~ About 250° area residents at- .
“tended a ‘*Town Hall Meeting’

to. hear Premier Bill Vander

Zalm’s views on provincial

. issues during his recent visit to

Terrace. The main theme of the
Premier’s comments was “‘to
provide strength to the com-
munities in our. outlying
regions’’ and to that end he did
offer his personal support for
the concept of a northern
university, the provision of bet-
ter services for seniors, finding
ways to upgrade community in-
frastructure and finding ways
for getting. a better deal from
federal marketing boards.

by Tod Strachan

Qn the issue of services for
seniors, Vander Zalm suggested
that the government needs to
“provide better. facilities and
greater services for our seniors’?
and promised to support and

follow the local low cost housing

project “‘to see that it stays on
track’. He added that some
form of dedicated transporta-
tion for seniors, such as a
Handi-Dart system, is also im-
portant in providing ‘‘a better,
more complete community” and
promised, ‘‘We will certainly be
supportive of any efforts and in-
itiatives you have.”

Education

Vander Zalm promised, ‘‘l
think the provision of (universi-
ty) courses will commence
almost immediately,”’ and also
suggested later in the meeting
that by providing the training in
the north a northern university
could also be a solution to the
age old difficulty of keeping
medical professionals — in the
north.

Health

Vander Zalm said the govern-
ment is currently seeking ways to
provide better preventative
health care, rather than concen-
trating on treatment. He said
this would give B.C. residents
more choice in the type of health
care they receive, He. expected
there could be some changes to
the present system following the
successful completion of a pilot
project in Victoria.

Abortion

On other social issues, Vander
Zalm avoided any direct
response on the issue of legalized
abortion pointing out the fact
that, ‘‘The legislators in Ottawa
haven't yet ruled,”’ and, ‘“‘Any
move provincially will be deter-
mined by the outcome of the
federal decision.’ And although
he says he’s not a gambler, he
doesn’t oppose gambling in the
province provided no one is hurt
or offended. But, ‘‘If it hurts the
family or others then we have a

_ problem,” he added.

Alaskan Connection
On more political issues,

Vander Zalm said he was

Terrace Review - — Wee, Octobe 12, 1988,

Premier ranges

t

“somewhat upset” .at missirig
the ‘opening of the Johnny
Mountain gold: mine north of |
Stewart, ‘but he explained, that.:
the invitation was no different

‘than hundreds of others that are’

received in Victoria and ‘‘no one
pursued it’’. He added however,
there is still a great opportunity
to tap the riches of the north and:

‘one way was to take another

look at upgrading Highway 37
and providing a link to Alaska.
“T think it would help tourism,
it would provide another link in-

‘to the region and it would cer-
tainly help the indusiry,”” he

said.
Business Ald

Also of assistance to small
business ‘and industry says
Vander Zalm ‘is the $50 million -
that has been added to the
Regional Development.
Ministry’s budget. ‘‘The pro-
vinee will be secure and strong
when we have lots of little in-
dustries and businesses,’’ ex-
plained the premier. Because,
even though the larger industrial

developments are important to —

the economy, ‘‘That’s what pro-

vides every town with a regional ,

degree of security and stability.”
Labor and Bill 19

And stability was also Vander
Zalm’s keyword when asked
about Bill 19. ‘‘Labor disputes
in this province in one year have

‘dropped by 90 percent,” said

Vander Zalm. And he said that
was because everything was
‘spelled out’? in Bill 19 and
there was'no need for govern-
ment intervention. ‘‘Most of the
major disputes were settled
simply because people were will-
ing to sit down at. the table
without the government getting
involved.”

Free Trade

On more federally oriented
issues, Vander Zalm repeated his
support for free trade because
“If countries like the U.S. and
Japan become protectionist,
we’ll all lose our jobs.”” He con-
tended that a free trade agree-
ment with the U.S. would make
it unnecessary to seek fair trade
in ‘Canada. He explained that
while we are presently not allow-
ed to fairly compete in Ontario
and Quebec due to interprovin-
cial trade barriers, free trade
would open a much larger
market. in Washington and
Oregon that was much more ac-
cessible.

Vander Zalm said later
however, that federal marketing
boards will still be a concern in
Canada even after a free trade
agreement is signed. He said that '
marketing boards favor eastern
Canada and don’t allow B.C.
farmers to sell their fair share of
produce and dairy products, The
province is now in the process of
seeking our fair share of 12 per-

cent, based on population, and

if this could be accomplished,

1roug

g
“Vander. Zalm said, we would see
3 ,000 to 5: 000 more. farms i in the.
province and thousands _ more
jobs. _ |

* Cities”

.. Municipal infrastructure was
another issue Vander Zalm said
has to be negotiated with Ottawa

share —

issues at public
“but he. didn’t prdject any con-
fidence that there is-a deal to be

had. He explained . that. the”
. federal government was talking’:

about a $5 billion’ plan but by
the time Ontario, Quebec. and
the Maritimes got ‘their fair

billion
left for Terrace, He said this was
part of the ongoing problem of a.

he estimated $4.9°

western identity and ‘getting O1-

-_ tawa to notice us. ‘They believe ~
Japan.is on the other side of. the
Rockies,”’ he said; ‘‘and that’ S-

not their jurisdiction.”

a)

White In Terrace recently, Promler Bill Vander Zalm stopped by the locat Child Development
Centre to drop off $5,000 in provincial lottery money. Cathy

sald the grant will be ‘used as one-third of the purchas

mental or physical disabilities. The rema

foundations, she sald.

Lussier, representing the CDC,
e price for a “Skills Bullding Library”,
consisting of educational materlals, toys and equipment for parents of local children with |
ining $10,000 will have to be raised locally or through :

College votes t to back
interior University

The board of directors
of Northwest Community
College has endorsed the
concept of a northern
university.

According to board chairman
Hans Wagner, they had some
concern with the original pro-
posal and the possible competi-
tion for post-secondary funding
it could create. But after reading
volume one of the society’s pro-
posal, he says they’ve changed
their minds. Now, says Wagner,
the proposal is “‘very exciting’’.

The first volume of the In-
terior University Society’s three-
part proposal was written by Dr.
Urban Dahllof of Sweden and
describes developmental and

operational plans that would be |

designed specifically for north-
ern B.C. requirements. If ac-
cepted by the provincial govern-

ment, the Interior University
would consist of a major univer-
sity in Prince George which
would work in ‘‘close coopera-

tion” with existing colleges. He

says this would mean three ma-
jor satellite campuses: in the
Cariboo, the Dawson Creek/
Fort St. John area and the Ter-
race/Kitimat area, with smaller
support centers. in 11 other
northern communities.

The university would offer
graduate courses and also have a
research facility geared to north-
ern development, and Dahllof
claims it could attract the best
educators in the world by using a
concept called ‘‘intensive, se-

quential learning”’. The concept

is designed to save money

because professors would be-

hired in three to four week
segments rather than eight
month terms. Dahllof’s final

proposal calls for *‘specialized*

courses unique to the north’,
courses such as resqurce man-
agement, transportation and
distribution, Native studies and
northern health.

Wagner says Dahllof’s. pro-
posal would provide an impor-
tant addition to educational ser-
vices and contribute significant-
ly to the economic development
of northern B.C. He says that
NWCC will work hard towards
promoting the establishment of
the Interior University, but adds
one suggestion for the Interior
University Society — changing
the name from Interior to
Northern University to more ac-
curately reflect the area it would
serve, ‘‘The educational, as well
as economic and social develop-
ment issues are in many impor-
tant ways different from those in
the ‘Interior’,’’ says Wagner,

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