Me TERRACE. Aa - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, November 22, 1995 STANDARD ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988 ADDRESS: 4647 Lazelle Ave., Terrace, B.C. * V8G 188 TELEPHONE: (604) 638-7283 * FAX: (604) 638-8432 MODEM: (604) 638- 7247 ol ive stuff CITY COUNCILLOR Gordon Hull has opened the door to a healthy debate over how this city should develop heading into the next century. In short, Mr. Hull says we might not like-the. answer we get in determining what should hap- pen to environmentally sensitive areas. His com- ments arose over a council plan to hire an, en- vironmental consultant to identify those areas. - Mr. Hull fears there’Il be trouble down the road should those areas be identified and should they then feature in development plans. But the point of picking out those sensitive areas is to avoid that kind of trouble in the first place. This city has gone beyond the point of de- velopment for development’s sake. There’s noth- ing wrong with first determining those sensitive areas and then planning for the kind of develop- ment that works with those areas. Admittedly, city council is a bit gun-shy about this sort of thing. It has a sore spot over Howe Creek and the activities of the group that wants to develop a trail that runs along the water course. Some councillors feel put upon by what some of its members call a special interest group. Yet council’s job is to develop consensus among the various groups and interests that make up the city’s population. A list of environ-. mentally sensitive areas would at least give everybody a starting point for further discussion. In 20 years this city will be much different than it is today. The question is how different and ultimately how livable of a place it will become. a a Premier Jim? IT’S TIME fora northerner to step forward and seek the leadership of the provincial New Demo-. cratic Party. For too long provincial parties have been run by people from the south, often to the detriment of those who live outside the crowded confines of the lower mainland. Our suggestion is former Skeena NDP Member of Parliament Jim Fulton. First elected in 1979, Mr. Fulton gathered ever increasing support in the federal elections of 1984 and 1988. He retired prior to the 1993 election and now makes his living in Victoria with the David Suzuki Foundation, an organization that works to meld the environment with the activities of the human race, We suggest Mr. Fulton because he | was able to forge a northwest coalition ranging from die hard unionists to smal] businessmen to commercial fishermen to natives pursuing land claims. There’s no greater testament to his personal abilities than to witness the collapse of the NDP vote here in 1993 after his departure. Mr. Fulton has the personality, the knowledge and the smarts. He also loves a good fight and that’s the kind of leader the NDP. needs * Bong into the next election. S, ’ PUBLISHER/EDITOR: Rod Link ADVERTISING MANAGER: Mike L. Hamm PRODUCTION MANAGER: Edouard Credgeur NEWS Jeff Nagel « NEWS SPORTS: ~ COMMUNITY: Cris Leykaut ~ OFFICE MANAGER: Audra Creek ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS: Sam Collier, Janet Viveiros, Tracey Tomas ~ ADVERTISING ASSISTANT: Emma Law ~ - DARKROOM: Susan Credgeur COMPOSITOR: Kelly . Jean CIRCULATION SUPERVISOR: Karen Brunette WEMBEA OF B.C.PRESS COUNCIL. Serving tha Terrace and Thornhill area. Publishad on Wednesday of each week by Caritoo Pes (1969) Lid, at 4647 Lazella Ave., Terrace, British Columbla. Storlias, photographs, itiustrations, designs and typesiyles in the Terrace Standard ard the property of tha copyright holders; including Cariboo Press (1869) Ltd, its tlustration tepra savices and advertising aganclas, Reproduction in whole or in pat, without wilten permission, is spectfically prohibited Authorized as sacond-clasé mail pending the Post Office Departnert, fot payment aff josege in cash. Vornfice. 9 CIACULOnGN CONTAGLLED * Special thanks to all our contributors and carrespondents for thelr time and talents ~, he press theatre without’ ans: Another one bites the dust. VICTORIA, — In what by now appears to be a tradition of British Columbia politics, another premier. has’ been hounded from office. Bowing to the fallout from the Nanaimo, Commonwealth Holding Society scandal, Premier Mike Harcourt an- nouiced that he is leaving | politics for good, He will not seek the leadership of his party at next February’ 8 convention, | nor will he run in n the next elec- tion. Even though rumors ofan impending cabinet revolt had been. circulating, Harcourt’s _announcement came as some- what of a bombshell. After a brief statement, Harcourt left ering questions. — * mH cal!’ from Harcourt’s office. The premier would like to meet with me. “My first question to him was: why just me? ‘‘Because you've always been fair,’? he says, pants when we deserved it, but you've never been unfair,”’ Thank you, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Task him why afd when he decided to call it quits. The answer was, on October 15, the HUBERT BEYER giving Harcourt this ovation. The evening before, some cabinet members were reported to have approached him to ask , for his resignation. Harcourt says they never did, which r means he did an end run around them. _ FROM THE CAPITAL” A’few minutes later, I get a. ‘You kicked us in the’ day he read the Ron Parks report on the bingo scandal. ‘I was sick at heart when I read - the report, and I made up my mind that day that [ would | sonally exonerated, I was the ° leader of the party, and ,I had become the lightening rod for wrong-doings that were com- ‘mnitted 10 and 20 years ago. There was no way out for - . nie. Led Harcourt leaves briefly to drop back into a cabinet meet- ing that’s been going on up- stairs all morning, Moments later, loud desk-thumping emanates from the cabinet room, and I wonder how many Judases are amongst those snd even though Iwas per: ihe NDBO? OE Those reported to have asked , Harcourt to consider stepping "down include employment : minister Glen Clark, social ser- vices minister Joy MacPhail, environment minister Moe Sibota, —_ forests minister Andrew Petter, labor minister Dan Miller and finance minis- ter Blizabeth Cull. At least three of them - Clark, Petter and Miller -- might harbour thoughts of suc- ceeding Hargourt as leader of. Will ‘his decision to hand over the leadership to someone’ else give the NDP the brea- thing room it needs fo get ils act together before the next election? Harcourt says, yes, “I think so. Instead of a desultory four, five months to come, my stepping down will allow the party to regroup, J will carry the baggage, as is my responsibility.”’ The government, he says, ‘has nothing to apologize for. Nor does he, wedi hah tt AOS die “We have made tremendous strides in the past four years, We have brought peace to the forests, We have nearly: doubled the province’s “park land. We have put in place a - debt-management plan that is recognized as effective by every intemational financial and bond-rating agency. “We've done well, despite the willful blindness from our foes in the media and the busi- Ness community, right down ta bringing the minimum wage up to a level where a working — person can have a go at it, earning $1,200 a month, in- stead of $560 on welfare.” Task him if he’s bitter about having to resign, even though there. isn’t a. blemish .on his ,. AS ao A gett personal’ record. , No, Tm" not bitter,” Tm”! proud of my achievements and: those of my. government over . the past four years.” But he admits that the turmoil surrounding the bingo scandal has taken its toll on him and his family, And his parting words are: “T don’t need this, I do not need this.”” : Beyer can be reached at: °° Tel: (604) 360-6442; Fax:(604) 381- 6922;B-Mail:. hbeyer@direct.ca ; Tourism along the Sioa IT COMES to tovrlem potential, the Skeena River area is un- derdeveloped,’’ says Bill Bar- lee, Minister of Tourism, Small Business and culture, who recently visited Terrace. Did Barlee notice the ab- sence of hydro or telephone poles obstructing his view of the scenic Skeena- between Chindemash Creek and Cedar- vale? That’s why the Skeena’s tourism potential is | un- _ derdeveloped. Barlee makes his living as an author and TV host telling stories. about lost gold ‘treasures in B.C, He, of all _. people, ought ta recognize the | '~ diving museum along. that 30 mile stretch of Yellowhead where families live as they did 27 years ago-wilhout hydro or proper telephone service. | In 1968 when we bought Jand near Big Oliver Crock, we were told hydro would never link Chindemash Creek to Cedarvale untif they had at ‘THROUGH BIFOCALS| _CLAUDETTE SANDECKI HOLD “THE Tl FORT Dog... FORT Davy! least one customer per mile.” There’s been no population boom since. With a 7kw diesel generator we supplied our own power to rin lights, TY, refiizerator, and two major appliances at. once-cither the washing ma- _ chine and the water well pump; the washing machine and the propane furnace; or the pump _and the furnace. During cold windy weather, I had to stop the washing ma- FORT DOGGEREL..,. FORT DOG-GIRL... DOG: GIRL... DOG * BOY... geal fe 4 a aa hae chine mid-cycle to let the fumace heat the house, then turn off the furnace so the pump could rinse the laundry. Of course, no one forced us | to live there. Then, diesel fuel cost 17 cents a gallon delivered 30 miles and 300 gallons a fill. About $2 a day, Added to that was the cost of oil, oil filters, repairs and mechanical maintenance at $35 per hour of a mechanic’s time, including an hour travel. Today diesel fuel cost about $2.16 per gallon, $ 25 per day. We couldn’t§ afford a radiophone., Today, at 51 cents per minute for a local radiophone call, and a surcharge on all Tong distance calls, it’s easy to see why a family’s ‘average monthly radiophone ‘bill is $300 to $400. Almost double what I pay for a business phone, yellow page advertis- ing, and long distance calls. Sort of Sprint in reverse — the | Hey vic! DOG - Boy “SAYS “HOLD THE most expensive for the least , . service. Its incongruous that soon,’ with the installation of a B.C, Tel phone line, faxes and com- puter messages wili travel back and forth over that 30 mile Stretch of Highway 16 while | on the ground below, an old fashioned world will exist, A bit like Amish driving their horse-drawn buggies in the slow lane of an interstate high- way, , The families could rent ac- commodation to tourists who want the experience of life without modem conveniences,. An Alberta farmer is doing . : that. He spiffed up a 12X20 foot homestead shack and rents it by the week to hardy sols wanting to try the lonely life of @ settler. Renters cook their meals on a wood stove, read by - coal oil lamp, and visit the out- house on the knoll. As tourism minister, Barlee ought to grasp the parallel, MARTEN YOU'RE. SPENDING Too | MUCH TIME iN THE BusH!! Pa)