.

Because while cabinet was
giving up on collecting
money, the company was doing
more test drilling. And now it
says the results are encouraging,
with a good possibility that new
deposits will extend the fife of the
mine.

That's good news. But it’s
hard to justify writing off $3 mil-
lion in debt when the mine might
be able to spin profits for its own-

your -

ers for another decade.

That’s not the only develop-
ment to raise doubts about the _

government’s judgment.
Huckleberry Mine is owned

jointly by Imperial Metals of Van-

couver, which has 50 per cent,

and a consortium of Japanese .
Barely one, month:
after cabinet was persuaded that .

companies.

Huckleberry ‘shouldn’t have to

pay the $3 million it owned you,

the company repaid another loan.

Huckleberry Mine came: up. with —
* more than $3 million’ to pay” “The =

principle and all’ the interest it

owed to co-owner Imperial Met- °
—alsas a result of a 1998 loan..." *
It looks - ‘admittedly from ta
outside - like the government -°
‘faces some big. questions about © J

the decision to handover your.

money. The mine has discovered
indications of future potential;
the company can pay a debt its
owners. Why should taxpayers
be giving up on collecting what
is owed?

Footnote: How could Huck-
leberry come up with money to

repay Imperial Metals one month .

after the province wrote off $3
million? “Higher copper prices
have improved Huckleberry’s
cash flow during 2004 allowing
Huckleberry repay this loan and
accrued interest,” Imperial re-
ported in a public release.
willcocks @ultranet.ca

Shopping tip - keep those stubs

NEATNESS COUNTS _ but
doesn’t always pay as I found out
December 26 when I purchased
two twin-sized Vellux . blankets
at Wal-Mart. I drove to Wal-Mart
specifically to buy. them after
my husband, reading the Boxing
Weck Blowout flyer, pointed out.
“Vellux blankets are on sale at
$24.88 each, any size.”

Normally Vellux blankets at
Wal-Mart cost roughly $50 each.
And | love them. Made from
flocked nylon, they are warm,
cozy to the touch, and light-
weight. On warm summer days
they give featherweight comfort:
In winter, they always feel warm
to the touch even when. the bed-
room is cold,

I first met Vellux blankets vis-
‘iting my older brother's home. I
‘slept under another Vellux blan-

ket at the Super 8 Motel in Edson.

Soon after that vacation, trip. we
paid $71.90 for a double Vellux

from Sears. | began to dream of

giving them to family.

The shelf price was $28 and a
few cents. “The store will give me
the flyer price at the checkout,”

UNFINISHED
BUILDING?

WHATS THAT OH. JUST
ANOTHER

‘THROUGH BIFOCALS
CLAUDETTE SAN DECKI

_ I figured. But no.
rang up at the $28 price. “They ‘re
-on sale at $24.88." 1 said. The

‘cashier-glanced at her electronic ”

device. “No, they"re $28."

Had I heard my husband incor-
rectly? T hadn‘t actually seen the
flyer. I paid the $63 with cash.

Now I'm kicking myself for
not asking the cashier to check
their flyer price.. Wal-Mart is
good at being fair, that T know

-balloons,

“The blankets |

Bor sas tHe
GOT NO /\TEEN CENTRE J A TOUR BOAT...

ADE EMPTY THAT RAN
WIMMING FOOL».

AND THE ROAD
To NOWHERE...

from my very first transaction at

the Terrace store.

On my first visit to the store,
I] happened upon a catch-all box
filled with craft kits on sale at
98 cents cach. Unable to find

- two identical suncatcher for my

granddaughters, 1 chose a_ kit
with a child clutching a dozen
and a kit with a large
horsehead.

The balloons rang up as 98

to $5.

I had no intention of paying
$5. nor could I buy an expensive
kit for one girl and a cheaper kit
for the other. Fairness rules.

I questioned the $5 price. And
despite the lineup of customers
behind me, the cashier had us all
wait while she phoned for a price
check. Finally word came. back,
both kits should be 98 cents.

According to Wal-Mart's pol-

. icy. because of the store’s error,

cents. The horse head was closer.

I should get the horse head free. -

So I walked out with two craft
kits for 98 cents. You can bet
customer loyalty took root that
Saturday,

So why, on December 26,
didn't I ask the cashier to check
their flyer price? No other ‘cus-
tomers were lined up behind me.
I would have inconvenienced no
one else. Instead I meekly paid
more than $7 too much.

Usually my. jacket pockets
drip cashier stubs, But that day

I tidied my pockets and tossed. §

away all stubs not needed for in-
come tax records. That included
the Wal-Mart stub for the Vellux
blankets.

Then Wednesday, Dec. 29
another Boxing Week Blowout
Nyer arrived. Lealing through it, I
spotted the Vellux ad, $24.88 per
blanket. .

Our garbage. is picked up
Tuesdays. My checkout stub was
now in the Thornhill landéill.

So | begin 2005 with one reso-
lution uppermost: Never hesitate
to ask a cashier for a price check:
watch the price printed on your

cashier stub in case of error. And’
keep even useless stubs for at least.

a month, neatness be damned.

Y LIKE THE HALET/ THAT RAN

_ OUT OF.

af J
UNDING..

OUT OF
FU G!.
NIN i