Page A4 — Terrace Standard, Wednesday, May 6, 1992 QO ERRA(C E STAND A. _ Jeft Nagel - News/Community, Malcolm Baxter ~ News/Sports ; . Publisher/Editor: flose Fisher — Front Office Manager, Carolyn Anderson — Typesetter, Special thanks to al Rod Link Arlene Walts — Typesatter, Susan Credgeur — Composing/Darkroam, , " ESTABLISHED APRIL 27,1088 _ Janet Vivelros — Advertising Consultant, Sam Collier — Advertising Consultant, our contributors an lagletration No. 7820 4647 Lazelle Ave., Terrace, B.C., V8G 1S8 Adverilsing Managet Charlene Matthys — Gieullon Supers athe a for ariea Fa ! Phone (604) 638-7283 Fax (604) 638-8432 3 Le talents. Serving the Terrace area. Published on Wednesday of each week by Cariboo Press (1989) Ltd. al 4647 Lazolle Ave. Terrace, British Columbia. af lo a Stories, photographs, IHustrations, designs and typastyles fn the Terrace Standard are (ha property of the copyright holdais, Including Cazibaa Press (1969) Ltd., its it Prod uction Manager: ® vey *CNA > gh Wustration repra services and adivartising agencies, a epeoduction in whole or In part, without written permission, is specitleally protblied. Edouard Gredgeur Authorized as second-class mall pending the Post Ctice Department, fo paymant of postags in cash. Cech EDITORIAL, Unhealthy situation Barely.-one..'year since Mills Memorial Hospital faced -.and defeated - layoffs and bed closures, the ‘same thing is happening again, Just as was the case last year, the issue is not enough money to do the kind of work expected at the hospital. The diagnosis this time is more serious. and the prescription more painful. In 1991, the hospital’s forecasted deficit was just under $230,000, The main reason was that while the hospital acted as a regional centre for a large part of the north- west, the provincial government didn’t recognize its role and consequently didn’t provide enough money. That deficiency was recognized in a report prepared by a consultant and the ex- tra dollars were provided for last year’s budget. The hospital was also told to. tighten up its. spending and to take ad- vantage of more revenue producing op- portunities. . This time around things are a bit dif- ferent. The province is not only being sticky so far about considering that extra money as part of the hospital’s regular budget but have given it no extra money for the new budget year. That means the hospital has to absorb in- flationary increases and costs of new TaRipuy gohetA cts" AS" things stad ‘How, the projected deficit, is ‘at least $500,000. Add in the money expected from that consul- lant’s report and money expected for the hospital’s diabetic teaching clinic and the deficit rises to $716,000.. , Since hospitals cannot mun deficits, there ‘will have to be cuts to balance the budget. Last year’s budget crisis was averted by a massive petition signed by city and north. west residents. That forced the provincial . government into hiring the consultant. _ Now one doctor is suggesting the same thing is needed again. In a letter released last week, Dr. Jim. Dunfield outlined three _ options, The first two - to continue on as before or to balance the budget - were dis- missed as unworkable. = Dr, Dunfield makes a strong case in call- ing for political pressure. It seems that all hospitals north of Kamloops are being hit with a zero per cent budget increase, But the province is saying that hospital budgets went up 5.5 per cent this year. That’s be- cause those hospitals in the Vancouver area, in the Okanagan and in the Fraser Valley are getting increases from 6 to 8 per cent. The result.is the impression that northern residents are second class citizens. Dr. Dunfield repeats the arguments of last year in pointing out that Mills acts as a regional hospital, servicing a far flung northwestern population. The "proposed budget does not allow Mills Memorial Hospital to operate as a community hospi- tal without serious debt, much less as a growing regional referral centre,’’ he says. Of course Dr. Dunfield is correct in his” Statements. Skeena MLA Helmut Gies-’ brecht and health minister Elizabeth Cull deserve a phone call or a letter. But these kinds of things need the proper foundation. The hospital should release consultant Malcolm Walker’s report of last ‘year. That, ‘combined’ with “in ‘update on ‘how the. hospital has -made progress in saving money. and generating new revenues, will help its cause. . At the same time, the provincial govern- ment should be doing more talking about what it is going to do about the recent royal commission on health care and spending. That report suggested several items of specific interest to the northwest. _If there is to be a new regime of health care spending in the province, there should also be a new regime of how that money will be spent. Hurry up and wait In the $0 years since my Uncle Everal got out. of the RCAF, Canada’s armed forces haven't changed, ‘‘Hurry up and wait” is still routine. “If it makes sense, don’t do it” is a guiding Jule, Like government, the armed forces are quick to cream off Through Bifocals | by Claudette Sandecki ji their share of a person’s earn- ings. But ‘when it comes: to refunding, | they’re-, paralyzed, . Administrative headquarters .in Ottawa could use a- laxative mixed from equal parts of prune juice, WD40 and dynamite. oO From the moment a young man joins the Navy,’ pension deductions are skimmed from his pay. Years later, if he opts to leave the service, he must peti- tion his commanding officer for permission, then wait six mon- ths to be released. - You'd think with six months’ notice. Ottawa could “calculate - the amount-of pension funds to. be paid back, and have a cheque for the full amount: ready to hand him when he turns in his Navy gear, But no. Despite a nationwide com- puter service to cope with all bookkeeping details, Ottawa needs ten months to process his refund cheque. Nine, if they're forced to rush. One. clerk told me, ‘We could do it faster. with pencil and paper.” Anyone who has served five. years in our armed forces can expect his pension refund ta be about $5,000, Before taxes: A lidy sum, good for moving’ ex-' penses or to span the gap bet- ween military and civilian employment, Without the re- fund, he has to draw unemploy- ment benefits. But what’s more typically “Civvie’’ than collecting UIC and worrying about unpaid bills? ‘As with other government delays, we can do little about it. There’s one 800 phone number for all of Canada, making ‘it well nigh impossible to reach Ottawa unless you camp beside the phone with thermos, sleep- ing bag, and Porta Patti. ‘Chances are if you do manage to dial your way to a live voice, all you'll get is a promise to return your call, oe ’ That's what my son-in-law gol — at 7 o’clock in the morn- ‘ing, Trust Ottawa to. ignore B.C.’s three hour time dif- ference. Then Ottawa refused to take his new mailing address over the phone, insisting of fax or mail, because “he might not be who he said he was’’, « - Why not. seek help from a member of parliament, you ask? Hal Anyone who. trots ‘along to.a convention held in a ‘hotel that charges $500 a night for bed and bath isn't likely to recognize this as an urgent pro- blem. Knowing that the navy still stocks its holds with six weeks’ supplies by passing cartons from man to man like Bangladeshi building: a brick school, 1 picture an ad- ministrative drudge in Ottawa shooting the beads on her abacus, and praying for warmer weather so she can shuck her shoes for sandals and speed up her accounting, . _ In’ the meantime, newly released armed forces personnel suffer a liquidity crisis of Olym- pia and York proportions, Too bad Aggravation isn’t an income tax deduction. Hey! WHAT THE HELL YOU Donic ALIN MY CARI! MAK a LOGS), BD Bs me ry y PA) ¢ \ poy ape wit Wy So Wy so = BS Sa SS = ~ WW EWS ~S LHS ~ SISOS Sos Seah We must continue ‘the great effort | VICTORIA — Would someone please tell me why Canada is so hell-bent on self- destruction? Ninety per cent of the world’s population would glad- ly trade places with us. They would crawl over miles of broken glass for a chance to live in Canada, while we ponder the possibility of the wountry’s demise. (0.400001 ite A recent United Nations - report cancluded that Canada was the best country in which to live, ] believe it, So, I ven- ture to say, do most im- migrants. Ask some of the Vietnamese boat people-who found refuge in Canada where they would rather live. Ask former Hong Kong residents who were lucky enought to get out of the Crown colony before it reverts ‘to China whether they would rather go back. Ask the refugees from Sri Lanka and Haiti, the former Soviet Union and Chile, ask anyone who escaped oppres- sion and found a new home in Canada what they think of this country, Hell, ask me and V’ll tell you there’s no place like Canada. No, I didn’t come here to escape oppression. In fact, | was rather well off, working for my dad’s construction company. I came to Canada from Germany in 1957, plann- ing to stay for a couple of years. | was yuoung and wanted to see the world, ill never forget the fecting of excitement and elation as I stood on deck of the Castel Felice, an Italian passenger © liner that had broght me and about a thousand other Euro- pean immigrants across the Atlantic, and watched the shores of the St. Lawrence gently roll past. The new world was in sight, and with a little luck and determination, I would make it my oyster, -. Weil, ] didn't go back after two years. I had fallen in lave with Canada, and there was no. way | would ever want to live in Europe again. FURNING TT's TRUE OFF YouR SAW? KHEADLIGUTS 77 \_ HIM I! From the Capital by Hubert Beyer Let-me tell you of:some of the. things that: madeimed pase" sionate Canadian, and I’m not talking about narrow patriotism, but a feeling of be- ing in a most wondrous place. I’m talking about driving a lonely Manitoba prairie road on a winter’s afternoon with sun dogs in the sky, I’m talk- ing about a thousand lakes one. couldn’t begin to explore in northern Ontario, I’m talking abou the awesome beauty of the Rocky Mountains and the misty twilight of a west coast sunrise. But [’m also talking about the great experiment in nation- building that is Canada, Where else in the world can a multitude of ethnic groups celebrate their differences while still belonging to a cohesive whole? Canada has never asked her people to sacrifice their heritage on the altar of na- tionalism. Rather than turning the country into a melting pot -of cultural and ethnic homogeneity, Canada is built on the premise that men and. women of different race, origin, culture and custom can live together peacefully and thrive as a nation, ILis without a doubt the most ambitious concept of nation-building in modern history. We could be a model to the world. What wouldn't moderate people in the former Soviet Union, in what used to . be Yugoslavia, in Afghanistan and other-strife-torn and tor- tured places give to find the kind of accommodation that. has made Canada the peaceful mosaic of nations it is? And yet, when we seem ta have it all, we find ourselves on a new and dangerous path ot saNie D . BORN AGAIN? NEW AGE? HARI KRISNA? iofdissent.that could lead tot. 11 / (Nope! Justa (NORTHERNER! the.breakup of the country:r's Unless we find a solution ta =. the so called constitutional :. ° crisis, we could destroy © =: — everything that has been’ achieved in the past 124 years, While Ottawa and the 10 provinces squabble over who should have what powers, .the country itself. threatens to fall: apart. But let’s be specific, it’s not the public that is tearing at the country’s fabric, it’s the ~ politicians. oF | hazard a guess that most | Canadians would rather live, with a senate that's not elected, equal and effective that see the country go down | the tube. Same goes. for vetoes Quebec may or may not have. I know I’m espousing a rather simplistic view of what we have come to believe is a - very complicated question, but I’m firmly convinced that most Canadians share my sentiments and would be quite. willing to live with a somewhat flawed, even inequitable constitution _ rather than allow Canada to be fragmented, : I For one have no intention of living anywhere else, cer-' tainly not under the Stars and Stripes. There is little in the United States that appeals to me, but there’s a whole lot in Canada I’m willing to make - sacrifices and allowances for.’ Let’s remind our politicians.’ . that there is more-at stake than’ powers and jurisdiction, Let’s give them firm instructions to draw on what Canada is. famous for — her capacity. for- compromise... - 7 - Let’s not allow the most no- ble and, so far, sticcessful ex-. periment in nation-building to end up.on the scrap heap of - | -balkanization, §a-9 } WELL! THAT EXPLAINS EVERYTHinG!!