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fe . .

‘A4- The Terrace e Standard, Wednesday, January 11, 2006

TERRACE

ST \NDARD-

- ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988
PUBLISHER: ROD LINK |

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-Four-day flap

7 ONE OF 'the luxuries, about being the leader of : -

the opposition is patiently waiting for unpopular

government decisions to have an,effect on people

_ _-and,then being able to comment on them.

Such was the case Tecently when. provincial |

oe NDP. leader Carole James visited Terrace,

os “meeting with various groups of people about

“ Jssues, concerning them. One of those issues
_ which came up when James met with local
7 political and business leaders was, the school
°°. district’s four-day week.. |

Now in its third year, the decision to 5 close: -

. schools. on Friday: and extend: the instruction-

peas sponse to'a budget deficit.

“for instance, permit. some high | school stu-

“west Community ‘College. But one. less day
~, of school per. week puts pressure on teachers
; and students. to learn more at a. faster pace.

It’s. now becoming a matter of worry for

oe local political and: business. leaders eager to
ve attract investment'and: people to Terrace be-

a = “cause the reality: ofa one-day-a-week closure 1
doesn’t exactly give the impression ‘this is a-
woe welcoming. place where students receive the |

Bone same education’ they can elsewhere.

who support the provincial government com-
plain that its decision to download wage and
other costs onto school districts causing the
one. here to close schools on Friday is now

ailing tt at SN, Toe

‘hainpering t ‘business ‘growth... sey

“Ms. James might have told them. to take a

| hike or to phone the premier. But she didn’t.
“Instead she pointed to provincial Liberal
promises of more money for education and
that she and Skeena. MLA Robin Austin
would examine the 2006 provincial budget to
see. if the school district will have the option
if of considering a.return to a five-day week.
>: It-was a perfect response from Ms. James
. as. it continues her reputation as a calm listen-
_er. There was no overt criticism of the pro-
- vincial government, ‘just a subtle jab. If the
. provincial Liberals are managing the affairs

_ of state in the. manner they say they are, then:

7 they will have to provide the school district
here with the tools it needs to make a deci-
_ sion for the betterment of. students.

The response also takes’ away the heat from
James.

the local school district .in that Ms.
clearly indicates the ultimate responsibility

for budget making rests with the province.

And that may lead to some phone calls from
_ here to the premier’s office anyway.

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Serving the Terrace and Thomhill area. Published on Wednesday of
” each week at 3210 Clinton Strest, Terrace, British Columbia, V8G 5R2.
__ Stories, photographs, illustrations, designs and typestyles in the Terrace Standard are the property of the copy-
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_ ADDRESS: 3210 Clinton Street Terrace, B.C. - V8G5R2

al time on the remaining four ayes was in re- |-

“|The devil i is in

- ~~ Tt’s beena popular decision i in some circles
ay and not so ‘popular i in others. Friday closures;

dents to take pre-apprentice courses at North-.

- It must-have been. an interesting time for
a Ms. James. Here she was, listening to people

yw

- COMPETITION

aC) © Black Press

ma

; “REMEMBER ww No |,
“You ALWAYS SAID You —

WISHED YOU'D MARRIED
yA MILUONAIRET

a

5a CONGRATS!

v/

Any |=

7 WITH: CHRISTMAS ‘and

New Years : behind us ‘the

full fury of the. federal elec-
_tion is now upon us.
". Out of the gate we are.
hearing the usual things |
| ‘around health® care being
the number one. issue for
Canadians and there. is NO.
doubt that it ranks high in .

most people’s lives.:

There will be no short-. |

age of candidates prepared

to stand up and defend our. .
‘single tier, public health

care system. There: will |
be numerous acrimonious
cries on how one party or _

the other is: moving us clos-
er to an American style of
- health cares.

_ The reality is no party. is

_’ promoting or pursuing such

an agenda and we _ have

never had a single tier sys- .’
‘cally Hwy 16, has been iden.

tem in this‘country, but that
won’t stop anyone from let-.
ting that get inthe way of a
good sound bite.

There are 30 countries in

the world that spend less per

person than Canada and de-

- liver better quality care for

the public they serve. They
have accomplished this by

integrating . the multiple -

levels of public and private.

‘health care in their Tespec-
» have one thing in common -

tive countries. |
Rather than attempting

to legislate wait times, they

have put patient needs at

- the front end and worked
into the appropriate service

delivery model. They have
not let rhetoric rule the land-
scape, but have moved past.
the politics and at the end

_ of the day spend less while

delivering better services to

patients.

-ROGER HARRIS _

‘But. the federal govern-

ment will play.a large.role .
-in, some other extremely.

important issues for Terrace

‘and we. should pay attention

to them.

The. northwest, specifi-

tified as an energy | corridor.

We are seeing significant |
investments in a number of |

resource/energy projects:
Terasen Gas, Enbridge,

‘PNG, Kitimat LNG, from

Shell in the Bowser Basin,
Tumbler Ridge Coal de-
velopments, and expansion
in wood pellet production
across the interior. |

All .of these projects

—. they are looking to the

“northwest; specifically the

ports of Kitimat and Prince

_ Rupert to give them access

to global markets: | ;
_ The pipeline projects all

‘require a shipping compo- |

nent. to be in place if they
are to succeed.

The current federal mor-

atorium on tanker traffic
along the - west | coast now

“America for

becomes the barrier for any.
of’ these projects. moving
‘from the drawing board to”
’ reality.

- We have heard’ from the’

, municipalities and many
~ ofthe first nations on their |

views. We now. need - to

clearly hear from the candi-

dates on their individual and
party positions. - Supporting

_the land-based side .of’ any
of these projects, without a
: plan for resolving the ship-

ping issues rings rather hol-

‘low. °

.The ‘establishment. of a

a commodities port in
’ Kitimat. to complement’ the

container port in Prince Ru-

pert is. critical and not for
just exporting. It will create:

a new doorway into North
bulk goods

a

and ~ construction material °
for, the numerous: “iridustri-,

“Fal y ‘projects~ across Western

Canada.”

. Key to port, develop-
ment.
federal government has a
role to play in determining

‘how CN can expand . and

deliver those rail services.

The federal Department:

of Fisheries and Oceans’
role in supporting and. as-

all of the details -

right along the north sou 2
could provide a unique op- +

‘portunity for first nations.
Their expertise.

pilotage. The federal gov-

ernment could take the lead. %

in ensuring that any barriers ~

-are removed and resources |.

are brought ‘to the table to”
facilitate _the appropriate os
: training.. Oe

Every community across — “
the federal, Skeena . rid-« “*
ing will benefit from the, —
growth and development of...»
a publicly accessible portin. ~ :

‘Kitimat and. the new. con-
tainer port in Prince Ru-.
pert.

Real growth andcommu-_.

nity diversity will not come
in the Sifect employméiit |

“at the ‘ “port, ‘although that~
‘is still important, but from

is rail access. The

sisting in the development

of foreshore for port infra-
structure is. essential. Tra-

been seen.as a barrier to de-
velopment. The candidates
must be clear in how they
see the department work-
ing with communities and
industry.

The role of first nations in
any development is essen-
tial. The significant increase
in general shipping traffic

. ditionally, this agency has |

the opportunities to attract
new industries and invest- |
ments in completely differ-
ent businesses.

The candidates all seem .
to agree that the northwest ©
is North America’s new and ©
shortest gateway to Asia.

The federal government has | —
made a significant financial. -

commitment to invest in an
Asian strategy.

‘With such general agree-
“ment on the vision we now

need to hear the details of |

the plan. How each of them

see those funds’. being in- ~ .

“vested here in the north'and

how they see this vision be- - ~

coming a reality..
This is one of those times .
_where the’-“‘devil is in the
details.” —

“WHO NEEDS an Ipsos Reid

. Ment adjustments.

ish. Do your best to bridge any

Keeping your marriage together

poll to tell you the growing
popularity of do-it-yourself

. home-improvements parallels

our rising divorce rate? _
Team. with your spouse
‘to assemble a pre-packaged -
bookcase and you'll instantly
grasp” the correlation. Each

“project a couple undertakes

further crumbles the founda-
tion'of their blessed union.
When we work together be-
fore he tightens the first screw
we're trading zingers about
‘ancestry, visual acuity, and
mental agility. But years of
teamwork assisting my hus-
band as he fulfills my home

‘improvement fantasies have’

taught me how to minimize

| psychological scarring to both
of us.

As helper, my role is’ three-

fold: to know the sequence .
of what goes where, when;
' to retrieve anything dropped

or misplaced (screwdriver,
screws, a pencil) while main-
taining perfect alignment. of
two loose components weigh-
ing one-fifth of my body

THROUGH BIFOCALS

CLAUDETTE SANDECKI

weight; and taking the blame
for any and all hindrances or:
frustrations. Oh, and to shut up

. and offer no criticisms or sug-
gestions. But if I fail to point

something out in time, that’ s
my fault also.
Never be fooled by the ap-

‘parent simplicity of a project.

Even quality kits, such as a
Debbie Travis where every
hole is pre-drilled to fit ex-
actly, can be stressful. But for
full-blown rancor, you can’t
beat a self-designed project
with scope for spur-of-the mo-

-Often a casual alteration

early on delivers ‘a whammy
| . dilemma closer to completion.

The resultant brief but bitter
_ battle can harm a relationship.
' more than a 3-day weekend

visiting disapproving in-laws.

Mental protection is neces-

sary. Bolster your self esteem
to exorbitant heights; you want
some left: when you tidy your
‘work space. I remind myself

ments.
Beginning as far i in advance

“as you have notice, prepare as

rigorously as the lead surgeon
about to separate Siamese
twins. Take .out membership

in a karate club where you can.

linguistic gulf dug by creative |
translation from a foreign lan-
guage, for instance. Chinese.
Lay out and identify all com-
ponents - lumber panels, metal
supports, . casters, runners,

. Screws, bolts, and plastic caps.

_ of my capabilities demonstrat-
- ed through past accomplish

endurance train, build up your.

flexibility, and learn to accept
pain. Depending upon . your
project, you may find yourself

support 40 pounds of plywood
while your spouse leisurely
changes the screwdriver tip.

If assembling a kit, read

instructions from start to fin-

. standing tippy-toe straining to

Count to be sure every compo-
nent is included. :

Men show the same disdain
. for written assembly instruc--_.

tions as they do for road maps.
Unfortunately, I can be as con-
fused by assembly instructions’
as by an Edmonton map.

- As helper, your task is to
memorize. the assembly se-
quence. Otherwise you could
find yourselves nearly through
when you discover you have:

differently or the computer
tray won't slide out.

Banish from the home all
family of an impressionable
‘age unless you wish to infuse

their vocabulary with 4-let- — |

ter words. Grandchildren cry
when they hear grandparents
chiseling each other’s charac-
ter.

and a
knowledge of the waters: ..
along the ;west coast posi- ©;
tions them ‘strategically to’
take on the role of vessel...

to put components together .- &