Volume 80 Issue No. 32 TheReview Wednesday, August 5, 1992 — A6 > 1 eS eed ai 7 TTT wilHE MINISTRY OF FORESTS? HOWEVER... WE' Peninsula hockey players: | || ‘cs, HSE ENE JUSTA LITLE MORE STOP OUR IRRESPONS/BLE TIME... No chance to excel PND ILLEGAL LOGGING 1 TT Hockey players and their parents on the Peninsula are METHODS 4 z discouraged as the 1992-93 season looms ahead. HOW LONG? OH What lies ahead for many of them is early wake-up calls. f : t Before the sun gets up, aspiring hockey stars will be rolling OF COURSE! WELL BE LET ME THI N K tee out of bed, gathering their gear together and heading to the DELIGHTED TO COMPLY! Cl family car for a two- or three-hour drive off the Peninsula to Hie : | an arena elsewhere for a 50-minute practice before school. | HEY FRED / Many parents aren’t looking forward to another season of | : long drives in pursuit of their son’s dreams. But, what’s HOW MUCH = worse, there doesn’t seem to be any relief on the horizon. | LON GER 0O Ss According to an questionnaire circulated to Central You NEED TO Saanich residents, 42 per cent of residents are in support of maintaining the status quo while 36 per cent are in favor of - KLEERKUTT joining in Panorama or building recreation facilities. LOGGING On July 20, a Central Saanich committee recommended to & EXPORT council that the status quo be maintained. oO a According to some parents, that means Central Saanich is Ty] | \\] | | | \ no longer a desirable place to live. i | | Last year ice time was already at a premium. This year, it will be even more limited as demand is increasing. With many players faced with one 50-minute practice and one game per week, there just is not enough time to develop the skills necessary to excel in Canada’s most successful sport. Aspirations of greatness are erased. It is clear that the quality of players the Peninsula Minor Hockey Association produces is directly affected by the amount of ice time available to the player. One player says his team will buy ice time, anywhere on the Island south of Nanaimo, any time of day. Because of the laws governing the conduct of the Peninsula Minor Hockey Association and its members, it is significant- ly easier for a player to move out of the Peninsula association’s catchment area than it is to get a release and play for another association where more ice time is offered. Parents of hockey players are willing to see their taxes increase to pay for a second ice surface at Panorama, as suggested by the Peninsula Recreation Commission. Unfor- tunately, the number of hockey parents is small in compari- son to the overall population of Central Saanich. Central Saanich should not base its decision on a questionnaire in which the majority of respondents (38 per cent) are above the age of 60 years and likely have no interest in active sports such as ice hockey. Only two per cent of respondents were under the age of 30 years. The questionnaire results gave council an idea of residents’ opinion but we believe another step must be taken, the same one taken in the 1970s by a previous council. Instead of asking six questions related to recreation facility options, council should first settle the single big question of whether to be a full partner in Panorama. The question failed once, it may fail again, but council has a moral obligation to ask all residents in a referendum, despite the cost. Letters to the editor on issues of concern to our readers are welcomed by The Review. All letters must be addressed to the editor and bear an original signature of the letter writer. Letters must contain the letter writer's street address and telephone number for verification purposes and not for publication. Letter should not exceed 300 words in length and may be edited for clarity, legality, brevity and taste. The Review Serving the Saanich Peninsula Since 1912 9726 - First St. P.O. Box 2070 Sidney, B.C. V8L3C9 _ Sidney, B.C. V8L3S9 656-1151 Publisher: Rory McGrath Editor: Glenn Werkman Reporters: Valorie Lennox Advertising: Corrie Morozoff John Gelder Production Manager: Tamie Sargeant Office Manager: Lori Fitzpatrick Circulation Manager: Wendy Denison AN ISLAND PUBLISHERS NEWSPAPER Sin cen’ BCYCNA \ . = BRITISH COLUMBIA ~ AND YUKON = &CNA g COMMUNITY, Sirs 0G NEWSPAPERS Pacer ogee BS 4550 ASSOTIATION PAPERS CON ITLL BE TOUGH $ WE SHOULD BE ABLL OPERATE PROPERLY WITHIN FIVE OR SI ONAN DANIZ7 9z Crossing guard knows her value Editor: In reading the article “Not responsible for crossing guards” (The Review, July 22) I couldn’t help but feel angry and hurt at the same. time. North Saanich Mayor Maurice Chazottes’ remarks were most upsetting. “In other jurisdictions the crossings are staffed by adult volunteers and even senior stu- dents. We can’t really see what the problem is in District 63.” Well, Mayor Chazottes, I would like to take your blinders off and show you what the problem is. I am a crossing guard and have been for two years. One problem is that the three municipalities and the school board do not know what a crossing guard does. The high level of stress because of racing vehicles, or vehicles that don’t want to stop, at times becomes almost unbearable. _ Add to this weather conditions which make your visibility poor; fog, rain, darkness, snow. And yet we still take our chances and throw our bodies in front of these vehi- cles (hoping that we don’t get hit) to make a clear safe passage for students and adults to cross the street (a municipal responsibility). I have witnessed three vehicular accidents in my intersection (Keat- ing Crossroad at Oldfield Road) and had to jump in and direct traffic and help victims (a munici- pal responsibility). I take license numbers of viola- tors and report them (a municipal responsibility). I teach people of all ages how to be alert while crossing any road. These are conditions I can’t see anyone volunteering for and doing a continuous responsible job. Does Mayor Chazottes refuse to recognize that the Municipality of Saanich has proudly contributed $22,000 for crossing guards or is he just out of touch on this issue? The problem here clearly once again is the almighty dollar. I urge the municipalities to take a closer look at this issue and maybe they can work together with the school board in funding a vital Service. Elizabeth Jacquot Saanichton Inconveniences over for 42 cents Editor: Who said miracles don’t hap- pen? The brilliant Canada Post people are finally “earning their salt” by informing the Canadian public that we no longer have to stand in line to pay our various bills in person. We can now “lick the problem” by paying our bills by mail! What a fantastic technological breakthrough! Who would have thought that for a single 42 cents plus GST, our inconveniences are over? Mind now, this advanced tech- nology has only been in effect for several decades and used by mil- lions of Canadians across the land, but the brilliant ones in Ottawa are finally serving the public by informing us of this wonderful SEFVICe. Who is to complain? This TV ~g: advertising is only costing us tax- payers a paltry few millions of dollars which could have been spent on Medicare, feeding and housing the less fortunate, or even contributing towards the reduction of our national debt. Cheer up folks, better things are bound to come. Perhaps we'll soon by advised by another expensive TV commercial of the many con- _ veniences awailing us in the use of the telephone! Only in Canada eh? R.G. Robson Colwood Value-added forestry is vital — Editor: The future of the B.C. forest industry lies in small-scale com- munity forestry, open log markets and secondary manufacturing. A recently released report by the Ministry of Forests (MOF) on their Small Business Forest Enter- prise Program points to companies like Canadian Woodworks Ltd. (CWL) of Prince George. Using skilled labor and high technology, they produce casement windows, door jams and moulding stock, patio doors, rails and stiles for markets around the world. “The company (CWL) harvests 100,000 cubic metres of timber per year ... to keep 68 people working for 12 months a year. This is in stark contrast to Carrie: Lumber Ltd. located adjacent to CWL. Carrier harvests 480,000 Continued on Page AD”