'

international voluvieor

Get spooky :

Calling all coaches

Terrace fire chief Randy Smith is
in Puerto Rico as part of a
massive aid effort\NEWS A10

This Hallowe'en event will put a
‘spring in your step and food on
the table\COMMUNITY B21

It’s time to honour those
volunteers who give their time in
the name of sport\SPORTS BG

‘ WEDNESDAY
OCTOBER 14, 1998

ANDARD -

93¢ PLUS 7¢ GST
VOL, 11 NO, « at

Orthopedic s surgeons move a

FOR THE first time in years, the north-
west is without resident orthopedic
surgeons who specialize-i -in bone repairs.
The one based in Prince Rupert left ihe
end of July. .and on Oct. 5, Dr. Sean

Phelan, who had been on leave, an-

nounced his immediate resignation from
his post in Kitimat.

Health care councils in ‘both cities are.

actively recruiting for replacements and
are lining up temporary coverage in the
interim.

“This is not a usual situation but I

wouldn’t call it a crisis,’’ said Roger ©

Walker, the administrator’ at Prince
Rupert Regional Hospital.

It has arranged for an orthopedic

surgeon to be on hand for one week a
month for the nexi two months.
“And we have one orthopedic surgeon

= Setting sail

WHAT A BEAUTY: Jean-Pierre Turcotte's 46-foot
sailboat took him 15 years to build.
about $450,000, hit the water for the first time last

coming up for December and January
and another for. February, March and
April,’’ said Walker. :

Both of those temporary fill-ins are in-

terested in the full time position . and |

theyll have a chance to’ examine ‘local

conditions and to be observed by local ;

health officials, he added.

replacement is going hand in hatid with
’ lining up temporary coverage, said Linda
Coles, administrator. of Kitimat General
Hospital, wt

“We don’t know how long we'll have

’

to look,” said Coles, ‘It could be two or,

three months or even longer.””

For patients who need non-emergency !

orthopedic surgery, Coles ~ said. they
might not get the attention they would

with a‘ resident orthopedic surgeon on’

In Kitimat, the search for ry permancnt

staff in Kitimat.

“There will be a wait list and that
could extend their problems,’’ she said.

. Walker from. Prince Rupert stressed
that emergency cases will still receive
care,

“The public needs to know basic

". orthopedic procedures are available in all
three cities (Prince Rupert, Terrace and
-»Kitimat),’” he said.

‘We have good general surgeons on
duty in the northwest that can do
orthopedic procedures and patients will

_ Still have: the services of their general
" practitioners,’” Walker continued.

With Phelan gone in Kitimat, the hos-

_ pital, has surplus operating time and

trained staff at the ready, said Coles.
“We're looking at ways to use that

nose and throat) specialist from Terrace
has already taken advantage of it,’? she
added,

“It’s important that we keep our staff
working and, for example, have work for
our anesthetist,’’ Coles continued.

kkk kk
SKEENA NDP MLA Helmut Giesbrecht
doubts if the search for two new
orthopedic surgeons will lead to the dis-
putes of the early 1990s,

Back then the provincial government
wanted to base the surgeons in the same
city to save money and so they could
spell each other off.

That was opposed by Kitimat which
has traditionally had one of the north-
west’s two orthopedic surgical positions
based at its hospital. In the end, Kitimat

Prince Rupert one for its hospital.

“T don’t think that’ll happen again,”
said Giesbrecht of the idea of basing the
two surgeons in the same city,

“All the parties invofved in the north-
west would have to agree. I wouldn’t be
looking at any kind'of forced transfer af-
fecting Kitimat. There would have to be
a lot of comfort given Kitimat that it
would have surgical services when it
needed them.””

Giesbrecht did note that northwestern
health care officials have developed
stcong working relationships to share
specialized medical services and to
ensué+ cities receive adequate coverage.

That kind of co-operation will most
likely continue with efforts by Kitimat
and Prince Rupert to locate replace-

- surplus operating time. The ENT (ear,

The hull, worth

week in Prince Rupert. Turcotte will use the beat
to charter tourists up and down the Northwest
coast. For story, please turn to Page BT.

Treaty debates, columns proposed

PREMIER GLEN Clark and opposi-
tion Liberal leader Gordon Campbell
have accepted an offer by newspaper
owner David Black to each write three
Opinion pieces on the Nisga’a treaty.

Campbell has also taken up an offer by
Black to take part in a:speaking tour on
the treaty while Clark is still mulling
over the proposal.

This represents the latest in a series of
events begun when Black, who owns
numerotls weekly ‘and daily newspapers...
in the province, including The Terrace
Standard, announced the editorials | in
his papers would oppose the treaty, °.

At the same time, Black hired former
senior provincial: ‘government. offici

Mel Smith to write eight columns
opposing the Nisga’a treaty.

Invitations to each write one opinion
piece also went to Progressive
Democratic Alliance leader Gordon
Wilson and to Bill Vander Zalm, presi-
dent of B.C. Reform, ,

Black said the number of columns-

being offered to each party leader-is

roughly proportional to the popular vote
their parties: recelved in the’ 1996,
-election.

The eight opinion. pieces to be written

by Clark, Campbell; Wilson .and Vander _:
Zakm. equal the numbe being written by
“. fors four: cities” + Surrey, “Kelowna,

Smith.

They are | scheduled to begin running in °

Black's newspapers once Smith's col-
umns have finished in mid-November,

“L welcome the chance. I'm happy
we're going to be in the position to tell
the {ruth in an open, honest and straight
forward way,” said Campbell late last
week of the opinion pieces and debates.

“T's. very hard to do that with the mis-

leading propaganda campaign of the

provincial government,” he said.
Jean. Wolff, Clark’s ‘press secretary,

‘said a response to the debate offer will

be forthcoming this week.
_ For now, the debates between Clark
and Campbell : are tentatively scheduled

Nanaimo and Prince George.

* About ~

was able to recruit one surgeon and

ments, he said.

Managers target
of mill budget axe

WEST FRASER laid off 15
Managers last week as part
of a northwest reorganiza-

‘tion that will see the non-

wiion salaried workforce
chopped by more than one-
third.

Thirteen of the manage-
ment jobs eliminated are in
Terrace and two are gone in

. Prince Rupert at the compa-

ny’s North Coast Timber

_ mill.

West Fraser’s mill here is
also in the middle of a one-
week shutdown. A second
takes place next month.

The management layoffs
and shakeup are aimed at
letting the company get by
with fess money in the face
of crumbling markets and
high operating costs, said
northwest regional manager
Lou Poulin,

“We've asked people to
take on extra dutics,’’

Poulin said. ‘‘Some of the

supervisors are doing almost
two jobs.”’

Poulin didn’t hold out
hope the positions
eliminated would be
restored,

“We're not going to refill
them, we're going to nun

without those positions,” he

said,
The company will save an

estimated $900,000 to $1.2

million a year by eliminat-
ing the 15 positions from its
payroll, Poulin estimated.

He said the move doesn’t
mean any permanent closure
of the sawmill here is im-
minent.

“We're going to continue
on as planned,”’ he said.

He said Skeena Sawmills
is commitied to a 26-weck
federal worksharing pro-
gram that guarantees its 150
unionized workers keep
their jobs until the program
runs out March 20,

Poulin said West Fraser
has budgeted to operate the

‘Terrace sawmill on a one-

shift-only basis
1999,

That means up to 90 saw-
mill workers will likely be
laid off after work-sharing
runs out in March.

‘‘We hope something will
change before those 26
weeks are up so we can go
back to full production,”’ he
said, but added that’s not
seen as likely.

There will be almost no
logging next year, he added.

‘It's golng to be very
minimal type. _ logging.
165,000 -

through

metres."’

In a normal year, the com-
pany jogs about 700,000
cubic metres in this area.

No road building what-
soever is planned for 1999,
he added.

The sawmills will rely on
existing inventory supple-
mented by the minimal log-

ging on already accessible

stands, he said.

The sawmill could also
face an earlier shutdown if
unionized workers at the
company’s Eurocan pulp
mill in Kitimat go on strike.

The Communications, En-

northwest.

“Tt doesn’t take a rocket
scientist to see what's going
on in the whole province of
B.C.,’’ he said.

“Eleven to 12 mills have
been shut down permanent-
ly or are closed down wiit-
ing for markets to im-
prove.”

“The northwest is in even
worse shape than every-'
where else. Our tough oper-
ating conditions, our high
log costs — coupled with
the low price of hemlock —
it’s almost to the point that

“Our tough operating conditions, our
high log costs — coupled with the low
price of hemlock — it’s almost to the
point that we can’t even operate.”

ergy and Paperworkers
(CEP) had taken a strike
vote bul were negotiating
with the company as of last
week.

“Tf Kitimat were to go on
strike we would go down
-immedialely because we
would have no place to send
our chips,’’ Poulin ex-
plained.

we cati’t even operate.’’

Poulin said the company
has continued to operate so
far because it doesn’t want
to lose key employees.

“We're operating because
we'd like to keep our em-
Ployees in the area. We
know that if we shut down
permanenily our skilled
wotkers are going to go

“Subic .

Poulin said West Fraser somewhere else to Jook for
continues to lose large jobs,’’ he said,
amounts of money in the

Nisga’a treaty
goes to a vote

THE NISGA'A TREATY passed its first major hurdle last
week when Nisga’a people overwhelmingly voted to send
the agreement to a referendum Nov. 6-7.

The key vote Wednesday at a special assembly in Green-
ville (Lakalzap) in the Nass Valley ended with 481 of
those present in favour of a referendum and 60 opposed,
said ratification committce chair Eva Clayton,

“The directions given by the special assembly were very
specific,’ she said. “We cannot turn back — we must go
forward, Now it’s in the hands of the Nisga’a to make that
decision on the Nisga'a final agreement.”’

Preparations are underway for next month’s referendum,
‘which will see ballot boxes placed in all four Nass Valley
villages and in the three urban locals cf Terrace, Prince
Rupert and Vancouver.

The referendum will be the supreme test of the treaty.
More than 50 per cent of all eligible Nisga’a — not just the
ones who tum out to vote — must cast ‘yes’ ballots for the
treaty in order for it to be ratified.

Also up for a vote the same lime is a new Nisga’a con-
stitution, The constitution also passed a yote of the special
assembly, backed by a 337-42 margin. ,

Clayton said two bus loads of Nisga’a came in from the
Vancouver area to attend the assembly.

A mail out being distributed this week giving details of
the referendum process. The treaty. was initialed Aug. 4 in
New Aiyansh.

The provincial government is contemplating a special
legislative session.in mid-November to debate the treaty.
Parliament in Ottawa isn’t expected to debate. the ‘Mealy
watil sometime next year. ce