Page A4 — Terrace Standard, Wednesday, July 15, 1992 0 "ERRACE, STANDAR Publisher . Rod Link 202°. “Arlene Watts: — —— ' ESTABLISHED APRIL 27,1988 ° Bee a = No. 7820 4647 Lazelle Ave., Terrace, B.C., V8G 1S8 eo nk vo Phone (604) 638-7283 Fax (604) 638-8432 Ss Pee . Serving the Terrace area, Published on Wednesday of each week by Caritoo Prass (1969) LM. at 4647 Lazéhe Ave., Terace, Sith Columbia, Seanad 3 . " Stories, photographs, itivstrations, dasigns and typestyles in the Terrace Standard are the property a the copyright holdars, Including Cariboo Press @ Lid, its ik Production Manager: 5 Goya ~ “gf " Iustration repro services and atv . Repeticton in whole: or int ra whew ten permission, ty specilleally pronibited, Edouard Credgeur Authorized 24 Secotd-class mall ponding fhe Pos! Ctice Gepartment. for payment Of postage In cash. Gena “Jal Nagel — NewsiCommunity, Malcolm Baxter — - Naws/Sparts Rose Fishar. — Front Olfi¢e Managar, Carolyn Anderson — Typesater i= Typesetter, Susan Credgaur — ‘Conipasing/Darkroom, “Janet Vivairos — Advertising Consullant, Sam Collier — Advartising Consultant, ; " Ghatlene Matthews — Circulation Supervisor . ‘WEARIFIEQ GONTROLLED CIRCULATION 4 7 Special ‘thanks to all our contributors and correspondents for their time and talents. _ EDITORIAL, — The next time you’re driving on the new highway bypass on the other side of Git- segukla, keep an eye out for the Carnaby mill. Look at the wood in the yard. Then Jook up and. over the mill site. The patchwork quilt of logging blocks on the _ far off hillsides paints the perfect picture. It represents the horrible problem facing the Hazeltons. Westar’s Carnaby mill is a wood gobbler. Not all of the wood that’s burn scenario is evident. ‘Skeena Cellulose wants to come to the rescue. It’s made an offer to buy Wesiar's _ assets in combination with a local compa- . ny called Amma’ ghan Forest Products, a mysterious outfit backed by unknown people. ‘Tied together with -this is Amma’gahn’s interest in Westar’ s closed Kitwanga operation. All of this is attractive to Westar. It simp- ly wants to get out of the Hazeltons, write off its debt and chalk the whole thing up to a bad dream, The offer should be somewhat attractive to the provincial government, too. Skeena Cellulose is an established force in. the northwest. Carnaby in its Port Edward pulp mill. And working, in conjunction | with Amma’ghan gives the deai that politically correct tinge . sought badly by the NDP. te SE "blend their, fiefdoms into one . cooperative . effort ‘for maxi- . ‘fon Ammia’ghan. (It., did. Skeena Cellulose: forsaying it would wotk = -with* Amma’ ghan.) They also said Skeena But a committee of three NDP MLAs - one of which.was Skeena’s Helmut Gies- brecht — trashed the proposal. After a series of meetings they determined there ‘was little support for Skeena Cellulose or Cellulose failed to meet recommendations of an earlier task force report commis- sioned by the provincial government. _ The earlier: Watts-Langford report. recom-: mended a continuing operation of the . Carnaby ‘mill, turning the Kitwanga mill into a. remanufacturing facility, maintain- It- already uses chips from. | givé “credit: to” © ““remindér that we’ can no longer-treatthe - Wood worries ing logging and mill employment in. the Hazeltons and boosting native involve- ment. Skeena Cellulose views its proposal | as a way of combining the Westar operations with milling and pulping operations the company already owns in the northwest. | . On the surface, what Skeena Cellulose wants is not to far from the Watts- - jet is suitable for Camaby. A.crash and ' Langford recommendations. It’s the way in which the company wants to mix and _ match with other of its operations that drew opposition. In short, the worry is that Hazelton area jobs will disappear. The ultimate decision rests with forests minister Dan Miller. He has the Watts- Langford report to consider as well as the one from the three NDP MLAs. — . Mr. Miller’s also facing a strong lobby in support of Skeena Cellulose that’s based in Prince Rupert and which is also his hometown. The Prince Rupert connection lies in the need by Skeena Cellulose’s Port Edward mill for a secure chip supply, which also translates into jobs, from Westar’s Hazelton wood licence. . Taken together, all of this adds up to a dangerous combination of business and politics. Decisions such as the one Mr. “Miller will have to make are tricky and setious enough as it is without having politics intrude. Isn’t wasn’t so long ago that another forest minister from the north- _west. took a bashing for assigning wood just north of Hazelton to mills in Prince George. And the situation comes once again: as’ a. problems of one area in isolation: The economics of the modern woods in-’ dustry dictate the need to trade fibre back and forth between various. facilities. . Whether Mr. Miller ‘can balance that against jobs — or whether he will decide ~. something else completely i is another mat- fer altogether. Nine good. people Ten ‘years ago Terrace’s ad- visory _ parks. and recreation commission’ was ‘a quietly . potent force, although realized only by its members. That's when I was assigned to it for my two. year term as school trustee. At the time an. expensive consultation process had cul- Through Bifocals _ by Claudette Sandeck me pendi WEENIE LfeeieyS v8" | oy. apt itin aymans terms, IF brain your miNStTY a of health iSinthe same =<. aS = a Cx ees = < Sa Great Britain has. bilingual land, 100 VICTORIA -- Call me an in- curable optimist, but I really believe the constitutional deal hammered out by the federal government and nine pro- vinces is going to fly. - The accord, which includes a . breakthrough on the thomy is- sue of Senate reform, came after months of cote by. which were beveotes Py a mS Quebec. Gemat a vltet dh course, whether Quebec will accept the deal. I believe it . will, because even though that province wasn’t directly in- volved in the negotiations, Premier Bourassa was most assuredly kept informed of the developments al every stage of the game. What makes the tenlative deal most attractive and very Canadian is the fact that isa compromise. No province’. : came away with everything it it wanted, ; ; To those who like things : neat, orderly and simple, this constitutional horse may look a bit like a camel, but what's wrong with that? Tike camiels. An animal tliat can go without . food and water for a couple of ~ weeks is well-equipped to deal 7 givin gall provinces a a veto ites LO, Win. Ontario? Ss. ‘agreement to the | Senate deal, the Com- minated in ‘the. Bruce: Master . Plan for the development of Terrace and its “environs. Bruce’s main, recommendation was that ‘elected bodies should mum tax dollar value. : Under’ Glenn’ © 'Thomsen’s “chairmanship, the commission _ set about laying the ground- _ work for recreational facility . co-operation. From the’ commission’ s im-" _, petus and support: eventually came the joint city-school dis- trict regional: district upgrad- ing, maintenance, and booking of playing fields’ and all recreational ‘ facilities “ from gyms, arena, \and’ swimming pool to-the REM Lee theatre; and’ the: Christy Park ‘soccer fields. The commission’ went -sion’s, study: and input, as. ‘as ‘ts “ability to. heat from council Inn that’s odd, on to advise council .on ‘user ° fees and. allocation of ‘the recreational budget... .. However, ance. baseball and soccer people had their play- ing fields, ‘ennui settled like . dust. Elections. changed those _ in power; like: crabgrass, pos-: - -sessiveness crept back. .Coun-.. cil bypassed the commission: ~ (a second: ice ‘sheet comes to mind). when. it could. have ‘benefited “froth | the: comimis § - sions. given this council's, zeal for pulting off distasteful deci- s. It’s even’ named -a Hansel to track referred mat- ters), Unbeknown to many user " groups, requests can be made ~ girectly to the commission, _provided its not gasping from disuse, isolation and cold shoulders. “The commission is designed to have 12 members. Six at- ‘large from Terrace. Three at-" large from Regional District Areas C and E, One alderman appointed by council. One irustee appointed by. School District 88. The twelfth spot is reserved fora Caledonia stu- dent. It’s been years since the school - district: or Caledonia assigned a representative. ‘The bytaw calls for regular meetings | between cily council and the commission. Ten years _ ago * at. ‘the .semi-annual _get- togethers arraiged by the commission chairman, council offered direction . to. the com- ‘mission. Jn turn, the: ‘cominis- “sion voiced . directly to council. : : The .coriitission hasn't met: “since -before Chrislinas. It’s Jacked both a. quorum ‘and. a chairman Without 4 chairman ‘of cin coe ana com ‘its "concerns ‘the bership dwindled or when council clutched agenda items teddybear fashion, the com- mission has shrunk until it’s so - ineffectual, at least one: re- elected alderman wasn’t aware of ils existence until jast coun- - ' cil meeting when the recrea-- tion director complained about commission’s — lack” of members. Commission members need no special knowledge or skills. All they should bring is an in- terest in the well-being of all ages. Ideally they have no sports biases, and are able to attend , ‘regularly. . At-large members must live in the: area they represent, If they’re will- ing to ask naive, dumb ques- tions everyone wants an -ans- wer to, all the better. - : Surely our population. of some. 18,000 has nine such. people? with life’s occasional mis- . . fortunes, - "We've reached a com- promise package for Canada," said Premier Harcourt. "This was a Canadian compromise from nine provinces, No one bets everything that they want, but it was a good day’s work." “The agreement will give na- tives self-government, a mile- stone in this country’s history. Just two days before the ~ breakthrough, native leaders were extremely pessimistic about the talks, but an emo- tional Ovid Mercredi said the day after, "This is a great day - for Canada’s first citizens." The deal also recognizes Quebec as a distinct society ‘and fives that province its ‘Jong-sought veto over future changes 10 federal institutions, ‘requiring unanimous consent of all provinces, in’ ‘effect From the - Capital by Hubert Beyer 10s), mons will be expanded to 312 ~ seats from the current 295, . giving Ontario 10 extra seats, British Columbia and Quebec ~ three more, and Alberta one, The agreement will ensure that provincial representation in the Commons will more closely follow population, which might actually result in Quebec losing some of its fed- eral clout because its popula- tion has been dwindling. - As for the Senate, the deal is a little more complicated, For starters, each province will get eight seats in the new Senate, while the territories get lwo,. each, Aboriginal representa- tion is to be decided at a later date. Senators will be elected at the same time as Members of Parliament, but by a system of proportional representation. -The'Senate would be able to veto most legislation sent to the Upper House by the Com- mons, but only by a 70 per cent majority. With a 60 per cent majority, the senate could force a joint session of both houses to review a bill. - Asa concession to Alberta, legislation dealing with natural resources and basic changes in tax policy, such as the GST, could be rejected by.the Senate with a simple majority of 51 per cent, - Senators will not be able'to sit in cabinet, a move aimed at weakening party discipline and ensuring that the senate will reflect regional and provincial concerns. The ac- cord has been referred to as - Meech Lake Plus because it ° includes all the elements of the : failed Meech Lake agreement: / WHat "S WRONG? BANKRUPT) DIVORCE? TERMINAL ILLNESS 7 SODDEN DEATH? and, in effect, goes s beyond, it. “The distinct society ‘clause, for, fear “tristance, has been stienigihen- ed by putting it in the defining Canada clause. ; The next step is a first minis- ters meeting, which the ar- chitects of the deal hape Bourassa will attend. After’: Quebec signals acceptance of: ° the agreement, the accord will have to be ratified by Parlia- ment and the provincial legis- . latures. There will be no shortage of critics, particularly among the . Quebec media and in- telligentsia, many of whom _ have their. own.agenda, which doesn’t necessarily include federalism.But in spit of that, I believe the agreement will be embraced by most Canadians, including Quebeccers. ’ As the nine provinces * desperately sought to reach some agreement on a revised constitution.that would bring Quebec into the Canadian: family, Canadians: began t to realize at long last that the very survival of Canada was at stake. The deal riay not make ours the most elegant of constitu-. tions, And it will most certain- ly not satisfy.everybody, but if accepted, it will be‘yet another example that Canadians havea deserved reputation for being able to compromise. Besides, who cares about the - details of a constitution, as long as it works. I don’t think "anyone will. lie awake at night, - / worrying about'the Senate ma- jority required t to vela some © Commons bill. This accord, will give us somewhat of a _ . cumbersome Senate, but it will also keep the country oeeiher. And that’s what counts. . THEY HAVE To MOVE DOWN SOUTH!