and 12 Social Studies stu-. .

. ,

Ta it ee

What are the main issues in the coming _
‘federal election, and which candidate do i
you feel can best address them?

Editor's. note: Each of the
five federal candidates for
Skeena. spoke. to. Caledonia.
“Senior Secondary: Grade 11°

dents for half an hour last
Wednesday. After the ses-
sions were over we asked
some of the students to list
the most important issues
and select the candidate who
could best deal with them.

Kathy Wale
(Grade 11)
The issues that I’m con-
cerned about are Free
Trade, abortion and land

claims. | feel that Jim

Fulton could handle these
issues a lot better than.
any other candidate and
that’s who I'd vote for.

Joe Zucchiattl
(Grade 11)

| think the major issues
in this year’s election are
definitely Free Trade, the
economy, Native land
Claims. | felt the best two
speakers today were Jim
Fulton and Ray Halvor:
son. But | think that Jim
Fulton Is unrealistic in his
thinking and | would vote
for Ray Halvorson any
day.

Stephen Salanski
(Grade 12)

| feel there are three
“major topics: the econo: ~~;

my, Free Trade and abor-
tion. 1 felt that Halvorson
and Fulton were the two
outstanding speakers, but
1 think Halvorson at one
time on Free Trade con-

tradicted himself by say-''

ing at one point he was in
favor of the agreement,
but later | believe he said
it had too many loop-
holes. The Christian Heri-
tage Party was unrealistic
about abortion rights, and
with the economy the Re-
formers were very

unrealistic. with thelr

ideas on a test that would
go to every individual to
decide whether they were
eligible for social pro-
grams such as Unemploy-
ment Insurance and Old
Age Pension. Therefore, |
would vote for Jim Fulton,
NDP.

ton,

Sherri Pannun
(Grade 12)

_...ic feel the-most impor. __

tant Issues In this elec-
tion are Free Trade,
Native land claims, abor-
women's rights,
child care and pollution. |
don't want the Progres-

sive Conservatives to

have another chance in
office — they’ve already
had an opportunity to
prove themselves. So I’d
like to see a new party in
command this time, and
I'd prefer that party to be
the NDP. So 1 would vote
for Jim Fulton because
he’s straightforward and
honest — | don’t find that
with any of the other can-

‘didates.

Chloe Asti-Rose
(Grade 12)

The biggest issues are
the Free Trade Agreement
with the United States,
abortion and women’s
rights, Native jand claims
and the environment.

* After listening to all five |

thought it was between
Ray Halvorson and Jim
Fulton. But | feel that
Fulton came out on top

‘and he’s the one | would

vote for to deal with these
issues.

ee FoR NE EE ~ td anal iad Le

ee eee eee eS eee

Terrace Review — “Wednesday, 1 November 16, 1988 5.

More letters —

Loss of
inheritance

To the Editor,

As confusion reigns supreme
in the current election issues, we
need to become more concerned
about who is influencing our
thinking. Not so long ago, while

’ the whole country was arguing

about metric, a second official
language and the price of gas, it
was in fact the Charter of
Human Rights that shipped in

- virtually unnoticed: Today the.

scenario is the same, the issues
being Free Trade overshadowing
the respect for life from con-
ception through old age.

Any thinking person will
know that the Americans need
and want our natural resources,
especially those in B.C. Do we
really believe Free Trade will
cause any store manager here to
lower his prices? Do we really
think Canada is just waiting for
the tariff wall to come down to
give relief to our imagined over-
supply?

Just as Esau long ago gave
away his inheritance to satisfy
an immediate greed, so do we
have become accustomed to the
lifestyle that we are exchanging

for.our. ‘‘Christian’’ inheritance, .

the values this country was
founded and built on.

Like the orchestra on the
Titanic, are we playing ‘‘Nearer
My God to Thee’’ as the ship
goes down? If Jesus were stand-.

ing in our pulpits today, would.
- He once again point to those.

who flock to hear Him and say
“O foolish generation’’?

Ruth Peters,

Terrace, B.C.

Awareness
vital

To the Editor,

I would like to thank the Ter-
race Womens’ Centre for spon-
soring Ellen Wordsworth’s
workshop on ‘‘Free Trade,
Meech Lake and Privatization’’.
This is the first time I have par-
ticipated in such an event and I
found it well-organized and in-
formative. I am especially
grateful for the excellent
childcare provided which en-
abled me to attend.

Like many other Canadians, I
found myself uncertain about
the Free Trade Agreement.
After reading Marjorie
Bowker’s review I was left with
grave misgivings and a desire to
learn more, The workshop pro-
vided a good opportunity.

One of the most valuable
things I learned there is that for
the full effects of the Free Trade
Agreement to be understood, it
is essential to connect it with
other government policies and

~ not just look at the Agreement

in isolation. The threat to our
social programs, for instance, is
not directly spelled out in the
Agreement but once combined
with the Meech Lake Accord
and the trend towards privati-
zation, the dangerous undermin-
ing of these programs becomes
clear.

We have been asked to trust

‘Brian Mulroney to protect our
medicare, U.1.C,, and Canada.

healthy economy,

Pension programs in future
negotiations with the. United
States about the definition of
unfair subsidies under the Free
Trade Agreement. I would ask
that if these programs are an im-
portant priority, then why was
the reassurance of specific pro-
tection for them not obtained in
the Agreement to begin with?

I believe in the concept of
freer trade, but this Agreement
is flawed and poorly negotiated;
leaving our natural resources

threatened, our environment un-. --
“protected, and our social pro-

grams at risk. This i is ‘too high a

for business.

Economic prosperity is pos-
sible through avenues other than
this Free Trade Agreement
despite what the present govern-
ment, which entirely bungled the
issue, is saying, Our resource-
rich nation has the potential and
our people, the strength and in-
itiative, to develop a global
presence on the international
trade scene without relying on
the U.S. to determine the means.

Most importantly, the Cana-
dian emphasis on the public
good must never be sacrificed
for the sake of profit, We need
healthy people to _sreate a

It is vital that ¢ every eligible
citizen vote with care and aware-
ness in this election to preserve
the right to determine our own
uniquely Canadian vision of the
future of this country. People

who are: tired - of -politicians’-- -
broad generalizations and -

desire concrete information may
order copies of the actual Free
Trade document by calling
1-800-267-8527. It is complex
but worthwhile reading to make
an informed decision. —
Kaeleen Bruce,
Terrace, B.C.

Read FTA
To the Editor,

Copies of the Free Trade
Agreement are now available at
no cost from the Terrace Wom-
en’s Resource Centre, 4542 Park
Ave., or call 638-0228.

Don’t be discouraged by the
stories of how hard it is to read.

If you want to check. the source .

of politicians’ conflicting state-
ments and atrive at your own in-
formed decisions, please come
by and pick up a copy. You
don’t need to read it from cover
to cover, just investigate par-
ticular areas of concern to you.

Studying this document in
conjunction with Marjorie
Bowker’s analysis is also help-
ful. (This is also available at the
Centre.) Marjorie Bowker is a-
retired judge who has written an
independent study of the par-
ticular Agreement. Her initial
reason for undertaking this pro-
ject was to educate herself
because she was feeling be-
wildered.

We at the Women’s Resource
Centre encourage you to explore

this document yourself. Get |

together i with a friend or two

‘and disquss the possible out-

comes 0! nf stich an Agreement.
Mary Bowering,
_ Terrace, B.C.

wade