4

~. -. °. Premier’ Bill. Bennett’s
«> long term measures for the
- Terrace area include using
“Terrace as maintenance
-seentre for all the unit. coal
‘trains travelling to Prince
Rupert and the point of crew
Be changes. 00000
~. | His» plan will have coal
fi / “transported along BCR to
‘! Prince George, where it will

'.-then' be transferred to CNR’

, fk -ihto Prince Rupert. ‘This
Ho... 4: Will mean that the northwest
, “area will participate in the

‘economic expansion, of ‘the
-northeast and _the
- development of the coal,” he

a Saids |
aa | ‘Reading from a telegram
Poe _-received Wednesday from
hf ...- RR. Latimer, CNR .vice-
: president --and senior

executive of the rail com-

'. pany, Bennett said:

~~ “*You will recall the senior.

CN. officials met ‘with

“members of your. cabinet in

..” *"Vietoria in early August to

1 >>. discuss) CN’s role in
— * “development and exporting
yo ‘coal from northeastern B.C.

“So The provincial govern-
"ment cabinet is in the north-
west this week to receive

{ a" first-hand knowledge of the
re -- ‘problems’ in the. region,

. ‘Premier Bill Bennett told a

, news conference yesterday.

-"Bennett:. said Garde
-. ‘Gardom;, Attorney-General,
‘will:be meeting with major
‘Indian . groups today

. (Friday) on’ they Queen

Charlotte Islands; Jack:

.. nvironment, will ~ be
visiting Kitimat today to

. ! oo. Davis, Minister of “the
)
:

wee pee rere hike eet ee SET et aM OS

Rail development key to
d growth —

“At that meeting CN

‘indicated it would be ser-

vicing the. coal unit trains
enroute east of the Prince
Rupert area. CN would now

like to confirm: that we

consider Terrace as the

logical area for such ser-

vicing and we are preparing
to work with the community
to locating the needed.
facilities there. - -
“Beyond that we are
studying the possibility of
performing the related

-repair work. on the unit train -

equipment at Terrace and
are prepared to .work with”

the community -on- this —

aspect of the operation,”’
“Bennett said the govern-

ment has wrestled. with the

problem ‘of the whole

_ provincial economy, as well

as the development of: the

northeast ‘coal deposits... ...

“According to manpower
figures there is 20 percent.
unemployment ~ in” ‘the’

Terrace‘Kitimat region and '

Bennett Says he believes it is
the worst. in the province.

|. “This is not a road show -

make "foot, road. and.
helicopter trips to look over.

port facilities with .Mayor
Paul Monaghan because of
concern over. proposed
pipelines from Kitimat , to
Edmonton and looking over

a Kitimat brief dealing with.

ferry services.

Education and: Responsible

for’: ICBC, Will..; visit. the _
Northwest, College, meet _
with. School "District: 838°

Board and look-at: the ICBC
claims centre. i

will be doing as they. are

west future rosy -B

"economic stability an

He said although the rail
announcement will not solve
the complete problem it is
“hetter than nothing’”’. He
added transportation links
are important - .in- the
development of ‘the region
andit would be upto private
industry to move into the
area. ee
CNR will be spending
more than $50 million in

upgrading its main. access —

_line from Prince George to

Prince Rupert to handle the.

-extra tonnage front the coal
developments. -

Bennett. made no
assurances: that the local

workforce would be hired. -

- during this development but
he said .the provincial
government always gives

’ preference to the local work

‘force’. «on ~ regional

developments: and he ex- -
pects’ CNR will give . the

game preference.”
‘: The . northwest.” rail
agreement; interrupted by

the ‘Nishga land claims °
talks, are still“ under -

-sipyis is the type of thing
each one of the ministers

here,” said: Bennett, ‘‘and

this is the purpose of holding =
‘a. cabinet meeting in §
Terrace’ .... an opportunity: |

for each minister to work

first hand’ with. local %
— 8". problems in the northwest.” ©:
.. Pat McGeer, Minister -for

-. He’ ‘added .the : visit will

give the cabinet ministers a —

chance to listen-so they-can_

develop policies ‘in. the.

future. that ‘will solve’ some
of the problems ‘that have

been continuing in this area.

| individual to reach out an

i seize the opportunity

- decided upon. |

THE HERALD, Friday, September 24, 1976, PAGE 3

ill Bennett —

Premier. Bill. -Bennett,
addressing a full house
banquet room at.a dinner
sponsored by the Terrace
Centennial Lions Club said

for. Terrace and the nor-
thwest by -providing a
communication network
which, would remove the
region from almost com-

The premier predicted a
rosy future for Terrace as
long as the average citizen

all. He reminded. that the
province was. built by “in-
dividuals, not governments.
He said that it is up to each

presented by this. massive

communication plan.

The premier referred to
the coal agreements, the

oil pipeline from Kitimat to
Edmonton, the likelihood of

negotiation, although. the
premier made no:comment.

on whefher .or not an;

‘alternate’ route had: been

Le

-our government will. -have
concluded an agreement. in
‘the very.near future, and:a
-much better. agreement
‘with safeguards both forthe

‘the: proposed agreement

‘that was presented last fall .
and early last winter,’’ he ..

said. “B.C. will ‘be much
stronger: and we -will he
financially protected by the
negotiations that are now
‘taking place.”
Possible. future
‘developments in. the nor-

_ thwest: ‘are “the: proposed |
-Kitimat-Edmonton . oil *
pipeline ‘route, currently. ..
under study: by federal and
’ provincial. : officials. and .a

Steel mill. .°:

- Bennett said he expected ~
an October’ -or’: November ::
‘report on.the steel mill. “I”

that the railway agreement .
meant an economic anchor’

plete dependance on the.
; forest industry.

does not stand back waiting.
: for the government to do it

-possible construction of an-

large grain shipments from -

xpect Transport |
Minister: (Jack) Davis.and - opments Gepend |
ment ‘ conclusion of ‘additional
- studies, including release of
‘the “Pearse: Report .on_
,forestry. and a - provincial
‘submission: to. the .federal

area and the province, thar, ©

_ Prince —
“ facilities... ©

1

Sea Ree

the. northern prairies to.
Prince Rupert as many of
the factors which. could
change the economic face of
the Pacific northwest...
Mr. Bennett noted that all
ten ministers in the Terrace
area were dealing with
specific and more local
problems while in the area.
Prince Rupert, Terrace,
Kitimat and Hazelton will
all be visited by ministers

seeking knowledge .on.

particular problems and

-looking for input from these

communities.

‘The problems caused: by
lengthy labour-
management

disagreements was referred

to by the premier as being
-the cause of the tragic
d situation now existing in the
province and in Canada. He ~
said that we have lost the

edge - in international
competition and that labour,
government -and
management must come to

the table to change this ;

reputation of strife and
uncertainty that exists...

-have no idea if it is.a' viable
operation,” -he ‘said. “If.
‘ knew that, I wouldn't need a

v Study."

Further, economic

developments depend on

government recommending
increased utilization - of
Rupert.. grain

_.“The;.government ‘is ac-
ting: as economic janitors,
cleaning’ up an economic

_ tess,” Bennett said, adding
his government has worked
- on. the ‘problems. of the

northeast. and northwest

Since the election last. year.

-YWe.- said ° tremendous

“amounts'of dollars will- be
spent onthe’ development —
“and he-is more: optimistic

about. provincial and’ nor-
thwest development today
than he has ever been.” ~~

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