Audited Circulation 12,933 An Island Publishers Newspaper Inside BUSINESS BO CALENDAR B4 CLASSIFIEDS B16 COMMUNITY Bl GARDENING A8 LIVING B14 OPINION AG,7 OUTDOORS All SPORTS B5 BRENNAN B14 GRENBY B9 HAMPSON All LANG AS NASH Al TOP OF THE PILE A7 Top performances : | by Peninsula ‘dancers in festival Bis _ we're trying to address. ‘kind of focal point in“ourco Report suggests C. Saanich fund Panorama by Glenn Werkman The Review. A draft recreation facilities report presented to the public last week suggests that Central Saa- nich would be better to help fund an expansion of Panorama Leisure Centre, in North Saanich, than to build a similar facility in Central - Saanich. Some Central Saanich residents protested the suggestion and Cen- tral Saanich Lions Club members said a facility is needed in Central Saanich to help the municipality develop a focal point. Recreation consultant Bill Webster said it would cost a mini- mum of $2 million to build a covered arena in Central Saanich. “Tt would be nice to have but it’s too expensive to build another one,” Webster said. Lions club first vice-president Harry Johnson said: ““When you're proposing a multi-purpose hall for Central Saanich in North Saanich you’re missing sommpuring “We're trying to create munity,” Johnson said. The Lions Club proposed build- ing a multi-purpose hall in Cen- _- Recreation commission chair- man Brian Sibley said the com- ==tmission is prepare: table clean” if Central Saanich - tennial Park in Central Saanich last fall, prompting council to call for a study before approving any- thing. _ Webster said to most residents there is no recreation facility focal’ point in Central Saanich because over 60 per cent of residents surveyed said they use the Pano- tama Leisure Centre and they don’t recognize municipal borders. The draft report supports the construction of a field house in Centennial Park and encourages Central Saanich to work with the Saanich School District in joint development of facilities, includ- ing joimt use of a theatre planned for a new middle school on Stellys Crossroad. The plan suggests Central Saa- nich “agree in principle to partici- pate in the planning, construction and operation of new recreation facilities at Panorama (and) initi- ate discussions with the Peninsula Recreation Commission and the CRD regarding financial implica- tions related to the centre.” wants to get involved. Continued on Page A4 Barge dock clears way for public boat ramp by Valorie Lennox The Review A barge dock in Pat Bay, just proposed by Victoria Airport, clears the way for North Saanich’s proposed public boat ramp. North Saanich council Monday directed the municipal boat ramp committee to discuss incorporat- ing the boat ramp into plans for the airport’s barge dock. In a letter to council, airport manager Laurie Brown outlined plans for the dock combined with hangar facilities for the existing float plane base and a public boat ramp. A fence would segregate the boat ramp from the float planes and barge dock, Brown suggested. The bay would be dredged for the barge dock and the dredged material could be used to extend the public parking area, Brown added. Canadian Coast Guard district manager Alex Provan backed a joint facility, noting a combined project would require only one Navigable Waters Protection Act application and accompanying environmental assessment. “TI can see no reason why float- plane and pleasure craft operators should not be able to co-exist as they do in other areas such as Victoria, Vancouver and Campbell River,” Provan wrote. Ald. Maurice Chazottes said he had been concerned about the safety of pleasure boats and float planes sharing the area — until he learned the airport plans to add a barge dock in the bay. “If they're saying they want to run barges in there, how can I say Continued on Page A4 Nematode eocion won't: ever be lifted by Glenn Werkman The Review Peninsula farmers are hopping mad after the federal Agriculture Minister told them a ban on grow- ing potatoes in the Golden Nemat- ode area will never be lifted, although evidence shows that growing nematode-resistant varie- ties of potatoes is feasible. Saanich-Gulf Islands MP Lynn Hunter called the decision “a dirty deal for the farmers of the Penin- sula.” In a letter to Central Saanich farmer David Michell, Agriculture Canada Minister Don Mazankows- “ki said: “Although the scientific evidence indicates that growing resistant varieties: of potatoes is feasible, the overwhelming reac- tion to this proposal has been negative. “There is a widespread percep- tion in the horticulture sector that the proposed changes would increase the potential to spread Golden Nematode,” Mazankowski said. “This perception would lead to an extremely negative impact on domestic and export trade from B.C... . and it is my view that the negative impact on trade out- weighs the benefits which would result if the proposed change was implement “ip aicep the” Wednesday May 9,1990 40¢ Hunter has joined the Michell’s in a bid for compensation from the government for loss of business. “They are being punished because of perception, we’re not talking about a disease here,” Hunter said. “At one time they produced over half the potatoes supplying Greater Victoria.” _ The Michell’s had a 2,000-ton potato quota issued by the B.C. Marketing Commission but it was frozen in 1982 when the Golden Nematode disease was found on Central Saanich farmland. “The commission froze it and said you could get back into pro- duction when the ban is lifted,” Michell said. “These days the value of the quota is worth close to $1 million.” Michells and other Peninsula farmers were given $1,200 per acre of land used to grow potatoes in 1983 for diversification — to assist the farmers make a transi- tion out of potatoes and into vege- table markets, Hunter said. But Michell said the farm is not viable in vegetable crops, especially now with Canada’s free trade deal with the United States. He said American produce can be sold in Canadian grocery stores for less than it costs for a Canadian farmer to grow the vegetable. “Tf the federal government is not going to play fair and compensate us our only other recourse is to go to the B.C. government and lobby to take the land out of the ALR because we can’t make a living on it,’ Michell said. “You only have to look at the supermarket flyers, with peppers at 44 cents per pound and lettuce at 29 cents a head,” he said. “It’s ridiculous in our terms up here.” Last year the Michells left about 150 tons of carrots in the fields because there was no market for them, he said. “We’ve lost a considerable amount of money trying to estab- lish ourselves (in vegetables) and we haven't been successful with it,’ Michell said. “We’ve done our part, we've tried to get into other things.” Michell said that nematode resistant potatoes could be grown on the Peninsula safely right now but “the biggest problem 1s other industries are worried about it — nurseries and seed potato growers. That was the big lobby group. * (Agriculture Canada) was pre- pared to let us go back to growing. “Why should we suffer because of a political decision?” In 1983, the federal govern- ment’s diversification payment of $1,200 per acre didn’t assist the Continued on Page Ad