are

No more beach wear

Feeding the swans

Caledonia students are told they.
can't wear tank tops to school
anymore\NEWS A10

A history lesson"

| A local woman dedicates hours to
the trumpeter swans at Lakelse -
Lake\COMMUNITY B41

| Bet you didn’t know Terrace’s first
ski tow was on Thornhill’s golf
course\SPORTS B10

‘WEDNESDAY
DECEMBER 30, 1998 -

TANDARD

93¢ PLUS 7¢ GST
VOL. 14 NO. 38

Salmon returns still below average |

Tight restrictions on
fishing likely to stay

By CHRISTIANA WIENS
DESPITE extreme fishing restric-
lions to protect endangered coho, the
number of spawning salmon that
returned to their birth streams last
summer was way down.

And that has biologists warning
anglers and commercial fishermen on the
Skeena systein not to expect any better
fishing in 1999.

“It’s going to be very, very limited,”

said Les Jantz after reviewing
preliminary escapement levels in at the
mouth of the river.

Biologists use escapement [evels to
measure the number of fish going up the
river after ocean fishermen have scooped
their catch.

But the numbers are lower than the
seven-year average, said Jantz, And es-
capement figures are especially bad for
coho and sockeye stocks,

Coho escapements came in 6,000 fish
under the average at 26,500 fish, The
1990 to 1997 average is listed at 32,290
fish.

Jantz said coho escapements were ex-
pected to be ‘“fairly low’, but better
than 1997 escapements of 6,000 fish.

Jantz said that more people have been
aut checking coho levels in more streams
so the numbers are hard to compare.

And considering almost no coho were
caught on the river, that number should
have been a lot higher, said Denise Zinn,
the DFO information coordinator in
Prince Rupert. “A decent amount of
coho came in but we’re not going gang-
busters for next year,’’ she said.

Next year’s season also looks bleak for

the commercial  fleet’s
money-maker — sockeye.

DFO biologists cstimate the sockeye
escapement at 525,000 fish, a number
significantly luwer than the 1990 to 1997
average of more than 1.35 million fish,

And only 600,000 sockeye total are ex-
pected to return next year because of a
parasite on the brood or ounigoing stock
in 1995 and 1994,

The parasite, said Jantz is commonly
known as ‘‘white spot disease’? and is
expected to affect 50 per cent of the
sockeye and pink salmon potentially put-
ting next year’s commercial sockeye

traditional

fishery in danger. .

Pink salmon slocks also faltered last
summer with an escapement of 275,000
salmon, In comparison, the seven-year
average is more than five times that
amount at about 1.42 million fish.

And DFO officials measured 50,000
chinook that escaped — 2,000 jess than
the seven-year average.

The only fish to return at exceptional
levels were chum salmon, which com-
inercial fishers say have a relatively low
market value. Prince Rupert biologists
estimate 20,000 chum returned to the
Skeena while only 9,801 were expected,

RCMP
costs
queried

CITIES LIKE Terrace are

beginning to wonder how . :

RCMP cutbacks are affect-
ing their own budgets.
Terrace’s city treasurer,
Keith Norman, said the
number of overtime hours
the city has paid to RCMP

members as grown steadily

over the past five years,

The city pays for 70 per
cent of RCMP overtime
hours worked at the Terrace
detachment after officers
take time in lieu of pay.

When officers work over-
time hours, the RCMP ‘B’
division treasury averages
their hours four times a year
and bills the city.

In 1994-1995 the city paid
499 overtime hours per
quarter to the RCMP.

In 1996-1997 and 1997-
1998, that number grew to
653 hours per quarter,

And so far, the city has
paid for 859 RCMP over-
time hours in 1998 leading
the cily to question whether
they might be picking up
slack where the province
has failed to Gill vacant posi-
tions,

And with each overtime
hour now valued at $20.79,
the city pays for almost
$18,000 dollars of RCMP
overtime every four months.

Several Kitimat-Stikine
regional district board mem-
bers wondered if they’d
been cheated at a Dec, 12
question and answer session
with Terrace’s Insp. Doug
Wheler.

“Are we paying for ser-
vices we're not getting?”
asked Kitimat board mem-
ber Jim Thom.

Wheler responded by
saying that the detachment
was discussing overlime
hours with Norman.

But Terrace Sgt. Darcy
Gollan says things aren’t
guite that simple.

He said overtime doesn’t
operate in direct proportion
to the detachment’s vacant
positions.

And that while  short-
staffing may be a factor in
increased overtime, officers
could be asked to work
overtime for a number of
reasois including court ap-
pearances and lengthy in-
vestigalions.

Ongoing investigations,
like the stabbing this month
of a woman in ber Terrace
townhouse would substan-
tially increase the number of
overtime hours, he said.

Gollan was sure that the
city wasn't paying for more
overtime thar necessary.
“*The city’s aware of what’s
what and there's always an
adjustment at the end of the
fiscal year,”’ he said,

+

Bells tcd aS Mag

IT DOESN'T ADD UP TO MUCH: The $10.48 hald by accountant Donna Demers is how much

earning $2,500 a month should end up with each month after tax and deduction changes take effect Jan. 1.

Tax man gives some back

THERE will be a tiny bit more
money left in the hands of the
average worker this year once in-
come tax cuts and payrall deduc-
tion changes take effect Jan. 1.

Canada Pension Plan (CPP)
premiums are shooting up this year,
but going down are employment in-
surance premims and the federal and
provincial income tax bite,

The overall result is a slight increase
in the net pay to most workers and a
slight decrease in the deductions from
their pay.

“You're not seeing a significant
change,’’ said local accountant Donna
Demers. ‘*But it’s the first year in I
don’t know how many it hasn’t gone

up.” :

Someone making $1,500 a month

should see their take-home pay climb
from $1,188.98 to $1,194.01, said
Demers, who ran sample incomes
through new tax tables just released
by Revenue Canada.

An employee earning $2,500 will
actually keep $1,887.81 — up from
$1,877.33.

Someone earning $3,000 will hold
onto about $14 extra a month,

At higher income levels, say
$60,000 a year, the effect will
diminish to virtually nothing, she said,

“The government gave a break on
EI premiums, but not very much,”
Demers said. ‘*There’s just enough of
a break on the taxes to make up for
the CPP rate change."

But while the news is good this

year, she noted it’s just the beginning.

of a big rise in CPP premiums slated

to lake place over the next several
years.

Contributions are to be hiked to
make up for a shortage of money
needed for when baby boomers hit
their retirement years,

This is not going to be the end of
It,’ added Skeena MP Mike Scott.
“Nobody can even accurately predict
tight now where the contribution rates
are goitig to end up,’”’

One thing that is sure, he said, is
that the youngest workers now: enter-
ing the workforce will contribute
much more money to the Canada Pen-
sion Plan over their liftimes than their
parents did,

“The younger people coming inta
lhe plan right now are going to be
really paying. the price for this,”? Scott
said.

extra @ worker

Cut hurts but
won't trigger
tax increase

THE CIEY'will likely ab-
sorb a $121,000 cut in an-
nual = provincial = — grants
through = reduced road
Teconstruction rather than
property tax hikes, said
mayor Jack Taistra.

He said the reduction in

~ fants is just the latest claw-

-back that bas seen the
amount of money the city
gets from Victoria decline
from $694,000 back in 1996
to $389,000 in 1997 to
$268,000 in 1999,

Talstra said Victoria is
simply taking $40 million
from the municipalities —
in effect making them pay
for the province’s own
financial difficulties.

“The local taxpayer is
subsidizing the inl
competence of the provin-
cial financing programs,”
Talstra said, “It’s extremely
disappointing,”’

“It’s not going to kill us,”’
he added. ‘We're probably
not going to look to the tax-
payer for it.’’

But he said the money if
equated {o property tax
revenue would probably
translate into a 1.5 per cent
hike in the average
homeowner’s tax bill.

Talstra said the $121,000
will likely come out of the
city’s capital budget that

puts clase to $2 million a
year into road building and
other major projects.

Municipal affairs minister
Jenny Kwan said the pro-
vince will put increased dol-
lars into infrastructure
grants and promises to turn
over a portion of traffic fine
revenue to municipalities.

Talstra said city staff took
those items into account in
arriving al the net loss fig-
ure of $121,000,

He said he now wants to
see the province share other
revenue types -~ notably
provincial sales tax revenue
— wilh municipalities,

“‘L would lave to see every
retail business directed to
send one per cent of the
seven per cent PST directly
to the municipality,” he
said. ‘Tf Victoria can’t be
responsible in its usage of
revenue and puts itself into
a tremendous. hole with
debt, maybe we should keep
more of these dollars at
home and those of us bere
can try to be a litde more
responsible.”

Talsira said municipalitics
may also press for fees for
the land used by B.C. Hydro
poles, and for increased
grants-in-lieu of taxation
from provincial government
owned land and buildings.

City may take
treaty stand

Motion not widely welcomed

TERRACE city = council
must break its official si-
lence and take a formal
position on the Nispa’a
treaty, says councillor David
Hull.

“This is the most impor-
tant social and economic is-
sue this council will face in
its term,’’ Hull said Dec, 14.
“We have a moral and ethi-
cal obligation to openly
debate this issue.”

**We owe it to our neigh-
bours, the Nisga’a, to our
taxpayers and to the rest of
the province of Brilish
Columbia.”

But many other council-
fors balked at the idea,

‘saying such a debate could

split the community.

Instead of voling on Hull's
motion to formulate a city
position, the topic was

tabled at the request of
councillor Val George,

That means the {ssue is on

- bold until council] meets on

Jan. 11, when councillors

will decide whether. or tat

ry
a7

David Hull

ta collectively take a stand
on the treaty.

Until now the only pasi-
tion taken by city council-
lors has been individually in
media interviews.

Hull said that’s not good
enough. and that . council
should go on the record with
an official City of Terrace
position.

Continued Pg. A2