Page A4 — Torrace Standard, Wednesday, December 19, 1900

SAT STAN DAR Jim Coulter nee ae a 7 7 Special. thanks. rm a |
——_ i " GBTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1986 oo on e alt ae — pa, Maleoim Baxtor ~ News, oe Our ‘contributors. and :
Registration No, 7820 4647 Lazelle Ave., Terrace, B.C., VBG 1S8 (604) 638-7283 Rod Link “dim Coutter — Advertsing Ménager, Janet Viveros — ~ advertising Consultant. | - their time and - .
Serving t Terace wa. Published on Wadetiay ‘of ch week bj Carboo Poss (9965) LU, at 4647 Laie Ave.,Terace Brith Coumbl |. Sam Colller ~ Advertising Consultant, Farry Miller — Circulation Supervisor talents.” ede : :
Saree oscars, are ast ves We Teac Stunt a te propery ote capri ies, Inchading Cariboo Press (1969) Li Hs it Production Manager: ee See SAE Ta an he
Reproduction in whold or in part, without weritten permission, is speciticetty prosoiied. , Goux Edouard Credgeur Neg 4 Mavi dye 2 : a
Authorined as second-class mail panding the Post OHice epartmant for payment of postage In cash. . a —
EDITORIAL, (| a
Py 7 . ib! i x > : ‘e x
. <j Sheer = Ee.
[ er (Z con aa bos 4

. Plug that hole

Not so long ago the job of being acon-
servation officer seemed relatively un-
complicated. The main task was policing
hunting regulations. But things have
changed greatly. Conservation officers
are now administrators and environmen-
tal policemen in addition to making sure
people only shoot the right animal in the
right season.

_ .¥Yet as complicated as the job has

become, the number of conservation of-

ficers falls behind what is needed. Every
new logging road opens up’a new area of

hunting. Increased industrial activity in

the north creates new work. Every new

regulation for enforcement adds to the

work load.

In Terrace there are two conservation
officers, They cover a large territory. It’s
fairly widely known that two isn't
enough. The single matter of policing the

new fishing regulations on the Skeena
River and its tributaries is more than
enough work for the two officers already
here.

Beginning two years ago the provincial

' government made much of its commit-

ment to increasing the strength of its
conservation officer section. There were
more people hired in other environment
sections that are part of the regulatory
process but not much happened in this
area in terms of putting more bodies in
the field,

And now one officer is being transfer-
red, The vacant position seems to be
caught in the spending squeeze recently
imposed by the province. Former en-
vironment minister John Reynolds said
he would make sure the position here is
filled quickly. Let’s hope he left a note
about that on the desk of his successor.

Dave strikes again

The one charming thing about Skeena
MLA Dave Parker is that he says what
he thinks. Unlike other politicians who
spew pablum or who make pro-
nouncements as difficult to pin down as
stepping on jello, Mr. Parker boidly ven-
stHRS forth... i

_. Witness. his | comments’ last’ week. on...

‘local AM radio. The subject was the on
again-off again rebellion within the
Social Credit party against Premier Bill
Vander Zalm.

When asked for his opinion, Mr.
Parker said it was time for all good
Socred members to back the govern-
ment, Those against the Premier, Mr.
Parker continued, were from constituen-
cies that have failed to elect Socreds to
the legislature. So why, Mr. Parker add-
ed, should the party listen to a “bunch
‘of losers?”’

3

That statement may not win Mr.
Parker much support but it does make
sense. It’s a variation of the old joke
about a servant rushing in to the king’s
court. ‘‘Sire, the peasants are
revolting!”’ says the servant. ‘‘They cer-
tainly are,” replies the king...

‘What’a number of Sdcreds forget ‘is
that politics is a matter of rhythm.
Things change. So what if cabinet
ministers quit. Turnover is a natural
aspect of any occupation. So what if the
Premier takes a thrashing now and
‘again. It comes with the job.

Socreds should remember that they
elected the Premier as leader in the first
place. He’s their guy whether they like it
or not. You pay your money and take
your chances, It’s simple. Just like Mr.
Parker says.

Domestic chairman

Whether it’s baby’s

highchair, Mom’s rocker, or
father’s recliner, deciding when

to reupholster someone’s
favourite chair means weighing Bifocals
considerations as crucial and by Claudette Sandeckl

complex as Vander Zalm calling

Through

-a provincial election. Often
father is less amenable to

calendar, and arranging for

While he makes do with a

. |

change than a baby cutting
teeth.

Generally, reupholstering is
‘elective surgery. For unless fur-
Hiture sustains sudden major
- damage such as a broken spring
when Mom stands on the sofa
to hang draperies, or a cracked
structural board when a teen
party. grows out of hand,
upholstery deteriorates so
“gradually as to be almost im-
‘perceptible if seen daily,

~ . The decision to reupholster is
often triggered by one of several
“events, You are expecting
visitors whom you hope to im-
Press. You're changing the
room's entire color scheme; or
‘the chair's springs have become
, 80. misshapen your home owner
“Insurance policy has a specific
clause requiring the chair to be
secured by a seat belt.
- In most families, everyone
has a stall, A bed of one's own.
’ An accustomed place at the din-

“mer table. A favourite spot for

“TV watching. Leaving only a

“dent in the living room carpet

can disorient a family member.

- Besides the ‘Practical con-
“siderations. — first winning the
6/49 to offset the cost, catching
. the upholsterer with a gap in his

oo gt

bo aR wb hn Pe rt ee hoe ale oe be ee

trucking — there’s a crux of
subslitute seating while repairs
are underway.

If Dad’s a sports nut, his
chair must be available to him
particularly during finals of
team sports, from hockey, foot-
ball, and baseball to bowling,
swimming, and relay racing,

If Pop catches every sitcom,
Road to Avoniea, or WWE
wrestling, upholstering will
have to wait for re-run season,
Fortunately that’s a short wait.

To cause father the least
trauma, spirit the chair off to an
uphoisterer’s shop well across
town. That way father will have
to endure only a swift amputa-
tion from his ‘habitual support.
He'll be happier not knowing
whether the upholsterer is poun-
ding tacks or baking Christmas
cookies.

Repairing his favourite chair
in his home puts a man through
agonies similar to being present
while his wife is giving birth. He
will hover solicitously, wincing
as each tack is pried loose,
frowning as each spring is re-
tied. And he'll still be there
when the chair is finally Lifted
down from the sawhorses and

set upright upon the.floor,

replacement, turn a blind eye to
his squirmings and a deaf ear to
his carpings. He'll celebrate his
chair's homecoming all the
more for having been deprived
ofits familiar comfort, however
briefly,

Witnessing father’s discom-
Fiture as he wrestles to snuggle
into a chair he’s not used to,
you may be tempted to speed
the return of his own chair by
paring the reupholstering job to
bare essentials.

Don’t be. Better to disturb —

him with one thorough restora-
tion every seven years than to
hit him with quick fixes annual-
ly.

Trust me.

Awl

Make punishment
fit the offence |

VICTORIA — A rare breed of
press release came out of the
provincial environment
ministry the other day. Neither
the list of the province’s top
130 industrial and municipal

polluters nor the press release —

listing the companies and in-
dividuals charged under en-
vironmental legislation con-
tained any political rhetoric.
:.. There was none of the usual.
ministerial claim to near- ‘
sainthood; there was no men-
tion of the government's com-
mitment to turn this province
into a green paradise within
the next 48 hours; none of the
paragraphs ended with the
familiar press release phrase
‘the minister said.”
Deprived of political direc-
tion and or pressure — John
Reynolds had resigned from
his job as environment
minister two days earlier — the
ministry did the unthinkable: it
desseminated information
without political content.
Unfortunately, the absence
of political accountability has
drawbacks, It was impossible
to get any information out of
the bureaucracy that wasn’t
contained in the press releases.
Nobody knew whether or not
they should or could release
any additional information,
and there was no minister
reporters could turn to.

Not that the information the

ministry released was inconse-
quential. I assume that no .
company or municipality
cherishes being named as a top
industrial polluter,

"The list of polluters who are
“harmful or potentially harm-
ful to the environment”’ con-
tains the names of 29 com-
panies, three municipalities
and one regional district.

The district of Chilliwack is
named for exceeding sewage
effluent permit limits, and the
city of Fernie for not ade- |
quately covering its garbage -
dump with soil.

The Peace River regional
district was caught not com:
pacting and covering its gar-
bage dump often enough, and
the city of Penticton is cited .
for exceeding permitted sewage

we (oULD
SHow THEM!

From the

Capital
by Hubert Beyer

effluent flows.

The ministry's: report -says..-.
that Chilliwack has Hired‘as2'<
consultant to rake recommen:
dations to correct the problem.
Fernie and the Peace River
regional district have not yet
begun to solve their respective
problems, but a waste-water
treatment plant in Penticton,
jointly financed by the city and

- the province, is nearing com-

pletion.

The list also names 97 com-
panies, corporations,
municipalities and regional:
districts which are ‘‘ a pollu-
tion concern” to the ministry,
The ministry's reasons for con-
cern range from B.C. Hydro’ s
PCB-contaminated site in Vic-
toria to inadequate sewage "
discharge facilites operated by
the Capital Regional District,
the Duncan-North Cowichan
Joint Utilities Board, and the
town of Gold River.

Nothing wrong with making
this list public. Maybe the
publicity doesn’t bother
municipalities and regional

‘districts, but most companies

are very sensitive to bad
publicity. And if the etfibar-
rassment of making the
polluter hit parade doesn’t
convince them to clean up
their act, the environment
ministry has the option of tak-
ing them to court,

In the six-month period
from April 1 to September 30,
the ministry laid 262 charges
against operations and jn-'
dividuals under environment
legislation. During that seme
peried, 105 operations and-in-

- dividuals were convicted for ©
_contrayening environmental
laws. 7
That would be an impressive:
‘ record, provided the fines are —

stiff enough to cause the of-
fenders some discomfort. And

‘that’s where the information

OW YEAH?
NTH WHAT?

system seems to break down.
~ When I phoned the ministry |

ws seta list Of WH Was fihed'"
how 'triwch, 1 didn’t: “getivery: a
far. One person thought that
this information wasn’t public;
otherwise it would have been |
included in the press release. -
Most others I contacted didn't
think they have the authority:

to give me the information I

wanted.

A minister could have taken
care of the matter in no time
flat, and if he had refused the
request, I at least would have
known whom to attack for
suppressing public informa-
tion, That’s a little more dif-
ficult when you’re dealing with
public servants. :

‘Sooner or later, Pil get the’
information I want. After all,.
it concerns court d***etans and
they are public, In the mean-
time, I can only speculate why
the ministry is so shy about
releasing details of the convic-
tions. .

Whenever the ministry ;
.charges someone under the
British Columbia's en-
vironmental legislation, jt
makes pointed referefice to the
maximum fine which is often .
$1 million, The highest fine -:
imposed by a judge to date,
has been $275,000. - :

The reason the environment
ministry isn’t crowing about
the fines is that they are em- ©
barrassingly low. The courts:
didn’t seem to take. the matter
of pollution as seriously’ aS, for
example, drunk ‘driving, | and ©
publicizing that: fact woiild
considerably lessen’ the impact :
-of:taking polluters to court.

On ‘the other hand, keeping
silent about it, won't. improve
things either, Our enyironmen- ;
tal laws are adequate and so Is"
‘their enforcement. .Now. it's.
time to make the, punishment
‘fit the crime,

GREAT IDEA!