4 Ad - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, December 30, 1998 TERRACE: STANDARD ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988 PUBLISHER: ROD LINK ADDRESS: 3210 Clinion Street Terrace, B.C. * V8G 5R2 _ TELEPHONE: (250) 638-7283 * FAX: (250) 638-8432 EMAIL: standard@kermode.net Shields down AN INDICATION that Victoria could be on the verge of imposing some form of more direct con- trol over Mills Memorial Hospital might be taken by locals as a threat. Whether it amounts to installation of a ministry official at the hospital or a complete replacement of the community health council with an ap- pointed trustee, the move could be seen as sweeping away the last vestiges of local control. That may not be a bad idea. For all of this decade the hospital has been un- der budget pressure, receiving too little money from Victoria to operate what even the province -concedes is a regional service. In recent years the problem has intensified, in concert with reduced federal health transfers to the province and deteriorating provincial finances. Through the same years the province jettisoned local democracy by eliminating elected officials from health council boards and making them all appointed positions. The result has been the perception that the ap- pointed health council is loaded with loca] New Democrats who may be more loyal to the government than local health needs in the ongo- ing budgetary fight. The health council and hospital officials say they have done everything possible to contain the financial bleeding. If the council were truly eliminated, Victoria would have no one to blame but itself for deficits that couldn’t be eliminated. And Jocals angry about deteriorating health care could then take direct aim at the true villains, rather than the shield of local appointees Victoria maintains to handle local flak. Victoria should give Mills Memorial the tools to.dothe job... .... . But if it won’t do that, ‘= it might as wel oe! 1 end this sham and take direct responsibility for the state of health care in the northwest. Besides, it’s not like we have democracy right now anyway. A resolution WE HAVE one New Year’s Resolution to propose to all combatants on various sides of the Nisga’a treaty debate. That is, simply, for greater understanding of all contrary positions and per- spectives. There are no simple or easy answers to the na- tive land claim issue that do not pose major costs or repercussions. For treaty opponents, we would wish a better understanding of the aspirations of native people and better understanding of the fallout that would result if the treaty-making model envi- sioned in the Nisga’a treaty were abandoned. For those in favour of the treaty, we would urge restraint from portraying critics as racists — something that does nothing but dodge real ques- tions of real citizens who deserve real answers. And for those who have not yet bothered to be- come informed, we would ask that they read the treaty and take the necessary steps to come to in- formed conclusions about its contents. 1998 WINNER CCNA BETTER NEWSPAPERS COMPETT ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS: Sam Bedford , Bunnie Cote TELEMARKETER: Patricia Schubrink AD ASSISTANT: Kelly Jean COMPOSING: Susan Credgeur - AD ASSISTANT/TYPESETTING: Julic Davidson PUBLISHER/EDITOR: Rod Link ADVERTISING MANAGER: Brian Lindenbach PRODUCTION MANAGER: Edouard Credgeur NEWS Jeff Nagel * NEWS/SPORTS: Christiana Wiens NEWS/COMMUNITY: Alex Hamilton OFFICE MANAGER: Sheila Sandover-Sly CIRCULATION MANAGER: Karen Brunette SUBSCRIPTION RATES BY MAIL: $56.18 per years Seniors $49.76; Out of Province $63.13 Outside of Canada (6 months) $155.15 (ALL PRICES INCLUDE GST) _ MEMBER OF B.C. AND YUKON COMNUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION. CANADIAN COM MUNITY KEWSPAPERS ASSOCLATION ws hi B.C, PRESS COUNCIL Serving tha Terrace and Thornhill area. Published on Wednosday ol each weak et 3210 Clinton Stet, Terrace, British Columbia, V8G SR2, Stores, photographs, Mlustrafions, designs and typestylaa in the Torréca Standard are the property of tha copyright holders, including Cariboo Press {1989) Ld,, its illustration repro services and advertising Fleproduction in whole or in part, without written permission, is spacifically prohibited, Authorized 88 escond-class mail panding the Post Office Department, for paymant af postage in cash. Special thanks to all our contributors and correspondents me for their time and talents _ SUFFER! W «VISUALIZING THE PAIN AND .. BEEN DRINKING HAVN'T YOU °.. NG BECAUSE OF MISERABLE AGES AND WORKING CONDITIONS OF THOSE POOR FERRY WORKER'S _ MAKES KISSING GOOD BYE TO ALL OUR HOLIDAY PLANS SUCH A SMALL SACRIFICE .. It’s lights out for the NDP VICTORIA -_ British Columbians can rest easy again. All their worries will soon be over, Premier Glen Clark says he got the message from the severe beating his candidate got in the Parksville-Qualicum byelection and promises a totally new and improved version of his government. And I will be pope next time the cardinals get together in Rome to look for a successor to Peter’s throne. Clark will no more be able to change his ways and the for- tunes of his beleaguered govern- ment than Bill Vander Zalm was. He, too, promised a new start _ when his government’s popular- _, ity Hi rock: tee ” when'-Vander ‘Zalin:-asked for a second term. The pecple were so mad that they not only sent him packing, but performed euthana- sia on the Social Credit Party. Guess what, premier, it’s going to happen again. You did- n’t learn from history, so you're sentenced to repeat it. The byelection left no doubt: the voters, usually said to have short memories, have sud- HERE’S A New Year’s reso- lution for Glen Clark’s govern- ment: Collect your accounts receivable. Auditor-General George - Morfitt recently reported the B.C. government is owed some $400 million in unpaid traffic tickets alone. Add to that in 1998 B.C, Transit is predicted to lose more than $10 million in fares — a 5.4 per cent fare loss on Sky Train — because Sky Train fares work on the honour system, rare in public transit, In addition, transit buses are predicted to lose 4 per cent of fares. It seems bus drivers only drive. Collecting fares isn’t in their job description. Yet Mills Memorial Hospital is left scrambling over a measly $86,000 deficit. . It figures that given a chance 4 WE'VE NEVER HAD A Rap NORTHERNER ON THE A BARCELONA BiODIVERSITY Mm PANEL BEFORE: TELL ME Be WAT 1S YOUR PERSONAL By EXPERTISE &I/7H GAME SPECIES OF CHARISMATIC MEGAFAUA AS WE LIKE TO CALL THEM? Bic FROM THE CAPITAL: HUBERT BEYER denly developed a remarkable capacity for long-term memory of the shenanigans that have eroded their confidence in this government, And just like Vander Zalm, about every segment of the elec- ‘ torate; The down-and-out still remember that the government cut the meagre social assistance for singles by $50. The environmentalists have marked Clark as an enemy, sid- ing with big business, while the business community sees him as a bungler in matters economic. The premier also did his best to feed the short-term memories of voters with anti-government THROUGH BIFOCALS: CLAUDETTE SANDECK! to ride free, plenty of people will. And if traffic tickets are issued with no inlention or means of collecting them, why pay a policeman or by-law enforce- ment officer to write the tickets? Even with all the six-figure advisors government has, it can’t figure how to collect what is legitimately owed to it. Without exception, self-help TL STALK THEM | BT SHOOT THEM! AT EAT THEM! sentiments. His political exploi- tation of the Nisga’a Treaty, genuinely supported by a major- ity of British Columbians, was as reprehensible as Liberal leader Gordon Campbell’s attempts to use the treaty for his partisan purposes. The difference is that the opposition is traditionally judged more leniently in its pursuit of power than a government that already possesses it. The fact is that this govern- ment has very few friends left, and all the chest-thumping and mea-culpas aren’t going to change that. Aboriginal affairs minister Dale Lovick summed up the vot- Clark, too, has alienated just~ «78; mood this ways/"Not only do. I dislike your governméntybut-E + . hate your guts and wish you . were in hell.” Well, I’d say that’s about the size of it. What Lovick won't admit, of course, is that the NDP largely has no-one to blame but itself and the arrogance of its leader. Personable as Clark comes across, he is possessed of an insufferable arrogance, which is unfortunate because it cancels out much of his undeniable Premier, Get it together manuals warn small businesses most fail because of sloppy bookkeeping. Management fails to collect monies owed to the company by customers. Operating capital is crucial to the smooth running of a busi- ness. Tardy billing, along with carrying customers on credit, can lead to bankruptcy in short order. By Joy MacPhail and her advisors forget that end of the bookkeeping. Daily the NDP government reiterates its dedication to health care, yet loses millions to fare evaders and unpaid traffic fines. Too paltry to take up a finance . minister’s time. Morfitt says the B.C. gov- ernment’s basic financial state- ments “provide an incomplete accounting of its overall financial activities.” : In particular, Morfitt noted Atem!...So'L HEAR YOUR AN ~~) EXPERT ON M(CE, VOLES AND SHREWS OR ENIGMATIC MICROFAUNA AS WE ON THE BiopIvERSITY PANEL LIKE TO CALL THEM !! talent. a Liberal Judith Reid’s over. whelming victory in the byelec- - tion leaves Campbell as an almost unchallenged premier-in- waiting. He has united the right and is its undisputed leader, ] hear fewer ang fewer com- ments from people such as, “but look at the alternative.” For bet- ter or worse, the voters have decided to back the Liberals, regardless of who the leader is. And the premier’s interpretation of the byelection results as noth-, ing but a message is wishful. thinking. : This byelection was a dry run for the next general clection,. and when the ballots of that elec- . tion are counted, the results will bevequally- devastating for the; NDP. I’ve said before and will say it again: the defeat next time around will be so disastrous, that the NDP will wish it had lost the last election. And to my friends in the NDP -I’ve got friends in all par- ties I say: don’t shoot the messenger. . Beyer can be reached at: Tel: (250) 920-9300; Fax: (250) 356- 9597; E-mail: hubert@coolcom.com the statements don’t include pub- lic health care such as the new health regions. They should be included, Morfitt says, because, in terms of their finances, health - regions are entirely accountable to, and controlled by, the provin- cial government. If government took meas- ures to collect what’s owed to it, our hospitals might have ample budgets to do the job we ask of them. ‘ How Victoria can fail to see that Mills Memorial Hospital is 4 regional facility, serving the entire northwest, and fund it td that level frustrates me, When I[ read of children . waiting six months for surgery, seniors waiting even longer fot hip or knee replacements, I ask how any government can ignore even the smallest revenue leak.