| for doing By SARAH A. .- ZIMMERMAN | PROVINCIAL NDP leader Carole James says staff at Mills Memorial Hospital are in the same boat as health care workers” across the province — they’re doing the best they can with limited resources. - James was. given a tour of the hospital here during a March 21 stop in Terrace as part of a pre-election tour. She met with emergency room nurses, housekeeping Staff and the hospital’s direc- tor of patient care. “I don’t think there’s a health facility where the staff isn’t. doing the best they can with limited resources,” she said, praising workers - for remaining in the health care ‘profession despite cut- backs. being given to them.” She chastised the Liberal : government for shredding hospital workers’. contracts ,and rolling back wages. . James says the hospital’s “use of a small room off the ‘main emergency room as ia chemotherapy treatment area is an example of a hos- pital finding innovative ways to use limited resources. . ~ “They’ve done amazing ‘ things trying to use the space rthey have,” she said. . She also. toured what once was the pediatrics ward pat the hospital, which due to ‘downsizing, says Hospital ‘Employees’ Union secre- tary-treasurer and licensed ‘ypractical nurse Peter Gill, ris now being used as a day “care facility for day surgery. _ “patients. And on an impromptu ‘tour of the nursing ward with “housekeeper ‘Linda — Izatt, in _ We’ re incredibly lucky’. jf ‘to have staff working -with . very little and no support is t -NDPer lauds health workers ie best they can : ! . sfoeveuniony } Te PROVINCIAL NDP leader Carole James ‘stands with Peter. Gill an official of the Hospital Employees’ Union local, in Mills Memorial Hospital’s baby nursery. The nursery is only open when there are sick babies. James criticized cuts to wages of hospital, workers and praised workers for,;staying with their jobs, James. learned those work- ‘ers have seen a significant increase to their workload. - Izatt has been working at the hospital for-17 years and says the area she’s respon- sible for cleaning has nearly doubled in recent years. “[’m just sick of it all,” she told James regarding Liberal cuts to health care. “All I want to do right now is get four more years and just retire.” That’s a mantra James says she’s heard at numer- ous hospitals on hertour. ., She lambasted the Liber- al government for not-com- ing through on its promise to © build 5,000. additional long term care beds in the prov- ince. James and local NDP candidate Robin Austin also attended a Kitimat. rally March 21 hosted by the Save the Northwest Coalition. About. 150 ‘people - lis- tened as James and a series - of speakers vigorously. casti- gated the provincial govern- ment for its position on po- tential Alcan power sales. | . James waded quickly into the power sales, earning sev- eral standing ovations as she promised Kitimat the full at- tention of a new NDP gov-’ ernment. Proclaiming that “a con- tract is a contract”, she added, “For some reason the _ Liberal government seems . to find that very hard to’un- derstand right now,, but it’s very simple. And your com- munity has stood strong to help the Liberals learn that lesson.” James said the commu- nity was built on a “forward looking agreement, made on behalf of future genera-. tions”, an agreément based ‘on the basic principle, that the wealth of a region should _ Stay in the region. - “For the last:50 years, governments of all.political stripes have lived up to that agreement and lived up to that principle,” she said. “I’m here today to tell -you the NDP stands shoul- der to shoulder in your fight ‘to save the northwest and - you can also be assured that Robin Austin: and the NDP »are standing up for - . principles, standing up for communities and standing — up to a government that has ignored you for the last four years,” James said. Alcan must meet the in- tent of the original water ii cence, she said. “It’s very clear they must provide _ power - generation .for aluminum production tight here in Kitimat. That was the: agreement and it must be honoured.” eis now in the newest edition of the When it comes to education, pote things are better now, says MLA By JENNIFER LANG - HIS POLITICAL FOES foes plan to make edu- cation a key election issue this spring, and that ,;comes as no surprise to Skeena MLA Roger Har- ris, who’s standing firmly behind his party’s re- cord. ; In a wide-ranging interview with The Terrace _ Standard Harris outlined his views on public ‘education, starting with the province’s recent an- _ mouncementt it will increase education spending by $150 million. » Although it wasn’t enough to solve the Coast -Mountains School District’s budget problems so “ft could return to a five-day week, the amount it ~will receive this year puts its grant at more than $47 million. “We've got a thousand less kids here than we. ‘did three years ago, with five less schools, and * we're back to a cash number that’s pretty close to what we had in real terms, so it’s really quite, ’ and on a'per student basis, it’s a huge i increase,” said Harris. The announcement meant the Liberals were able to keep a promise to B.C.’s voters, he states. “We said the day we got elected we would protect education funding and health care. We did that. Even in declining enrolment. And we said that as soon as we had ‘the means, we'd increase it. ” ‘The Coast Mountains School District will also - ‘receive $300,000 more for capital projects ~, not “Jess, despite what the board here recently told “Harris and the two other MLAs in the district i in -a letter. “We have asked them to earmark some of that -to seismic [upgrades], which | think in their mind smeans a decrease, because we’re directing the money. But they are fully within their rights to ask © “that that lift in capital dollars not go to seismic “this year, that they put it to something else. They _ actually just have to ask.” "Harris also spoke about the four-day school “week, introduced in the Coast Mountains district ‘as a cost-cutting measure two years ago and per- ‘mitted under new school calendar regulations. It’s also been the focus of intense debate, par- ticularly in Kitimat, where parents opposed to the -shorter week have lobbied Harris and education _Jninister Tom Christensen, not to mention two ‘ Jawsuits. Although originally. not a fan of the idea (he ‘prefers year-round schooling), Harris has no trou- ‘ble defending.the four-day week these days. “ “Academic output at all the schools, frankly —they’re up. Math, English comprehension are all “up. Our graduation rates are better.” “ In particular, two schools in the Hazeltons have ;seen marked academic improvement, particularly -.among First Nations students, he says. “J think it’s too early to make a carte blanche as- _ sessment of the four-day school week and is it the ;teason for improvement. But you can’t discount ‘it. And as I was a critic of it, I now stand back and ‘go, I need to give this some long thought.” Academic performance at Mount Elizabeth ~ timately base its school Senior Secondary in Kitimat, however, is down, a. ‘fact Harris suggests is fueling criticism there. “What this really shows me is this: every school, every staff, every community and every child is different,” he said. “I think this school dis- trict, more than any other, is demonstrating that every school is different, that every community is different, and every kid is different.” “And if you have a single, structured system, you ’re not providing benefit to students. Provid- ing that flexibility to the-school districts to make ‘those decisions is absolutely essential. This ex- tends to the class size regulation and everything else. The fear never materialized.” Harris said there have been other benefits as .well, such as the Friday trades program that’s al- lowing Grade 12 students to take trades courses at Northwest Community College. “They’ll achieve 30 per cent of their certification before the year is out. I mean, they will tell me that going to a five- day school week will ruin their education.” Overall, Harris said he has heard very few. complaints from parents over the four-day week. Some parents have told him they prefer having their child tutored at 10 a.m. on a Friday rather than trying to do it at‘6 p.m. on a week night. - Youth crime on Thursdays and Fridays has ac- tually dropped since the four-day week was intro- duced, he added. _ Harris said - the’ school board should ul- calendar decisions on what seems to be work- ing in each community, and what isn’t. “And maybe it” means that Kitimat is a five-day week and oth- er communities aren’t. Maybe we have high schools that have four day weeks and elemen- tary schools. with five . day weeks.” Harris says it is a government’ s role is to pro- vide mooney, and set the standards by which stu- Roger Harris. ‘dent performance i is measured. Decisions over the school calendar and how money will be spent be- long with the school board. Looking ahead to the election, Harris sounded quite surprised to learn about an upcoming can- didates forum solely devoted to public education issues at the R.E.M. Lee theatre April 27. The idea originated with the teacher’s union, but has since got the backing of other groups in- terested in education, including school trustees, and Northwest Community College. “You now, these folks have an axe to grind,” Harris said, referring to the teacher’s union and its parent body, the B.C. Teachers’ Federation (BCTF). “There is no illusion of unbias here and I don’t think anyone should kid themselves. The discus- sion about education should be about student em a a al ll achievement.” Harris points out his NDP opponent, “Robin Austin, is a social worker who is currently in- volved with in-school programs, suggesting the deck will be stacked against the Liberal incum- . bent. “| find this really curious, ’ Harris said, explain- ing how for the past three years, he’s made the same offer to the Terrace and District Teachers’ Union and the Kitimat District Teachers’ Associa- tion. He would agree spend up to three days tour- ing local schools to find out more about the issues '— and he’d promise to raise them in Victoria. “But on this proviso,” Harris continued, “that as*we walked through the classroom if there’s things we saw that the BCTF as an institution was advocating for that didn’t work for Terrace and Kitimat either, that they would advocate for their side of the coin.” “They never phoned back — ever. Then all of a sudden, now, lo and behold, a month before the election, they want to have a forum on education? And you’re going to tell me it’s not very political? You sure as heck weren’t very interested three years ago, two years ago, one year ago.” Harris also criticized Kitimat trustee Peter King, who lost his recent bid to seek the Skeena NDP nomination, for putting partisan politics ahead of what’s best for education. King has openly warned if the B.C. Liberals form another government after the provincial. _ election in May, the result “won't be good” for education” because of their: education policies and stance on Alcan power sales. Harris. thinks education, one of many issues _ ~ from health care to the economy, — that are im- portant to voters, will-be front and centre for the NDP this time. “Maybe that’s why you see one of the trustees out there already doing his campaigning at public meetings, which is about as inappropriate as you get.” ; Harris ‘also cleared up a persistent rumour — that the province is going to regionalize school _ ‘districts in much the same way as it previously did with health councils. b “The rumours of regionalization I suggest is just someone trying to make people feel uneasy,” he said, “It’s a shame. It’s part of the shallowness of it. It’s regretful. I’ve never heard anyone talk about larger, bigger, better.” A big part of the animosity that exists in the district stems from the forced provincial govern- ment amalgamation of the Terrace and Kitimat school districts. “People in Kitimat have still not got over it.” That said, Harris supports the idea of school , districts getting together to discuss shared servic- es so they can use the savings in the classroom. “The purpose of the school district is to pro- | vide education and to ensure that the maximum amount of dollars are going into the classroom for our kids. Employment is a byproduct.” address is 3210 Clinton St., The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - AS eee CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD The Mail Bag We’re Terracites Dear Sir: Some time ago, an article appeared i in this newspaper suggesting that the > people of Terrace be known as “Ter- . facites”’. This, in my opinion, is an insult to the citizens in this city. The name suggested comes too'close to “parasite” and | think we should distance ourselves from any refer- ence to such an abominable organism whose other mean- ing infers people living off others. ° l am therefore suggesting that the people of Tertace henceforth. be known as “Terraceans”, Why not put this ‘suggestion to the citizens of Terrace to vote. Perhaps you could accomplish this by setting up a toll- free number to call during business hours and have some- body monitor the votes for “Terracites”, or “Terraceans”. I would not:be the least surprised if an overwhelming. majority will cast their ballots in favour of the latter, Lucas Noel Pheiffer, Terrace, B.C. Editor’ S note: Readers can take up ‘the challenge through our on-line poll, which can be found at our website, www. terracestandard.com, But please note that readers last year responded favourably to the term Terrac ite and it Canadian Oxford Dic- tionary. Junk science? No way . _ Dear Sir: : Before the B.C. legislature adjourned Bulkley Valley- Stikine MLA Dennis McKay maligned the work-that has ‘gone into the environmental assessment for the Tulsequah Chief mine project south of Atlin as ‘junk science’. As. the technical advisor to the affected first nation in the area, the Taku River Tlingit, during the environmen-' tal review period, I would like to comment on ‘McKay’ 3. rather ill informed remarks. The opposite is true — dozens of properly gialified . experts and technical specialists were engaged at various. times over the past 10 years to examine the environmental . ~ and technical issues associated with this project. This in- . cludes experts hired by the proponent Redfern Resources, in-house and external consultants‘used by both BC and Canada, and outside experts hired by the Taku River Tlin- git First Nation. : It is the road that forms the basis of the Taku River. Tlingit concerns, for the scientific work conducted during J. the environmental assessment shows unequivocally that ** - . _ the road poses significant environmental and community — : impacts that cannot effectively be prevented. » ' The work of the many scientists confirmed two things. First, that during’ the: nine-year’ operation’ of the mine, “Redfern would not easily be able to restrict access by « other users and that, as a result, wildlife mortalities would’ increase. Increased wildlife mortalities would be signifi. ; cant to most of the large animal populations in the area, particularly the Atlin Lake caribou herd which i is already listed aS a species at-risk. * Second, following mine closure, the road could and would not be effectively decommissioned. Inall cases where resource access roads have been built _ in BC or elsewhere in North America, ‘decommissioned’ roads’ simply did: not ‘prevent’: acdess by! determined Users. _. - The ‘unanimous: conclusion: is: that closure: of: the Tulse- quah Chief access road simply would not happen. When Redfern’s access management plan was issued | in April of 2004 (long after the BC review was completed and approval issued by the provincial ministers), the Tlin- gits commissioned an internationally renowned ecologist, Daniel Botkin, to convene an independent panel of. ex- perts to review the plan. The panel included wildlife biologists, regional plan- ners, resource road builders and administrators, adaptive management specialists, and sustainability specialists. The panel’s report was submitted to the federal. screening review. The panel’s conclusions substantiated all the ear- lier work conducted during the provincial review--access control during mine operation would not work, the road . would not be effectively decommissioned at the end of mine life, and that sustainability of the animal populations and the Tlingit culture would be seriously jeopardized ‘as a result. Despite the science being uniform and clear, the pur- ; veyors of environmental assessment in both the BC pro- cess and the. federal one perverted their reviews by dis- pensing with the science. . ‘Neither government examined the adequacy of the proposed mitigation plans. Neither government seriously considered the predicted road impacts. The Department of | Fisheries and Oceans, managers of the federal review, did not even acknowledge, let alone consider, the existence of the independent science panel report. (available at nips W mayne. gulfislands. com/tpearse/taku) The result is that a major regional transportation cor- ridor into the currently unroaded Taku watershed remains inadequately assessed. In order to deal with the demon- _ strated impossibility of mitigating the road impacts, both governments simply swept the problem away by assum- ing that the road would be closed at end of mine life in _ Nine years. This assumption allows the convenient. prediction on their part of no long-term impacts, and the project, conse- - quently, to proceed quickly. But it is an assumption that no rational person could possibly make on the face of any -of the science developed during the review — it is, rather, an act of blind and uninformed belief. There is a proper way to do this, as the Tlingits pointed « out to both governments and Redfern years ago, and as the Supreme Court of Canada recently recognized i in the | Taku decision. First, develop a land use plan for the area before the road is constructed and, second, establish a joint man-: agement authority which would provide the mechanism that the Tlingits need for protecting their interests in the Taku. With thesé measures in place, the Tulsequah project could proceed in a sustainable fashion. Unfortunately, neither government has not ‘bothered — to talk to the Tlingits about implementing these mea- sures. Rather than complaining about ‘junk science’, your MLA would be more credible if he complained ‘about ‘junk ‘government’, because that is exactly what we have in the case of the Tulsequah mine project. Tony Pearse, Mayne Island, B.C. About the Mail Bag Terrace Standard welcomes letters. Our ‘Terrace, B.C: V8G 5R2: You can fax us at 250-638-8432 or e-mail us at newsroom @ terracestandard.com. Noattachments, please. Name, address and phone number required for verification. The n roe v