- Bullying tactics offensive Dear Sir: Don Philpott’s butly-boy tactics (“Coalition leaders want to boycott businesses”, The Terrace Standard, Feb, 6, 2002) should not go unchal- lenged. Philpott wants to boycott local businesses, re- call the MLA, keep public sector workers off the Ski hill and who knows what else. ___ Most level-minded citizens will agree thal Philpott's methods are extremely offensive. A rociety, in order to be free, must not tolerate bul- ies Who’s in charge here anyhow? A government elected by an overwhelming majority or Don Philpott? This is not to belittle the impact of job cuts to the 53 local members of the BCGEU who poten- tially face lay-offs. There will be real people hurt by the cuts. But Don, why don’t you mention the 900 un- employed private sector SCI workers? Don’t they count (co? After all, their taxes used to pay the wages of BCGEU members, Let’s put the blame where it belongs, Don. The cuts are directly attributable to your NDP friends who, by 10 years of unsustainable in- creases in public spending, unrestrained borrow- ing, investment unfriendly legislation and op- pressive tax practices managed to take BC’s economy from first in he country to dead last. Simply put, the BC Liberals were left with no choice, I doubt that you are really interested in mak- ing things better Don, but if you are ] have some suggestions for you: Instead of fanning the flames of intolerance, perhaps working to mitigate the disruption of laid-off workers’ lives would be a better use of your time. Maybe working with Roger Harris to help re- store the economy would do more good for the unemployed than simply running off at the mouth. Maybe being positive instead of negative just might make a difference. In the meantime, I fully support Roger Harris and the BC Liberals. In a year or so, when the short-term pain is over, we will all be better off. ; Lorne Sexton Terrace B.C. Don’t tell.us what you ‘nearly’ did, Roger An open letter to: Roger Harris, MLA for, Skeena Dear Sir: . Bode dbl “tie I'am writing in response to the Feb: “6, 2002 ° article in The Terrace Standard “MLA says he nearly voted no”. Why on earth do you feel it of any importance to inform your constituency you “nearly voted o” and “I wouldn’t be lying to say that ! ser- ' iously considered voting against that segment of the legislation”? Are these statements meant to inspire trust or confi- dence? Regardless of whether or not the vote is on a popular issuc, the members of your constituency expect their re- presentative in government to be decisive and demon- a strate leadership. Roger Harris. We didn’t “nearly” vote you in to your present position {although many now wish this was the case, il seems). Nearly means nothing and you gain aot one iota of credibility by stating your standpoint thus. Stop fence sitting and attempting to please © everyone, Either represent your constituency as we cn- trusted you to do by accurately and honestly tell- ing your superiors of the concerns of the majority of the people in this area, or resign so we can find someone who can. We can’t wait for the “point where 1 will draw the line in terms of where I] will go”. There is clearly too much at stake here. Robert (Bob) Baker Terrace B.C. The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, February 13, 2002 - A5 CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD The Mail Bag STUDENTS angry with MLA Roger Harris and the Liberal government protested in front of - Harris’ office last week. Labour leaders favouring more aggressive action — namely a boycott of businesses that don't support them — came under criticism from letter writers this week. We own the trees Dear Sir: it was interesling to read the news article “Jobs for timber tradition to end” (The Terrace Standard, Feb, 6, 2002.) I live on Vancouver Isiand where this idea has already devastated the towns of YouBou, Eburne, Tahsis and Port Alberni. The hardest hit town was YouBou. The local mill was closed and dismantled about one year ago and ils timber tenure agreement ripped up. The 220 YouBou sawmill employees are al- most all still unemployed and now must file for welfare after their El runs out. Timber West the company thal closed the YouBou mill announced recently it made an $83 million dollar profit in its last fiscal year, mainly from exporting logs to the United States and Japan. The former YouBou mill employees now sit and watch the logs go by their front door on their way to the United States and Japan while wait- ing for their welfare cheque to arrive in the mail. This is the sort of thing that awaits many people and communities, and this must stop. The people of British Columbia own these for- est lands and we demand our democratic rights to determine how our own forests are used. ’ Ken W. Chappelle Nanaimo B.C. We want a fair society Dear Sir: Our MLA Roger Harris asked in The Terrace Standard whether it is important for low-income seniors to have access to affordable bus passes. My answer would be an unequivocal yes. I want to live in a society where seniors have access to low-cost transportation. The disturbing thing about Mr. Harris’s ques- tion, though, is that it was even asked, The Campbell government’s attitude seems to be that uneconomical members of our society- the young, the old, the sick, the poorly educated, the mentally ill, the disabled, ete - are a drain on the balance sheet and therefore unworthy of our support. Shame, Mr. Harris. Give some ‘thought to what: constitutes a fair and just society and then look again at what your government is doing. Jan MacLean _ Terrace B.C, Lax road maintenance cost Hannah's life Dear Sir: Years ago a man prowled our highways and byways during winter nights ensuring that our roads were safe. He worked for the Ministry of Transportation and Highways. His job title was night road foreman, Along came premier Bill Vander. Zalm. He privatized road mainienance and. cut highways staff. One of the casualtiés. was. the night road foreman. Rules changed. For the contractors it was “Make as much money for doing as little as possible.” That's how the contracting process works. The service provided and money spent are negotia- ting items, or pawns, in the process. Fast forward to Wednesday, Jan 24, 2002. During the ‘early hours of the morning skies cleared and the temperature dropped ‘to just below freezing. When [ left ‘for work shortly be- fore 8 a.m. side roads were crunchy but drivable. * When I got to Hwy 16 it looked bare and wet. - Wrong. Pulling onto the highway 1 found that it was a sheet of black ice. “For a few seconds il took the entire road width and all my driving skills to get control of the car. Luckily for me I didn’t have much speed and there was no other traffic, A few minutes later Kim Rooker and Hannah Kantola were not so fortunate. -Did the system break down? | hope so. The volume and nature of the traffic on the highway Does Campbell think highways can do a better job with less people? is he willing to accept more casualties? then requires better maintenance than that. It is not safe to allow school buses an roads in that condition. Nor is it reasonable to expect inexperienced drivers to be able to cope with such conditions. An application of road sali could have changed the highway surface to bare and wet in minutes. If the system didn’t fail, is the loss accept- able? [t is not. We cannot ‘allow our Hannahs and Kims to be pawns. Gordon Campbell and his government seem to think the highways ministry is overstaffed, They took the biggest hit in the recent downsizing. Does Campbell think highways can do a bet- ter job with less people? Is he willing to accept more casualties? We should ask ourselves these questions the next time we choose our MLA. It would also be a good time to reflect on what the loss of Hannah has done to this community. In the meantime we pray for Kim and her fa- - mily. Ted Wilson Terrace B.C, One law, not one joint Dear Sir: I write in response to Claudette Sandecki’s Through Bifocals column of Jan. 2, 2002 “One joint could ruin your life.” Claudette telis of a 29-year-old returning to New Zealand, being refused entry to a Hawaiian - airport transit lounge because of a minor ‘hash. oil conviction when he was 20. He was sent back to Canada and lost his $2,100 ticket, She tells of a second incident where a person lost a $1,200 vacation due to a drug. conviction. Claudette also notes local police talked with nine students recently, warning them that a pot conviction could restrict their travel and vacation destinations throughout their lives. She warns of lost job apportunities and lists several scenarios of lost opportunity all because of a “joint”. Well, Claudette, [ disagree. A “joint” can’t ruin your life. An archaic, unfair and silly law can — a law that results in convictions that re- Strict some travel amongst other things. This isn’t just my view but that of the majority of British Columbians, A national poll on mari- juana legalization last year showed 52.4 per cent in favour, 41.4 per cent opposed and 6.2 per cent didn’! answer or forgot the question. I enjoy reading your column, Claudette. 1 find it very inspirational at times. One suggestion - change your! lenses from bi-focal to progressive. Bob Erb Thornhill B.C. About the Mail Bag The Terrace Standard welcomes letters to the editer. Our address is 3210 Clinton St., Terrace, B.C. V8G 5A2. You can fax us at 250-638-8432 or you can e-mail us at standard@kermode.net. No attachments, please. We need your name, address and phone number far verification. Sweeping change coming to social services By NEIL JAMES SOCIAL SERVICES in Tertace will undergo some significant changes over the next three years. It does not ap- pear, however, that mass layoffs will be among them, as the government moves toward drastic reductions in the cost of providing services in British Columbia. Despite the fears of provincial union officials, the Ministry For Child- ren & Family Development is expec- ted to achieve the majority of their targeted 23% province-wide workfarce reduction through attrition and retire- ment by 2005. No layoffs of full-time regular slaff during the coming fiscal year are plan- ned; although auxiliary and temporary positions may not be renewed. These reductions are included in the Liberals’ “Workforce Adjustment” plan, which is expected to eliminate almost 12,000 jobs over three years. _ Institutional, or staffed residential care for client groups, particularly dis- abled adults and children in need of: protection will be reduced considerab- ly in the coming year. The Ministry has stated that it intends to establish “independent living and family care arrangements to replace existing staffed resources.” Currently, the B.C. government pro- vides care through foster homes and staffed facilities to 11 children per 1,000 population. The Ministry For Children and Fa- mily Development has targeted a. re- duction of this rate to 9 children per 1,000 population, the national average. | This equates to reducing the admis- sions of children into care by 15-20%, representing a long-term costs savings in the tens of millions of dollars. The rates of admissions of children into government care increased signif- icantly in 1996, following the Gove Enquiry, which investigated the death of a child in Fort St. John. Targeted re- ductions of children in care is a shift toward returning to “pre-Gove” levels. In addition to achieving cost sav- ings through staff reductions, and law- ering the costs of caring for children and. disabled adults, the ministry is also expected to review existing con- - tracts for services provided by both the. non-profit and for-profit sectors. The elimination of some contracts is inevitable, and other contracts may have their financial terms adjusted downward, The advantage of reductions in these sectors for the government in- clude the absence of union contracts to contend wilh, as well as no obliga- tion to provide severance or retraining packages to displaced workers. In Terrace, it is expected that con- tractors providing residential care to ministry, wards will be facing contract dollar reductions, or even the non-re- newal of contracts, Such actions would save money, and increase the pressure on families and other community re- sources to provide the necessary care and support. Contractors providing clinical and treatment services, {for example psychiatric/psychological . services), and those providing family support ser- vices, (for example, child-care work- - ets) have yet to receive any indication _ of potential cuts. Plans to reduce the levels of man+ agement within the ministry have not - management: system, yet been released, although it is ex- pected that some job losses will occur within this non-unionized sector. A. proposed restructuring of the lo occur by 2005, will likely result in the core ser- vices, including child protection, being managed by regional authorities. Many people within the field ex- pect it will replicate the health mini- stry restructuring, which is resulting in many of Terrace’s health services being managed from Prince George. ’ The Liberals refer to these plans as “new governance and service delivery . structures”, which has the effect of re- moving control of local services from smaller communities to larger, more central cities. [tis quite likely that Terrace will continue to experience losing local control to Prince George. The “new governance and service delivery structures” will also, accord. ing to ministry documents, include the transferring of 2,800 provincial govern- ‘ ment employees to the regional health authorities. It will then be. each Tegion’s 8 ‘Te- sponsibility to manage, and pay, their staff with pre-determined cash trans- fers from Victoria. This frees the provincial govern- ment of directly negotiating with em- ployer unions, as they would simply determine the amount of a cash trans- fer to the regional authority. It would then be the regional authorities’ re- sponsibility to finance adequate staff- ing levels, as well as assuming the high costs of pension plans, and if fur- ther cuts are contemplated, severance packages. For those who are not “consumers” of social services, these changes will probably be largely invisible, and not affect their lives in a dramatic way. However, for those’ families in need of heip, these changes wiil be’ dra- matic, and probably quite difficult. More details are expected on Budget Day, February 19th, but the real im- pact to families and communities won’t -become clear for several months. Neil James isa private-practice so- ctal work consultant, in Terrace. and : Vietorta. wens