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- The Terrace Review is published

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Catch and release —

There must-have been some grim faces ‘surrounding —
morning coffee at the Regional District of Kitimat-
Stikine offices Monday. After four years of wrangling,
investigations, public hearings, delegations, court action
and heaven: knows how much expenditure of tax money
and administrative effort, the Exclusive Fly Fishing
lodge at Gossan Creek remains firmly planted on legal
ground. Martin Schmiderer had his day in court, and he
won. we

When Schmiderer began the project in May 1985, a

considerable dialogue ensued between him and the

regional district people. Despite indications that the

fishing lodge might violate zoning bylaws, and despite
expressed opposition from a vocal group of Gossan

_ Creek residents, the construction went ahead and the

fishing lodge began operations in August 1985. The
regional district took him to court in late’March 1989. —

The decision was handed down by Judge R.T. Errico
May 17. In a news release attached to a copy: of the

decision, the regional district notes, ‘‘This judicial |

ruling addressed only a very narrow technical detail.”
The decision bears that out: it seems that a bit. of
housekeeping legislation passed by the Ministry ‘of
Municipal Affairs in July 1987 to tidy up the validity of -
certain municipal and regional district bylaws, com-
‘bined with a couple other quirks of timing, created a
legal hole just big enough for Schmiderer to drop a
fishing lodge through.

'

This case presents a number of interesting features.

Perhaps it was best stated by one regional district

director, who remarked, ‘‘The will of the people — with
the exception of one person — was not carried out.” In

_ pursuing this action over a period of four. years, the
“poard of directors and administrative staff in the

wip qyeinalets

Tegional district were simply doing what they’re there to
do, in this case.carrying out the wishes of residents who
have to live in proximity of a land use that appeared
ilegal.: - | 7 |

There have been a number of instances in the past few

years in which developers who require approval of one

sort or another for their projects from the ‘Tegional’
district have been seen to proceed with them in advance
of getting that approval, The implied attitude is that the .

regional board would be powerless to stop them.

The unfortunate aspect of this. case, however well-
founded it may be in law, is that the attitude of disdain
toward an important elected institution has been
strengthened by a decision of the court. |

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Wednesday

by Bob Jackman

_ Perspectives —

_—__-

I got quite a shock the other *:

day, and for-once it wasn’t :
from Michael Wilson or

_ Revenue Canada, That’s the

good news! : 3
The bad news came in the
form of four young guys (let’s

‘say between 9 and 15 years.
old). I was driving west toward
the overpass. It was raining
-fairly hard that afternoon. The
kids came up onto the highway
from the mall. .

The light at the intersection -
had just turned green, and a
B-train chip truck came
through, headed east. I expect

- the worst from pedestrians and

other vehicles (I think it’s
called being a defensive driver)
so I let up on the gas a bit. The
kids decided this would be an
ideal time to-run across the
highway! ~

_ L braked some more, and the
kids were safely out of my
lane. 1 watched as the two
older ones raced to the other
side, and then held my breath
as first one and then the second

little guy scampered across.

The pavement was glistening
and slick, and though I could
see the B-train driver was being
pretty attentive too, | had a
sick feeling in my gut that one
of the kids might slip — the
chip hauler wouldn’t have had
a hope of stopping in time.

Kids are kids — they do |

almost as many dumb things as
us adults. Going from point A
to point B can be a straight line
_or a zigzag course past H, Q
and R. If it’s a choice between
walking up a hill onto the over-
pass, or cutting through the
CN rail yard, the chances are -
about 50-50- they'll take the ex-
citing route. - a

Which brings me to my

point, A lot of people crossing _

ate

other vehicles... ’’.

“1 expect the worst from

Tene +

between Greig-and Highway*t6
don’t use the overpass — kids
‘and adults, You can argue that
we shouldn’t have to protect
them from themselves, but.1
think it’s a pretty weak argu-
ment. With the volume of rail
traffic going through Terrace,

_ and the amount of switching
that goes on, the rail yards are
a hazard — particularly to peo-
ple who aren’t familiar with
train movement, or kids who
are more concerned with get-
ting to the other side than with
what’s going on around them.

I'd like to suggest to CN that
they build a fence along their
property line. I think it would
be a valuable deterrent, and
might even keep some little kid
from becoming roadkill. Our
‘City Council could even doa

_ bit of a lobbying job on this

onel © |

@ Claudette Worden is not
what I’d call an attractive per-
son. You may have seen her on
TV or in the Vancouver papers
lately, appearing at the inquest
- into her daughter’s death. A-
welfare mother, grossly over-
weight, a smoker — Claudette
Worden doesn’t have a lot go-
ing for her. Her daughter Asia
died in the bathtub while Ms. .
Worden was (or wasn't) talking
on the phone. .
It’s hard not to pre-judge
this lady. She says there was a
collect long distance call that
she had to answer, but the cor-
oner’s counsel says BC Tel
doesn’t have any record of the.

calf ?Mleanwhile,-Ms-Worden “=~

was appearing at the inquest
{it’s not a criminal court case
— yet) without the benefit of a
lawyer. The coroner’s counsel
has been fairly brutal in his
questioning.

While Ms, Worden is getting |

her 15 minutes of Warholian ~~
fame, there are some troubling

aspects here. Ican’t help but ~~ >

think that maybe the coroner
and the lawyer, and some of

- the social workers, may be car-.
tying some unrelated baggage

here. Yes, Asia had probably
been poorly treated before —
she lost weight at home and

improved when she was taken _

away and placed in hospital. .

Maybe Ms. Worden was an. -

unfit mother. Maybe she
should be blamed for leaving

. her little girl unattended in the .

bathtub. She certainly wouldn't
get‘an invitation to the cor-°

oner’s office party, She’s poor, |

and she doesn’t seem like a

very nice person. There aren’t a.
_ whole lot of excuses here.

Except one. Post-partum de-

pression, It’s an illness. There’s -

been some research lately, sug-
gesting that the after-effects of.
having a baby can create real,

lasting emotional problems for

the mother, Some snap out of .
it, particularly those with —
strong family support. A loving

husband, doting grandparents, ~

and a decent life all-round
make things a lot easier. I

don’t think it’s been easy for.

Claudette Worden, =

pedestrians and. _