A4 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 26, 1997 TERRACE STANDARD ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988 A Divislon of Cariboo Press (1969) Ltd. ADDRESS: 3210 Clinton Street Terrace, B.C. * V8G SR2 TELEPHONE: (250) 638-7283 * FAX: (250) 638-8432 EMAIL: standard@kermode.net Madness HERE’S A CHALLENGE. And that is to compare government spending in March compared to any other month of the year. ° Dollars to donuts you'll notice a healthy little blip of an increase. Welcome to March Madness, that glorious time of the year when government departments try to spend whatever money they have left in their budgets. It’s not only madness — it’s an illness. What happens is that government departments get a set amount of money to spend each year, which is fair enough, But the cruncher comes every March, the last month of a government’s finan- cial year. Nervous bureaucrats look at what’s left in their accounts and freak out. That’s because if they don’t spend every nickel by the end of the year they risk the very real chance of receiving less money the next year. And if they receive less money, they’l] have less power, fewer programs and employees and be shunted down lower on the prestige list. Now that’s pretty twisted logic. And that’s why you just might see new pick up trucks in government vehicle yards, new furniture being delivered to government offices and to those agencies who depend upon governments for their financial livelihood and make work programs pop up un- expectedly. Spending is rewarded and being thrifty isn’t. Compare this to the private sector, particularly with small businesses, where the survival instinct is not to spend anything at all and especially not in the latter part of a fiscal year when the goal is to protect what profits have been made. li’s easy to see why businesses and govern- ments sometimes simply do not get along. Some out there might be thinking March Mad- ness has disppeared because of government budget cuts. We’d argue otherwise. With govern- ment masters seeking to cut everywhere, depart- ments would be doubly anxious to spend what they have to avoid undergoing a cut. Good move JUST WHEN it seems as if the announcements conceming cuts to government services will never stop, something good happens. The library is now going to be open for eight hours on Monday, its traditional closed day. Sure, it’s a relatively small item when com- pared to the greater situations facing us nowadays. But the library is one of those rare public facilities which can be used and enjoyed by everybody. As such it’s one of the great equalizers of today — a place of knowledge, relaxation and purpose. Credit must be given to city council, the library board and the employees for the move. An extra day to enjoy the expanded amenities of the li- brary is well worth the taxpayers’ investment. a PUBLISHER/EDITOR: Rod Link ADVERTISING MANAGER: Rick Passmore PRODUCTION MANAGER: Edouard Credgeur NEWS Jeff Nagel - NEWS SPORTS: Dave Taylor COMMUNITY: Cris Leykauf OFFICE MANAGER: Kathleen Quigley ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS: Sam Collier, Janet Viveiros - TELEMARKETER: Tracey Tomas ADVERTISING ASSISTANT: Emma Law, Kelly Jean TYPESETTING: Sylvana Broman DARKROOM: Susan Credgeur CIRCULATION MANAGER: Karen Brunelte 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 COMMUN FTY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION, CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION = ae Nirersparans 4 Ateesustian ‘ Arlihd Caloulis sad Eebow AND B.C. PRESS COUNCIL Serving the Tertacd and Thomhill arsa. Published on Wednesday of each week by Cariboo Press (1989) Abd. at 3210 Clinton Steal, Terace, British Columbia, VAG 5R2, Stones, photographs, illustraions, designs and typestyles in the Terrace Standard are the property of the copyright heldars, including Cariboo Press (1969) Ltd., ts illustralion repro services and advertising Reproduction in whole or i part, without written permission, is epetificaly prohibited, Authorized a3 épcond-class mall pending the Pos! Office Department, for payment of postage in cash. Special thanks to all our contributors and correspondents for theit time and talents aoe ms ere - sere aa Gov't gambles on cash cow VICTORIA — “There will be no Las Vegas-style casinos in British Columbia,’’ employ- ment and investment minister Dan Miller assures us while, in the same breath, rolling out changes in gambling Jaws that would make a high roller blush. Personally, I don’t mind Vegas-style casinos, but 1 don’t like it when the govern- ment tries to sneak one past me, and that’s exactly what old Dan is doing. Asked at a press conference just how he goverment defines Vegas-style casinos, Miller said he didn’t exactly know, but mused that it was probably a matter of size, square-foolage. On the other hand, Miller-style destination casinos won’t exactly resemble your neighbourhood bingo hall, According to a report, released by Miller, a destina- tion casino would have 40 gaming tables and 770 slot ma- chines. Projected government revenue would be close to $38 million a year, Such a casino would employ about 390 people directly and another 270 indirectly, If Miller's other proposed changes in gambling laws — introduction of slot machines, increased betting limits and electronic bingo machines are SOMETIMES YOU hear news so absurd, disbelief snaps you to attention. March has been full of whiplash news. First, I leamed that former owner of the Los Angeles Kings, Bruce McNall, who headed off to jail last week to serve 70 months for defrauding various banks of $236 million, had attended a number of “yoing-in’’ parties in his honour, The parties were so numerous, McNall said, ‘‘My biggest problem is I don’t seem to be able to accom- modate them all,”’ Poor boy. The largest “‘going-in’’ party was hosted by Canadian Alan Thicke, For shame. The notion of celebrating a six-year jail term as a carcer achievement shows how warped society has become. And to have a Cana~ dian host such a party is an embarrassment. The second ‘‘Ah, come on!’’ item was about a Labrador dog whose plastic art hangs in his own gallery. The dog’s owner SURE WAS A CoLD SuMIMER EH? MARTEN? tt eet Bien mneeenethltaateitin tabi molten BinSlems tne dec S7 ARE STL HERE ! bingo halls around the pro- vince ear some $130 million a year for charities and employ more than 2,300 people. Horse racing employs about 3,000 people and earned $54.7 million in the 1995-1996 fiscal year, while the biggest cash cow is the B.C. Lotteries Com- mission, which employs 2,000 people and earned the govern- ment $244 million during thus fiscal year. Smali wonder the govemn- ment is interested in expanding the gaming industry. With this year’s deficit somewhere be- tween half a billion to a billion dollars, any additional source of revenue comes as a God- sent. As I mentioned above, I have no § objection to gambling, Vegas-style or otherwise; al-,; though my contribution to the past-time consists of a buck a week fora lotte ticket. That’s my choice, but I ac- cept that others like gambling on a somewhat larger scale, which is why I thought the proposal last year for a major hotel-casino complex at Van- couver’s waterfront was a great idea. Vancouveriles were of a dif- ferent opinion, however, and led by their city fathers and mothers, made it clear hey didn’t want any part of it. Really, what’s the big deal? BCTV news ilem stunned me. Veteran Ottawa reporter Mike Duffy said a Liberal senator, Earl Hastings, now deceased, published a booklet telling lifers how to win parole. The booklet advised people like Clifford Olson to join AA, become a_ born against Christian, and fake other dodges to buffalo the parole board. The booklee — published and distributed at taxpayers’ expense — was made available . fo all inmates serving life sentences, My equilibrium hadn’t yet returned when the Catholic church apologized to natives for residential school abuse and for introducing natives to bingo. The church ack- nowledged bingo ruined many natives’ lives, adding to the damage from abuse. No sooner bad the Catholic church apologized for popularizing bingo than the B.C. government announced it would authorize gambling AV / ° FROZEN Soli! ss ay M.. ?/ o (. ee” ° dre With proper regulations in place, there need be no fear that the Mafia will move in. And as far as addiction to gam- bling is concerned, there is probably a greater chance of people spending their grocery money on lotto tickets than in a high-qualily casino. On the other hand, British Columbia is losing millions and millions of dollars every year to Vegas and Reno. That money could and should stay right here. There will always be those who oppose gambling of any kind on moral or religious | grounds. And there will always be those who would advocate gambling without any restric- tions. The former are hopelessly *,out_of date, while the latter would saddle us with. slot ma- chines in every public washroom. The proper scales somewhere in the middle, and that’s the route the government has obviously chosen. I just wish Miller would call a spade a spade and admit that his proposals add up toa major shift in British Columbia’s gambling policy rather than a minor adjustment he would like us to believe it is, Beyer can be reached at Tet: 920-9300; Fax: 385-6783; E- Mail: hubert@coolcom.com SENSE casinos. And Sunday liquor store openings, too, possibly. Stalistics abound to show that gambling can devastate both families and com- munities. Kids are neglected. Homes are gambled away. Jobs are lost. People commit suicide out of despair, No matter. B.C. will let gam- blers drink their gambling troubles into oblivion. Scientists say every fetal al- cohol syndrome child can cost up to $1.5 million over its lifetime for medica] treatment, social costs, and incarceration. Depending upon its severity, fetal alcohol syndrome can leave people incapable of adult thinking or behaviour. — No amount of treatment can offset the costs of gambling addiction, For Dan the Dealer to prom- ise treatment centers for gam- blers so he can push casinos in B.C. makes as much sense as munitions manufacturers fund- ing artificial limbs so they can sell more land mines. a AIRUET THEM HOME ae is] CA