ye fe . . ‘A4- The Terrace e Standard, Wednesday, January 11, 2006 TERRACE ST \NDARD- - ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988 PUBLISHER: ROD LINK | . ‘TELEPHONE: (250) 638-7283 »: FAX: (250) 638-8432 a, WEB: ‘www.terracestandard. com EMAIL: ‘newsroom@terracestandard com -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. PUBLISHER/EDITOR: “=. * Rod Link ADVERT ISING MANAGER: Brian Lindenbach | ~ PRODUCTION. MANAGER: Edouard Credgeur - _» NEWS: Sarah A. Zimomerman ~COMMUNITY:- Dustin Quezada. NEWS/SPORTS: Margaret Speirs ‘FRONT OFFICE: Darlene Keeping, Carolyn Anderson CIRCULATION SUPERVISOR: Alanna Bentham = - _ ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS: . Bert Husband, Susan. Willemen ‘AD ASSISTANT: Sandra Stefanik ean . PRODUCTION: Susan Credgeur. SUBSCRIPTION RATES BY MAIL: - $57.94 (+$4.06 GST)=62.00 per year; ~ Seniors $50.98 (+$3.57 GST)=54.55; . Out of Province $65.17 (+$4.56 GST)=69.73 Outside of Canada (6 months) $156. SU(410. 598 est)=t6?- 89 me " MEMBER OF ° . B.C. AND YUKON COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION, : CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION AND B.C. PRESS COUNCIL (worn bepresscouncil.org) tectatieon British Colnwdte aad Yohon 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- . fight holders, including Black Press Ltd., its illustration repro services and advertising agencies. * Reproduction in whole or in part, without written permission, is specifically prohibited. Authorized as second-class mail pending the Post Office Department, for payment of postage in cash. Special thanks tc all our contributors and correspondents for their time and talents _ 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 .- &