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Terrace Standard, Wednesday, November 13, 1997 —

-NDPer’s move |
_in together —

TERRACE ~-- Skeena MP. Jim

1 Fulton and Skeena MLA

"NEW SKEENA MLA Helriut Giesbrecht moves furniture in his constituency office on Park Ave. It's the

same office the NDP used during the provincial election campaign. Skeena MP Jim Fulton also moved

into that space last F viday,

a, .
The followirig are profiles, of
the three, candidates running for.
the Terrace and area seat on the
school boaid: : ; :

-KEN HANSEN

wae +

Hansen is a welder and heavy

inf ete nae

ay" sa paid” 3ehioo| taxes
since 1974'arid have | Watclied' the
school tax mill rate for my, pro-
perty tripte over ten years,” "said
Hansen." °

“Our: taxes are an ‘invest-

méft. Like any'‘investment, we

-have expectations, I have receiv-

ed no reports from the school
board. on . its’ spending our

. policies. On the evidence I seein

~ ourstudents, [am not satisfied

with. the. return ‘on: my invest-
ment,” hesaid,) 2°. <

Hansen: says he’s running
because of; the. following ques-
tions:

Wages and benefits account for
about 70 per, cent ‘of, the budget.

| Are wages. ‘and benefits: “now

three times greater?

e'Are students to’ ‘blame? Are.
students now w tlitée ti times harder -

to teach? Do: we’ now teach three
times as ‘many: “Stiidents? Do we
now keep: thet i
times longer? “

e ‘Are banks to: blame? Is the:

amortized ‘cost-of new buildings
and equipmetit: now: three times
greater? “ade de

-* Are-sales- and: service con- .
tractors'to‘blaine? ‘Is'the cost of’.
sehiool: supplies, ‘ernndnortatlon,

greater? :
@ Are the utilit

three times, greater?

“e,Am [to blame? stave i teft

the. school board unaccountable

for toa ty,
: ie Ui i

curate
oe

Pe TAG ed

® Are. teachers . to blame?

“make sure you back: it up, wit
“enough funding to'do,it proper- a
ly," he says: , “Change is, ine °-
evitable. 1; came ‘through ; the.
s: system: when; they came in: with;
_ the semiester-system ‘= and: that...

He adds that to approve a
policy, initiate a program, then
deny the money for personnel,
training or equipment = is

: dudicrous.,
“School trustge candidate Ken:

. Ie anything i is worth doing,

it, “approve it. ie. they. are
notes.” Hansen said.

JACQUES LE BLANC

Better communication is one
of the key things school board
candidate Jacques Le Blanc
wants to see if elected.

Le Blanc, 39, a local fencing
contractor, has lived here for 15
years. He's a father of three
children —- two boys and a girl.

‘I'd. like to see a: little bit.

more communication — from
management down and from
down up,’’ he says.

Finance. is not his forte, Le
Blanc says. ‘‘F'don’t make any

false’ pretences about being a—

budgeter or an accountant,"” he

. Says.

People tend to be complacent

-about-education until it affects.
‘theni or their children directly.

‘One issue that now involves

_ many parents and will continue

to.in- the. future is‘ that of the
Year 2000 education reforms:
“As with many issues, Le
Blanc, treads the middle
ground; saying he wants to.find

solutions that are acceptable ta.
most people. von, Tis

“If you're: going: 40. doi

was a fairly big change, People...

balked about-it, too.”

Some - parents. object. to the.

Ken Hansen

‘Hey, what's going on?’ But the
Newer style forces you as a
parent to get more involved,
And that’s good."’

Illiteracy is a major social
problem Le Blanc wants to fight
if elected to school board.

“As an employer I’ve noticed
a surprising number of people
who aren’t fully literate,”’ he
said. '“There are a lot of young -
kids who don’t realize how
much damage they’re doing to
themselves by not earning how

-to read.”

He also wanls to work
towards: improved labour. Tela-
tions.

‘9 don’t like confrontation.
I’m not that kind of person. I
like. communication. Head-
bonking doesn't get. you
anywhere," he said,

ea‘ think these will be .fairly
exciting times — and I’d like to

be: part of it.’

STEW CHRISTENSEN
' Stewart Christensen is runn-

ing for the position of school

trustee because he feels there are
some very positive things hap-
» pening: in education.

‘He feels his previous ex:
perience can help work toward |
making School District 88 “a”

‘Place which allows students to

achieve their maximum poten-

Helmut Giesbrecht have merged
their constituency offices.

Fulton moved.

joint Terrace office for the
elected representatives.

The two New. Democrats
made the decision to combine

“offices. after Giesbrecht

defeated. former Social Credit
MLA Dave Parker in the Oct.
17 election.

. Gail Murray, Giesbrecht’s

4 conitituency assistant, said part

‘of the decision was financial.

- Combining offices reduces
costs, she said, by splitting rent
and sharing equipment like
photocopiers, ‘‘Cost saving is
certainly a plus,” she said.

into.
Giesbrecht’s Park Ave; election:
campaign headquarters on Fri-'’
day, which has now become a -

‘constituents,

And’ combined offices . will"

also make. getting help: simpler
for constituents, who have in
the past often been shuttled bet-
ween the provincial and federal
offices: -~

«Ot will, make it: much easier
for the public when a case
crosses the . boundaries’ of
federal and provincial jurisdic-
tion," Murray. said, “‘because
we'll both be right here.”’

Murray said Fulton has also.

wanted a ground-level office in
Terrace for some. time. The
Park Ave. office will be more
accessible for his handicapped
she said, than
Fulton's old second-floor office
at 4650 Lakelse, '

Fulion’s lease had also just
expired on that office, :

The office is located at 4623
Park Ave., across the street
from Lower Little Park.

He’s a cautious MLA

TERRACE The New
Democrats will have to find a
way to do “‘the most with less’’,
says Skeena’s incoming MLA.

Although the new govern-
ment expected to find the pro-
vince’s financial situation was
not a good one, Helmut
Giesbrecht said’ ‘‘No-one
predicted they were as bad as
they appear to be.””

Giesbrecht said the govern-
ment might initially have to
concentrate On changes that do
not have a price tag attached
and then set Priorities for those
that do.

“We made a commitment ta
balance the books over the

hree e Up for school seat _

Jacques LeBlanc” -

tial.

Christensen moved to Terrace
with his wife, Marilynn, and
their two sons in 1969. Don and
Mike graduated from Caledonia
Senior Secondary. Stewart has
been director of engineering for
the City of Terrace since 1987.

He is a member of the Ter-
race Rotary Club and has been
actively involved in the Student
Exchange Program. He has
been involved-in church work,
Sunday school and youth work.

He is very interested in many
sports and was director on the
B.C. Winter Games Committee
as the school board liaison.

His previous experience on
the school board has been:
negotiating committee  chair-
man, facilities committee chair-
man, education and personnel
committee chairman, and
finance committee member.

“ He feels that the only way to

achieve. excellence in education
is tohave some involvemnt
from all the community. It is his
goal to. create that opportunity
for the public to have better
communication with the educa-
tion system,
JtAS we ,work together, we
can continue to improve .our
standard toward excellence. in
education,” said Christensen,

business cycle,” he pointed out,
adding that was to be done
without increasing tax burden
on ordinary people.

Defending premier Mike Har-
court’s decision not to convene

government could not bring
down a budget until it kn¢w
‘the true state of finances’’/
“We're not prepared to/get
caught up in the chaos they (the
Social Credit government)
created, When we've got han-
dle on the books...we’rd going
to call a legislative session,” he
added. ia

Stew Christensen

Where
to vote

TERRACE — Polls open at 7
a.m. and close at 9 p.m. this
Saturday, Nov. 16, as Terrace
and rural area voters choose one
of three candidates for a schoo!
board position.

In the running for the two-
year seat for the calendar years
1992 and 1993 are Stew
Christensen, Ken Hansen and
Jacques LeBlanc.

In Terrace proper, the poll is
at Clarence Michiel Elementary
while Thornhill . voters cast
ballots at Thornhill Elementary
School. ~

The voting takes ‘place in
Rosswood’ at the Parmenter

_ residence,:in Usk-at the Mrs. M.

Early residence, at the Lloyd
Johnstone residence at ‘Lakelse

Lake and in Cedarvale, at the

Cedarvale Museum. _
There’s also a hospital poll

between 4 and $ p.m. this Fri-_
day, Nov, 15, at Mills Memorial

Hospital.

Page AS,

Elaine Johnson

Final
vote |
tally

now in

TERRACE — With the
‘absentee votes now counted,
the absolutely final numbers

the legislature — and therefore /| Provincial’ election numbers

bring down a budget — until the :
spring, Giesbrecht said the new’

are in for the Skeena riding.

Not | surprisingly, New
Democrat ..- -Helmut
Giesbrecht is still Skeena's
new MLA, but his majority
was slightly reduced by the
additional votes,

Returning officer Blaine
Johnson said. Giesbrecht
tallied 5,597 votes (46.7 per
cent), Socred incumbent
Dave Parker picked up 4,766
votes (39.7 per cent) and
Juanita Hatton finished with
1,629 (13.6 per cent).

Those figures left
Giesbrecht with a majority of
B31 compared to 969 on elec-
tion night.

Johnson said the total
votes cast were 11,992, With

riding, that represented a
71,26 per cent turnout, down
from the 1986 figure of-76,2
per cent.

yea igpteds i en spoiled
ota

Sabiever,fobncon ‘said
the “spoiled” figure soared
when it came to the referen-
dum questions. =.

Question A asked whether
voters should have the right
to recall MLAs between elec-
tions. Although this idea was
resoundingly approved by
those casting votes, she said
1,031 ballots had to be re-
jected, mainly because voters
did not mark anything on the
sheet at all.

It was the same story only
more so on Question B, Ask-
ed whether voters should be
able to require the provincial
government: to put certain
issues to a referendum, 1,277
ballots were rejected primari-
ly for the same reason as on
the first.

Johnson noted 175, voters
refused even. to accept the
referendum ballot papers. .

Of those who did. vote,

8,668 were in favour of ques-

That translates to 78.8 perf
cent support.

On Question B, the figures
were 8,987 in favour, 1,759
against or 83.6 per cent sup-
port, ~

Although the results on the
above questions are non-
binding, premier Mike Har-
court indicated prior to the
election he would follow
whatever lead
gave.

However, new provincial

‘legislation will be required |,

before voters get the chance
to either recall MLAs or- ‘in-
jtiate referendums,

16,828 eligible voters in the.

tion A against 2,324 against. .

the voters }:

y

ke ems aot sata at te mama” inp Wem alta ments

A vote

There is another vote.
It takes place on Satur-
day.

Voters will choose .a
person to sit on the
school board. The: per-

son will sit on the board:

for two years.

Three people want to”

be on the school board,
They are Stew.
Christensen, _Ken..
Hansen. and i Jacq

Blanc.

The three people” all
say they can do a good
job.

between 4 ‘am. and 9
p.m,
In Terrace, - ‘you ‘can

_ vote at Clarence Michiel

Elementary School. :In

Thornhill, you.can vote
: atthe Thornhill Elemen-

— oS

The voting 1 takes place 7

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