STRATEGY SESSION: Reform Party candidate Mike Scott and "party volunteer Bobby Ball go over polling results. Scott and Ball, * a former big game hunting guide in the Telegraph Creek area, are says. “It's all personal contact up there.” How THE NORTHWEST WILL BE WON touring northern communities along Hwy37 this week, “It's a dif- ferent kind of campaigning up in that part of the country," Ball Politics of the right willdecide election REFORM’S STRENGTH @ More than 800 members in Skeena: 300 in Terrace, 300 in Kitimat, ‘about a 100 in Smithers, and jess than a hun- dred In Prince Rupert and the Queen Charlotte Istands. @. 150 volunteers ready to go once the writ Is dropped, most of them in Kitimat and Terrace. ; By JEFF NAGEL REFORMERS in Skeena real- ly. believe victory could be theirs this fall. And they’re. ready to lay their canis on the table to prove it. “4We have to make sure people understand we have a real chance to win'this riding,’’ says Reform Party candidate Mike Scott. While northwest Liberals and "Conservatives. refuse to disclose the voting results of their nomina- _ tion meetings, Scott has invited : reporters to peruse the Reform > Party's" 800-sirong membership ‘sist did observe - the” campaign's “telephone polling °F "St ra - Spin is all-important: in: politics -‘and-that’s the reasoning behind " Scott’s plan to open up the ... campaign to closer scrutiny. — 3. The Reformers’, spin is, that the : , for the northwest is: strictly betw. n'them and the NDP. ...-servatives -will tell 'you they are “. the maincontenders, “Scand although Scott doesn’t talk much‘ about the Tories, it’s clear ~. they-are the real threat — not NDP candidate Joe Barrett. “= Reform can only defeat the "TERRACE — Reformers claim :. their pre-election polling is show- "= Dariny’ Sheridan ‘and his ‘Con- . - NDP and win in Skeena if the Consérvative vote is insignificant. Any substantial Tory vote will come at the expense of Reform and could cost them the prize. EE the voters can be persuaded - lhe, Reform Party: has, solid sup- *port-in-the riding, Scott ‘reasons, hen: more people who. might ‘otherwise vote Conservative will come their way. “They're concerned about ~ splitting the vote,’? Scott ex- *. plains. “We need to assure people in this riding ‘that if. they vote for Reform it’s not going. to “be a wasted vote.” That’ kind of strategic voting could be Reform’s undoing, he admits, “Tf the whole of Skeena could be in on our polling they could realize the Reform Party not only are,’” Scott says of the polling. He said workers — who call all. has a chance but is probably in the lead in Skeena.’’ But there will be other factors at Play in the batile for Skeena. Consider the following: - | Apathy on the left: Joe . Barréit’s successful” bid for ‘the’ =~ NDP nojfiination’ in ‘Skeéna” has some senior party organizers dis- . sappolnted, They claim they un- successfully lobbied numerous party members to run — inciud- ing a few prominent northwest. native leaders — prior to Bar- . rett’s entrance. Will. the machine that elected Jim Fulton through four’ straight elections run as smoothly for a — perceived parachute candidate? m@ A split on the coast: The Liberal nomination of Prince Rupert alderman Rhoda Witherly is another curve ball for the NDP. The fist of Reform supporters will be used by the party’s elec- Rupert is an NDP stronghold and the newly proclaimed home of Joe Barrett. Witherly’s campaign could be a magnet for disaffected New Democrats there, Interest in the Reform Party and the federal election in general surged following MP Jim Fulton’s announcement he would not run again, Reformers say. _ Scott says a campaign consul- tant at a recent seminar in Cal- gary told party workers they can expect to influence only a small fraction of the population — per- haps less than 15 per cent. on the national campaign scene —- the leaders, the polls, the pundits, the national television coverage. They vote for’ the leader who they want to help crown prime minister —- not necessarily for a capable Member. of Parliament to represent the riding. **In a horserace it’s that 10 or 15 per cent that make the dif- ference between winniag or losing the election,’’ Scott says. ‘And we believe we've got a horserace in Skeena.”’ © ; Undecided will be decisive - Halliwell area of the bench in Terrace, The 320 voters there rejected — The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, August 18, 1993 - Page AS ETTER TO THE TERRACE STANDARD “Most -of the “electorate - votes” , ipritnarily based on what they sce Alcan’s Kemano Il gutsy call Dear Sir: Our province, desperate for jobs and business investment particularly in the northem province, is turning up its nose at a partially completed billion dollar project after half the money has been expended. — With the economies of the world’s major countties tecter- ing on the verge of the abyss, it takes a visionary kind of guts by Alcan to fly in the face of present economic circum- stances, to go ahead and invest a@ billion dollars when every — other corporate ‘entity is tightening the purse strings. . Alcan has taken the plunge; right up to, and past its booties. This is very apparent to the average British Columbian, all except Pat Moss, Mr. Harcourt, and a fringe elite who wish to live in the past, raking in the entrails of whether the original 1954 project was up to snuff. Let us lake their position for a moment and suggest that ‘against today’s standards, the ofiginal Kemano project of 1954 would never have stood a chance of proceeding. That may be well and good but the original project was ac- cepted and has been operating for the benefit of B.C. and Canada’s export and balance of trade receipts for the past 40 years, Ihave only found two people in my 22 years in this area who were against Alcan’s involve- ment, and they stuck out like a sore thumb, Mr. Frank -Howard told the high school students Smithers. would be under water if Kemano TI were ever to, pro- ceed, Now Pat Moss tells “us. the river is going to dry up and the place is going to be a desert. This of coursc is the ridiculous to the sublime. The second individual was, of course, our departing federal representative Mr, Jim Fulton, who sniped at Kemano II every opportunity he got but at least had enough sense io never come into our end of the riding and say such nonsense. -- Tt is little worider. the federal NDP is low man‘on the totem poll of Canadian voters, and no surprise Mr.” Harcourt has a . lower rating than Mr. Bill Vander Zalm. If Bill was in charge of things-in B.C. now, do you think. we would be going through this feeble exercise at ‘appeasement? And do you think a billion dollar. project would be on hold with familics coming apart, having come here to work on the project and- now on welfare? I think not. - Now. is the time for north- erners to unite behind Alcan, and let common sense guide this support. Alcan scaled down the original project, to accom- modate the concerns expressed by all of us who took the time and interest to become in- formed at the open process Al- can afforded us. It always has been a tenet of democracy that the will of the informed majority has to carry. It is time for the majority lo to rise up and help Alcan fulfill what we contractually agreed to after due deliberation in an open process. The project review hearing process is a limp-wristed way of. Harcourt . ducking the in- _evitable, but it still is an abuse of the political process that should not be tolerated by any righteous thinking British Columbian. Arthur David Serry, Kitimat, B.C. Bear body count clarified © Dear Sit: , Re: the story in your paper dated August 1ith: Environment office in Smithers on Monday, August _T was given a low: number,of, 9, she regional director.of B.C, 12 bears shot at-ihe dump: in Stewart and the highest num- ber of 47 bears shot at the dump. The number 47 was not given by anybody in the Forest Service, When I was. picketing in Hyder, one man stopped .and told me he shot 22 bears in the- Stewart area ‘last fall. He said he shot mother bears with cubs atso. I didn’t even take in his count, That’s why I put a 7 in front of 47. After picketing in front of the. Environment (R.G. Anderson) |, invited me into his office where I met three of his of- ficers and we had a meeting for approximately half an hour. I was assured that only two black bears where shot last year in the Stewart area by his department and some other bears were transported out of — ‘the area unharmed. Mr. ‘Anderson told me he would be more than happy to meet with wildlife officials or _ the people of Hyder to disciss the bear problem at anytime. _ Yours Sincerely, Keith Scott. (Fredericton, N.B y cp sical castigated Dear Sir: | weg Be I was shocked and dismayed when I ‘noted the word “broad” in ons of your recent story context, but you did not fool me a bit. A blatant and transparent : “ing:-ai. huge undecided vote in tion day team charged with get- 45,056 voters on the voters list — , Skeena: aes are concentrating on swinging the . fing out the vote. last fall’s constitutional issues. subterfuge to foment disrespect ~ Nearly all yoters i in Kitimat and undecided voters to the party, Party volunteers at the polls — referendum by 71 per cent — As you well knows this ‘a and mace pest the weaker called scrutinecers — cross names about average for Skeena. derogatory. collective name for. sex, if ever I saw one. ; ‘about 500 in Terrace have been While phoning, pollers fill out a g galory No doubt the NDP. thought member of the childbearing’ gender, much used by archaic male chauvinists before the age of enlightenment. © Sure, you made an obvious One voter Scott calls gives a common response to the Reform pitch: “Anything’s worth a try.”’ _ We'll call him a U-plus,” Scott decides. off the list as people come in to. vote, - Late on election. day other workers start phoning peopic who have not yet voted to urge them polled, says Reform candidate Mike: Scott, Polling is just getting underway. in Smithers and Prince upert. . log that notes names, phone num- bers, and gauges support. Pollers identify themselves as working for the Reform Party and police has noted’. your ‘trans- gression against the new faw of the land, and is planning -8 well-deserved sojourn for you aad from. what they "ve seen soak the voter whether they have t» 90 to the polls and offer them © Some voters are looking for | cffort tofuzify youruseofthe in the parliament hill r, Sco v: considered voting Relorm in the id . ghange but want to see more in- rd by placing it ina news dungeons. ymimitted supporiers and the xt electi rides. Bi word by placing PP ty hoxt election. Scott admits the polling so far formation first. __ Yours, umber of people who say they’d —-Polters classify each name on “We're hitting pockets of sup- Pete Weeber.. - primarily reflects his strength in . Kitimat — his hometown. Most of the voters who say they strongly oppose Reform are New never-vote Reform are equal at “about 20 per cent of people cal- vassed, the list as a supporting. (S), op- posed (O) or undecided (U). Based on the respondent’s tone port, pockets of opposition,” _ Scott says. Others, he says, seem complete- The Terrace Standard welcomes letters to the editor. We ask that they be signed and a phone number be The other 60 percent are un- snd response, pollers add on. Democrats,he added. ly out of touch with current luded. ecided, Scott says, pluses’..or minuses to indicate: ‘There is a core of people who events. ~ ' include Between the commitied sup- - respondents who are undecided’ say they simply will not support ‘‘We get people who have no Letters are subject to editing for n reasons of length porters : and. the.- ‘Weaning’? un- © but who'se¢m more or less Ukely the Reform party,” he Baye, understanding of the political and for good taste. Unsigned letters are thrown away. You can fax your letters in to 638-8432. The deadline is noon Friday. -scene,’? he said. ‘*We still have some people who say they’re voting for Jim Fulton.’” ‘I's. amazing how many people just haven’t thought about i. deds;’they think they could’: early. 50: per. cent of the. ote polling so far.. ar ‘we're’ identifying where. ‘our: upport is, where. our opposition : to vote Reform.. mo ; - > They'll phone. back all the: un- ~. decideds during the campaign In : an effort to swing the undecided - + vote and to fine-tune their polling . -fumbers, : 7 Flying fish fists ‘And we expected that.”’ kkk kk On this night Reform candidate Mike Scott and volunteer Al ‘Egan are on the phones, working poll #107 — the McConnell- Boxers Here are a couple of lo- Some fishermen along the cal boxers. tiverbank have fought each other. River recto 5 Shap says the | On the left is Mike Ken- Fights have broken out be- fights ‘give Terrace a bad — nedy.. He’s sparring, with , tween anglers arguing over name. It ‘doesn’t. paint a Jocy Losier. fishing turf. very nice picture of fishing The boxers. wanted to ‘Fishermen have been here.” practise against each . The fighting was worst crowding the river because during the hot July weather, - of record returns of chinook Joey is now at a Com- monwealth Games camp. - : _Balmon. _.., The RCMP have | Some. fishermen say t smoothed ‘out a. few. dis-- vie is moving to Las forth .. golng | to.. he pes, ly i ‘Vegas to train. -