Page A4 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, January 27, 1993 I Rod Link _ Jeff Nagel - Naws/Community, Malcolm Baxter -News/Sports, Resa Fishar - Front Office Manager, Pam Odell - Typesetter, -.”.. Allene Walts - Typasatter, Susan Credgeur « Composing/Darkroom, Special thanks to— ESTABLISHED APAIL 27, 1998 "TERRACE STANDART) "btn, Registration No. 7820 Phone (604) 638-7283 (1969) Lid,, it's Mlustretion repro services and advertsing agancis. 4647 Lazelle Ave., Terrace, B.C., V8G:1S8 Sarving he Terrace area, Publshad on Wednesday of each week by Cariboo Press (1969) Lid, at 4647 Lazelle Avo. Tertace, Bitish Calumbia Stories, pholographs, Illustrations, designs and typestyles in the Terrace Standard are tha property of the copyright holders, inciuding Cariboo Pros Reproduction In whela ar In pan, without written perinission, is specifically prahibited. Authorized as sacond-class mail pending the Post Cifice Department, fot payment of postage In cash. Mike L. Fax (604) 638-8432 (#CNA Advertising Manager: Production Manager: Edouard Credgeur Hamm CcoNA CONTROLLED Janet Vivelros - Adverlising Consuttant, Sam Collier - Advertising Consulant, a Charlane Matthews - Clrculatlon Manager RROLAN © Oona on c we " onidy Goa a ‘, by, ote) a 1] oe Rimen terns 2150S ee “Ws papeas COM all our contributors and correspondents for their time and talents. EDITORIAT. No potatoes here Anybody who thinks the New Demo- cratic Party, federal or provincial, and all natives are walking hand in hand to acom- mon future should reconsider. That’s par- ticularly the case when. it comes to the Gitksan and Wet’suwet’en of the Hazeltons. ‘There are growing signs of a split between the two. oo The Gitksan and Wet’suwet’en are un- relenting in their proposition they own and control a vast piece of territory surround- ing the Hazeltons. They oppose the current provincial. government in Victoria with the same passion as they did the former Social Credit administration, The Gitksan and Wet’suwet’en, for in- stance, went after NDP forests minister Dan Miller for his conflict of interest in ap- proving the sale last year of the. Carnaby mill to Repap. They didn’t hesitate to blockade the CN line at Gitwangak last fall, The Gitksan and Wet’suwt’en ran anin- dependent candidate in the 1991 provincial election and there are strong signs they — will do the same in the next federal elec- tion. That should prove interesting to fed- eral Skeena NDP MP Jim Fulton who relies on a coalition for election. All of these things manifest themselvesin - different ways. Forestry is the biggest issue ae res sweatshirt on the market bearing the slogan ““There’s no nooky like chinooky.’’ Well, the northwest is being subjected to a more vulgar term for nooky.in the federal De- partment of Fisheries and Oceans decision to cut its Deep Creek hatchery grant. The hatchery provides a vital source of | fish for the northwest. It is not an expense, as some federal beancounters may claimi. It is an investment.- And that . investment comes in the form of attracting tourist dol- lars and providing stock for the commer- cial fishery. “0: . , Hatchery havoc Ray Troll, a Ketchikan artist, has a great in the Hazeltons. The Gitksan and Wet’suwet’en have made numerous proposals about the future of the industry there. Yet the Gitksan and Wet’suwet’en are not represented on the new First Na- tions Forestry Council announced last week by the provincial government. Last year the federal government issued 40,000 medals in honour of the country’s 124th anniversary. Each Member of Parlia- ment received 40 to hand out to those who have contributed in one way or another to their communities. Mr. Fulton’s list con- tained a goodly number of supporters. Every native group in his riding was represented, except for the Gitksan and Wet’suwet’en. The Gitksan and Wet’suwet’en approach is much different to that of the Nisga’a Tribal Council. It prefers, at least in public, a more calm approach. The theory is that constant negotiation and subile pressure _brings more at the end of the day. There’s an expression in the native com- munity. Some of those who closely tie themselves to white institutions and ways are called potatoes —- brown on the out- side, white on the inside. It doesn’t seem as if there is a healthy NDP farm in the Hazeltons, Looks like it will have to look elsewhere for a fertile crop. era: theses aut Cutting the grant is the same as ifthe. - feds announced it was no longer support- ing agricultural research for the Prairie grain industry. This is not a case of sub- sidizing specific companies. It is a matter of providing something for a broad mix of users. : Hatchery backers estimate it would take $145,000 a year to run the facility with the help of a strong volunteer group. That $145,000 is .03 per'cent of the entire feder- al hatchery budget. A trimming of fisheries minister John Crosbie’s head office would be more than enough to reach that amount. At least five times a year — at Christnas. and Haster, on our Not plant friendly wedding — anniversary, my birthday, and Mother’s day ~— my optimistic family replenishes my houseplant supply. Yet I never mn short of windowsill. Because as regularly as I’m given new plants, [ kill off the old, Not intentionally, mind you, but irrevocably, nonetheless, - Horticulturists like | CBC’s Brian Minter -maintains more Through — Bifocals _ by Claudette Sandecki while [ bumble on to their For months not so much ds a plants succumb to overwatering than any ° other it clutching the. sides: of the planter and dogpaddling like a drowning refugee, It could have ‘moored the Queen's yacht Britan- nia, re To even out watering, I tried wicking watet fromi a saucer up a cotton shoelace anchored deep in the soll; It worked fine. until: — surprise — the shoelace. rotted, away beneath the surface, short- circuiting irrigation, | ; On the other hand,.my-fern was so dry its soif was.impenetrable to a sharp screwdriver pounded with - a carpenter’s -hammer. Seriously toot bound, the fern rose above | ihe pot-edge ‘like a souffle. No space remained in the planter for water, My favorile gifts are starter plants in thimble-sized pats. The - ‘rent ‘Of cactuses in-a brick-red cost, t ay clay dish. The lone the guilt whed the plant dies. If it.” ist nag ‘share oe eee does: Some survive . despite. my. smaller the cost, the smaller my ministrationis, ‘With: those have he pleasure of watching them de-: velop’ into’ “adult:"houseptants”, Pe ee ee a ee unintentional - - abuse,No’ doubt, I once checked — on a wilting African violet to: find . _ preferred habitat. _ Azaleas are a special case. The tidbit of soil makes them so sensi- live to moisture level shifts that their foliage spreads or folds quicker than an umbrella. My’ plants. are cocooned by spider mite webs, starved by root ’ rot,-crowded from ‘their plastic - . pots by coils of greedy roots, choked, drowned...A cyclamen . that arrives from the supermarket asa mass. of sturdy © stalks trimmed by velvety purple petals © in ‘one week becomes. a wilted mess. drooping over the rim like ~ drunk in apub washroom. ‘ Attificial plants tempt me with » thelr silk perfection and casy-care plastic. But they lack the excite- ment of discovering-a swelling — bud; ora thrusting shoot. ‘The next best thing to fake foli- age are cactuses, However, even, they. “can. surreptitiously: dis- integrate. I- once’ had an -assort- size and shape‘of two ‘'D’’ bat- terles stacked on: each other, a five-sided ‘plant crowned bya lush pink blossom ’resembling a _Waterhily; and a éguat pincushion. I ecb std ABATE ee wes ee km ce whisker changed in their outward appearance. Even the blossom remained dewy fresh. Then I ven- tured to touch the pincushion; it collapsed in a puddle of slime. Many housewives * encourage their plants with sweet. talk -as they go about their rounds.poking a green thumb into the soil, to gauge moisture, plucking a withered leaf, pinching an unruly sprout. oo | I don’t squander talk on mine. But I dress, in a black hood, car- rying a watering: can with skull _and crossbones, and shouldering - a seythe. meee OF COURSE Sai . about. A long time ago, T=, VICTORIA — The mini- mum wage in British Colum- _ bia will increase in April 1 by 50 cents to $6 an hour, and no ‘ sooner had labor minister Moe ot Sihota anounced the hike-» »ironei Ql PITAL... Hhad-the: whining started. jist: Small business cannot afford ‘the increase, snivelled Social | | IN THE SPIRIT OF A NEW ERA OF CO-OPERATION ,.WHICH ONE OF MY POCKETS. Do YoU PREFER 10 BE IN '., tag ie tg 2 . th, ty fe Fe pus still not enough ~ From the Credit leader Jack Weisgerber. The government is using the minimum wage as “‘a blunt in- strument of sccial policy’” rather than concentrating on training workers for higher- paying jobs, grumbled Kathy Sanderson, B.C, director of the Canadian Federation of Inde- pendent Business. The latest increase in the minimum wage comes one year after the last 50-cent hike, and that, Weisgerger said, is just too much for small busi- ness to swallow. ; “This government’s got its small business can afford a20 percent increase in the mini- mum wage in just one year,’” Weisgerber said. “Mark my words: this government is absolutely bent on bringing the minimum wage up to 60 per cent of the average industrial wage,” he added. About bloody time. To ex- pect anyone to work for $6 an hour is indecent. Businesses paying minimum wage are in the same league as sweatshops in Thailand and Hong Kong. To cite the need to stay com- petitive as a reason for keep- ing the minimum wage low is ludicrous. A business that depends on the minimum | _ wage to stay competitive ‘shouldn’t be in business, I know what I’m talking — worked ina foundry in Win- nipeg. The company made manhole covers. For 65 cents an hour, we slaved in 125- head in the clouds if it thinks — degree heat, pouring molten iron into forms, Fainting spells were not un- common. Sometimes the molten iron would slop over the rims of the buckets and burn holes in your boots. If you were lucky, it would stop ‘short of your feet, The foreman told me that with hard work and a cheery disposition (no complaints), I, too, could make it to 75 cents an hour. Let’s take a look what the minimum wage works out to, The latest increase translates " into.a $20-a-week raise for a full-time worker, bringing their gross weekly earnings to $240 for a 40-hour week, $1040 a month or $12,480 a year, The social services ministry estimates the poverty line fora single parent with two chil- dren living in the Lower Main- _ land at about $26,000 a year. For a family of four, the poverty line is about $30,000 a year. oes If you dispute those figures, let me just tell you that it’s im- possible for a family to find accommodation.in Vancouver - or Victoria for less than $750 -amonth, © 2° - "That would leave someone at _. the minimum-wage income of - $1,040 a month, minus let’s "say. $140 in deductions, $150 a month for food and other ex- “pensesy * Weisgerber should find other ' government follies to atlack. The lousy 50-cent minimum- . t SAID HE CAN. ONLY WEAR IT FOR TODAY 1! /.