A4 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, May 21, 1997 TERRACE TANDARD ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, [988 ee eT A Division of Cariboo Press (1969) Ltd, ADDRESS: 3210 Clinton Street Terrace, B.C. * V8G 5R2 TELEPHONE: (25()) 634-7283 * FAX: (250) 638-8432 EMAIL: standard@kermode.net 7 oo a. Intriguing idea TAKE THE issues of gun control, land claims, representation and all the rest of the stuff con- suming the candidates in Skeena in the federal election and park them in the corner. : That’s because there is one idea deserving of a broad airing. It was brought up at the May 12 all ‘candidates meeting here by Rod Freeman, the candidate for the Christian Heritage Party. There’s no way Mr. Freeman will be elected, but this one piece of his party’s platform on the fam- ily is fascinating. Mr. Freeman and the Christian Heritage Party | advocate a boosted tax credit to economically al- low one income earner in families where both ‘parents work to stay at home and Jook after chil-’ dren. As Mr. Freeman puts it, such a move would strengthen the family which, by any’ ‘measurement of any philosophy, is under in- creasing pressure today. : Mr. Freeman and the Christian Heritage Party further believe that this move would cut unem- ployment because those taking advantage of the. tax credit would vacate jobs to be filled by those now without work. And in doing so, more people. ‘working would cut what the state pays in support ‘and that would offset the costs of the tax credit. . Admittedly, this is a very rough version of the Christian Heritage Party position. Much would ‘have to be done to calculate the various costs and benefits. Yet the idea of helping families and the unemployed is something deserving serious con- sideration. Those out there who would dismiss this idea as some kind of wacky fringe party plan only have to examine the latest brain wave of Premier Glen _ Clark. In his attempt to provide more work in the «woods, Mr.: Clark is proposing an end to over- “time; “thus creating more jobs‘ for more people. “And "TWA-Canada president Dave Haggard sug- : gested a few months ago his members want a 30 - hour work week for 40 hours pay, again to pro- : vide more work for others. Those two ideas of Mr. Clark and Mr. Haggard _are receiving a goodly amount of consideration. “That being the case, adding the Christian ‘ Heritage Party idea seems a fair deal. Screaming SO HERE’S the nutty thing about Forest Renewal B.C. It wasn’t too long ago that people ‘‘were screaming because it wasn’t spending nd : enough money. Then people screamed because it was spending too much. And now people are : Screaming again that it isn’t spending any at all. » It’s no surprise that the same people have done the screaming in all three of the above examples. " ‘But what they fail to realize is that FRBC is in the tricky situation of trying to put together a ‘reasonably long term development plan. One of its foundations is that it wouldn’t be subjected to the push and pull of the human desire for im- mediate self-gratification. Then again, with Premier Glen Clark in overall control of the situation, sound planning can fall: ; victim to his own need for gratification. r . * ET n “ PUBLISHER/EDITOR: Rod Link — ADVERTISING MANAGER: Rick Passmore ., PRODUCTION MANAGER: Edouard Credgeur NEWS Jeff Nagel * NEWS SPORTS: Dave Taylor ae 7 COMMUNITY: Cris Leykauf. OFFICE MANAGER: Kathiecn Quigley ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS: Sam Collier, Janet Viveiros, Tracy Cowan TELEMARKETER: Tracey Tomas ADVERTISING ASSISTANT: Emma Law, Kelly Jean TYPESETTING: Sylvana Broman DARKROOM: Susan Credgeur CIRCULATION MANAGER: Karen Brunette SUBSCRIPTION RATES BY MAIL: $53.50 per year; Seniors $48.15; Out of Province $60.99 Outside of Canada (6 months) $149.80 (ALL PRICES INCLUDE GST): MEMBER OF © B.C, AND YUKON COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION, CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION : oe C Sommunrry Nrwsrarens ac * Serving the Terrace and Thor area. Published 0 on Wednesday of each week by carbo Press (1969) ~, Ltd. at 9210 Clinton Strael, Terrace, Brilish Columbia, VEG SR2. ~~ AND B.C, PRESS COUNCIL - 2 Stories, photographs, Mlustations, designs and typestyles in the Terrace Standard are the praperty of the ; = hefders, including. Caribao Press (1989) Lid.. its iHustration fepto. services and adveriising agoncles. - ” Paved as econ or in pad, without sition pemission, Is specilically prohibited, : , Authorized as second-class mail pending tha Pos! Office Department, or payment of postage In cash. Special thanks to all our contributors and correspondents for their time and talents NO REASONTO PANIC! ~— SIVEDOWNTO THE BRIDGE AND SIGNAL THE ENGINE ROOM FULL SPEED AHEAD 10 AF RESH START! ’ prissy Taking a trip to the real B. C. VICTORIA — I visited Alex Fraser country recently, and let me tell you, the Cariboo is as far removed from the south of the province as ever, The 650 kilometres along the Trans- Canada Highway and 97 North . between Vancouver and Wil- liams Lake don’t even begin to tell the story. The difference starts north of Hope. I stop at a restaurant a ways north of Hell’s Gate in the Fraser Canyon. The TV is tuned to a Station showing country music videos. Guys in cowboy boots, blue jeans and denim jackets sip coffee. - Ashtrays are on every table; no need to ask for a seat in the smoking section. I briefly wonder how the loggers, whose presence dominates the restaurant, would react if some regional _— district bureaucrat came in and told them they couldn’t smoke in 66 per cent of the place. It wouldn’t be a wise idea. I arrive in Williams Lake. You know you're in the Cariboo when you see more trucks than cars. This is the kind of country where, Bill Bennett once said, the real British Columbians live. _ The late Alex Fraser, minis- ter of highways during Bill . Bennett's days, is a legend in - these parts. People remember FROM THE CAPITAL HUBERT BEYER him. He was a local boy wha: worked tirelessly for his con- stituents, I remember Alex too, and fondly so. When the Quesnel Cariboo Observer stopped run- ning Alex’s weekly Socred political manifesto, _ masquerading under the term ‘column,’ he stormed into the newsroom, demanding an ex- planation. Jerry MacDonald, the editor, told him he didn’t have the space, ‘‘What do you mean, you don’t have the space,”’ thundered Alex, “You’re run- ning that goddamned Beyer.’’ That was Alex. The reason I’m in Williams Lake is the annual general meeting of the Cariboo Lum- ber Manufacturers’ Associa- tion, CLMA for short. I’ve been asked to be moderator of a panel discussion. The panelists are Janna Kumi, Assistant Deputy Minis- ter, Operations Division, of the forest ministry; Rick Franko, vice-president of wood product sales for Weldwood of Canada Lid., and Dx, Clark Binkley, dean of the University of Brit- ish Columbia’s forestry facul- ty. I’m glad I’m just the moderator. As a journalist, I’m expected to know a little about a hell of a lot of subjects, while being an expert at none. These guys are pros, The night before, at a social gathering, I had run into B.C.’s chief forester, Larry Pedersen, and told him jokingly that, on the basis of a cursory inspec- ; tion, I'd come to the conclu- sion that the local forest dis- trict’s annual allowable cut could be increased by at least 25 percent. Larry groaned and said, ‘‘Huberl,, we need a talk,”’ Next day, Binkley says that my remark wasn’t thal far off base. A friend of mine who sat next to Larry tells me later that © our chief forester covered his eyes and mumbled something like *‘oh, no.” Well, Binkley was talking about the future, when some of our forest land could be so in- tensively managed that it will yield far more fibre than it does now. Relax, Larry. Janna Kumi calls for a new social contract between indus- try and her ministry. The two, she says, have been at logger- heads too long. Rick Franko warns that B.C. hasn't seen anything yet when it comes to the brave new world of the global economy B.C. is up against. He shows a slide of a huge forest of eucalyptus trees in Brazil, each - one of which is an exact replica of the other. The trees are cloned, Their branches come out at the same spot, They areas identical as twins, only there are thousands of them. Talk about Orwell's 1984, But the trees grow fast and. produce excellent fibre. Down the road; they are ready to bury our forest industry. It’s about 3 p.m. The meeting is over and I mingle. Alex Fraser’s name comes up again and again. O.K., they named a bridge in the Lower Mainland aftcr him, but Alex’s real legacy lives on right here, in the Cariboo. Beyer can be reached at: Tel: 920-9300; Fax: 385- 6783; ; E-mail: hubert@coolcom.com Debate accomplished zilch LAST MONDAY’S national leadership debate was as excil- ing as watching the chess match between Kasparov and the computer Deep Blue, only noisier. All five party leaders had - been programmed to deal with > every likely predicament, and rehearsed until] McDonough’s voice threatened to desert her. The chess match followed a conduct code designed to give each contestant a fair shake, while assuring onlookers a satisfying experience. Not so the debate, Each debater was left to fend for himself like hyenas at a kill. Whoever shouted the loudest _ bogged the microphone. That turned out to be Jean Charest. He went into the debate determined to hog the floor once he got it, and hog it he did, bulldozing the others, ignoring their interventions as though he were totally deaf and afflicted by tunnel vision. How CAN THOSE [7] YEAH! IT LOOKS CHICKADEES LIKE IF YoU SURVIVE AT TOUCHED THEN) 50 BELow!?? fe tepy: It MES THROUGH BIFOCALS CLAUDETTE SANDECKI Alexa McDonough pitched her voice to crystal-shattering heights in an attempt to inter- jects she came off shrill, rude and drawned out. Darn doesn’ t cut it in the burly burly of political showmanship. Some commentators called Jean Chretien prime minis- terial; other sald -he looked old and tired. He weighed cach word to guard against a fatal THEY’ D JUST... error, just as I descend carcful- ly, one foot at a time, down a ladder or scaffolding. Preston Manning’s expensive haircut commanded attention. Unfortunately he demeans himself by turning his right hand upside down and extend- ing his index finger in a limp- wristed gesture which I suspect he considers tactful. At least Pierre Trudeau boldly stated his contempt in a one finger salute. Gilles Duceppe, who hails _ from what he wishes were a forcign country, looked as relaxed as a rabbit skewered by a CNR headlight. I had hoped to bear some fresh points of view. Instead, McDonough repeated the line that boosted Liberal Gordon Wilson from oblivion to B.C.’s opposition party. As Chretien, Charest, and Manning hectored each other, sweeping her arm toward them McDonough said, “This is the sort.of bickering ai? a suatren'! Ber that gets so little done in the House of Commons.”’ Or words to that effect, Later, Charest copied Brian Mulroney’s put-down of John Turner, ‘“You had an option, sir.’ Only Charest substituted the word choice for option. © All five should have: paid more for speech writers, less for drama coaches. And what was Chretien’s ex- cuse for calling an‘early elec- tion? “‘The other parities were gearing up for an election, printing campaign brochures..." Well, To be: in charge of Canada and yet al- low your agenda to be set by opposition MPs eager to es- cape the work of parliament! . Elections are expensive. So . is training first-time MPs to the ways of Ottawa. Why should we clect a new bunch when the old ones owe us 17 more months: under their current contract? SorRy !! Sorry !! SORRY !! @o.vequiary 97-57 2 ph t Man ee et al ee ell