Gwe too much? Debt is a four-letter word and there are ways to avoid its trap, — say financial advisers\NEWS A5 Coins for Cody | A family friend organizes an. auction to help a 10-year-old local burn victim\COMMUNITY BL Down and dirty Tires spin and slop flies at the Speedway’s annual Tough Truck and Mud Bog\SPORTS B8 | Lo WEDNESDAY September 24, 1997 93¢ PLUS 7¢ GST VOL, 10 NO, 24 | Divisions loom large after vote forum Thornhill suspicious of merger motives By DAVID TAYLOR TERRACE AND Thomhiil may be joined at the hip, but it's going to take a lot of convincing for them to become kissing cousins. That seems io be the case based on the first open house meeting on the possible amalgamation of the two communities. About 90 people attended the meeting at the REM Lec theatre last Thursday night, And in an open-mike portion of the discussion, many of them expressed concerns about the effects of the pro- posed amalgamation. Consultant Eugene Lalonde began the - . evening with a breakdown of the in- formation found in a newsletter sent to area homes earlier in the week. - He pointed out that the reason res(ruc- ture has come to a head is because the regional district, which now governs Thornhill, is geared for small popula- tions spread over large areas.” And Thombill doesn’t fit in that scheme anymore. ‘We are really outgrawing the clothes we have,” he told the audience. Lalonde also commended the restruc- ‘probably the best deal possible’’ front the provincial govermment. But, he admitted. that there would be some areas, like Braun's Island, that would see considerable tax -hikes, even though they would be spread out over several years. . “It’s true that there are some high im- pacts,’ he said. ‘But in a restructure « like this some always pay more than _ others. What you have to ask yourself is if those people are benefitting from the community.’’ Lalonde concluded his talk by pointing out that in the end, it Would be the com- munity, not the consultants or elected of- By JEFF NAGEL A DEAL to put 2,400 Skeena Cellulose“workers across the northwest back to work is still at Least $30 to $40 million away. That’s the amount of money the company says is needed in interim financing to start operations, build roads and get wood to the mills. But there’s no agreement ‘yet between the province and the banks on who will pay for that. An announcement Sept. 12 of an agreement-in-principle to resolve the crisis was met with fanfare and a massive communi- ty celebration in Prince Rupert. But the time it’s taking the parties involved to reach a final “apreement — and the delay in startup while those talks go on — has many wondering how much ofa done deal it really was. The outstanding $30 to $40 million is only one of the remain- - ing issues to be resolved, says employment and investment min- istry spokesman Don Zadravec. “How do the two parties fund it — that’s one of the issues being discussed, as well as how is it applied, where does it go,” Zadravec said Monday. He wouldn't elaborate on other outstanding issues, other than lo say most of the discussions are of a “technical nature”. But one of the unresolved issues is the definition of production performance targets. If the company succeeds in meeting those goals for reducing the cost of producing pulp at the pulp mill, then the banks will reimburse pulp mill workers for a three-year five per cent wage deferral. If the goals aren’t met then the pro- vince will pay for it. How easy those goals are to reach will likely signal whether Continued Page A2 Mother urges dog control after attack A BRUTAL dog attack last week left a young boy scarred for life and a mother wondering what it will take for people to cotitrol their pels, Bight-year-old Mark Stark was playing at his babysitter’s home in Copper Mountain Sept, 12 when the attack occurred. “7 was playing tag,’’ Mark says. turned around and he was running at me.’ The dog lived at a neighbouring home. It ran into the yard and bit Mark on the face and head, jeaving a 10 cm gash. After the altack, it tonk off. “T don?t think it hurt,’’ Mark says. ‘But I was really scared because of all the blood.”’ Mark’s mother Cindy Stark says the litte girl he was playing with now has night- mares about dogs, And her son will have é a sear for the rest of his life. “Tt was totally unprovoked. The dog was runing ‘loose,’’ she says. ‘And the bite just missed Mark’s cye.’’. - Police tcll Stark that the animal has since been destroyed. But she says the cycle will likely just begin again and it will happen to someone else. “A boy gets bit and the dog gets killed,”’ she says. ‘‘But what about the owner? The dog obviously wasn’t raised properly. Someone made him that way. I love dogs but people have got to take responsibility ay People apparently are taking: more re- sponsibillly for their dogs in Terrace. Animal control officer Frank Bowsher says — things have greatly improved in the city. “It's been pretly..good,’” - he - says. “People are finally starting to listen to us.’? Bowsher says ‘Terrace hasn’t had a. reported serlous dog bite in a while. How- ever, he also points out that not all incidents ture committee for getting what he called Mill startup needs cash Millions more on table for SCI i ‘The herbs that heal KITSUMKALUM VILLAGE elder Vera Henry points out Davil's Club, one of the most plants most frequently used in traditional na- ficials who would make the decision. And he encouraged everyone to take a good hard look at the issue, “Really try to wrap your minds around this aud make sure you understand it,”’ he said, '‘The whole future of your com-. munity is tied up. in this thing, Your community is going to change whether you vote for amalgamation of not.” The mike was then opened up to ques- tions from the floor. Those questions seemed to indicate that many of the Thornhill residents there were distrustful of the restructure process, the committee and of the government in general, ing, see page AS. tive medicine. For more on her and other farms of traditional heal- One man wondered why the amal- gamation option ” ‘included the airport - lands, but the Thornhill incorporation option didn’t — suggesting the study was biased. But Lalonde said that the provincial government would not allow Thornhill to run the airport and he pointed out that Thornhill already had enough land base without that area. Many other questions revolved around road and bridge maintenance and who would take care of snow. clearing ser- vices. Continued Page A2 BITE VICTIM Mark Stark, 8, is scarred for lite after a dog attack in Thornhill. are reported. Uncontrolled animals are more of a prob- dem in Thornhill and the outlying areas, where the attack occurred. problem, “We have complaints all the time," she says. ‘‘People are starting to smartcn up but we still hear about problema. If you- have a dog, keep it under control. ” Charmain Hull of the Thornhill Animal Shelter says loose dogs are still an ongoing - Local agencies brace or gov't budget cuts Programs for the abused, disabled could be trimmed By CRIS LEYKAUF TERRACE programs which work with everyone from abused kids and alcoholics to the mentally disabled face budget cuts. The cuts will take effect in January next year and come from the Children and Families ministry. The ministry is calling the cuts “contract restructuring.’° In the Terrace area, agencies who have contracts with the ministry in- clude Terrace and District Community Services, Terrace Child Development Centre, the school district, Northwest Band Social Workers and the North.” west Counselling Centre, — Across the province the ministry has about 12,000 contracts, explains. min- istry spokesman Chris Ewasiuk. The government wants that figure reduced to a more manageable number, — ‘The aim Is to achieve efficiencies by reducing overlap and duplication,” sald Ewasiuk. He says this restructuring is not a result of funding pressures on. ihe ministry, Instead he. said it-was some- thing the ministry was told to do when it was created a year ago. © It took over contracts from a number _of ministries, including the attorney- general, education, social services and women’s equality.” The point of bringing these contracts - under the roof of one ministry was to catch children and families falling un- “noticed through the cracks, said Ewasiuk. But that also means trimming the budgets of contracted agencies, That’s the ‘efficiencies’? the government is talking about. . Ewasiuk. is quick to say that the government is only looking for savings ‘in administration of those budgets, not the services they provide, In Vancouver those cuts have amounted to about $6 million in a $142 million budget for contracted agencies. That amounts to four per cent of the budget. ‘The 150 Vancouver agencies af- fected were asked to put off buying equipment, cancel conferences, reduce training and travel monies and tum over surpluses, in order to come up with the money. As for how much money will be cut from Terrace agency budgets Ewasiuk said he wasn’t aware of any targets. He couldn’t explain why the govern- ment would set targets for cuts in. some ministries, like education, but not in others. He said the children and families ministry was determining the cuts on a region-by-region basis. In the north- west, the ministry basn’t begun talk- ing to contracted agencies. Mike Beausoleil, executive director of Terrace and District Community - Services Society (TDCSS), is worried about what the culs might mean and how the resiructurlag will affect. the agency's 157 employees. TDCSS operates as an umbrella agency for a number of groups. Approximately $4 million of the agency's budget comes from the Chil- dren and Families ministry, he says. Programs deal with alcohol and drug counselling, mental health rehabilita- tion and the mentally disadvantaged, among others. ‘There’s a great deal of concern,’’ he says about the possibility of cuts. Beausoleil hasn’t had any meclings with the local ministry yet, and wonders how he’ll meet the January deadline. Some of his contracts have already been extended to March 1998. He's also worried about the spectre of amalgamation. — In the West Kootenays region the ministry is asking all its contracted. agencies to join together into onc group. Beausoleil wonders what will happen to the volunteer boards which run those agencies. Geri McDougall of the Northwest Band Social Workers was surprised to hear her agency could face cuts. The Northwest Band Social Workers ran an interventlons program in Terrace, counselling children who've been abused. It’s paid for by the Children and Farnilies ministry. Margot Hayes, coordinator of the Terrace Child Development Centre, was also surprised to hear cuts were coming, She said she hasn't had any meetings with ministry staff yet about restructuring, although all the centre’s programs are paid for by the ministry.