Page A4 — Terrace Standard, Wednesday, April 17,1991"

eS ,

—

“ESTABLISHED APRUL 27, 1968

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Serving the Terrace area. Published on Watnesdiy al each week yy Cariboo Press (1969) ud. at 447 Lazeli¢ ave, Terace, British Colum.
Storias, photographs, étustrations, designs and typaatyies in tha Terrace Standard are the proparty a the m cory hoki, Inelucheg Canhoo Presa (1968) ud, its 1

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Edouard Credgeur

DITORIA

Someplace there’s a lawyer working

on a plan that'll give more than one per- _

son in the province fits. That plan is to
make the host of a private house party
legally responsible for the actions of
guests who may drive away impaired and
have an accident causing death or injury
to another person.

Already there’s an increase in the
number of court cases relating to the
responsibilities of licensed
establishments allowing their patrons to
drive away while impaired.

The art of law is to take decisions
from previous court cases and use them
as a base for new legal actions. It won’t
be much of a stretch for a good lawyer ta
transfer the responsibility of licensed
establishments to party hosts.

And when this does happen, it'll be a
new way of keeping the drinking driver
off of the road. The criminal implica-
tions of impaired driving have been so
publicized that the message is routine.
The more enforcement there is, the more
people are arrested. Education has pro-
bably reached and has had an impact on

Death wish

all those willing to listen.
Consider one of the statistics gathered
by RCMP since the beginning of the

- year. The average breathalyzer

blood/alcohol content reading was .17.
That’s just over. what’s considered the
legal .08 limit. And it’s 3 just. the average

— some drivers blew way more, others
blew less.

To put it another way —_ the average
mate of average weight has to have three
drinks to reach the .08 level. The body
burns off alcohol at a steady rate. All
this means that the average impaired
driver arrested by the RCMP has -been
consuming an alarming amount of
alcohol before climbing into a vehicle
and driving away.

If that person isn’t yet deterred by

fines, imprisonment or common sense

and continues merrily along on a per- —
sonal death wish, the prospect of a host
being responsible is a worthwhile addi-
tion in the campaign to stop drinking
and driving. Some may consider it unfair
that one person becomes responsible for
another’s actions but in the real world,
that’s life.

Recession?

ts Spring is traditionally heralded by the
sound’ ‘of ‘birds returning from down
south. But there’s another predominant
sound in the air this spring — hammers
and saws.

Despite the recession that’s affecting
Eastern and Central Canada and points
south,
reasonably well.

Business and commercial construction
is more or less continuing the pace set
last year and new homes and residential
renovations are going ahead. ,

The situation is very different from

the area economy is doing

the early 1980s when a heavy dependence’ .

VICTORIA — Six cabinet.
ministers let their names stand
for interim leader the day
former premier Bill Vander -
Zalm resigned. The six were
Elwood Veitch, Mel Couvelier,
Norm Jacobsen, Claude Rich-
mond, Russ Fraser and Rita
Johnston. :
- Jt. too
tle the choice down to Fraser .

three ballots to whit-

on forestry caused great hardship as that ->'and Johnston and on the

industry slumped. Nowadays the area .
economy is more diversified. The loss of
forestry jobs has been made up. by other
sectors.

What’s happened is a more balanced
economy. A dip in one sector is buffered
by another being steady or increasing.

But as with all balancing acts, cons-
tant care and attention is needed to
maintain a proper level. Tt s something
to remember.

Just don’t do it

“There's so much American

competition for port business
that Canadian ports cannot af-

ford to do anything but be ex-
tremely co-operative with each Bifocals
other,” says Patrick Reid, Van- by Claudette Sandeck |

couver Port Corporation chair-

Through

man.

Nonetheless, the Terrace-
Kitimat Port Society with its ‘‘L
know something you don’t
know’? is fomenting. an-
tagonism and suspicion. So far,
port proponents have even
thwarted CBC Radio (Prince
Rupert's) staging of an open-air
debate. For weeks, con side
debaters have been lined up like
weekend shoppers returning
through Blaine customs.

The society appears to be
made up of gung-ho developers
shy of hands-on shipping know-
how. Sure, they have the back-

ing of Dave Parker and the pro-

vincial. government. For
whatever that’s worth, given the

Socreds. blind faith in Vander -

Zalm unti! Hughes reported.
They also claim to have private,
secret investors good for the $43
million construction costs.
Political clout is harder to sell
than consultants”

thusiasm, short on data. What
little data they: have,. they’re
reluctant to share. Little

wonder. [t says Kithmige will bea, .

‘redundant ; port like
Mulroney. junketing . “with a
back-up jet . _ Siphoning
precious ‘jobs: from: Prince

Rupert's | half.empty, facility. ge 4

' findings. .
Their prospectus is: long on en- ”

Transporting goods to a dock
in Kitimat is said to be more
economic than to a part in
Prince Rupert. But any saving is
offset by ocean mileage (33
miles to Prince Rupert, 133 to
Kitimat), and an extra pilot's
salary. I’m told one pilot- can
guide a ship into Prince Rupert,
whereas two pilots are needed to
berth a ship in Kitimat.

Cargo ships take 20 minutes
io an hour to come to a full
stop; they are not about to offer
door-to-door pick-up and
delivery sevice. So it’s foolish to.

say, “If the operation of one: .

port is disrupted . for some.
reason, the other port will be”

able.to handle some of the af- _
our doorstep.

fected cargo.”

‘How often do. avalanches
close Highway- 167: For more.

than a few hours? Yet to avoid"

those delays, we should “puild a
$63 million standby port?

Federal fisheries wants, to

know more about the effects of -f

dredging aid construction 0:
ih: bitat.

the underside of wharves.
Kitimat will build on one-third
of the estuary, replacing lost
habitat with man-made mud
flats planted with eel grass.’
That's akin to ripping out the

bathtub and making do with ;
, Wet-Wipes.

-.. foresee tax dollars being

sunk in an uneconomic port in-
frastructure,
‘Ridge. Then we'll be forced to
complete the project, regardless

a la Tumber

of: projected subsidization, on

the grounds too much is in- .

vested’ to scrap it; that calls to .
mind James Bay Phase I, and
the dam building in southern |
Saskatchewan.

-.We have another ski hill on

~“fourih ballot, Johnston

‘ became premier by a 2] to 17

vote, For better or worse, the
Social Credit caucus entrusted

_the leadership to Vander

Zalm’s most ardent supporter.
From the start, Johnston

. had.made it clear that she -

> would not make any deals with
'; her colleagues. Initially, caucus
‘members were looking for so-
_meone who would undertake |.
“not to run for the leadership at
‘the July convention because
having served as premier for a
_dew months would give that
Sandidate an undue advantage.
-But former attorney general

Allan Williams told the caucus

that such a deal wouldn’t
stand up to constitutional
scrutiny. The lieutenant-
governor, he said, could not
swear in an “interim premier.”*
The final showdown between
Fraser and Johnston would in-
dicate that the caucus battle ©
_ wag all along between Vander
Zalm loyalists and Vander
-Zalm opponients; Fraser was :
on of. Vander: ‘Zam’ s early . °
crities.
At the height of ihe abortion
controversy, Fraser was sO
~ browned off with Vander Zalm
that he. leit Victoria i inthe =<
‘middle. of a ‘session and went.
‘on holiday’ to’ some tropical ©
_ destination. ‘Nobody knew
‘where he was until he showed:
up again with a great tan.
Whether those who apposed

Vander: Zalm all along, at least:

in private, will get along. with
the former Zalmoids remains ”
to be seen. For the mom
= there's. a truce” ; :
But I wonder what would”
"happen | if there appeared | to be
- aneed: for.a public. inguiry i in-
to D former premler Vander...

A the sremier
save her party?

ent: Ww oo
3 port.’ q¢ 8 not the staunch

‘Brom the
Caplial —
‘by Huber Beyer .

Prk ky wt cew hehe bbe hd with ete abe

gains atihira: Whrattigi 2 pray!
Premier iohnstoniwas: reluc-. we
tant: to call for such an in:
quiry? Would Attorney
General Russ Fraser press for
‘one? ‘Would the truce break
down?

Some of the potential leader-
ship candidates may also resent

‘the advantage Johnston is

gaining by holding the office

‘of premier for three and a half

months.

‘Asked whether she thought
that by serving as premier she
would have an inside track,
she said she hoped so, if she
decided to run for the Ieader-
ship. f can’t i imagine Claude
Richmond being too happy
about that statement.

But aside from whether or
-not Johnston will throw her

hat in the ring, she’s got quite
a.job on her hands in the next
three months. The Socreds ex-
pect her.to. improve the parly’s
chances for the next election.

To a degree;.she will succeed
in- bringing the party back up
in the polls. The question is
whether it’s going to be |
enough to give the Socreds a
chance of winning. My guess is
no,
\. By not having. Vander Zalm
lead them into the election, the
Socreds will improve their ..
standing, Some of the core
support that left because of
Vander. Zalm will come back,
but it won't be enough to beat
the. NDP.

Ina two-party. race, and
that’s what we will have,
despite the Liberal and

- whatéver dither factor, no par-

ty. can win, with only its core

iéd or. ‘gealous ‘NDP sup- °
sorler that will. decide the elec-
tion, The swing vote will tip

~ the scales, Ih favour of either

Ee

why, @ and’! can’t see it-tip in:
faVour-of the Sogreds.
- Too much has happened in ©
the past four and a half years
for the uncommitted voter to
forget. There were too many —
scandals and too manycon-—
troversies, There are few
groups among the voters who’
were not atone time or 9 | ~
another subjected to wholesale’
insult by this government.
One of the final legacies
Vander Zalm left his party is
the final destruction of the -
myth that the Socreds are bet-
ter money managers, a myth
they are now desperately tryng
"ta revive.
When the Socreds-fled the
- legislature a few weeks back,
‘tails between their legs, having
failed to produce a budget ‘in
time for the new fiscal year; .
not even being able to say .-..
when a budget would be
presented, all their claims
about being fiscal experts Were,
refuted. . td
And the quiet burial the =.
Socreds gave their favourite -
piece of legislation, the Budget.
Stabilization Fund, didn’t do: .
anything to enhance the | =,
government’s badly bruised
fiscal image.
If British Columbia did. weil
these past few years, it was-

- because economic terms were
favourable, If we learned.

. anything these past-few years it
was that this province can sur--
vive anything, even a Social . .

+ Credit government led by Bill

a Vander Zalm. .

For the life of me, I can’t:
"see how Rita Johnston or any
other Socred premier could’

- - possibly erase-all the bad

" memories of the past four and.
ahalf years in the next few.
months, The Socred., goore ap:

; ears ta be cooked.
det *

take carpe! at