A4 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, December 17, 1997 TERRACE - STANDARD ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988 PUBLISHER; ROD LINK * ADDRESS: 3210 Clinton Street Terrace, B.C. * V8G SR2 TELEPHONE: (250) 638-7283 * FAX: (250) 638-8432 EMAIL: standard@kermode.net Big brother MAKE THAT three strikes and he’s out on plans by Vancouver casino entrepreneur Gary Jackson to open a charity gaming establishment in the area. First the city, then Kitsumkalum and finally the regional district turned down the idea. City counci]’s decision to ban casinos also put to rest an idea of Terrace Inn owner John Georgilas to build one connected to his hotel. ‘Mr. Jackson’s presentation was strengthened by solid market research which clearly indicated that a casino in the northwest can only logically be placed in Terrace and vicinity. As the geog- raphic centre of the northwest, Terrace is a natu- ral draw for the nearly 80,000 people who call the region home. A casino here, said Mr. Jack- son, would benefit and add to Terrace’s drawing capacity. Mr. Jackson and Mr. Georgilas can’t be the only two people in the world eying Terrace as a casino location for the northwest. The decision: by the provincial government to add slot ma- chines to the gaming mix only spurs how attrac- tive it is to open a full-blown experience here. So if local governments won’t approve casinos, who could be in line next? Listening to Mr. Jack- son, it’s the provincial government. Some of this. comes from Mr. Jackson’s sales pitch which was that if we don’t do it his way, the government will do it its way by simply building a monster casino on provincial crown land and to heck with local sentiments. - But there’s a certain amount of logic to Mr. Jackson’s claim. If gambling is supposed to be- come a lucrative cash cow for the provincial government, there’s no way it’s going to ignore horthwestern B.C. That would be akin to having lottery booths everywhere else in B.C. except for this région: I Not to add fuel to this fire, the province did provide money to a local private social] services agency to hire a gambling addictions counsellor. This was done ever so secretively — a marked contrast to the usual drum and bugle corps presentation that happens when a government spends money. a .This sounds like the government was quietly preparing the ground for a charity casino. Now that this hasn’*t worked out, it’s got something in place to deal with the results of its own enter- prise. Any bets? What about us © SPEAKING OF GAMBLING, the federal government is rolling the dice on its own in its decision to fire the airport’s firefighters. ‘Using a formula concocted in some Ottawa bunker, the feds have calculated that the risks of & crash or other serious incident at the airport don’t measure up to the costs of providing firefighters. . That may be comforting to a bunch of number crunchers but it should make those who use the airport more than a bit uncomfortable. What makes a human being using the Vancouver air- port more precious than one using our own facil- ity? | PUBLISHER/EDITOR: Rod Link ADVERTISING MANAGER: Brian Lindenbach PRODUCTION MANAGER: Edouard Credgeur NEWS Jeff Nagel » NEWS SPORTS: Dave Taylor NEWS COMMUNITY: Cris Leykauf OFFICE MANAGER: Sheila Sandover-Sly ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS: Sam Collier, Janet Viveiros TELEMARKETER: Patricia Schubrink ADVERTISING ASSISTANT: Kelly Jean TYPESETTING: Sylvana Broman DARKROOM: Susan Credgeur CIRCULATION MANAGER: Karen Brunette we ee ee es SUBSCRIPTION RATES BY MAIL: $53.50 per year; Seniors $48.15; Out of Province $60.99 Outside of Canada (6 months) $149.80 (ALL PRICES INCLUDE GST) MEMBER OF } B.C, AND YUKON COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION, i CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION . AND B.C, PRESS COUNCIL Serving the Terrace and Thomhill area, Published on Wednesday of each week at 3210 Clinton Street, Terrace, British Columbia, V8G 5R2, . Stories, photographs, illustrations, designs and typestyles in the Terrace Standard are the property of the copyright elders, Including Cariboo Press (1969} Ltd., its Illustration repra services and advertising agencies. . | Feproducton in whole or in part, without written permission, Is spacifically prohibited, Authorized as second-class mail pending the Post Offica Deparment, for payment of pastaga in cash. Special thanks to all our contributors and correspondents for their time and talents WY WS " BF TRULY SORRY SUT ao Se HE CENTLEMAN BEHIND FM Housing crisis looms in B.C. VICTORIA — In 197], my wife and I bought our first home in Victoria, a three- bedroom bungalow that carried a price tag of $26,000. We got the place with $300 down, thanks to W.A.C. Ben- nett, whose Social Credit government heiped first-time home buyers by way of either a $1,000 grant or a $5,000 sec- ond mortgage at a very low in- terest rate. With that kind of help, tens of thousands of young families were able to buy their own home, and it still puzzles me how the man who brought in such socially advanced policies could go down to defeat in 1975. Twenty-two years later, most young families have no hope in hell to buy a home. Some lucky ones might be able to squeeze into a condo, provided their parents help out, and they have a job, which has become a rare commodity as well. What happened? Plenty, and the Canadian Home Builders’ Association is listing some of the reasons in a report, ““Hous- ing 2020: A Time for Action,”’ released last week, Not surprisingly, govem- ments at every level stand out _ as the biggest culprits in the housing crisis. The association estimates that the price of a new $200,000 home carries FROM THE CAPITAL HUBERT BEYER more than $40,000 in direct and indirect government costs. Municipal development costs alone have risen by 650 per’ cent in the last 10 years and to- tal more than $100 million a "year in British Columbia. At the provincial level, the association says, support for . school site and parkland levies, — contaminated land legislation | and restrictive land use measures have pushed devel- opment costs to record highs. And, the association points out, B.C. consumers pay a far greater share than other Cana- dians of the GST on new homes because of high land prices in this province. Association vice-president Keith Sashaw says that British Columbia is facing an acute housing crisis. ‘“We will need -one million more households in the province by the year 2020.’’ But given the current rate of building, B.C. will be nowhere near that figure. Since 1994, new home starts have plunged by about 10,000 units ayear, The B.C. Home Builders’ Association, which has more than 1,200 members through- ont the province, makes 24 recommendations aimed at en- hancing housing affordability - 12 for provincial action, six for municipal action, four for home builders and two for all ' BC, citizens, To British Columbians at large, the association says, “don’t be selfish when new developments are planned for your community. Rigid not-in- _My-:backyard.. attitudes © will” reduce housing affordability and choice for your children and generations. to come.’’ The association also advises British Columbians to hire profes- sional] builders and renovators. The provincial government is wged to remove school site levies on residential develop- ment, curb over-zealous ap- plication of contaminated land legislation, and revise the Ag- Ticultural Land Act. “Under the Agricultural Land Reserve, many acres of productive farmland have been divided into passive, non- commercial ‘hobby farms’ that are, in reality, large rural hous- ing lots,’’ the association says in its report. To the association’s recom- mendations, I would like to — add a couple of my own: One, Telease province-owned land for housing on a lease basis. Two, revisit the second- mortgage scheme so effective- ly used by Bennett Senior. A home built on land owned by the province and Jeased to the purchaser for 99 years would come in with a far lower price tag. And by underwriting second morigages and sub- sidizing the interest rates, the government could make sure that a lot of people who can’t afford to purchase their own home now would be able to do 80, Needless to say, if the government took steps to in- crease housing starts, the pro- vince would reap substantial benefits, of which employment is not the least. We haven’t seen much in the way of innovative policies from this government It's — about time Premier Glen Clark came through with something besides rhetoric. Beyer can be reached at: Tei; (250) 920-9300; Fax: (250) 385-6783; E-mail: hubert@coolcom.cem Tis the season for concerts CHRISTMAS CONCERTS are as alike as TV reruns. Weather always plays a star- ring role, It can be -22 with a wind chill factor of 50 below and snow crunchy as broken glass. Or it can be rainy with black ice. Treacherous roads set the scene. Everyone arrives wearing bulky clothing, to perch awkwardly in rows on hard, narrow benches or metal- legged chairs, lap heaped with kids’ jackets and scarves. A giant Christmas tree com- mands the comer opposite the piano. Its sap freshens the air naturally. While grownups try not to embarrass their psychological- ly sensitive offspring, those same children mill about at the front of the room, giggling, shoving, popping their heads out from behind the stage curtains. Teachers — unrecognizable in gala hairstyles and party i THROUGH BIFOCALS: CLAUDETTE SANDECKI finery --- scurry about, a frown puckering their foreheads, an ear-to-ear smile welding their jaws. With smart claps and short commands the teachers corral the rambunctious students into a pyramid on slage, lights dim, the curtains part, and everyone stands for O Canada, A few know the words. That done, like Madeline and her 11 convent classmates, the students file from the stage in two straight lines, one to either side, in search of mischief, One grade at a time, they are recalled to perfonn well rehearsed carols or skits, At least one seasonal song, with words only the singers’ patents have heard before, is sung — in several keys at once — by voices pitched to vibrate Grandma's hearing aid. And at least one group jostles into line, each holding a lighted candle. Mothers and fa- thers divide their attention be- tween decoding the lyrics and weighing what their first move should be if a costume or kid ignites, Sometime during the evening once child will steal the show drilling his nose for booboos. Another will suck his thumb for solace. And inevitably, one inattentive lad will do a Bob Dele sprawl into the mosh pit Fellow actors in a skit waver between immobility and hyper- activity when a fellow thespian flubs his lines, then collide. Teacher whispers a helpful prompt that can be heard clear to the back wall. Paper costume, fragile as a Skeena Cellulose bailout en- hance roosters with ycllow bristol board beaks and orange combs. - holiday pageantry: Gigantic daisies with drooping petals. Fairies in’ crepe paper petticoats. Pneumonia by Christmas Eve is assured. For a finale, Santa bursts in on a whoosh of frosty air that curls jike smoke around every- one’s ankles. The principal reads each name tag; Santa Ho Ho Ho’s _ self-consciously. Bashful kids trek up to snatch a gift from Santa. Santa leaves, Inside of four minutes the room is evacuated, I’m looking forward to my first concert in years. , WH Yeh! Heh! Z GRAY JAY?]{ WALKING? . BD GAVE THOSE fe SECOND || WALKING JAY: NORTHERNERS A . worp!! Tl TAY WALKING fy TAY WALKING. + WORD THEY ‘VE NEVER HEARP O Fil 1 JAY? + Op. f.uequaar