A16 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, July 21, 1999

Social Credit party reviving
in popularity 1 in this region

REFORM B.C. organizers here are increasingly dis-
enchanted with party leader Bill Vander Zalm.

Northwest regional director Jack Kortmeyer abruptly
resigned after the party’s June 5-6 annual general meeting
and has gone to work for the Social Credit party.

And Reformers in Skeena —- who have so far followed
Kortmeyer’s lead — are wondering what they'll do next.

“You might see a resurgence of Social Credit in
Skeena,’’ says Jim Bell, the secretary-treasurer for the
Reform B.C. Skeena constituency association.

Centralization of Reform B.C. control by Vander Zaim,
financial questions, lack’‘of communication, and the party’s
failure to send $2,000 it owes the local organization are
among the difficullics Bell cited.-

And he said he’s unhappy Vander Zalin is shifting
Reform from an economics-based platform towards social
issues like a controversial pro-life posilion on abortion.

That’san issue guaranteed to alienate large number of
voters, he noled.

“He of anybody should know thal — he’s already been
through it once,’? Bell said, referring to the ex-premier’s
turbulent term in office,

“We'd stili like to be Reformers when ‘it’s all over,’'
Bell said, bul wouldn’t predict what the group will do.

He said local Reformers bave met with focal. Social
Credit organizers.

Another factor that might make Social Credit-an attrac-
tive home for disaffected Reformers is its bank balance.

Socreds here have between $10,000 and $20,000 in their
account left over from past clection campaigns, says con-
slilwency association president Darryl Laurent.

“Social Credit has traditionally been a coalition,”
Laurent said, adding it could easily take ina range of right-
wing views.

He stresses no one is willing to split the right-wing vote
again, but adds Social Credit could be the place for all op-
ponents of the NDP to come together in Skeena.

While the B.C. Liberals are clearly the strongest group,

Robber jailed
for three years

RCMP OFFICERS here are patting themselves on the back
after an Ontario man accused of using a knife to hold up
local gas stations was sentenced to three years in jail.

William Pearce, 19, pleaded guilty June 15 to two couats
of armed robbery and two counts of robbery for a string of
hold-ups at Copperside Food Stores and the east end Chev-
ron July 2-8.

A new arrival from Ontario, Pearce was also charged
with four counts of wearing a disguise for the purpose of
committing an offence. But those charges, as well as an
Ontario charge for skipping bail, were stayed by prose-
cutor Grant Lindsey.

Lindsey sald Pearce may be moved to Ontario where he
is wanted on an arson charge, but that will be the decision
of Ontario-based prosecutors.

He said Pearce will most likely be transferred to the fed-
eral prison in Matsqui, where most federal prisoners are
classified and sent to federal facilitics.

RCMP Staff Sgt. Bob Solvason said he owed the swift
capture to ‘‘good investigalive techniques”? of local of-
ficers.

“It was a team effort,’’ Solvason said.

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‘STARCHOICE

LOCAL UNHAPPINESS with the provincial Refarm
party is manifesting itself in different ways. Here's
one sign on Hwy16 West making a strong statement.

Laurent said there are still many people who would prefer
a different right-wing allernative.

Laurent and Bell both say the Liberals are still seen as
having helped kill the Kemano Compiction Project and of
having poor understanding of some issues here,

“He was also a little to quick to condemn SCI,’ Beil
says. His idea is to cut off everything and see what hap-
pens,’’

“There’s just a lot of people who don? t want lo vote Lib-
eral,”’ Bell added.

Unite-the-right talks have been stalled since Liberal
leader Gordon Campbell alienated Reformers by vowing to
run candidates all over the province,

If Reform does anything, we get accused of splitting
the vote,’’ Bell noted,

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