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‘Terrace city council should think long

andhard
before making a decision regarding membership in‘the-
B.C. Environmental Information Institute, and then a
forget the idea. . Bo a
the recently formed organization appeared on the . _~
council agenda Aug. 28, and a motion sent the pro- mo
posal to city administration with a request for further.
information. Council had received a similar request at
a previous meeting, along with a description of the
BCEII’s mission. 4
_ The group is directed by a member of the Share the
Stein Committee, the managing director of the B.C. ~
Yukon Chamber of Mines, an [WA business agent
from Vancouver Island and the president of the Truck
Loggers’ Association. They want to be ‘fa credible and
independent source of information, education and
research to counter the emotional arguments that
" presently color the environmental-economic debate.”
Jt sounds too good to be true, and it probably is.“ !
 -A pall of fear and concern has. fallen over the .

general public regarding the truthfulness of claims by

resource-extraction companies, particularly in the
forest industry, that they aren’t permanently damaging
the environment in the course of conducting their,
business, Well, good heavens, is it any wonder in view.
of recent history? The extreme polarization that we're.
seeing now in land use philosophies is a natural .prod-
uct of mistrust and misinformation, and at the present —
time there is no source of information, from university ©
professors to prospectors living in the bush, that can
be considered neutral and credible by all sides of the.
debate. | .
Joining a provincial organization like BCEII will do
‘nothing for city council except slant public perception
oftheir motives. Our local government, will. never have
ainy voice but a minute one in distant debates like
those over mixed-resourcé use .in the Stein and Car-
manah valleys, and if such a dispute arises in this area
(as it inevitably will) they have able staff researchers
and rich sources of /oca/ information on which to
draw and achieve a sensible and well-informed posi-
tion.
The predictable effect of local government getting
involved in this would be to take an already strident —
debate on a provincial level, with two sides casting
aspersions and engineered statistics at one another, -
and, draw it down to a local level. :

- week, members of the Union of

Established May 1, 1905 Second-clags mail
The Terrace Review Is published registration No. 6696.
each Wednesday by Ail material appearing in the Terrace Review ia

protected under Canadian copyright etra-
tlon No. 342775 and cannot legally lt

Close-Up Business Services Ltd.
. : : duced for any reason without permission of the

ubilsher.
_ Publisher: Errore and omissions. Advertising Is accepted
Mark Twyford on the condiilon that in the avent of
Editor: lypographical error, that portion of the advartis-:
Or: ing space occupied by the erroneous tony will

ere abent . pie ne
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os . wi pa al ea. erate,
. Staff Reporter: Advertisers must ssaume responsibility for or
a Tod Strachan rore in any classified ad which ls supplied io the
Advertising Manager:

Terrace Review In handwritten form.
In compliance with the B.C. Human Rights Act,

Mat wyford no advertiserent wa be Published | which
. as 8 nat &
. Typesatting: religion, color, get Dilly ancestry or place
; Production Manager: 4535 Grelg Avenue,
Production: Ferree
~ Gharlas Costello,
- Gurbax GIt, Fern Lincoln Phone: 636-7840
a Office: | Fax: 635-7268
../ Carrie Olson ATS "One
i minting: year subscriptions:
oe en Twyford . of aa ada $80.00
" Harminder Dosar|h | Seniors in Terracé and District $12.00

Seniors out of Terrace and District $15.00

SS

_GNDGHELLo 1989: a

A letter urging the city to buy a $100 membership in.

_ RANA
eels aah

* 4]

ie

l
VICTORIA — The third week
in September is shaping up to
be a notable one in B.C. |
politics, provincially and

‘municipally.

The Cariboo by-election on

Sept. 20 could well decide the

fate and/or future of Premier
Bil! Vander Zalm. If his loyal

‘ candidate Joe Wark loses the ©

traditional Social Credit strong-

hold, the pressures on The |

Zalm to quit will be excep-
tional, perhaps undeniable. .
Meanwhile, in the same

B.C. Municipalities will be in
Penticton for-their annual con-
vention, from Sept. 19 through
22.

Municipal Affairs Minister
Rita Johnston will hold center

- stage on the Wednesday, NDP
leader Mike Harcourt on the
- Thursday, and Vander Zalm

himself on the Friday (Sept.
22).
Given that those will be the
first public addresses of the
two leaders after the by-_

“election, what they say will - .

come under even greater media
arid public scrutiny than usual.

The UBCM annual bunfight
has always been important for °
provincial politicians. Most - .
MLA’s make sure they make
an appearance, in order to
work with their local councils,
and to line up Cabinet
ministers and senior officials to
address local issues.

Vander Zalm and Harcourt
poth have been municipal
mayors, atid recognize fully the
UBCM’s importance. In fact,

‘since 1986, the Premier has us-

ed the anntial UBCM forum as
a launching pad for everything |

from his regionalization dream .

to the privatization scheme, to

~ the 37th revival of the long-

”

The view from

‘by John Piter

promised Vancouver Island
natural gas pipeline.
Municipal pols use the con-

vention to get the best deal
they can on infrastructure
(roads, sewers, etc.), and to €Xx-
press their concerns‘about

_ everything from taxation to

” recycling and other en-

vironmental issues.
The workshops for this
year’s event include everything .
from airport development in
smaller communities to conflict
of interest (one the Premier
should. attend, perhaps?).
. The 131 resolutions include:
@ One on Sunday shopping,
asking the government to bring
in laws to allow municipalities
the option to regulate shopping:
. days and hours,
@ One pressing Victoria to
produce conflict-of-interest
guidelines for elected officials. .
@ One calling for disclosures
of all municipal campaign con-
tributions over $100.
@ One seeking a return of
compulsory motor-vehicle in- ~-
spection.

@ One, for the third year run-

- ning, calling for the election of
hospital board members, as per
school board elections.

As well as all those public
issues, there will be all sorts of
background and backroom rip-
ples coursing through the con-
vention, and I will be there for
the last two days to try to ex-
pose some of them for you, _
dear readers. |

Meanwhile, I’m off to the
Cariboo for a couple of days to
bring you up to date before the
Sept. 20th by-election. Stay
tuned. |

BLC.’s best-known Social. =

"knows it,

. ‘Crediter, the indomitable Grace

McCarthy, is recovering at
home after minor heart surgery
earlier in: the week.

Now 61, the long-serving
MLA and Cabinet minister
who failed in her 1986 bid to

become Canada’s first woman -

Premier, is not likely to let a .
little thing like an operation
slow her down, though.
- She steadfastly believes that
the Social Credit Party isin
danger. of disappearing under -
the leadership of Bill Vander ©
Zalm, a la Richard Hatfield in”
New Brunswick, and she makes
no bones about it. ;
As recently as two weeks ~
ago, at the Socred causus
meeting in Invermere, McCar-
thy repeated her starice that she
would not serve again ina
Vander Zalm Cabinet, if. asked.
(Mind you, we must remember
that the prospect of her ever

being asked to do so is very,

very remote.) . . .
McCarthy’s stunning resigna-

tion from that Cabinet in July —
‘1988 came at the:height of con-
- flict and controversy surround.
ing Vander Zalm, and still car-

ries repercussions to this day.
Amazin’ Grace may well

have lost some clout within the

party since then, but it would

- be a mistake to underestimate

her power base among long-
standing party members.

If a leadership convention to —

replace Vander Zalm becomes a

reality before the next general
election, McCarthy, will be in a
position to steer a good
number or votes toward one of
the prime players... and every
one of the serious contenders

_..» continued on page 5.