Jim Fulton - TERRACE -—— MP Jim Fulton’s announcement Friday that he will not run again leaves Skeena wide open to challengers in the next federal election. . Fulton ‘held the scat’ for 14 years, winning ‘the last- federal: election in-1988 with more than "50 per cent of the popular vote. ~~ Reform “Party, candidate Mike - “Scott claims Fulton’s decision to » bow out “now “makes him’ the frontrunner. “So far. only Mary McKenna- |= “Wilson, of New- Hazelton, has ‘declared -her intention.to run for the Liberal nomination. Odd Bidsvik, the Liberal party’s ' candidate. in Skeena in 1988, predicts ‘more: potential candi- dates will come out of the wood- * You'll find comments from colleagues and co-workers of Jim Fulton on Page AS. * Also on Page AS are a couple of colourful quotes and stories Jrom and about the man described as a ‘hugey bear’. work on hearing word of Fulton’ 5 withdrawal from politics. “T think you'll find several can-. _ didates running by ‘the nomina- tion date,’? Eidsvik said. --He- said he -virtually rules: out: - throwing his own hat into the ring. “Twas astonished when I heard,” Eidsvik added, ‘‘This changes everything. It could be a very interesting election in this riding ” _ > Prince Rupert - mayor Poler . Lester, who also announced he will not run again after.36 years in power, reacted with delight. “That’s good,’? Lester said. “I never thought too f---ing much of him.’’ Scott said he believes Fulton knew this campaign would not be as easy as previous elections. ‘He knows he’s beticr off not to fight this election,’ Scott said, “He knows thal he’s in irouble.’” In Fulton’s years as MP here he has alicnated many. constituents, Scoail added. a “There are a ‘a lot of people out there who are just sick and tired - of ‘politics as usual,’? he said. — “Mr. Fulton is considered part of the old guard, He's. considered part of that establishment.”” **He was campaigning here last “year “trying to ~ pursuade- people; that the ‘Yes’ side of Ihe constitu- tional matter was the way Cana- dians should go. Yet clearly 70 per cent of British Columbians wouldn't support the accord.’’ Scott called it a “‘great day for : dusirics, ae it could be a real race now our riding’ ani. said. Fulton’s departire. is particularly “good news for ‘northweslerners,. who depend-on the region’s Tesource industries.’ “Mr, Fulton has been opposed to virtually all’ projects that- bring jobs: prosperity and wealth to our “region,” ’.-he® said. .°*Mr° Fulton presided: over 14 years of a downward spiral i in this area, par- ticularly’-in -the~ resource -in- “The. Conservative. parly. nomina-_ tion has-been delayed wilh the iast ‘minute announcement’ Sunday. that Temace alderman: Danny Sheridan willrun. 9. He joins Smithers’ Mavric Mon- igomery. New nomination mevtings * willbe in May. ANDREW ECKERT gets helping hand from Sunny hill tow operator Michelle Lynch on Shames Mountain. Recent snowfalls and sunny weather have kicked spring skiing into high gear at the facility located west of town. ‘ Dairyland turfs plans to store PCB stockpile at its Thornhill depot _ TERRACE — Dairyland Foods has shelved its plan to store PCBs in Thornhill in the face of over- whelming public opposition. Dan Wong, spokesman for parent company Dairyworld Foods, said last week the compa- ny is dropping the idea — at least for now. “We have heard what the resi- dents in the Thomhill area have had to say,’? Wong sald. "They've made themselves” very clear.”” He said the company depends ‘on ils customers, adding it must always listen ta them. Wong called the public outcry a - classic case of NIMBY - Not In _My Back Yard —syndrome. - He said he residents’ concems were based on emotions more ‘than facts. “Some of them were legilimate {concems) and some of them were a little bit off the wall,’’ he Feds probe locals TERRACE — The federal government is iearning morc about attitudes to land claims by paying people $35 to take part in what are called focus groups. Terrace is one of six B.C, cilies in which the groups are being - held. Two took place here Mon- . day night. Potential participants were con- tacted by phone and asked a serics of questions before. being invited to the groups. Each group took about an hour and a half. Focus groups are used to determine public attitudes and Police pondering mountain bike patrols TERRACE — Look: closely when you soc. a cyclist on the road later this. spring. ‘The: cyclist. could very. weil be an RCMP. officer. . ‘That's the ° -plan'/of- Inspector Lawrence Yeske who says officers on mountain bikes will boost policing.. “They'll be highly visible and that’s good. ‘They'll also be a deterrent, And the officers will be ° ‘RCMP detachment commanding officer easily accessible: for people to talk to,” he said last week. Officers on mountain bikes can “get to places where. patrol cars cari’t, Yeske added. “There are some “times, espo- cially at night, where they might -even Catch people: in the act of breaking and entering. You may “be able to hear. a°car, but a mountain bike is a different thing altogether,” he said. The inspector said mountain pare eo bike patrols have been used suc- cessfully in cities such as Rich- mond and Surrey. He favours mountain bikes be- cause. they’ll be better able to siand up to. the demands of patrolling. . As in other places, officers will be equipped with helmets - and short pants, They’ll have portable radios clipped to their belts for constant communications with the detach- On the floor SPORTS # BS ment. Yeske is researching the cost of two mountain bikes and associa- ted equipment. He'd like to have the patrols on the road by May. The idea of using mouniain bikes fits the delachment’s prac- tice of taking officers out of their patrol cars wherever possible. Local - residents will noticed, for example, an increase in foot patrols over the past several years, ager, says although the company have said, “But this is a community in which we do business and we can’t ignore those people.”’ Dairyworlé will now __ re- cxamine its options for storing PCBs from its operations around the province. Other sites may be considered, Wong said, as well as the pos- sibility of contracting out storage to owners of already existing sites. He also said: the situation un- derlines the need for a provincial- ly operated hazardous waste dis- posal facility. Terry Roberts, the environment _ minisiry’s regional waste man-. ‘has put its application on‘ hold, it hasn’t entirely abandoned it, But he said the company would be required to notify all residents who wrote letters of protest — and hold a public meeting — If it have proved popular by com- panies marketing different kinds of consumer producls. The focus groups and a public opinion poll conducted late last year were commissioned by the federal Indian affairs department IA). It’s working on ways to better tell people about native issues but first needs to find out how -much people know, says a DIA official working for ils B.C. treaty negoti- ation office. “It’s an extremely complicaled area and people have opinions all over the. map,’’ said Jonalhan Rayner last week of the land claims issue. “We want to know whiat they know, what they don’t know and -want.information to provide so they get-a beller idea of what land ‘claims are,"’ he said. Rayner declined (o list the other cities in which focus groups: ate being held or how much they will cost. But he said that information will. be released: when the new. communications plan- is. unveiled later this year. Bruce Rozenhart of: Roberison Rozenhart, the communications sewer sy em. needed. oN WS + All. ever tries to ressurrect the Thorn. hill PCB storage plan. Environment ministry officials agreed the company’s . plan’ to. store the hazardous wasle was safe and environmentally sound. © ; Roberts called the reaction ‘of residents ‘a lot of hysteria ¢ over “nothing.’”’ “From our perspective it was a non-issue,” he said. ‘The: ‘Con. cems were not valid. concerns,” - Roberts said: it’s likely « the en- vironment ministry would. have: approved the plan if Dairyworld . _ had pressed on. with ils Applica tion. “There were no technical flaws in the proposal,’ he said, “Dairyland initially applied for-a ~ PCB storage permit in Kamloops, Wong. said. But the -company withdrew that applicalion after it discovered a city bylaw. did not” permil establishment of new siles... consultants firm hired’ by: DIA: lo develop the plan, said it's impor- iant that group participants’ ‘don’t know the subject matter. lo be dis- cussed beforehand... ; “Otherwise they might. go. and study up first,”’ said Rozenhart. . He described focus groups as.a- **qualitative way’? to. ‘discover opinions and knowledge of. is- suts. “An épinion poll is very. niuch a snapshol for a quantitative look . _ ata period in time, A focus group looks at the way people: feel,’ said Rozenhart. : : The screening process: for. the » focus groups excluded govern- ment employees. ‘and those who work for news organizations., Rozenhart once worked for Al- can and) has ‘also’ worked for Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. a! i‘ + * This federal venture into public ' -opinions is different from that as- sociated with the talks surround- ing the Nisga’a land claim. ‘A commiltec made up of feder- al, provincial and ‘Nisga’ a repre- sentatives. distributed a booklet last year and produced a scrics of radio commercials.