fine people? All male and all white and all i An
_ jobs where the. provincial: government-has:some ~:
influence to promote hiring from groups idénti- —

~

Ad - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, October 13, 1999

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

White guys
HELMUT GIESBRECHT may be making
people a little bit more than nervous in his role
as public service minister by promoting em-
ployment equity in the provincial civil service.

After nearly 10 years of trying, the NDP is
admitting failure in efforts to recruit natives,

visible minorities, people with disabilities and .

women in management positions to at least
equal their representation in the population at
large. So Mr, Giesbrecht has formed an equal
opportunity secretariat backed up by an advi-
sory board to fix that. With thousands of civil
servants due to retire in the next decade or so,
there’s room, says Mr, Giesbrecht, to promote
equity hiring without dangling a toe in the dan-
gerous waters of quota systems.

In the last year in Terrace there’s an exam-
ple of what Mr. Giesbrecht is driving at, Going
or gone to retirement or to jobs elsewhere are
the city administrator, the airport administra-
tor, the college president, the senior Terrace
and Area Health Council administrator and not
one, not two but five senior school district ad-
ministrators.

Some of these departures are part of the na-
tural change that occurs in organizations. But
having nine senior public sector administrators
weigh anchor in such a short period of time ina
place as small as Terrace is a sign that the
power structure is about to change as the first
generation of those who took part in the ex-
pansion of the public sector move on.

And what is the common connection of these

fied by the NDP as being under-represented.
As it is, one of these jobs has already been
taken by a person who is younger, white and
male. This leaves eight vacancies. The inter-
esting thing to observe from here on in is how
those doing the hiring will respond to this pro-
vincial initiative. At the very least, the vacan-
cies represent an opportunity to look beyond
what has been the traditional managerial pool.

A new reality

ONE MEASURE of the health of an economy
is the size of the school population. When
Skeena Cellulose two years ago faced an un-
certain future and the woods industry stalled,
people began moving out.

But this fall in Terrace, depending upon how
you break out the numbers, the number of stu-
dents has stabilized and may even have grown.
The surprise is Kitimat where the student po-
pulation has dropped. The conventional wis-
dom is that Kitimat has always been protected

from economic downturns while Terrace was -

more vulnerable. Perhaps we’re entering a new.
economic reality.

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Serving the Terrace and Thornhill area. Published on Wednesday of each week at 3210 Clinton Street,
Terrace, British Columbla, ¥8G 5R2.

Storles, photographs, Illustrations, designs and typastyles in the Tarrace Standard ara the property of the
copyight holders, Including Cariboo Press (1969) Lid., its illustration repro services and advertising
agencies,

Reproduction in whole or in part, without written permission, is specifically prohibited,

Authorized as second-class mail pending tha Post Oifica Department, for payment of postage in cash,

Speciat thanks to all our contributors and correspondents
for their time and talents

AND
B.C. PRESS COUNCIL

say goodnight,

VICTORIA — When you write a
book, you had better be sure of
the facts, especially those con-

"cerning yourself.

When Gordon Wilson wrote
the Civilized Revolution, he ap-
pears to have gotten a little con-
fused about details of his life,
and it was left to Rafe Mair to
point out the discrepancies in’
his inimitable way.

Taking no prisoners at the
best of times, the king of talk
shows virtually savaged Wilson
on his open-line program, all
but destroying any hope the
former Liberal leader, turned

' Progressive Democratic Alliance

leader, might have had to be-
come leader of the New Demo-
cratic Party.

Mair began his number on
Wilson by asking him how he
could possibly have been in

. Washington, .D.C...in.. 196345
~ when Martin Luther King: gave

his, famous “I have a Dream”
speech, pointing out that Wil-
son was only‘l4 at the time and
lived in Africa with his parents.

Trying to recover from that
frontal assault, Wilson said
something about having been
there a few years later, at a dif-
ferent speech, adding that the
late civil rights leader made a lot
of memorable speeches.

That explanation got a “boy,
oh bey, of boy,” from Mair. “I

OCTOBER tst was the
submission deadline for
Coast Mountain School
District’s logo contest. J
learned of the contest two
days before that, from a
news item in

The Terrace Standard.

The notion of a new logo
to represent the combined
Kitimat-Terrace School
District 82 came from the
Victoria cansultant called in
last year to show loca! trus-
tees how to play nice. The
consultant’s suggestion was
approved last spring by the
district’s educalion com-
mittee. Seems they, too, fell
for Victoria’s habit of

- printing new slationery as a

cure for ills instead of insti-
tuting better policies.

The logo is expected to
promote cohesiveness,
something that’s been miss-
ing since Victoria legislated
Kitimat and Terrace to
share their toys.

The winning logo design,
which will appear on all dis-
trict stationery, reports,

MELTDOWN! How
ABOUT You 21!

WE'RE STOCK PILING
GOTTLED WATER AND J
FREEZE TRIED Foop nga
FoR The MILLENIUM at

FROM THE CAPITAL.
HUBERT BEYER

don't think the truth is in you.
You're an exagegerator,” Rafe
said. “But I'll fet the listeners
decide whether they think you're
telling the truth.”

Matters didn't improve for
Wilson as Mair moved in on
Wilson's claim that when the

scandal about his romantic in-~
‘volvement'.with ‘his now? wife:’:"

Judi Tyabji, then his ‘House
Leader, burst onto the front pag-
es, he wasn't actually having an
affair with her. His assertion
that things were strictly platonic
between them at the time didn't
get a lot of credence from Mair.

Pam certain that Wilson had
no inkling of what awaited him
when he showed up for the in-
terview. After all, the two had
been pals during the constitu-
tional debate. But trust Mair to

THROUGH BIFOCALS.
CLAUDETTE SANDECKI

business cards, and vehicles
for instant visual identifica-
tion, must be easily repro-
ducibie in no more than two
colours,

Therefore you’d expect
entries to be culled ta a
short list by several persons
qualified in printing, art, or
gtaphic design. Instead,
trustees and administrators
will pick and choose the
final entries.

A prize of $50 will be
awarded to the best in each

T CAN USE A FRIEND'S
CABIN UP NORTH! PLENTY |
OF FRESH WATER , FISH
AND GAME THERE!
WELL T Gath HAND
IT To You HAL!!

Mr.

feed even those to the lions who
thing they're his friends.

The real problem for Wilson
is thal people weren't shocked
by the fact that another politi-
cian had been caught stretching
the truth; they laughed. And
ridicule is any politician's death,
Hate is OK, but not ridicule.

So where dues that leave the
NDP’s knight. in shining ar-
mour, the guy who was sup-
posed to have a good chance at
the leadership crown? Dead in
the water, I'm afraid. ,

Wilson might as well not
bother running for the leader-
ship, although { think (hat wild
horses, let alone a liltle credibil-
ity gap will keep him away.

Things looked pretty good for
Wilson when former NDP leader
and premier, Glen Clark, lured
him across the floor with the

-offer:of-w cabinet post. Wilson!
dwash't tainted bythe public per

ception of the NDP as having
tun the province's economy into
the pround. ,

That was before all the in-
fighting started. Even before any
of the likely players announced
their candidacy, a battle royal
was on, between Clark and Si-
hota, backing Wilson, and those
preferring Ujjal Dosanjh for
leader. And before he knows
what hit him, Wilson gets
punched out by good old Rafe

of three categories - ele-
mentary school, secondary
and adult - plus $100 for
the overall winner.

I'd have no objection to a
special logo for District 82
if the district had no split
classes, if music instruction
wasn’t muted, if classroom
supplies were taxpayer
funded. As it is, 1 begrudge
every dollar to be squan-
dered on something so re-
moved from enhancing the
quality of my granddaugh-
ters’ education.

I’ve been assured the dis-
trict has no intention of re-
placing existing stationery
with newly printed forms;
that letterhead will only be
printed with the new logo
when the old supply runs
out. Yah, right. Look for the
spiffy new logo on every
scrap of paper that comes
out of that district after Oc-
tober 10th.

Watch, too, for freshly
painted maintenance trucks
and administrators’ cars, at
least the doors. But |

meme} ¥
yes
Pima

= PAID OFF!

faeeancet I
Hose No

eet = nea

buMKINS FINALY =

d ey

Wilson

and is on the floor for the count. ;
All of which leaves the Cork- ;

ster in the best-possible. position
if and when he enters the race.
Corky Evans came in second the
last time around, when the party
picked Clark, the whiz kid. That
would make his chances appear
pretty. good this time.

Sure, he's got to knock off Joy
MacPhail, but considering the
rather forgettable performance of

1
1
1
4

c

Alexa McDonough, the federal

NDP leader, B.C. New Demo: :

crats may think twice betore

-4

choosing a woman as leader. Of .
course, they won't put it that .

way. ‘That would be politically -

incorrect.
As for Wilson, he blew it, for
the second or third time, depend-

ing on whether you count his |

short stint as leader of the Pro-

gressive Democratic Alliance, -
‘ithe party. he founded: with: prom-

day

i Gilly ‘to-balt for a cabinet seat in

the NDP government first chance
he got.

Boy, I love B.C. politics, Jusi
watching and writing about il
keeps me young. ;

Beyer can be reached at --
Tel: (250) 381-6900; e-mail:
Aubert@coolcam.com; |
Fax: (978) 477-5656
web:
http. /www.hubertbeyer.com|

Better ways to soend money

wouldn’t be surprised to see

whole vehicles repainted, °

maybe even in a colour oth-
er than blue. How will that
help the classroom teacher?
No doubt combining Kiti-
mat and Terrace school dis-
tricts was asking a lot of per-
sonnel. Ordering the Hat- »
fields and the McCoys to put
down their weapons would >

= - = Nm

a

ry

1

be just as effective. Bul ex-

pecting a logo to promote:
brotherhood is too much:

like a feuding couple having ”

a baby to foster a closer
marriage.

For a start, the trustees 7

.

could read the consultant’s”
report thal came from an in- |

quiry following the first ever *
strike in Terrace “

teachers’
back in 1980.

I’m betting many of those <
recommendations would —

serve now, too. Especially ~

the one advising the board
to communicate directly *
with the wider public, If it”
did, [ would have known “

~

about the logo contest much |

sooner.

“ZED
a=

Dy AND THE VALUE
Dey OF NOTHING !!

U)

A CYNIC KNQus THE'

Tea &