meebeti ev adthitabid

PAGE 2, THE HERALD, Thursday, January"26, 1978

EDITORIAL

The View From Here

To watch history in the making is one of the
major rewards for working on a daily
newspaper whether employed in the role of
reporter-or editor, or-as is sometimes the case
of the very small daily-serving in both
capacities.

For inis editor-reporter this week has been
filled with more than the usual such rewards. As
this is written (Wednesday, noon) the teletype is
still clacking out momentary changes in the
deleoping Oak Lake story of a murder with three
hostage still in his possession, keeping himself
awake by popping amphetamines. Having Jived
in Oak Lake for two year, and well acquainted
with two of the three hostages, 24 years ago, as
well as knowing the occupants of the house in
which “Cliff' first broke into (Mr. & Mrs, Lloyd
Hatch)-the unfolding drama appear all the more
real to me.

While this is going on, there is yet another
scenario of equally dramatic impact-like a
Science Fiction production unfolding in the
Great Slave area of the Northwest Territories,
Having lived in Yellowknife first as a relief news
reporter for the CBC station there (1969) then
later as Staff Officer for the NWT Centennial
celebrations- such reports comingin from that
capital city, Fort Providence, Hay River,
Simpson, Snowdrift-etc. makes eac news release
that comes over the Canandian Press wire seem
all the more dramatic.

There are some interesting similiarities-and
even more interesting differences, however in
the two unfolding stories.

The Russian Satellite, burning itself up in a
thousand ‘fiery embers while all the world
watehes, wondering fearfully, over the
disposition of the 100m pounds of radioactive
cargo aboard is a national and international and
even a-global epic. The murder and hostage-
taking ; ama a southern Manltoba’s Oak Lake

age (pop.300)-is as local a story as “Mary-
Hartman. Mary Hartman. It is human tragedy
in a rural village crammed full of elements that
capture the hearts and human interest of every
man, woman and child able to watch a T.V. set,
read a newspaper, or turn on a transistor radio.

There is also one quality each of the two has in
common. The fascination and appeal to the
interest of the average person in both cases is
sufficient to warrant a full length movie, play,
novel or television production.

Time and again, one wonders why it is that
novel or television production. - .
are “American” based (meaning United States

.. based) ;or European or even Oriental. Noris this: -
' arareinstance. From the beginning of Canada's |

recorded history hardly a year has transpired in
which highly colourful and genuinely exciting
events have not taken place. Usually, however,
the have gone by dully recorded but generally

unnoticed.

So it is, that I find myself wondering ,““What
was in U.S. Vice President Mondales mind as he
skated on the Rideau Canal with Skeena M.P.
and cabinet minister Iona Campagnolo, knowing
(surely he must have known all along) what:
Presient Jimmy Carter and hundreds of top U.S.
officials knew-that almost before the week was
out a mysterious, nuclear powered out-of-contrl
satellite was even then heading towards an
explosive landing in the Canadian North passing
en route through Mrs. Campagnolo’s con-
stituency. .
Had there then occurred-what quite a few top
US. officials feared would happen-much of the
talks regarding to be rlegated to the background
in view of a far greater, national emergency than
a future energy shortage.

And down in “sleepy” little Oak Lake, the
villagers are continuing to suffer sleeples ts.
nificant th it may seem-that little
community had made its mark in Canadian-and
World history. It was the result of the explosion
y spontaneous combustion of one of its grain
elevators-over a a half centruy ago, that an alert
young man noticed the blast had produced no
cloud of black smoke,-and out of his questioning
and research was developed the first smokeless
gunpowder. Prior to this invention, whenever a
soldier fired his musket in battle a tell-tale curl
of black smoke followed which gave away his
position to the enemy. Another by-product of
iseaed the world’s greatest statesmen-Maurice

One summer evening, over two decades ago, I
sat at the feet of Clarence Heapy who then had
been the Oak Lane High Schoo! principal for 25
years and heard him reel off, one-by-one, more

than a score of graduates wh
sepesa ey veri oretnetes Who bad become

Canandian life, after leaving that village. Even

. then, also that tiny community had had ‘its:
then y ty

of mysteries, including at least one
suspected bloody murder,

e news is an everchaging kaleidoscope
which the media attempts to bring to the eyes of
the world, that all may see and know the
richness, the heights and depths of behaviour
among the humanity that peoples its surface.

: We too, of the Herald hope to have a part -
: however small, in that: process.

ome yl]

Ottawa
Offbeat

Ottawa- In Bruce
Powe’s “Killing

Ground,” written 10 year
ago, nine before Premier
Rene Levesque's

separatists took over
Quebec, the Canandian
civila war had gone badly
for the federal govern-

ment.

The English had been
swept in panic and death
for many from Montreal

‘Island. The city itself,

Dorval airport, and
St.Hubert,nearby base of
the Cariandian Armed
Forces, had been taken.

The separatists,
triumphant in the
opening stages of the
way, not only had full
control of all of Quebec,
but had struck across the
Ottawa River in a raid on
National Defence
: had shut down the
St. Lawrence Seaway,
and had brought in
Chinese and Soviet
“advisors” together with
material support.

Prophetic?

Everthing is in place
now-just as it was
whenBruce Powe sat
down to his typewriter in
1968 to write “Killing
Ground’, now out again
on the paperboack book
stands-everything —ex-
cept a unilateral
declaration of Quebec
independence and
whatever might follow.

But back to the action
in this third and final
epidsode of well, what is
it--a news-style review of
a bock of what could be
worrisome contemporary
history to come.

In Ottawa, the doves
are still in control of what
has been a weak and
vacillating federal
government,incapable of
any real retaliatory
action despite the risin
tide of public fury an

ressure from across

glish Cananda.

In Quebec  City,the
hawks of the provisional

_ Independent Government-

sare riding high. :Victory:
seems theirs. _-

Not only kas Ottawa
been timid in countering
the separatist govern-
ment ,wishing as it ex-
lains, to spill as litile

ood as possible so that
later the national wounds
may heal al) that more
eas: yi but had been all
but hel

pers in striking
back,

The do-gooders and
doves of the federal
government had over-
commited the Armed
Forces to the United
Nations
around the world, an
here at home little of the-
military was available,

_ind

peace-keeping’

Worse, the appeasers in
Ottawa,not only talked of
“negotiating with. the
victorious separatist, but
refused to bring home the
troops from UN
assignments, abroad for
fear that world would
read this as a recognition
of Quebec strength and
Canandian weakness.
But not,

EnglishCarfandian
ublic, the Ottawa doves

under the a
backiash of a furious ¢%

ad turned = chickeén- - .S

hawks and agreed to an
airborne strike against
Quebec City and its
Citadel owhere the
separatist government
was meeti with its
Soviet an Chinese
**advisors."

It was a small force.

Aspan of CF’-5’s, jets to
beat up whatever
defences there were of
the Citadel and plaster
the nearby Armed Forces
base at Valcartier.

A pair of single rotor
gun platforms, Bell
205’sto batter the jet-
blasted battlements of th

Citadel.
Some 20 CH-113’s
choppers to put down

troops on the deck of the
Citadel after the jets and
gun platforms had
pounded it and to reoc-

.cupy Valcartier.

d a covey of L-19
spotter planes to keep an
eve peeled, high in the
skv for the unexpected.

Watches synched, in
they went, first the jets,
then the gun platforms,
and the choppers fromthe
various points of
assembly some 100 or so
miles from Quebec City.

The choppers and gun.
‘platforms

it first.

Up through camouflage
on the deck on the Citadel
poked the snouts of 29

millimetre rapid fire

anti-aircraft guns just as
the choppers were put-

fing. down...»

sia. massacre...

They :wdre waiting for
us,” cried the strike force
commander. They were

And there at that point,

with the separatists in Pee

control of quebec on Iand-
blocking the Seaway,
roads and rail links - but
Ottawa still supreme in
the air above the new
independent French
“nation”, the federal
government called off all
military action.

But it wasn’t over. To
gape at the shock oF the
8 se ending, pick up
“Kling Ground”,

You could be reading
about the day after
tomorrow.

Setieed, Ser aati 2)

“My insurance company? Sun Life, why

Letters to Editor

To the editor:

Richmond B. C, will be
celebrating its Centenial
in 1979 and we are hoping
ta locate former
residents, or their
relatives, who may Have
any information (verbal,
written or photographic)
about events in our first
century. We do not want

irreplacalbe materials;
sent to us at this point,
but may wish to duplicate

hotos or documents -
Included in Rich- |

ater,
mond are the areas of
Bridgehouse, Burkeville,
Eburne, Lulu Island, Sea
island and Sivestm,
any reader can
us, either by sharing ther
memories or by helping
us get in touch wit!
others who may have
personal knowledge of
ple, places, events or
Just general information,
we appreciate
hearing from
the...
Please write or phone-
Mr, Ted M. Younghe
Richmond "79 Cen

Society,
302-4411 Buswell Street

Richmond, B.C. Vé¥ 2G5
(604) 270-2100,

ted i T Younyberg

Chi an .
Historical Committee.

New RCMP Building For Terrace?

VICTORIA (CP) —A
new %.6° = million
telecommunications
network designed to give
British Columbia's In:
terior aroundthe-clock
access to the RCMP was
unveiled today by At-
torneyGenerat Garde
Gardom.

Gardom said in a news
release the Interior B.C.
Communications System
is the second step of a
two-part reorganization

of the entire RCMP com- —

munications system.

He said the intitial
stage now operates in the
Vancouver area and
completion of the whole

am is expected in
ior

The new system, which
js to replace the present
Zenith calling system,
enable officers who
currently staff telephones
to become more available
for active investigation
and patrol utles,
Williams said.

Under the system,
every B.C. community
outside of the Vancouver
area will have toll-free
access to one of 10 centres
to be staffed 24 hours a
day by speclally-trained
personnel with direct
radio contact to police
patrols and resources.
FEW FULLY COVERED

Of the 112 RCMP of-
fives in B.C., only 20 now
are staffed on a 24-hour
basis.

Ifa caller now is unable
to make contact with his
Jocal detachment, he

must hang up and call the ©

toll-free Zenith number of
a nearby attachment.

“The maximum calling
delay will ba 10 seconds
average for rural
operations and five see-
onds in municipal areas,”
he said.

Funding of the system
‘will be shared among the

three levels of govern- -

ment with federal con-
tribution of $2,199,608, the

be at Cal

George, Dawson Creek
and errace.

centres will

Interior News
The Editor
Dear Sir:

Your misconception or
interpretation of ‘news’
has left me somewhat
embarrassed for your
newsmen. I am, of
course, referring to the
lack of coverage and
attention to the Carrier
Days in Smithers,
December 16, 17, 18 and
19th.
This was a breathrough
for the Carrier people,
which portrayed the
Native in a most positive
community effort.

For “many years, the

Native people, Canada’s .

first’ le,‘ haye- been
shown in negative and

: stereotyped fashion. We

felt that Carrier Days
was probably the single
most important hap-

pening in is community
ior many years.”
Our judgement was

fortified by CFIK TV
(from Terrace) who sent
personnel to cover the
new | Friendshl Center
opening, the feast an
traditional dancing at the
Senior Secondary School
and even the staff an
crew to the Moricetown
Hall for the Elders’
Gathering.

Smithers' Mayor, Fred
Shortreld and his wife
attended all these fune-
tions as well. We realize
that your reporter was

esent and did his job,

ut we wonder why we
didn’t make your
ublication of the Interior
WS ON December 21,
1977.

We await. an

planation from you.

@X-

Happy New Year
TE reg LaFitte
C.AS.N.LP,

.:this bronze medalion, with the inepription reading "The Joy Of Effort’ was
presented to Alcan workers in Kitamat by Skeena MP Iona Campagnola earlier
this month. This uniqu gift was in recognition of the Alcan fitness program which
offers employees various sports activities held around Kitamat facilities such as
school gymnasiums and the swimming pool. Over 200 workers are enrolled in
hageqeSckvy,ess programs, making this possibly the largest industrial fitness
program in Canada. The medallion was designed by the late Dr. Robert Tait

McKenzie.

Sa Mat Et

oy

This Week —
From Ottawa
Iona Campagnolo

FEDERAL PROGRAM
AMENDMENTS
PROTECT SPOUSE

As of January 1, a
number of ademdments
sCanada Pension Plan
haye come into force.
The most significant of
the CPP amendments is
provisions allowin
CPPpension cr
earned by a husband and
wife d ing

marriage to
be divid

ensurese that an asset

accumulated through the -

efforts of both spousees
while they were married
can be shared equally by
both when the marriage
is dissolved. It also
means that souses who
worked in the home and
therefore did ‘not con-
tribute directly to the
CPP will be protected by
the Plan for retirement
and may also be entitled
to disabled and ser-
visorship coverage.

COVERS LAST 12
YEARS -

The split of pension
credits would cover all
ears of a marriage after

e inception of the CPP
in 1964, up to hze year the
spouses” ceased to
cohabit, However, the
spouses have to have
ved together for a least

‘three consecutive years

during the marrlage, and
application for the
division of pension
credits will have to be
made withing three years
of marriage dissolution.
Please not that the
provision applies only to
marriages dissolved on
or after January Ist.1978.

lam pleased to see this
legislation taking efect
for many Canandians,
particulary women have
expressed concern for
this provieion for several

ai te

years.
coastal transportation
improved : ‘

With the aid-of an $3
million federal subsidy to
coastal transportation, I
am pleased to see the
BRITISH Columiba

Ferries Corporation has
announced an economical
vehicle transport service
an

between Masset

OLD AGE SECURITY
PAYMENTS RISE

Increases in the OK
Age Security Pension,
Guaranteed Income

Supplement and Spouse's _

owance have gone into
effect this month, The

new monthly: total at the .

Single rate for
receiving both
Age Security pension and
maximum uaranteed
Income Supplement will
be $261.06, |

For a married couple,
both pensioners, the
combination of the basic
Pension and maximum
supplement will provide a
payment of $408.00. for

@ couple monthly,

The basic Old Age
Security pension rises
this month to $153,44 from
the present $150.43.

In other areas, the
maximum: Guaranteed

‘80NS
e Old

- Income Supplement for a

single person, or a
married person whose
spouse is not a pensioner
and is not receiving a
SPOUSE'S Allowance,
will go up to $107.62 from
the current $105.51,

_For further —im-
‘Ormation on. these or
other programmes please
‘ontact me, ‘care of the
douse of Commons,
dtlawa K1A 0X2. No
ostage Is required,

TERRACE]

daily herald

General Office . 435.4357
Circulation - 695.6987

PUBLISHER... Bon Cromack
MANAGING EDITOR... Ernast Senior

Fublished every weekday at 2212 Kaium St. Terrace,

8.C. A member of Varified Circulation, Authorized as:
second clasamall. Registration number 1201, Postage.
pald In cash, return postage guarantesd. *

NOTE OF COPYRIGHT. ‘

The Herald retaina full, complete and sole copyright
in any advertisement produced and-or any editorial or
Photographic content published In the Herald.
Repreduciton Is not permitted without: the written:
permission of the Pubilsher. 7

Published by
Sterling Publishers

i