Opinion Volume 77 Issue No.10 TheReview Wednesday, February 20,1991 — A6 Water to the States: A fatal blow to farmers A plan that would see a British Columbia entrepren- eur export fresh water to the American state of California may seem like a good thing to Canadian business interests. But it could mean the last nail in the coffin that Saanich Peninsula farmers are trying desperately to stay out of. The Socred government is considering a deal that would allow a Canadian company to ship more than 200 tanker loads of water from Toba Inlet on the Sunshine Coast to California each year. Meanwhile, the state of California subsidizes water used for irrigation purposes by its area farmers. There is no shortage of water for the agricultural operator there. Serious questions need to be answered about the possible ramifications to B.C.’s agricultural economy created by giving help to a foreign competitor. The local market for produce like carrots and cauliflower is already saturated by the Americans, whose products are offered for sale at lower prices than Canadian farmers can produce them for. Peninsula residents already make some effort to buy locally grown produce in season through market gardens. Often, the roadside consumer pays a higher ptice than what is listed at local grocers for foreign- grown products. For the Peninsula farmer to become economically viable requires a ban to be lifted on the growing of potatoes, setting the stage for previously-held potato quotas to be returned. The only thing holding that back is government, policy. The Socred government should concentrate its efforts on pressuring federal agriculture Minister Don Mazankowski to support returned potato production to the Peninsula, rather than investigating a way to indirectly help California produce growers. School strike: setilement nof in sight The war of words in the Saanich School District teacher dispute heated up last week as rotating strikes effected students. One common thread in the dispute is the fact that both sides are now giving their individual reasons for not going back to the bargaining table. It’s difficult to be optimistic when the two sides can’t even agree on what they want to talk about. The school district says there has been no compromise from the teachers’ association, but refuses to compromise either. The teachers’ association says it won’t talk with the class size issue as an ultimatum. Association president Vincenza Cameron is outraged at statements made by school board chairman Marilyn Loveless. Both sides say they are ready to settle. But neither will compromise. We maintain there must be compromise from both sides. Get the talks going again, generate some momentum and keep going till a contract is settled. Let’s avoid more damage to students and their families. TheReview Serving The Saanich Peninsula Since 1912 9726 1st Street Sidney, B.C V8L 3C9 or PO. Box 2070 Sidney, B.C V8L 3S5 Second Class Mail Registration #0128 Published every Wednesday 656-1151 Publisher: Vic Swan Editor: Glenn Werkman AN ISLAND PUBLISHERS NEWSPAPER Bac9) PRIZE WINN a cs CCNA 4 DIAM COM ~ yee Dp er. LP VERIFIED. CIRCULAT:ON a —eN YouR CAR WASHED HRA (eset = ea ER (SUPPORT “TIMMY'S TELETHON’ BY HAVING J | rasa OCU 0 j uy rl Look out for the daffodil Editor: Recent requests for donations to the Cancer Research Society Inc. have generated some confusion among people who think this organization is the Canadian Can- cer Society. To remove this confusion, we have been asked to let your readers know that the Canadian Cancer Society is the only national volun- tary organization providing major support (SO per cent of its reve- nues) for cancer research in Brit- ish Columbia. It also offers public education programs for prevention and early detection and directs over 20 per cent of its resources towards ser- vices to cancer patients and their families. Local volunteers who deliver these programs and services are frequently the ones who canvass house-to-house every April. Your support makes the Canadian Can- cer Society the largest single source of funds for cancer research in Canada. Look for the daffodil, the sym- bol of the Canadian Cancer Society, because “together, we can beat cancer!” Jim Cumming Unit President Canadian Cancer Society Integration ignorance Editor: Presently, a family in the Saa- nich School District is asking for their daughter, Kimberley, to be fully integrated in her neighbor- hood school. The district has refused and Kim has been out of school now for 5 months. I sympathize with the Deptfords in getting Kimberley integrated as I had similar problems in the Saanich Schoo! District last year. The district is behind other dis- tricts in B.C. in integrating special needs children. Board chairman Marilyn Loveless’ comment that a class would suffer a loss of 50 per cent where the gain is only 10 per cent for the special needs child is sadly symptomatic of the district’s philosophy. It is ignorance. Nowhere in the literature on the subject or in any research on integration is this true. The gains for a class are manifold: they learn that disabilities are not to be feared; they benefit from the teacher’s need to use different teaching styles; they gain from an extra person in the classroom if there’s an aide, and they realize that the special needs child also has gifts and abilities like them- selves. The benefits to the special needs child are 100 per cent: they leam to communicate, behave in appro- priate ways, socialize with peers, take risks and overcome chal- lenges, and finally, live in accep- tance as adults. This lack of knowledge on the part of the Saanich school board has to be addressed so that teach- ers feel comfortable in their efforts to integrate. After all, integration has been mandated. With the current negotiations. of teachers’ contracts it should be emphasized that integration is much easier than dealing with behavior problems. The adaptation to the curricu- lum can be very simple given a bit of creativity. The district should be conducting workshops on the sub- ject, but they’re not. They should have a team to facilitate integra- tion, but they don’t. Teachers will continue to have a fear of disabilities unless they break the vicious circle of not integrating because of their fears. Norman Kunc, a leading author- ity On integration, states, “It is a moral crime that in our society we allow individuals to grow up not knowing what cerebral palsy or mental retardation are until they are told by a doctor on the floor of a maternity ward.” Wake up, Saanich. Special needs children are going to be integrated as adults so get out of the dark ages and start integrating them in their neighborhood schools. Sandra Phillips Sidney Sludge idea Editor: I noticed the article in today’s paper whereby the indian Band are objecting to sludge disposal on the ee Peninsula (Roadblock threatened to stop sludge, The Review, Feb. 20). I have to wonder when all this pushing back and forth is going to cease. I remember, very well, years ago before Heathrow Airport in Eng- land was expanded and the sludge lagoons taken away; areas where it was almost 15-feet high. The sludge was pumped into these lagoons and oil was spread over them to stop mosquitoes from breeding and then left to dry. When it was fully dried it was sold by the truckload to farmers for fertilizing the land. Who knows, maybe this could be worked here! George C. Clark Sidney Salispring swath da frue eyesore Editor: Until now I always thought that those protesting logging and clear cutting were ignorant, naive hippie types. Well I guess I might have to join their ranks. Whilst on a BC Ferry a month ago approaching Swartz Bay I noticed a gargantuan swath of trees hacked out of the mountainside of Saltspring Island. I stared at it until I was almost too late to make the bus on the decks below. I was frankly horrified that this carnage is allowed to be viewed openly by millions of tourists who pump millions into our economy and who hopefully leave B.C. with a positive impression. I am not against controlled log- ging and sufficient, proper refore- station but to have to feel com- pelled to hack a swath out of such a beautiful and visible mountain- side is tragic to say the least. This Island is home to a wide cross section of folk from average families to intellectuals to elderly retirees to the rich and famous from around the world. Saltspring is a unique, beloved community unto itself and my grandfather, the late Cy Peck, VC, MLA for Saanich, who helped get the ferry service between Saltspr- ing and the mainland started back in the 1920’s. This swath of forest on this enchanted island is unnecessary Continued on Page A8 SU aE CR SRY a ON US SATURDAY AE SDA aes ia ( ~~. ~ | a y SEE DU AT TE TELETHONG).... AG a