Ad - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, August 25, 1999 TERRACE STANDARD ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988 PUBLISHER: ROD LINK ADDRESS: 3210 Clinton Strect Terrace, B.C. * V8G 5R2 _ TELEPHONE: (250) 638-7283 * FAX: (250) 638-8432 EMAIL: standard@kermode. net Turbulence PLANES continue to take off and land as usual at the airports of the northwest. But don’t be fooled — there’s chaos on the horizon. And it’s already started to unfold. The federally forced transfer of the Terrace-: Kitimat airport and Prince Rupert airport to local municipalities or societies has coincided with a, tidal wave of uncertainty. First the ink was barely dried on the transfer agreement here this spring when word had come the feds might renege on their promise that small ” airports wouldn’t have to take on the expensive job of providing airport firefighting service. | Next came a shake-up of the way the airports: charge the airlines landing fees. It now costs a bit. more than before to fly out of the Terrace airport, and even more to fly out of Prince Rupert. About the same time Air B.C, pulled out of Prince Rupert and downgraded its jet service in- Terrace, citing lack of passengers in both cases. ' Now comes word Canadian Airlines remains mired in financial difficulties. Normal rules of competition have been lifted to allow it and rival Air Canada to talk about possibilities that could range as far as merger. It is hard to imagine how a failure of Canadian or a merger of the two national airlines could result in anything other than even higher air tick- et prices for northwesterners. At least somewhat affordable air travel is essen- tial to the quality of life of northerners and’ people in more remote communities across the country. It’s a key to business, industry, tourism, health service, and the ability to retain seniors and professionals. . It was Ottawa that deregulated the airline indus- try. And it was Ottawa that dumped responsibili- , ty for the smaller airports." The federal government must now be held responsible for what is happening to the viability of air travel service outside the country’s most travelled and most lucrative routes. Shameful THE PROVINCIAL government’s credibility in dealing honourably with the forest industry has been hammered by the recent B.C. Supreme 4 Court decision involving Prince George-based Carrier Lumber. In essence, thie province yanked the company’s licence to log in the Cariboo to appease demands of a local native band. Rather than negotiate compensation, forests ministry staff bobbed and weaved, covered up and essentially lied in court, Justice Glen Parrett found. The result could be a $150 million bill. This schmozzle is not the way to create con- fidence in B.C. in the forest industry and stabi- lize resource communities. The government must come clean on who in government decided this course of action. Ironically, the court’s decision could actually lead to improved security for both licence holders and even smaller logging contractors na-' tive treaty negotiations advance. Nee NEWSPAPERS COMPETITION Vesela beatae PUBLISHER/EDITOR: Rod Link ADVERTISING MANAGER: Brian Lindenbach PRODUCTION MANAGER: Edouard Credgeur NEWS Jeff Nagel * NEWS/SPORTS: Christiana Wiens NEWS/COMMUNITY: Alex Hamilton FRONT OFFICE: Darlene Keeping CIRCULATION SUPERVISOR: Carole Kirkaldy ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS: Sam Bedford, Bunnic Cote, Mark Beaupre TELEMARKETER: Tabatha Orange DARKROOM/COMPOSING: Susan Credgeur AD ASSISTANT: Julie Davidson, Andrea Malo SUBSCRIPTION RATES BY MAIL: $57.30 per year; Seniors $50.75s Out of Province $64.39 Outside of Canada (6 months) $158.25 (ALL PRICES INCLUDE GST) MEMBER OF B.C, AND YUKON COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCLATION, CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION Ye | AND G@ CN terecivcerr B.C. PRESS COUNCIL. i Serving tha Terrace and Thomhil! arga. Published on Wednesday of each week al 3210 Clinton Streat, Terrace, British Columbia, VBQ SR2. Stores, photographs, illestrations, designs and typestyles in the Terrace Standard ae the property of the Copyright holders, Including Cariboo Press (1969) Lid,, its itustraion repro services and advettishg Réproducon in whe o pa, wihout writen persion, Is spectioa ed. Authorized m3 necand-doah ml ponding the Pest Ofice Deperont fo saya of postage incash. Spectal thanks to all our contributors and correspondents for thelr time and talents ALL YOUR PAPERS ARE IN PERFECT ORDER WHICH AUTOMATICLY DISQUALIFIES YOU FOR FREE MEALS, FREE LPSING tpt FREE LEGAL HELP, E TRANSPORTATION, FREE MEDICALS, FREE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FREE..... Time to find Carrier culprits | VICTORIA — When the government becomes involved in a law suit, govern- ment lawyers will defend the Crown’s side. That’s as it should be. But the Atiorney General also has the duty to make sure that his government acts in accordance with the law. And that isn’t always the case. In the case of Carrier Lum- ber, which had sued the B.C, government for having can- celled a timber licence, gov- emment lawyers quite prop- eily defended the Ministry of Forests, But in spite of their best efforts, Supreme Court Justice Glenn Parrett found in favor of Carrier Lumber and ordered the government to pay Gould reach'$130 million. "Had the'casé only involved legitimate government poli- cies having hurt a company, Altorney General Ujjal Dosanjh’s role in the drama would be over. But the case involved anything but legiti- mate policies. Describing B.C. govern- ment officials as arrogant, deceitful, duplicitous and unethical, B.C.. Supreme Court Justice Glenn Parrett painted a picture of a govern- . Ment that sacrificed the inter- The word |love to hate YEARS AGO in a Read- ers’ Digest joke a grand- mother lecturitg her young grandson said, “There are two words I wish you wouldn’t use. One is Swell; the other is yucky.” “Okay, Grandma,” said the lad. “What are the other two words?” I'd add a third word to Grandma”s list never-to-be spoken expressions — icon. Almost daily, whether it’s listening to TV or radio, or teading a newspaper, some- one in the news is referred to as an icon. Stompin’ Tom Connors and Gordon Lightfoot are held up as icons in Canadian music. Robertson Davies. and W.O, Mitchell made it as icons of literature, Barbara Frum in TV media, All are icons, according to news media. Webster defines ‘icon as “an object of uncritical devo- tion.” You'd think that defini- tions would surely weed out ests of a good corporation to make peace with two native bands. Then it tried to cover it up. Carrier had been given a 10-year, five-million-cubic- metre licence in 1983 to har- the company damages.,thal,.., Mest .a,,pine beetle-infested area 200: kilometres west of Williams Lake. All went well until the licence was cancelled in 1993, Behind the cancellation of Carrier’s licence was a promise by former premier Mike Harcourt at 108 Mile House in 1992 to native lead- ers that Carrier wouldn’t be allowed to log in their tradi- tional territories without the nalives’ consent. Also at the meeting were then forests minister Dan Miller and David Zirnhelt, THROUGH BIFOCALS | CLAUDETTE SANDECKI YIPPEE!! L LOVE LOGGING | THEY LEAVE THE TOPS ee WITH CONES RIGHT ON THE eg CROWD Just FOR Me !! politicians. But no. Only last week, announc- ing the death of former Mon- treal mayor Jean Drapeau, a CBC Newscaster spoke of him as an icon. An icon of what? Massive cost overruns? Grandiose plans? Undoubtedly Dra- peau’s mayoralty achieve- ments were many and monu- YES /BUT WITH MODERN Eco - SYSTEM BASED METHODS LOGGING MUST SIMULATE NATURAL PROCESSES LIKE FOREST FIRES... who holds that portfolio now. And he wasn’t there for no reason. Zirnhelt worked as a private consultant to one of the Indian bands who later benefitted from the Carrier Lumber licence cancellation. Among those bands was the Ulkatcho of Anaheim Lake. Zirnhelt said he worked for the Carrier Chilcotin tribal council, which includes the Ulkatcho band, prior to becoming an MLA. “It was mostly on land-use issues and some forestry,” said Zirnhelt. “I worked with the tribal council that served the Ulkatcho, yes.” Harcourt’s promise that Carrier wouldn’t be allowed to log on the natives’ tradi- tional lands left the forests ministry in a bind. But instead of urging the government to compensate Carrier, they went into damage-control mede, spinning a web of deceit, forg- ing some documents, hiding others, in an attempt to make it look as if Carrier had defaulted on its obligations, It is possible, perhaps even likely, that ministry bureau- crats acted on the direct or implied orders of their politi- cal masters, And while it is the duty of public servants to implement orders, that duty mental. He weighed taxpayers — both provincial and federal — with three decades of debt for the Big O stadium that still, from time to time, drop ice- bergs through its fabric roof or concrete slabs from its facade, He put Montreal on the world map, building a super subway system; luring the Montreal Expos baseball team to his city; and inviting every- ‘one to his doorstep for Expo 67 and the 1986 Summer Olympics, Do those accomplishments qualify Drapeau as a bona fide icon? Surely he suffered criti- cism, if only from envy. Icon-makes me envision a ‘Budhha-shaped figure of cold marble, with glittering ruby eyes, decked out in flowing saffron robes, sitting cross- legged, feet in clunky leather sandals. My image may hark back to a Stewart Granger movie, does not and should not” extend to unlawful and uneth- ° ical orders, The excuse of “I just, obeyed orders” holds no more , water now than it did at the, Nuremburg trials. Justice Par- rett left little doubt where he - stands on the issue: “When public servants ~ choose to embark on such conduct, utilizing the powers they hold to cause damage to ~ others and to cover their own | actions, they must understand, ” clearly and unequivocally that they will be held accountable for such abuse,” he said in his tuling. © Tt seems to me that it is the duty of the attorney general to act on the Justice Parrett’s words. As the chief law enforcement officer of this province, he should immedi- ately set the wheels in motion to hold the culprits to account, just as it was his duty before - to defend the officials involved against the yet : unproven allegations. mn And yes, if the orders, direct or implied, came from | the minister, he, too, should b held to account. — Dosanjh is always eager to | present the image of a man © who is tough on crime. This is = his chance to prove it. Eyl: set in an underground cavern ~ lit by burning torches in a Far ~ Bast location where a hanky ~ was ample clothing to meet the climate. In recent years, any better known individual is likely to be labelled an icon. They have only to die to be conferred with the title. ” I don’t recall hearing the ~ word applied so indiscrimi- *' nately ten or fifteen years ago, ~’ Now, it's spoken everyday, especially by news media ~ fond of facile phrases that - come readily to mind. Computerese may be the ~ root of this phenomenon. | Everyone who has dealt with ~ a computer whether at an ™ employment center or some ”. other public access has met ”: the icon, that graphic symbol ™ that helps us figure out which part of the screen to touch to make words appear, - Return icon to the knick ~ knack sheif or the computer Screen.