Page M- - ~ Terrace Standard, Woshestey, Betober 3 a, 1990 7

"ERRACE STAND! u

“ESTABLISHED arr ar, 1988 .

Registration No, 7820. 4647 Lazeile Ave. Tereee, 8. c. vaG 188 (604). ox6-7283 ae

Saving ta Terrace waa. Pushed on Weenenny’of nar ek ty Caio Press (1884) Li at 4647 Laretie Ave, Terrace, British Cohienbi,
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lustraven reps services and advertising agencies,
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. Editor: s
Fed Link

ia -

Publisher:
im Cou her,

os production Manager: fe

Se

Advertising Manager,. danat Vivaifas ~
Sam Collar —. Advertsing Consultant, Teny Miler —

Advertising Consultant
Greuiation on Superior

Special thanks to all

‘Our. contributors and
"correspondents for

~ their time and ..°.

talents.

There’s a nagging little reminder at the
airport here of the réalities of northern
air travel, Passengers can easily see it
from their aircraft seats or when getting
off or getting on aircraft in front of the
terminal. It’s a Skylink baggage cart
nestled against the side of the building.

Air travel is a safe and efficient way of
getting in and out of northern B.C. Barr-
ing weather conditions which plague the
airport here as much as any other but
which have lead to unfair assumptions
about its dependability, passengers can
expect to be transported back and forth
from down south in relative ease and
comfort.

Indeed, air travel has to be regarded as
a marvel. The way in which the pilots of
the jets position their aircraft for landing
and the manner in which the aircraft res-
pond all point to triumphs _ of
technology, training and experience.
Even a missed approach due to weather

and a subsequent bus trip is a sign that,

the system works.

Yet there is always that slight

: passenger unease from direct or indirect

past happenings and circumstances.
What findings, for instance, could a
team of psychologists derive from a
study of northern passengers?

That’s why Canadian Airlines is

*- wrong in saying it won't release its fin-
‘dings into the circumstances leading to

the forced landing of its 737 jet, low on
fuel, during a snowstorm in Smithers on
Cct. 11. It li be kept internally for
whatever disciplinary and: training reé-

‘quirements that might arise as a result of

the incident, says the airline.

Passengers on board the aircraft that
day have recounted their experiences,
One passenger’ s house, for instance, is
located in area below the height level of
the Smithers runway. At one point, the
plane flew low over his house. The
thought crossed his mind that he has

flown all over the world without incident .

but would now end up crashing on top of
his dwelling..

There are two government investiga-
tions into the incident. That means we’ll
eventually find out what happened. That
may be comforting but does not excuse
the statements of Canadian Airlines
about why it won’t release its findings.

We place our trust in airlines to fly us
safely and efficiently. In turn, airlines
have an obligation to their passengers to
respond to that trust with complete and
quick information and their findings in-
to any investigation. It’s not a matter of
being a backseat driver.

By the way, just exactly what is that
Skylink cart doing at the airport?

| Local influence..

cs

ments are large, forbidding and for the
most part, unresponsive and unap-
proachable. Curiously, Mr. Byfield
doesn’t include schoo] boards in his
statements, saying schools are
dominated by teachers’ unions and by
the folks in Victoria.

Mr. Byfield’s comments should carry
great weight as we consider the
November elections. It’s a bias on which
all people can agree. .

B. C. ‘Report publisher Ted’ Byfield
was in town last week to speak to local
pro-lifers on bias in news organizations.
But he also has an interesting viewpoint

of municipal elections. They represent,

he says, one of the few areas in which
citizens feel they have a chance to in-
fluence the direction and thrust of
democratic decision-making.

That’s because, Mr. Byfield con-
tinued, provincial and federal govern-

Unique journey

Ten years ago when Terry

Fox hop-skipped from New-
foundiand to Thunder Bay on
his Marathon of Hope, the han-

Through

dicapped had only begun to in- Bifocals

tegrate everyday life. Since

then, so many of the physically by Claudette Sandeck!

challenged have come out of the a eee ae

closet, and taken to our funding instinct has lured ly, applicant will not suffer

highways for a cause, it’s time
we built them a special jane. We
could be guilty of discrimina-
tion otherwise.

We already have designated

lanes for trucks, carpools, even
bicycles; for traffic that's fast,
slow, through, merging, turn-
ing, or exiting, On the Co-
quihalla we've gone so far as'
crossing lanes for deer,
Herefords, and porcupines.

Capital costs of pledge fanes
would soon be offset by savings
for RCMP escorts, and accident
investigations.

The novelty of Teryy Fox's
marathon captured public at-
tention, Rick:Hansen’s Man in
Motion and Steve Fonyo’s
Journey for Lives rode high in
the news, thanks to backup
publicity teams.

‘But there have been others
whose names and _ac-
complishments fizzled —
though they demonstrated equal
personal | effort” and ‘ commit-
ment ~~ because they garnered
less publicity: ©.’

One unknown was a elderly:
woman © -who' stuitiped -eTOss-”
-gountry for the blind. ‘Another

was a “retired Saskatchewan

farmer who pushed ; a wheelbar-.

Tow to B. Ces

- In the United States; ido, ag

disabled to risk their lives on the
paved lanes. Presently a blind
27-year-old is hiking from Con-
necticut to Canada gripping the
rigid harness of his German
Shepherd, to drum up contribu-
tions to supply guide dogs for
other blind persons.

What compels these in-
dividuals to stress their physical
Jimitations in ways no labour
union would tolerate? Like a
nun taking her vows, they

unclutter their life of all distrac-

tions for the duration of their
venture, and toil through all
weathers, separated like AIDS
victims from their families.
Sure, Rick Hansen’s cam-
paign introduced him to his
future wife, and the blind
American will return home with
a dog that's content to lie
around for at least aweek.

Which healthy applicant

would take a second !ook at a
candid ad for Hansen's: : assign-
ment? Picture it:

‘*Wanted: -Self- btarter..

_ ‘Dependable, goal-oriented, able -
: to meet the public. | : 7
. Successful. applicant must be

athletically fit,“able to manually

propel a wheelchair 70 miles per.
10 hour day, Must enjoy. work-*
‘ ing: alone; ina. confined space;
Outdoors; inall weathers. Ideal-'

“restless legs’’.

This is a 26-month assign-
ment with no chance of ad-
vancement, and no salary.
Generous subsistence allowance
guaranteed. Bunk and locker
space provided in motorhome
to be shared with staff — a
cook, chauffeur, mechanic and
physiotherapist."” .
Handicapped people make up
in persistence ~what they are
denied genetically, or -acciden-
tally. “Next month Prince

-Rupert’s’ own Jim Therrion is

-expectedjhome from his year-
long walk to:the Maritimes and

back, to raise money for the

hearing impaired.

We can’t.offer him his own
highway Jane, but he will find
‘Highway: 16 much improved,

TO THE SHOP AN

» SOTLL Put THS HERE
TO FICK UP ON HY WAY

CAN STAY UNTIL T GO
DUN TO THE LAKE...

“Touae Tan ou boop” 4.2
RESON NAY IREERACERS =.
_ SHULD BE BAKED.

Forestry company.
gets a bad break

VICTORIA —I'd like to say a
few words in defence of a
forestry giant, but unlike
former colleague Nicole Par-
ton, I won't use my ode to
Fletcher Challenge as a prelude
to seeking political laurels. 1
swear.

Few industries have a more
battered image than forest
companies; and -while, for the;
longest. time, they didn't seem .
to care what.the publics" .:
thought of them, most: firms .
now'are making genuine at-
tempts to convince a

distrustful public that their aim

is not to desiroy the environ-
ment in general and our forests
in particular. " Pe

Like many other forest com- _

panies, Fletcher Challenge

realized some time ago that in- |

volving the public in its plans
‘and operations might. solve

some.of its problems. On Van- -

couver Island, that realization .
gave birth to the Walbran ©
‘Local, Resource Advisory

Group.

The community-based ad-
visory group was formed to.
give input.into Fletcher.
Cahlieng’s plans to log. part of
the Walbran Creek watershed,
just south of the Carmanah
Valley on the island's west
coast. The company says it -
needs to log the area to keep
some 50 loggers working and
help keep the local economy
afloat.

‘Membership: of the advisory
group was broadly-based and
included municipal politicians,
native Indians, wildlife experts
and environmentalists,
specifically representatives of
the Western Canada

Wilderness Committee, the
Sierra Club and the Carmanah
Forestry Society.

While the advisory group
started. examining the com-

pany’s:plans for logging thal. ._
section of the Walbran area to °

which it. has cutting rights,
Fletcher Challenge initiated
another public-inyolvement
program, Beet

For, several months last. sum-
mer, the company conducted
public tours of the area it pro-
poses to log. In all, 650 people

DTM 91 can GO MERE UNT

Seer tee TRUCK.

From the

Capital
by Hubert Beyer

“AND DLL PuT THESE
| GETHER To TAKE OVER
7OVIC LATER, AND. Tats

from Victoria responded to. «= :
Fletcher's invitation and: took
advantage of the bus tours.’
Steve Lorimer, environmen-—
tal forester'for Fletcher
Challenge, says some of the

suggestions the company got:

from people who took the
tours were incofporated in the -
final proposal.

Meanwhile, earlier this

month, ihe advisory group was”

ready to submit its recommen-

_ dations to the company, a,two-

year plan for the logging of
Fletcher’s portion of the
Walbran watershed.

But before the plan: was sub-

mitted, two of the environmen- —

tal groups quit the advisory
committee, Claiming that the
committee was only interested

.- in talking about clear-cutting

“tat an unacceptable level,”
representatives of the Western
Canada Wilderness Committee
and the Sierra Club took their
marbles and went home.

The falling out of the en-
vironmentalist lobby with the
rest of the group was in part
the result of a disagreement —
over a moratorium on logging
the Waibran, proposed by the
WwCcwc,

.. Diana Angus, the WCWC
representative, said the call for
FY moraturium was prompted
by the discovery of a marbled
murrelet nest in the Walbran,

the first such nest ever found

in Canada.

Most of her fellow commit-
tee members, however, didn’t
even want to.discuss the.
moratorium; Angus said. Some
just laughed. With‘all due
respect to the marbled murrelet
and the Western Canada
Wilderness Committee, the
1ith-hour suggestion of a
moralorium.was enough to.
make anyone laugh.

* Respect.for nature is one

MARTEN!. WHAT
ARE YOU DOING”

_ be logged were very close

have hung on in there and: .*
Made a real contribution to. the

RAT'S T Look Like?
I’m TIDYING vel!

thing;:to throw 50 loggers out:

of work becausé' of ne marbl-*
ed murrelet is quite anothef, .
particularly if the one iiest ever
to be discovered ‘can be pro- ~:
tected without subjecting the -
entire Walbran area to a logg-_

_ ing moratorium.

As for the two environmen-
tal groups quitting the advisory’

committee, I’m not, impressed. .

Environmental groups, in- -
cluding the WCWC, are ex-..~':.
perts at opinion manipulation: :

‘. and they are much better at it.

than the companies, by the

who try to be part of the sol

tion rather than the problem.

I took a look at the com”:
pany’s logging plans before
and after the committee gave
its input. No, the total: acreage’
to be logged didn’t change, but

everything else did.

- Proposed clear-cuts are
much smaller. The largest :
clear-cut is 40 hectares, the
smallest three hectares and tne
average about 30 hectares... :
And whereas the parcels 10.

together before, they are spa

ed further apart. now, leaving
much larger areas in between °
untouched. No doubt, the
come doesn’t satisfy.anyone
who advocates a moratoriu
on logging; but to the. averag
person who’s got no‘axe. to”:
grind, it’s a good compromise.

‘Rather than trying. to.

discredit a genuine effort by
the company to involve’ the.
community, the two ens.
vironmental. groups should

cause they profess to believ po
in, 23

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