Fishy The federal fisheries minister |. Says provincial politicos have him. | confused/NEWS AS | Coronation Awesome! | Sweetheart King and Queen are crowned as the Kinette tradition continues/COMMUNITY B3 Terrace Blueback swimmers carve out a name for themselves at the provincials/SPORTS B4 WEDNESDAY MARCH 2, 1904 VOL..6'NO, 46° itimat, surgeon to defy decision a Uncovering history SALVAGE WORK can somelimes seem more like an ar- chaeological dig for Terry Dooll and Derek Sayer, They've been dismantling The Motel on Marsh Cres, and they've found several interesting clues to Terrace's history in the wreckage of the old army building. Among them are several cid newspapers, and pleces of tumber with inscriptions by Royal Canadian Engineers and other army servicemen sta- tioned here during the Second World War. Well word expected this month THE CITY should know this month whether the province is prepared lo pay part of the water well construction cost. At least that’s the word from Victoria, says engineering direc- tor Stew Christensen. A repeat of the failed grant ap- - plication of last year, it is looking for $600,000, half the estimated project cast, Although an answer on ‘the 793 application was repealedly deiayed, Victoria has. said it is - going to ‘fast track’’ this one, Assuming that happens and the answer is favourable, Christensen said it might be possible to finish the well project this year. However, the later the answer, the less likely thal became, Meanwhile, the city is looking 4t ways to pay for the project if the application is rejected, Christensen said he asked coun- cil whether it wanted to go ahead with the project this year even without provincial money. Councillors decided they first wanted to see where the money would come from to do that, Noting there was close to $600,000 in the water surplus fund, Christensen said the re- mainder would have to come ftom either long or short term borrowing. However, he added, his request and council’s decision were made prior to Victoria’s promise to fast track, - As for starting the -project in hopes of getting provincial pioney iater, he pointed out grants were not handed out retroactive- Ly. 7 In other words, if the city went ahead and completed the project before the grant approval came through, il would be disqualified from receiving any money. The well is needed to bolster the city’s present water supplies which cannot keep up with sum- mer demand, That, in turn, has forced the city to impuse waler restrictions the past few summers. And, Christensen added, the problem will only get worse with all the new house construction, The well would be located at the corner of Frank St. and Hwy16 West. Stew Christensen Abuser jailed for 15 months A GITWINKSIHLKW man who was sexually abused as a boy was convicted Friday of abusing chil- dren in that conumunity. Supreme Court Justice Allan Stewart on Friday sentenced Bryan Walter Squires to a total of 15 months In prison. ; He found Squires, 44, guilly on one count of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault with amale, ; The incidents involved sexual touching and oral sex... - Squires committed some of the’ acts (wo years ago and commitled one act — in which a boy woke. up lo find Squires. performing” oral sex on him — 12 years ago. The two boys were around 16 ~ years old at the times of the of- fences, In his judgement, Justice Allan Stewart called Squires ‘‘a Har’ aid dismissed much of his testimony as unbelievable, However, Justice Stewart said he was not convinced of Squires’ _ guilt beyond a reasonable doubt on three other charges of indecent assault, sexual assault and assault, © and found Squires not guilty on those counts. Two other charges of sexual assault had been dis- missed before trial. . Defence ... lawyer. Darrell. O'Byrme. had suggesled a three- “to nine-month jail tem, 5 += -» Crown prosecutor Leslie Strike |: called for a sentence of between a-- year and 16 months in jail on each of the two charges, Speaking in his own defence, Squires told the court he was abused by the age of 10 and was. abused in virtually every com- munity in. which he lived throughout _ his Prince . Rupert, Terrace. and Gitwinksihlkw (Canyon City). “'By the time I was 16I came to | belleve- the way. 1. was was ‘nonmal,*’ he said, ° By age 16, Squires. sald; he knew he was “homosexual ‘and was shunned” and. taunted by others in the community 0°. _“Tam what I aiti,!? Squires told ihe court Friday. “‘But not by my childhood — | m eee ; ‘In the 19603” —. ‘and: :that he represented the next leg in a cycle way now I would. And the first thing I’d want is a child,”’ Squires read before the court the text of a Province newspaper story that claimed Squires was a victim of Salvation Army Captain William. Dougias . — ~ who molested children in Canyon City of abuse. - Squires said he.was never a vic- own doing. IE T could’ change my“ ellgible for t By JEFF NAGEL PRINCE RUPERT hospital offi- clals have so far been unsuccess- ful in their high-pressure efforts to force Kitimat’s orthopedic surgeon to move there, Dr. Sean Phelan has been the focus of Intense pressure since health minister Paul Ramsey de- cided Jan, 20 that orthopedic surgery in the northwest, now based in Kilimat, would move to Prince Rupert effective April 1, Two weeks ago Kitimat Gener- al Hospital’s board announced the hospital will use its budget sur- plus to continue to run an orthopedic service, even after Victoria cuts off funding. Prince Rupert's hospital board then upped the ante by giving Phelan an ultimatum: agree by Feb. 21 to move to Prince Rupert, or they would hire an orthopedic surgeon from somewhere else, “We will proceed to hire some- body else if he decides he doesn’t want to come here,”’ sald Prince Rupert hospital board chair Ian Cornish, ‘There are at least two other people we're looking at right now.’”? Last week’s deadline came and went without Phelan agreeing to anything. 7 It now appears Kitimat officials could keep the whole issue bogged down in legal wrangling for some time. Phelan has ihree years to go on a five-year contract to provide service in Kitimat. The hospital board has said they'll sue him for breach-of- contract if he moves io Prince Rupert before the contract ex- pis. : That possibility. helps Phelan ‘deflect Prince Rupert demands ihat he move immediately, Likewise, says Kitimat General Hospital board chair Doug Burton, Phelan could sue the hos- pital if it abandons the orthopedic service. Kitimat is lobbying Victoria to” pay for two orthopedic surgeons in the northwest. “I'd prefer a political solu- tion,”’ says Burton. ‘*But if not there are other legal options. Nothing is ruled out right now,’ Other options include starting a judicial review of the decision to move the service. “The minisiry may be able to starve us out eventually,’? Burton said. “But there’s always the op- tion of running a deficit if you have to,”’ Burton and Dr, Jim MacKenzie, the chief of medical staff in Kitimat, doubt Prince Rupert could casily find an orthopedic surgeon, One complicating factor Is Vic- toria’s new policy to pay doctors half the regular fee schedule if they start new practices in areas that aren’ underserviced, With Phelan operating in Kilimal, says MacKenzie, any new orthopedic surgeon in the region would likely be paid half a8 much as normal, ; if a new surgeon is paid full Taté, then Victoria is conceding the northwest needs two orthopedic surgeons. ““The minute they do that, they undermine.the minister who has said the area only needs one,’ MacKenzie said. “I’m really in-. terested in secing how they twist their way out of that one,’’ ‘The ministry may be able fo starve us out eventually, but there’s al- ways the option of running G deficit.” .sssresssen BUrton Burton suggested Prince Rupert’s hospital board may have known the minister’s decision jn advance if they already have two candidates under consideration, “It_seems awfully, awfully fast,” Burton said, “I wouldn't put that kind of money out on speculation,” Kitimat hospital officials spent five years and more than $100,000 searching before they found Phelan. Cornish, however, said Friday no formal discussions or offers have been made involving the two surgeons under discussion. He said medical staff in Prince Rupert had heard informally the. two surgeons were available and had passed on the information. Prince Rupert has carried out no active recruitment campaign, Cornish added. ‘We're not ace ting in any kind of undertianded manner.” . He said Prince Rupert Regional Hospital will now begin the pro- cess of recruiting an orthopedic surgeon. 75¢ PLUS'5¢ GST By JEFF NAGEL A HIGH-TECH world could soon be opening up for ihe northwest. By next fall, Northwest Community College expects to be using videoconferencing to offer advanced distance educa- University of Northern B.C. ‘And along with that could come access to the. Internet global computer network for students and the public, NWCC vice _ president ferencing link — to be pro- vided by B.C. Systems Com. —~ could be in place by May. well for. businesses - and be able lo pay $150 per hour for a video conference ‘and Rife says the addition of high Information highway could come north ion in conjunction with the. Patrick Rife said the videocon-. It will offer an alternative as_ government agencies, who will - Save the expense of travelling — capacity data phone lines at | NWCC should. “eventually . enable the college to carry out Q on-line registration, brary en- quiries, E-mail between campuses, and, hopefully, pro- vide access to the Internet, “We would really like to be able to offer the service to the community, on a cost-recovery basis,” he said, New college _ president Michacl: HII sald he doesn’t think it’s outside the college's mandate to help bring Internet access to the northwest. ““Tt.is part of our. business,” Hill said..*‘ We're really talk. ing about access to a world He brary. And that’s an essential part of our business,"* ; Hill sald they hope to pro- vide such sérvices to all com- munities in the northwest. The college and the Open Learning Agency are also. helping hook northern B.C, na- tive’ villages into a common electronic mail - computer network: a UNEBC: spokesman . Clive Keen says the university offi-. . Cont'd Page A2