PAGE Ad, THE HERALD, Wednesday, November 17, 1976

aS

nanan

return postage guaranteed

EDITOR * PUBLISHER

PAT O’DONAGHY

SUSUR

There is a distinct feeling in parts of this country,
noteably those west of Thunder Bay, that the tail Is
wagging the dog. In this case the tall being Quebec’s
French and the Maritime’s. poor. The theory some
westerners are propounding is that Ottawa Is im-
posing the will of Quebec on the rest of Canada
through the Official Languages Act and that the
Maritimes are bleeding the rest of the countr

through thelr perpetual-poverty. ~

Much of the discontent, we believe, lies in two
‘serious misunderstandings: Fir'st, the Official
Languages Act is a safeguard to both Canada’s
constitutional fanguages; and secondly that Canada
is a nation of Interdepehdencies and not a Balkanized
autonomous group of economic regions.

The Official Languages Act is simple and sane:
There are people in Canada who speak French but
little or no English and there are an even larger
number who speak English but litle or no French.
Therefore, ihe services of the federal government
should, within reason, be available in both lanquages.
Perhaps that is the problem. The theory Is clear, but
the practice has been so blurred by the costly empire
built up by the federal bureaucracy to implement
* bilingualism that many people see. it as direct in-
; terference by the government in the lives of people,
We believe that Ottawa would be better to designate
jobs bilingual that really need it and offer and en-
courage language training only to those that reaily
+ want it. And in the meantime, we could begin with
’ bilingual classes at the age of three years and carry
» through to high school. Then the’ problem would

Pe eee ee ee ee ee a hh kh bi he aka Aik i. Rh ie
ine 22.8,

Fh aah!

5 Ged said "To-hell with it” =

In the beginning God created the heaven and the -

earth.
_ He was then-faced with a class action lawsuit for
‘ failing to file an environmental impact statement
with the HEPA (Heavenly Environment Protection
Agency) an angelically staffed agency dedicated to
- keeping the universe pollution-free. God was granted
.@ temporary permit for the heavenly portion of the
- project, but was issued a ‘cease and desist’ order
regarding the earthy .part pending further in-
vestigation by the HEPA.

Upon completion of this construction permit ap-

plication and environmental impact statement, God
appeared before the HEPA Council to answer
‘questions. ~
. When asked why he began these projects in the first
:place, he simply replied that he liked to ‘be
‘“ereative"’. ' ,
: This was not considered adequate reasoning and he.
would be required to substantiate this further.

HEPA was unable to see any practical use for earth
: Since “’The earth was void and empty and darkness
| was upon the face of the deep. And God said, ‘Let
_ there be light." He should never have brought up the
: point, since one member of the council was most
- active in the Sierrangle Club and immediately
‘protested asking: ‘How is the light to be made?

‘ Would it be a coal-fired or nuclear-fired generating
‘plant? Would there be strip mining? What about
‘thermal pollution? Alr pqflution?

: God explained the light would come from a huge
‘ball of fire. Nobody on the coyncll understood this.
‘But it was professionally accepted, assuming (1)
‘there would be no smog or smoke resulting from the
_bail of permit, (2) a separate burning permit would be
‘required; and (3) since continuous light would be a
waster of energy, it should be dark at least one-half of
dhe time.

a

accompanies ‘'Boom"’
growth. We must create an
environment to encourage
planned development.
Terrace is the obvious hub
of the northwest and with
proper planning we .will
develop and grow. It is
obvious but that is a com-
placent altitude belonging to
e 1960's. Today we must be
Aggressive in order to obtain
these desired ammenities,
At present we must
provide the best value
possible for the tax dollar
and as services are still
inadequate in some arenas,
ricrities must be carefully
alanced and efficiency
must be an important ob-
jective. :

iThe Editor:

: I believe there is much

‘potential in Terrace which is

‘virtually untapped. We have

‘been suffering from an

economic slump which is a

‘worldwide trend but has

been very visible in Terrace

+because of our total reliance

‘on one primary industry,

tlogging. Consequently, our

teconomy has been at the

tmercury of the world

+market and the laws of

peupply and demand. If our

‘town is to grow, the answer

“lies in the development of

diversified secondary and

+ service industry. However, ©
development must be
Seontrolled to prevent the
rsocial distress which often

PRR

the herald —

635-6357

An Award Winning Weekly
Published by Sterling Publishers Lid.

Published avery Wednesday at 3212 Kalum S¢., Terrace, 6.¢. A member of Variiied Cir-
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GORDON W. HAMILTON |

_ Official must be involved in

2 . ” . 5, .
# . The-Four-Way
: " Test ,
& Of the things we

28

think, say or do.

Is It the TRUTH?

ts it fair to ail
concerned?

| Will it build GOOD *
WILL and BETTER
. FRIENDSHIPS?

Will it be
BENEFICIAL
to al! concerned?

ee aise ao

hehebodcneteresse

ADVERTISING
MANAGER
RALPH KERMAN

4

A nation or group of regions?

disappear In two generations and the participants
would ail be lingulstically and culturally richer for
the experience.

Surely Canadians can distinguish the rightness of
the Official Languages Act and instead of threatening
secession, demand better implementation of that
Act?

People who remember the days when western
Canada was so dependent on the east during the
construction of the railways, the settling of the pratrie
plains or the desperate depression years will be more
hesitant in their charges that poor easterners are
running the economy of the rest of Canada, People
who readily “rail” at the CPR and CNR far wanting to
tear up uneconomic branch lines -because whole
communities will die, shouid surely see that subsidies
from richer areas are needed all over Canada,

if we are not prepared to share the wealth of one
region with another, history will certainly remind us
in years fo come of our short-sighted selfishness.

The ‘have’ provinces like British Columbia, Alberta
and Ontario must help support the Maritimes now or
their towns may die as Glace Bay and Sydney, N.S.
well know. People who have built their lives there
face the daily fhreat of upheaval much as the small
prairie elevator towns. :

Think ahead: What happens if peaple stop buying
Ontario’s manufactured goods, or Alberta‘s oil is
replaced with solar energy or B.C.’s timber replaced
by Maritime timber?

Perhaps interdependence is a good thing for us all,
in language and In economics.

And so God agreed. to divide light fram darkness
and he would call the light “day” and the darkness“
Night’’. {The council expressed no interest with in-
house semantics.) .

When asked how the earth would be covered, God
said, “Let there be a firmament made.amidst the
waters, and let It divide the waters from the waters.”

Our ecologically radical council member accused
him of double-talk, but the council tabled action since
God would be required to obtain water permits from
appropriate agencies involved.

The council asked If there would be anly water and
firmament and God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth
green herb, and such as may. seed, and the fruit tree
yielding fruit after its kind, which may have been
itself upon the earth. The council agreed to this as
long as native seed would be used.

About future development, God also sald, ‘Let the
waters bring forth the creeping creatures having life
and the fowl that may fly-over the earth under the
firmament of heaven.”

Here again the council took no formal action since. :

this would require approval of the Fish and Wildlife’
Commission, coordinates with the Heavenly Wildlife.
Federation: and ' audobongetic soclety,

Ht appeared everything was in order until Ged
stated he wanted to complete the project In six days..
At this he was advised by the council that his timing
was completely out of the question.

HEPA would require minimum of 180 days to
review the application and environmental impact
statement; then there would be the public hearings. It
could feasibly take 10 to 12 months before a permit
could be granted. ‘ .

So God sald, ‘‘To hell with it,”

(Reprinted from “Real Estate’ Securities ana
Syndication Newsletter, August 1975.)

Potential in Terrace .

J am pleased to say that pears, has been “turned off’
since I have been on Council lecal politics because of the
we have made a start on feluctance of elected oaf-
correcting our drainage
problem and I hope by your
re-electing me that I can
continue to encourage this
project through to its
completion.

I remain steadfast to my
motivation to local politics:
I care about people,’ their
needs and ‘interests. I
believe the elected official
must be responsive and
approachable to the people
at all times. The elected

listen to the public and to
offer constructive advice for
their problems,

This requires time,
energy arid patience, which
[ ‘have offered to you and
will continue to give on a
daily 6a.m, to 11 p.m. basis.

This is my home and [
intend to stay here to help.
make a better place for
of us to live, and I believe.1
can continue to. bring a
balance to Council by my

the comminity, The elected
e approach if re-elected on

Official must be involved in

the community. I feel that November 20.
the public, for too’ many Sharon Biggs
‘

* Munigipal

ficials to take the time to -

_ relocated

Bea a MN rn an NR USSU DSR = Fa Sn ag aL

Penn ses ecmects woes

- al +o.
Pee a ac DOS OO

letter.

Curling rink taxes

The Editor,
Dear Sir:
The Terrace Curling

_ Association would Ilke to
‘take this opportunity. to

express our concern over
the defeat by Council our
applications for a grant in
lieu of taxes and a Municipal
tax exemption grant. .
First of all we want

everyone to know that we’

are strictly a volunteer
organization providin
recreation and goo

- fellowship for all age groups
y. We

within this communi

have been doing: this for
some 20 years now at no cost
to the taxpayer. Our main
source of income is our
members and those people
who use our facility.

When we first approached -

Council this year we felt that
we had something to offer
this community. As the
Curling Rink is only used for
about six months of the year
we felt that the Recreation
Department could use our
facillty for | summer
programs for children
during the summer months,
We also have tennis courts
on our property, that, ac-
cording to our land use
contract, were to be covered
over for Curling Club
parking, This has since been
changed and these tennis
courts are available for use
if someone would do some
work on them. We have had
no indication from Council
that they are even in-
terested in our proposal.
This facility would have
been available to the
Municipality at no cost,
other than our request for a

-grant in lieu of taxes, which

is approximately $5,000
taxes. An ad-
ditional approximate $5,000
is taxes owing to the

. Regional District, Schoot
. District, Hospital Board and

the Ski Hill Referendum. If
we are unable to pay these
taxes the District of Terrace
will have to pay on our
behalf. :

- We have two options open
to us now. Either pay our
taxes for which we have no
funds, or turn our facility
over to the District of
Terrace to operate at an
additional approximate cost
to the- taxpayer of $75,000
per year, and a mortgage
worth $160,000. We. already
know that a third of our tax
dollar goes to recreation in
this community. Can we
afford more increases in an
already high recreation
budget? ss.

During the proceedings
with Council it was very
evident that the Curling
Club and its members were
of no interest to most
members of Council. In fact
¢enly one member of Council
stood by us other than the
Mayor who by the way is an
active curler.

We had not intended this
to become an election issue,
but, to you curlers out there,
the future of our Curlin
Club is at stake. We ne
more members on Council
that are sympathetic
towards us. We have to get
out and talk to people and
‘tell then what our Club is
really providing to this
community.

The Curling Club

Executive urges you to vote-

for our supporters, for
maybe next year our rink
will be the most expensive
vacant warehouse in town.
Yours trul:
Terrace Curling

Association Executive,
Norah Jacques, —
President

Input into School Board

The Editor:
I'd like to give the elector
-an insight into what I will

- work. for [f elected to the

School Board. .
The Board shauld be a too!
for you, the taxpayer. The
Board is responsible to the
ublic and should interpret
© wishes of the taxpayer. J
will endeavour to fulfill this
obligation, oo
T'd like to see and indeed
encourage, input from the
Beneral public — be a

sounding board for all ideas. |

No one person has a
monopoly on ideas.

To see School Advisory
Committees established at
every school in Terrace.
Perhaps I should elaborate
on the function of these
committees. An Advisory
Committee is elected at
public meetings held at the
schools. Parents at large
are elected, along with
teachers who have been
elected by staff and the
students elected by the
student body, These people
then comprise your Ad-
visory Committee. The
parents express both con-
cerns and ideas at monthly
or bi-monthly meetings. The
Advisory Committee at-
tempts to solve them before
the next meeting.

These committees reflect
the philosophy of the school
the administration, an

rents. Each school has
ndividual needs and
riorities. An Advisory

ommittee binds. the
rents to the scheols and
elps bridge gaps that
otherwise would not be
acknowledged.

Herein Terrace we havea
large ethnic population.
These new Canadians find it
difficult to communicate
their concerns. They could
appoint a member irom
their community to ‘in-
terpret their wishes on the
‘Advisory Committee.

Learning assistance and
enrichment should be en-
couraged. At the moment
they are being cut —
drastically. We realize

- money is being stretched to

its utmost, but don’t cut
down on essentials that will
make it harder for the
children who are trying to
learn, ;

The Intermediate School
is slated td close in its
present location and be
at Clarence
Michlel School. These
children have severe
emotional problems and will
be an extremely disrupting
influence if forced back to
the conventional school

situation, :

Cut back if you have.to —
«fhe:-School .Board we: all
realize, has a budget to keep
in mind — but some of the
programs being cut are
definitely not frills. They
are essentials. -

Now let’s look at the other
side of the preblem — the
brighter students, A great
deal of time and money is
spent on “problem”
children who need
specialized teaching
because of slowness. But no
less important is the bright
student who becomes a
disruptive finluence due to

om. The enrichment
centres cope with them ta
some extent. With enlarged
classes they will become a
greater problem. We can't
afford to eut down on
enrichment centres — much
less eliminate them,

We should examine. the
new core curriculum before
it is accepted into our
system, I cannot emphasize
enough the importance of
the R's being taught
from Kindergarten through
the Senior Secondary level.
An acceptable standard
must be reached and
achieved.

I would like to see
established “a Public
Relations Committee on the
Board — one member to
appear on an Open Line
show to keep the public

informed. Also a copy of the
agenda should be in the
hands of the news media
before each and every
meeting. Some liaison
between the board and the

. public is badly needed. This

may even encourage other
people with school aged
children to become future
candidates. I would also like
to see some efficient form of
controlling heat installed in
our schools. Surely a child
cannot function properly in
an overheated, stuffy
classroom, Children need
stimulation and a room of 74

degrees plus, that is very:

dificult, Some concern
should be volced about our
children’s health. In helping
them we'll also be assisting
our country facing a severe
energy crisis. . ;

Finally I would like to say
Tam dedicated to improving
our schoo] system.

if you feel as 1 do, then I
urge youto mark your ballot
accordingly. The op
portunity for change is
your hands,. make‘ sure it
counts: Vote. Harrison on
November 2. °°.

Nan Harrison

meneetaeateeccetel ieee

to the edi

ara

The Editor:

In answer to the two'

uestions posed this week to
-all candidates for alderman
in the Municipal Election on
Saturday, November 20,
1976 I respond as follows;-
1. I believe it is vitally
important to take steps to
. revitalize the economy of
Terrace. The first step is to
be honest with ourselves and
face_a_ difficult situation
truthfully rather than with
extreme pessimism or
extreme optimism. The lead
Municipal Council has to
give is to serutinize
carefully all expenditures,
ensure they are all reai
needs al this Ume, obtain
maximum value for each
tax dollar and give
thought and cereful plan-
ning to all decisions before
implementing them. A
VP cal example of wasle
at must be avoided in the
future is the ‘guess which
way you will be driving this
week” traffic pattern fiasco
in the downtown area over
the past year. This not only
was an economic disaster in
the cost of labour and
materials for all the
changes but also caused
nothing but frustration, and
risk of accidents by meeting
traffic still travelling in
yesterday's direction, for
the taxpayers whose money
was being wasted in this
senseless merry-go-round.
Once Council has set its own
house in order by showing
an example of economic
restraint and wise planned
spending it should also shaw
leadership in encouraging
the secondary industries
into Terrace that most
people have agreed are
necessary. For years there
has been talk of secondary
industries here anditis past
time we had leadership in
approaching both the in-
dustries and senior levels of
overnment to make it
ppen. I will support all
attempts to revitalize’ the
economy: .of: Terrace. on
condition they take full
account of the needs and
feelings of our present
citizens since it is those
citizens I will be
representing on Council.
2. On the question of
amaigamation of Terrace

and Thornhill 1 believe this.

will eventually he
inevitable. However, I feel
this amalgamation has to be
shown to be in the best in-
terests of the citizens of both
communities before it

happens. I do not support .

amalgamation just for the
simplicity of government or.
to follow dictates from
Victoria or other distant
areas. It has ta be the desire
of and beneficial to the
people concerned in Terrace
and Thornhill. As I see it the
benefits to the people of
Terrace would include a

ee

The answers

SiParoeatatatetetatetateletateet teteratee

larger tax base of land and
contributions towards the
many facilities in Terrace
that are paid for or -sub-
sidized by the Terrace
taxpayers yet used and
enjoyed by many Thornhill
residents. Amalgamation
would avoid the problems of
Terrace boys only” hockey
schools at the arena causing
pointless animosity among
young children. ~ The
disadvantages to Terrace
taxpayers is that the cost of
bringing Thornhill up to
Terrace standards in areas
such as Pichia water,
arbage disposal, ving
ale. would probably. far
exceed the increased tax
revenues. Once these, ser-
vices were provided a
shopping centre would also
be a possibility in Thornhill
which would affect the
downtown area of. Terrace
unless it was built at a time
of renewed population ex-

pansion. .

For Thornhill residents [
see the advantages bein
improved services an
removal of the feeling of
being ‘outsiders’ when using
the facllities of Terrace or
participating in certain
activities in Terrace. The
major disadvantage is that
many people have moved to
Thornhill because they
cannot afford the hig
property taxes in Terrace ,
and to increase their taxes
may force them to move
further out of town con-
tinuing the increasing
number of scattered
developments along the
highways hborderixg
Terrace. If a considerable
number of Terrace
residents wanted to move
out further they could find
themselves in the double
bind of being unable to pay
increased taxes but .also
unable to sell at a
reasonable price because of
the number. of people en-
deavouring to sell and the

-bupply:. of houses for. sale

exceeding demand to. buy.

In conclusion I repeat that
I feel in the long term,
amalgamation between
Terrace and Thornhill is
inevitable, but I believe this
needs careful study and
planning to ensure..the |
timing and methed of
amalgamation takes full
account of the interests and
concerns of the citizens of
both communities.

My primary object as an
alderman would be to do
everything possible to en-
sure that the concerns and
Interests of all citizens. are
expressed and considered,
‘so [ ask everyone to turn out
and vote on November 20
and trust that you will elect
me to express an_in-
dependent voice on Council
in your interests.

David Pease

Teacher salary

negotiations

Editor,
Dear Sir:

On Wednesday evening at
the forum for candidates for
School Board sponsored by
‘the Caledonia Students
Council, a ‘question was
asked regarding current

’ salary. negotiations to which
I could not’ speak. The
parties to negofiation had
‘agreed not to make public
statements until a joint
announcement could be

made.

However, one of the
candidates made a personal
statement concerning an
individual which cannot go
unchallenged. She said in
effect that the negotiator
hired by the Board was “ill
informed” ‘and “too high
priced”. This is quite in-
correct.

The School Boards of the
entire northwest met during
the summer and decided to

, hire a common negotlater
because of the complexities
of this year’s negotiations,

Mr, Vern Scanion is a full
time labour relations officer

for the B.C..School Trustees .

Association, He waa our
advocate during last year's
arbitration, and an adviser
previously, and is more

' eognizant with our contracts

‘than anyone in the district,

The same Is true for’ the

~ contracts with non-teaching .

staff. He has the working
knowledge of the contracts
in Prince Rupert, Kitimat
and Smithers, and at the
same time is actively in
touch, through his work at
B.C.8,T.A., - with — all
negotiations throughout the
province and with all: the
Sectors of industry as well
as the current A.LB.
regulations. 4

As to his cost, his salary is
paid by B.C.S.T.A. (to which
all Boards contribute
anyway) and his expenses
are shared between the four
boards involved. Over. 6
million doliars of pubic
money is being negotiated in
our district alone, and with
the complexities of dealin
with governmental an
A.LB, regulations and the
multitude of possibilities for
error (including “the
Possibilities of payin;
district money to the Peder
government as fines), it -is
essential to. have the best

advice. possible,

With 50 much public
money at stake, it would.be,
in fact, irresponalble of the

rd not to avail itself. of.
Mr. Scanlon’s expertise...

Yours very truly \_
(Mrs.) Nancy Orr

torte