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C4 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, November 23, 2005

MARGARET SPEIRS

SKEENA ANGLER

_ROB BROWN _

“Ultra. -right sizing

Jot of people, must have been vexed and

“Canadian Broadcasting. Corporation

least tainted by spin, and puzzled when it became clear that the actions of the CBC brass appeared to

“be jdentical to those of union-busting private.cor- - _ porations everywhere. i The CBC is most emphatically. public. In this

age of privately owned: media conglomerates spew- ing ideologically driven news, the role of the pub-

- lic’s broadcaster is vital to the country’s democratic ‘health and the maintenance of its cultural identity. To compromise that in the name of fiscal restraint, is unconscionable. .

The downsizing of government services is sall the

rage i in-North America. It’s a phenomenon that has

been aggressively promoted by governments who

dislike the institution of government and compro- _ mise its real role, namely to serve all of us as well . and efficiently as possible. The places where govérmments work best are.

easy to find. They are the countries with the most egalitarian governments and highest standard of living on the globe. All of them put a premium on education and health care, have large governments and pay high taxes.

Our Liberals, federal and provincial, have taken the cutback route, and we’re all feeling it in the form of.long lineups for medical treatment, inadequate highway maintenance, congested classrooms, over and badly logged forests and, lately, in the child care crisis that, despite the recommendations. of

~ the Gove Commission, saw the government close

the Children’s Commission with the result that the deaths of hundreds of children, some preventable, have gone uninvestigated.

The Fisheries division of the Ministry of the En-

vironment is an egregious example of provincial government downsizing. The zany right wing gov- ©

ernments that have been in power for so much of

“ this province’s history have always looked on the ‘Ministry of the Environment as an impediment to business. There is always some red or blue listed

species getting in the way of resource extraction,

‘always a fish bearing stream hindering the orderly - extraction of road building materials or fouling a

real estate developer’s dream of riches. Campbell's clan would love to be rid of them. The problem is the public, according to poll after

poll, puts a high value on the wilderness, is proud — _ of the province’s parks, and shares a common sense

concern for environmental health. Unable to shed themselves of this irritating min-

"istry, the Liberal politburo has removed some of its ' vital organs and given it a frontal lobotomy.

The way this was done is instructive.

Newly installed in their first term with not a shred of opposition, the Libs proceeded to reward senior mandarins with raises then charged them with pointing a finger to where cuts in their minis-

. tries should be made. -

-Offices were closed. Personnel were shifted from

_ one department to another. Staff was cut. The muti-

lated remains of what we used to call MOE was re-

‘named Water, Land and Air Protection, though, in

its emasculated form, the new and improved minis-

‘try had been rendered all but incapable of doing an

adequate job of protecting water, land or air. _ Just to make doubly sure that this would be the

case, internal memos were circulated, making it. clear to the remaining ‘staff that their job was not . ‘to be an obstacle to industry. How a scientist was © “supposed to live up to the ethical demands of the

profession and not flag the impacts of industrial de- velopment was not made clear.

All of this cutting was made under the pretext of taking care of a deficit left by New Democrats, which we all now know didn’t exist.

What’s left? The fisheries division of the Min- istry of Environment, for example, was always un- derstaffed and lacking resources. Now there’s just a skeleton crew overseeing the many concerns sur- rounding fish and fisheries.

The offices of the conservation officers i in Ha- zelton and Houston were closed. Where there were two officers riding shotgun over the massive, heav- ily hunted territory around Dease Lake, there is now one. One officer is charged with all the bear problems from Haida Gwaii to Hazelton (while do- ing his other duties). And, there are three fisheries

biologists in Skeena taking care of an area that en-

compasses fully a third of the province.

“Our objective,” trumpets Campbell, “is to lead the world in sustainable environmental manage- ment with the best air and water quality and the best fisheries management, bar none.”

I wonder how he hopes to achieve this?

- usual

puzzled when the management ofthe .

went on strike. and. locked out its’ em- ‘ployees: vexed because the news coverage by the public broadcaster — though it has its soft-headed and weak-kneed.moments — is still the news outlet »

By - MARGARET SPEIRS IT WAS a long time coming but the Terrace River Kings finally iced the Kitimat Ice Demons 3-1 in front of a

nearly sold out crowd of .

cheering fans Nov. 17.

The Thursday evening |

epic saw the Ice Demons play more slowly than their

and-score games against our

- local heroes.

The. game remained scoreless throughout the

. first, with. both teams only receiving a couple of 1 minor : penalties.

Both » Squads came out

_ ready to score in the second

period. ~ River King Terry Zapor- zan opened the scoring at the

_ 15:34 mark.

‘Mario: Desjardins added another tally at 6:37.

Kitimat finally broke their silence when Blaine Mark- wart notched one in the dy- ing minutes of the second. °

Andy McCleary scored

. his first goal in the last min- ‘ute of the second, making the score 3-1 and closing the

door on Kitimat. °

He was “stoked,” saying . - he watched the soft passes - Kitimat kept moving across ~ the ice, preparing for his

chance.

“We're — sure “fying. We’ ve got to keep it going,” he said, outside the dressing room during the second in- termission.

“Kitimat i is ‘a good te team...

You can’t count them out

— ever. We’ve got to keep ~

our wits about us.”

He returned to the dress- ing room saying the River Kings would have to come out flying in the third to keep up with Kitimat.

. The third remained score- less, but not for a lack of try- ing.

The River Kings took

~ several penalties that placed

them on their heels, con- stantly defending the net from the Ice Demons’ per-

- sistent attempts to score.

Bumy Carlsen made

ease-down-the-ice- |

TERRACE STANDARD

some far-reaching saves

~ literally.

A Kitimat shot to the

top comer missed thanks

-to Carlsen’s acrobatic high

stretch for it. The River Kings bent but

did not break during a series . ‘of penalty kills.

‘Carlsen. made several spectacular Saves, : covering

up and catching one in his

glove. a With 3:23 remaining in

the game, Jaime Moran left.

the Kitimat net for the extra man. Two scoring attempts on

‘shots halfway down the ice

from Desjardins and Rich

Claire narrowly missed the : ‘posts.

The “River Kings cele- brated in the dressing room. with a lot of high-fives and

words of praise for Carlsen ©

and McCleary.

“Bumy stood on his head,” said McCleary, add- ing Carlsen could be cred- ited with Terrace’s victory.

. He believes the team’s better conditioning _ this year helped them keep up

throughout the game with- | out tiring in the third petiod .

like last season. Carlsen rejoiced in the victory.

_ “Hats off:to the fans, "he . said. He credited the defensive

players and forwards with playing solidly, noting Mc- Cleary as a little guy with a big heart.

“He makes us proud for sure,” he said.

Coach was caught smiling after the game, a definite first.

“T’ll tell you the truth: the biggest goal of the game was Andy’s,” he said, adding that being up by two goals is a huge difference than lead- ing by only one goal.

“Burny played a wonder- ful game,” he said.

“Andy and Nate (McNa- mara) and Ryan (Muldoe) played great, so. much en- ergy and young legs, fast on the puck. The rest of the team feeds off it.”

JENNA PAVAO, left, and Rayven Algor took top spots in out-of-town skating competitions last month. Pavao won gold in the Senior Bronze Dance event at Vander- hoof’s Williston Skate. Algor swept the Junior Bronze Ladies Freeskate at the Northern B.C. Winter. Games skate offs in Kitimat to secure herself a place on the

team. -

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Skaters snag

many medals

CONTRIBUTED |

THE TERRACE Skating Club rocked the ice at the

Williston Skate in Vanderhoof Oct. 28 to 30. Nineteen. Terrace Skating club athletes entered 74

— events, winning medals in 42 events and taking home

15 ribbons given for fourth to sixth place.

Club coaches Jennifer Kuehne and Barb Kubik were pleased with the results of the competition.

“We have noticed some changes that need to be made and where we need to focus most of our time

' before the regional competition,”

that most skaters are aiming toward qualifying so they

can attend Pacific Skate, Star Skate Provincials, the

non-competitive championship. The club’s two competitive stream skaters, Jacque- line and Julianne Lenuik competed at the B.C. Sub-

Sectionals and Sectional Championships,

in Prince

George. Jacqueline placed tenth. Tur to the scoreboard to see the skating club's results

from the Williston Skate.

Trevor Hendry.

hard.

said Kuehne, adding"

whe.

BURNY CARLSEN, Stellar in goal, celebrates the River Kings 3-1 victory over the

638-7283

Ice Demons at the Terrace Arena Nov. 17. The victory marked the first time the team has beaten its Kitimat rivals.

DUSTIN QUEZADA PHOTO

The River Kings’ first win against Kitimat was a fantastic way to start the sec- ond half of the season.

“T couldn’t- be more proud

. of the guys,” Hendry said.

“Everybody pulled their

weight. Damn, I’m happy.”

The win helped maintain the River Kings first place

spot in the league. . Next up, the River Kings

_ fish for Steelheads when

Smithers. visits for two games Dec. 3 and 4,

Rockin’ road trip

Two out of three ain't bad for Terrace”

By, MARGARET SPEIRS. THE RIVER KINGS ‘scored a near perfect road trip, winning two of three games.

Our local boys hunted and killed the Moose in Mackenzie 5-2 and 6-4 over the Nov. 12 weekend.

The previous week they angled for the Steelheads in

Smithers and came up witha .

four-all tie.

“Team manager Kevin

Fletcher said the Mackenzie trip rocked.

“To go on the road to. Mackenzie and steal four points is huge,” he said..

“The guys Played really

- So. hard ~ that: Ivan Laschenko sustained a bro-

ken collarbone, knocking ©

him out of the lineup for a few games. _

Both meetings were short. on penalties, leaving room

for the players: to do their.

job. . “They were really good games to watch,” Fletcher said.

Troy Kaye, Darcy Alli- son, Troy Farkvam, Mario

- Desjardins, Richie Rogers,

Ivan Laschenko, Trevor Shannon, Howie O’Brien and Terry Zaporzan scored for the Kings.

Fletcher said netminders Bumy Carlsen and Craig Walsh made some key saves,

The team showed some great forechecking, shutting

TERRY ZAPORZAN moves in to score during the River Kings game in Mackenzie Nov. 12. Terrace swept the double header against the Moose 5-2 and 6-4.

RIVER KINGS WEBSITE PHOTO

down Mackenzie’s number one goal getter, centre Jerry Bessette.

The previous weekend, the River Kings alternated scoring with the Steelheads.

Richie Rogers netted Terrace’s first goal at. 7:40 inthe first...

Steelhead Darryl Young tied the game at one in the waning seconds of the first.

Ryan Muldoe banged in the River Kings’ second goal about five minutes into the second period. '

At the halfway point of the second, Steelhead Mitch Marshall tied the game at 2- 2.

Rogers netted his second in the last six minutes of the

second to make it 3-2 River Kings..

Cody Brown evened the score for the Steelheads to

. “Togo on the road to Mackenzie and

‘Steal four points is

huge,” -~Kevin Fletcher

end the second.

Mario Desjardins gave the River Kings the lead for the third time with 13:35 re- maining.

Dan Dykens ended Ter- race’s chance at victory to end it 4-4,