A6 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, September 28, 1994 Dear Sir: The first “Householder” prepared by Mike Scott is a docu- ment which, if representative of the type of thinking he brings to Parliament on our behalf, should cause every one of us profound dismay. First, he states that, ‘‘In the past, M.P.s from all parties have been criticized for using the ‘householder’ to expound party or personal views. It is my intention to use it as a means of communi- cating issues and soliciting your input.”’ Yet there is there is absolutely no information provided on numerous pieces of legislation passed except for gun control. Al- ready, I’ve got a pretty sirong hint that this publication is being used to document Mr, Scott’s views, and not to solicit input. Next, Mr. Scott writes, ‘“‘I remain deeply concerned about the future of all Canada’s social programs because of our debt problem.'’ This is the same type of doublespeak that .Mr. Scott used during the campaign. Just what are you saying here, Mike? Would you like to solicit input from us about what caused the debt problem? (As you know Canada’s total social spending ac- counted for only 6 per cent our debt. The vast majority comes from interest on government loans.) Next, the ‘Householder’ presents two issues, physician as- sisted suicide and gun control. The material on physician as- sisted suicide is the one place in the ‘Householder’ in which Mr. Scott actually does what he said he would do. He provides us with both ‘yes’ and ‘no’ arguments with respect to this issue, However, he does tarnish this attempt somewhat by making sure we know his per- sonal position. However, to give him credit, he states he will represent ‘our’ wishes, and, in his survey card, there is an unbiased question pro- MP’s publication shoddy Isaac Sobol vided to aliow us to give our position about this issue. Finally, there is information about gun control. In this part of the ‘Householder’, all of Mr, Scott’s proclaimed intentions about communicating issues and not expounding personal views are completely ignored. For a start, we read, ‘The Con- servative government introduced gun control legislation shortly be- fore leaving office known as Bill C-17. This was in addition to ex- isting gun control laws that were considered by many to be more than adequate to protect the pub- lic interest.’’ This is the same type of doublespeak that Mr. Scotti used during the campaign. Mr. Scott has used the techni- que of propaganda here immedi- ately. Yes, Mr, Scott; there were probably many who thought that existing laws were more than adequate. I’m sure that one could also say that there were many who felt that existing laws were less than adequate to protect the public interest. Rather than just drop this line of propaganda here, why not pro- vide us with figures? Were there Play safe, fence trains Dear Sir: The article abut the killing of Mabellene Abou by a CN train is not very realistic in my opinion. Af CN genuinely viewed people crossing the; tracks asa high. priority item ‘ surely ‘Bob Teolis would not be ‘‘the only CN po- lice officer for ‘Terrace, Kitimat, Smithers and Prince Rupert’’, since this is a huge area. More to the point, deaths on the train tracks might be completely eliminated if a pedestrian over- pass walkway was built, say con- necting Kalum St With South Kalum Si. In addition, to climinate the “attractive nuisance’’ which the tracks and trains could still pose for young children, a mesh fence could be put up in the downtown yard area, But it seems the on-going loss of human life is being treated as just a cost of doing ‘‘business as usual.’’ In the words of Mr. Teolis ‘‘This has been a constant problem for many years.’’ The Standard article tells us punishment for trespassing on railroad property is now up to $10,000 and/or 12 months in prison - but is this an effective deterrent? Did it prevent the death on the tracks August 12? We are told Mr. Teolis has caught 150 people trespassing in the Terrace railyards over the last two years. He said this is only a small fraction of the actual num- ber of peaple, and it’s easy to fig- ure out why this is so. Assume it is a one kilometre ‘ detour for a person who has to take the Sande oveppass if their _ origin and destination are both on Kalum St Further assume each person walks to work/school/the mall at least 250 days a year (500 roundtrips). Based on what Mr. Teolis says, assume at least 500 people are crossing the tracks. This tells us the extra distance people have been forced to walk during Mr. Teolis’ past two years is 1 (km) x 500 (round trips) x 500: (people) x 2 (years) = $00,000 extra kilometres. Is this reasonable to expect - particularly in the winter when its cold, and the wind is blow- ing? Further, assuming it takes 15 minutes to walk the extra kilo- metre tells us 500,000 (km) x 1/4 hour = 125,000 extra hours of time. - To put this in perspective, how would CN feel if they had. to choose between either paying their employees for 125,000 hours of overtime, or taking a short (cost) cut which would save them the expense? Please put up the walkway, as soon as possible. What's the altcrnative increasing the punishment for trespassing to $1,000,000 and life imprison- ment? Jerry Reitman Terrace, B.C, Accountability said lacking An open letter to the Gitksan people and hereditary chiefs: The attendance at a recent Gitksan treaty ncgotiations meet- ing was very poor. I counted 34 people and that in- cluded the negotiators’ so-called senior staff. As one speaker stated, the same old ‘Office Gang”’. Yes, these are the people who are negoliating for you, bul one exciting thing, they are not called Office of the Hereditary Chiefs, they are the Gitksan Treaty Of- fice. Their budget is a ‘‘top secrct’” $1,172 million. Who is accoun- table to whom on setting their salarics? Since the start of our land claim no one has seen as audit from this gang. Over $33 million has gone into our court case, and we couldn’t have an audit. Why? ‘Yes, if and when there is any land setilement, there won't be anything left for you, What's happening in the inland fisheries? For three years, $3.9 million has gone into it by the (federal) Department of Fisheries. Our hereditary chiefs couldn’t get involved, Some of them are kicked out of their fishing holes. Again, no accountability. Every hereditary chief should be involved in negoliations. Re- member, it’s your land that they are negotialing for and only you know the value for it Since I have been elected Speaker for ithe West for Gitwangak and Gilsequecla, we have a board of directors made up of every clan in each of the com- munities. Now we have Gitanyow and only hereditary chicfs can be a director. We sec high unemployment in our fespective communities and yet we sce the same people have more than two jobs and collecting high salaries and all kinds of funding and none of it filters back to our communities. “It's about time the Gitksan people start house cleaning and _ Use accountable people. Norm Johnson Gitwangak, B.C. Hine eee CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD The Mail Bag any polls done? Do you know the xesults? Mr. Scott does state, further on, that, ‘‘Admittedly, I ara biased on this issue and do not favour any further firearm restrictions.” Mr. Scott’s bias shouts at us on this issue. We find no ‘yes’ and ‘no’ arguments about this issue, only a sophomoric presentation of - carefully selected facts to support Mr. Scott’s personal bias, And when it comes to filling out the survey questions, the wording of the questions about gun control are so biased in them- selves that Mr. Scott obviously has never wished to have us pro- vide him with real feedback. Let’s look at those questions, 1, Gun contzol legislation was sufficient before Bill C-17 and we should return to those regula- ' tions: .. Agree/Disagree/Undecided _ 2, Private ownership of hand- guns should continue to be legal in Canada: Agree/Disagree/Undecided As for question number one, as Mr. Scott has neglected to let us know anything at all about what is in the gun control laws, both before and after Bill C-17, and has only given us his “personal view’’ about his ‘‘bias’’, we have absolutely no way to make an in- formed choice about this ques- tion. The second gun control ques- tion is even more pathetic. Mr. Scott, once more, has pro- vided us with no background material other than his personal bias oa this issue. What are the teal choices bere, Mike? Hasn’t there been any discussion in Par- liament about registration of firearms, location of ammunition, the. possession of handguns by collectors and gun clubs verses unlimited distribution to’ the pub- lic at large? In conclusion, Ict there be no doubt about it. This first ‘Householder’ produced by Mr. Scott is worse than anything he claims has been produced by politicians in the past, It is a shabby, biased piece of propaganda in the guise of a pro- duct designed to give him our feedback about issues. It is the sleaziest form of political dis- course, and we should all hang our heads in shame that it has been produced by our M.P. Isaac Sobol, New Aiyansh, B.C. (Editor's note: Isaac Sobol ran as the Skeena riding National Party candidate at the last feder- al election) ALL WESTERN BOOTS IN NORTHERN HORSE SUPPLY LTD. 3083 RIVER DRIVE - TERRACE MONDAY - SATURDAY 10 AM - 6 PM Cigarettes out of place Dear Sir: Tam happy to be working in the health care field, but recently I have lost all faith in a business ‘‘dedicated’’ to assisting the dis- abled, the elderly and the bedridden. Among the wheelchairs, canes, cold remedies and prescription drugs, I looked up to sce four large posters, reading ‘Your Health is Our Main Concern’, While I was impressed with the variety of merchandise, I was shocked and ‘disgusted to sce a large selection of cigarettes blatantly displayed behind the cashier. Cigarcites are to blame for so many health problems, yet they are being sold along side products designed to help people cope with cancer, lung and heart problems and pain. There are plenty of convenience stores and supermarket to ade- quately supply cvery smoker in Terrace. This Icaves me to wonder, who made the decision to sell cigarettes in this store, and why?!? Angela Burton Terrace, B.C About letters The Terrace Standard welcomes letters to the editor. We ask that they be signed and a phone number be included. Unsigned letters are thrown away. Letters are subject to editing for reasons of length or good taste, SELECTED LADIES BLOUSES AND ROCKY MOUNTAIN JEANS Now’s the time to buy quality Frigidaire appliances because prices are sinking fast. Right now, during THE BIG CASH SPLASH you could receive cash rebates of up to $75 on a wide range of models. Dive in and save today! COUNTRYWIDE Terrace, B.C. FURNITURE & APPLIANCES Owned and operated by Totem Furniture & Appliances Ltd. FRT22NHB MAKING WAVES UNTIL OCT.9. 4501 Lakelse 638-1158 CHARGE #1 Att Pe Master Card: : L_ ]