_A4- The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, December 9, 1998 TERRACE STANDARD ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988 PUBLISHER: ROD LINK ‘ADDRESS: 3210 Clinton Street Terrace, B.C. * V8G 5R2 TELEPHONE: (250) 638-7283 * FAX: (250) 638-8432 EMAIL: standard@kermode.net Not needed THERE’S PROBABLY no politician in Canada today as personable as Premier Glen Clark. He’s the kind of guy you could easily have lunch with and come away impressed by his smarts and ability to express his opinion. But he’s far too immersed in grand political spectacle which, combined with a stubborn streak, often puts him in a perpetual election — campaign mode. A case in point was last week’s opening of the — provincial legislature to debate the Nisga’a treaty. The province paid two-thirds and the feds chipped in one-third of flying down approxi- - mately 100 Nisga’a for a ceremony on the front lawn prior to the official opening. The symbolic purpose was to put a strong counterpoint to the rejection experienced 111 years ago when Nisga’a leaders went to Victoria to press their case for a treaty. Yet there was also a strong political undertone to the occasion — a public relations challenge to provincial Liberal leader Gordon Campbell’s op- position of key portions of the treaty. It was as if Mr. Clark wanted to rub the treaty in Mr. Campbell’s face —- a_ streetfighter ‘gotcha’ in the form of a dare to see if the Liber- al leader would respond in a fashion Mr. Clark could then use to his advantage. We don’t need that. Mr. Clark has done a good job of ensuring the treaty is front and centre on' the provincial stage. Now it’s time to back off. To continue to tie his political future to its pas- sage is wrong. The treaty is far too important a matter of pub- lic policy requiring solid debate and inspection for it to fall to the level of personal game play- No thanks NO, NO and no. It’s a simple script for Prime Minister Jean Chretien to stick to and it’s one he must employ in the face of demands by Canadian National Hockey League teams for tax breaks. Their demands for relief are based on the large- _ ly sympathetic tax regime employed in the United States for sports franchises. American governments of one form or another are willing to forego all measures of tax revenue in return for the prestige of hosting all manner of teams. And now the Canadian teams say they need a level playing field (sports pun not intended). But this is also a league where salaries are out of control. Where the current joke is that so-and- so is so old he can remember when hockey players made only one million dollars a year. There’s nothing to be gained, by the federal government following suit in terms of tax con- cessions when the league itself cannot show self restraint and control to resist player demands for more and more money. What’s needed is for the league to impose salary caps or to penalize teams for giving in to player demands. It might even consider equaliza- tion payments to support smaller-market teams. But what isn’t needed is asking the Canadian taxpayer to subsidize the massive industry that is now North American professional hockey. | ee 1998 WINNER CCNA BETTER PUBLISHER/EDITOR: Rod Link ADVERTISING MANAGER: Brian Lindenbach PRODUCTION MANAGER: Edouard Credgeur NEWS Jeff Nagel » NEWS/SPORTS: Christiana Wiens NEWS/COMMUNITY: Alex Hamilton NEWSPAPERS OFFICE MANAGER: Sheila Sandoyer-Sly COMPETITION CIRCULATION MANAGER: Karen Brunette ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS: Sam Bedford, Bunnie Cote TELEMARKETER: Patricia Schubrink AD ASSISTANT: Kelly Jean COMPOSING: Susan Credgeur AD ASSISTANT /TYPESETTING: Julie Davidson SUBSCRIPTION RATES BY MAIL: $56.18 per year; Seniors $49.76; Out of Province $63.13 Outside of Canada (6 months) $155.15 (ALL PRICES INCLUDE GST) MEMBER OF B.C. AND YUKON COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION. CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION ie AND Gna a connate B.C. PRESS COUNCIL Sorving the Terrace and Thomhill area. Published on Wednesday of aach week at 9210 Clinton Straal, Terrace, Evitish Columbia, VBG 5R2, Stories, photographs, jlustrations, designs and typestyes in the Terrace Slardard ara the proparty of the : ore holders, including Cariboo Press {1969} Lid., its iustration repro services and advertising Fro wl in fr vies wie pam prohibited, es pecond-class mail panding the Post Oiffce Department, for payment of poslage in cash. aepeolal thanks to all our contributors and correspondents for thelr tine and talents STOP THOSE SHENANIGANS ‘AND LISTEN CAREFULLY... -THAVE A BRILLIANT PLAN, Mr. Clark’s four envelopes VICTORIA ~ There’s a story that’s been around the B.C. Legislature for years. It’s as relevant today as il was 20 years ago, and I'd like to share il with you. Afler having lost an election, the outgoing premier receives the premier-elect in his office to for- mally hand over the reins of power. He says to the new premier: “I have prepared four envelopes for you.” Don't open them now, but when your government is con- fronted with the first major crisis, open the first envelope and foliow the enclosed instructions. Open each of the remaining envelopes only in cases of further crises.” Following a brief honeymoon, the government finds itself in the first major crisis. The still-green premier opens the first envelope left him by his predecessor. The instruc- tions read: “Blame the previous administration.” The ruse works for a while and the government gels a reprieve from public opinion. Six months further down the road, however, the gov- emment is embroiled in another major controversy. The premier opens the second envelope. The instructions say: “Blame the economy.” Once again, FROM THE CAPITAL. HUBERT BEYER altention is diverted from the gov- emment’s own bungling and shifted to outside forces not under the gav- ermment’s control. Two years into its mandate, the government is rocked by yet another ' crisis. The premier opens the third envelope: “ Blame the media,” the instructions say. It works, if only for a while. Then, all hell breaks loose. The public has lost confidence in the government. The economy has hit rock-bottom. The polls are bad. Desperate, the premier opens the last of the envelopes and finds this message: “Prepare four envelopes.” That would be about where Premier Glen Clark is right now. I've been doing this journalistic gig for nearly 40 years, I have seen many unpopular governments. | have seen governments hit the bat- tom in public opinion surveys. } have seen voters turf out unpopular governments with a vengeance. But never have I seen popular support for a government at 11 per cent. The NDP’s traditional support consists of about 35 per cent of the voters. That support normally comes from trade unions, a certain intellectual elite, unreconstructed socialists, the under-privileged and plain folks who happen to like cer- tain planks in the NDP’s platform. With only 11 per cent support in the polls, you have to wonder who these people are that have not yet tumed.on he.NDP... years or so away, public support will, no doubt, rise above the current 1] per cent. But how far above? Two federal elections ago, the Tories managed to go from a sizable majority to two seats. But in terms of the popular vote, they still got close to 25 per cent. Given that grim reality, the provincial NDP could be wiped off the political map in the next election. sate aun e As .he. ‘government. drifts... towards the next election, still two: The only thing that could save the NDP’s hide is an economic miracle, but that's not very likely to happen. Ail economic forecasters warn that British Columbia won’t climb out of this current downturn for another two years, tao late for the government to claim any credit. Meanwhile, an angry populace tums to recall for a solution to what il perceives to be the major problem ~the NDP itself, Public rallies against the gov- emment attract thousands of people who want to recall enough NDP MLAs to bring down the govern- ment. They don’t even pretend any- more to use the recall legislation as a means to get rid of a bad apple, which is what it was actually meant todo. , “A ot. of British Columbians believe what a friend recently tald me, The difference between Ontario and B.C., he said, was that in Ontario, the people hate the govern- ment, while in B.C. the government hates the people. Hey, don’t shoot me, I’m just the messenger. But I would say that — right about now might be a good time for the premier to start prepar- ing four envelopes. Beyer can be reached at: Tel: (250) 920-9300; Fax: (250) 356- 9597; E-mail: hubet@coolcom.com Garbage regs frazzle nerves NOVEMBER 25 we can- celled garbage pickup. For 22 years we stuffed our garbage into cans, bags, or bundles and each Wednesday morning after breakfast marshalled it at the curb. Then August 11 a national waste management company informed us it had taken over our local collector. During the next six weeks an exchange of computer generaled written directives from the com- pany answered by perturbed phone calis from me flushed an amiable relationship into the dumpster. From 1981 to 1998 - 17 years — our three-month pickup charge crept up from $13,75 to $24.57, Yet our first bill from the new collector increased our fee for the six weeks from July 16 to August 31 to $37.47, The Prince George office L HUNT , Duck's Noo. SPRING TME | THROUGH BIFOCALS. CLAUDETTE SANDECKI explained the jump as a computer error. They had, she said, bought out our local collector not realizing our billing periods were three . months, not one month. ‘ My suspicions shot up like mud blasted by a boulder, Did they expect to double our pickup fee, unnoticed? Unchallenged? You DON'T ARREST To deflect my complaint, the clerk blurted, “We never wanted you 140 hand-picks anyway!” Being called a hand-pick added to the insult of not being wanted. My garbage collector of old never told me my business was a bother. My suspicion clung tighter as I read the company’s regulations dated September 23: You are allowed a maximum of three bags or containers per week. Containers must be within three feet of travelled portion of . the public roadway, weigh no more than 55 pounds, and have no preater volume than 42 gallons, One large orange bag will be counted as two regulation sized containers, All dust, sawdust or cold ashes must be wrapped separately, All containers must be out by 7am. You MAPE A BiG MISTAKE! You FIXED ir! Come FoR, oT] DucksouP'} ~~ So before breakfast every gar- bage day since, equipped with a miner’s lamp, a.60-inch tape meas- ure, and a portable scale, we duti- fully arranged our quota of cans within 36 inches of the pavement. We bundled extra, dry garbage and warehoused it until the collection warranted a trip lo the dump. And every Wednesday morn- ing, like a Weight Watcher at a weigh-in, ] gnawed my knuckles worrying one can might be an ounce or an inch over. Instead of garbage day leav- ing me with a fidied-up feeling, 1 felt frazzled and stressed, From here on we'll be wres- tling our own refuse to the dump. I. don’t relish the extra chore. But ] do welcome the peace of mind, And I'm hoping soon some- one will set up a competing com- pany to serve us pesky hand-picks.