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SKEENA ANGLER

ROB. BROWN _

"Election blues Tas

“DP, Tories fight’ nose to. nose,’ shouts

: by riding i in the Vancouver Province. . a ’ Above the headline is a picture of Tamara Storo-.

othe: headline ofa riding profile of: ‘Van-- 2 “couver Island North, in the, New.Year’s |). of ° Day. instalment ‘of “Canada Votes,” the” [ fe ‘series that covers the:2005 federal’election riding if

: zuk, outfitted in packing plant attire. complete:with | ' the shower cap Gilles: Duceppe’s handlers wish'he |

- hadn’t worn so jauntily during a photo op tour of a..

: “Quebec dairy plant i in the midst. of the runup to. the . ‘| ‘last federal election. .

For her. photo op, Mrs. Storoznuk:i is hefting a | factory-made- Atlantic salmon, ‘the poor ; and unsa- :

-voury relative of the King of Sportfish, against a » backdrop of gutting tables and stainless steel tubs

y -sbelonging to the. Englewood Packing, Company « of

~ Beaver Cove. :

| Mrs. Storozuk will be voting, you bet she will -") . - voting for the party that will “best defend her job.” ” i

“And who would that be?.Obviously the incum- -

«bent MP, ‘John. Duncan of the’Reform / Alliance /*. _ Progressive Conservative Coalition, who'is as high |

“on fish farms as. he is on offshore oil exploration: ©

~ Former forester, Duncan,:who was elected to his [

fifth term by just shy of 500 votes in 2004; thinks it

. unfair that the foreign based multinationals should -

~have to shoulder the costs of safer and cleaner land “based tanks...

According to MP. Duncan, ‘who is either abys-

© mally ignorant of the history of open pen fish farm- ing or thinks all the world-renowned fisheries sci-

entists, documeniarists, ecologists, public interest’

groups the world over are axe grinders busily fab-

ricating untruths, there is no reason why open pen .

fish farming can’t be safely expanded on our coast.

- Tamara won’t put her X beside the New Demo- .¢rat, Catherine Bell, who ‘ ‘supports good jobs as long as there is no. negative impact on the environment,” or with Liberal hopeful, Jim Mitchell, who unequiv- ocally states that more science has to be done and

_ that priority must be given to wild salmon. . __~ As for the Greens, their candidate, Michael Mas- call, is a member of the Sierra Club; Mrs. Storoz-

“ nuk and her husband, an unemployed millworker, '

are not likely to cast a ballot for environmentalists.

‘In-an attempt to stir-up a controversial stew, the.

_afticle claims that Storoznuk’s bosses employ 120 -

- full time workers, mostly women, who make up to

* 40 grand a year with some benefits (though the ex-

“tent of the benefit package i is not made clear).

What is ineffably sad is Mr. Storoznuk, and Rob _ - Austin, who operates a boat that brings fish to the ~ plant, and literally millions like them are voting on ’ the basis of some shallow analysis, black and white -

and blinkered, for what they deem is best for them; they are driven by narrow self interest.” ;

". Whatever happened to- the unselfish notion of voting for the person and party that is best for. us

Austin and Storoznuk’s analysis doesn’t include _ the people who will lose or have lost jobs due t to the expansion of fish farming.

Their field of concern doesn’t eficompass. the’ immense damage that fish farming inflicts on the . marine environment at its most important and fe- .

cund intersections, and, they obviously don’t worry ‘too much about the’ fact that. the product of their labours is laced with all kinds chemicals that have

- instead of the person and party that is best for me?’

led heaith authorities in places like Britain to warn _

against its frequent consumption.

If Mrs. Storoznuk reflected on the reason 1 her husband’s mill job disappeared, she would be led to the conclusion that, for the most part, his unem- ployment. was a result of the rapacious, corporate _ driven, unsustainable way that Van Isle forests were logged. :

~ With that realization she might come to the con- ‘clusion that the Liberal, Green and NDP candidates

in her riding have the vision that will most likely

- lead to sustainable aquaculture practices, while the _.PC Duncan offers the view that will most likely lead to confrontation and collapse, and a shorter pe-

~ riod of employment for her.

The plant workers in the Province article don’t seem to realize that, since their employment is hitched to the fortunes and whims of foreign corpo-

rations, it’s tenuous at best. The best chance to pro- .

- tect your job (and. your rights) is to unionize. The Conservative Party is hardly union-friendly.

All this just points up the pathetic ignorance of single issue voting.

The kind of oblique reasoning that goes like this: ‘let’s see.

The PCs would have put Canadians i in Iraq, they’re likely to dismantle universal healthcare, they’ kow- tow to the Americans, kill the CBC, and with it the. only trustworthy news source in the country, they’ll give Quebec special consideration that will further undermine federalism, BUT they may put more fish farms on the coast, so they’ve got my vote.

‘mSenior ski bunny

CHARLOTTE ROWSE, 82, and her husband Dennis, aiso 82, enjoyed the 2 skiing at Shames Mountain on nits c opening weekend She said they love Shames and were waiting eagerly for the hill to open. They said the runs were great with the exception ofa fey twigs ‘here and there. ‘She and her husband plan to drive to Shames from Prince Rupert to ski every weekend.

n.15.”

‘MARGARET SPEIRS PHOTO

Sports |

place in a tourney filled with. - Close scores here last 1

_ away with the win aftela 2-1

WADE FLAHERTY, far right, will be the starting goalie for Team Canada i in the American Hockey League All-Star Game Feb. 1. Winnipeg fans may F have stuffed the ballot boxes in n recognition of his excellent year in goal for the

Manitoba Moose.

’ CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Flaherty scores All-Star. position

. By DUSTIN QUEZADA A STELLAR season with the Manitoba Moose has earned Wade Flaherty a Starting role for Team Canada in’ the American Hockey League (AHL) All- Star Game Feb. 1.

- It didn‘t hurt that Winnipeg is host-

ing the event and fans there may have

stuffed the ballot boxes in support of

their starting goalie, said Flaherty with

a laugh. “It’s good being from Winnipeg and

being in the starting lineup,” Flaherty -

said. “Obviously, we had some fans [voting for me].” Make no mistake about his deserv-

- ing the recognition though.

Going into a two-game home series

' Jast weekend versus the Hamilton Bull-

dogs, Flaherty’s statistics had him in the top five in wins, save percentage, goals against average and shutouts — a league-best six. -

While the 17-year pro was ‘chosen for two All-Star Games in.the defunct International Hockey League, the Feb.

I.

1 game will mark the first AHL ‘All- Star Game for Flaherty and playing in Winnipeg will make it that much more special, he says.

“Tt’s. exciting and something spe- cial especially in our home team city,” Flaherty said. “It’s something the city

“has been looking forward to experienc-

”

ing. The ‘all-star activities include a skills competition the night before the big game. All-star games’ at the professional

level tend tobe focused on goals, with

little attention paid to defence or physi- cal play.

That makes it tough o on: the goalies, who have to fend for themselves, says Flaherty. |

“It may not be the best format for goalies but it'll be pretty fun and the goal is to have fun,” Flaherty said.

_ The 38-year-old will be joined by teammate Jimmy Roy'on the Canadian side, while Moose defenceman Sven -

Butenschon was picked to start for

- Team Planet USA,. “Bragging rights for the year will be

_ on the line,” said Flaherty.

~ The goaltender’s excellent season is an indication he has not let his contrac-

‘tual situation, which is preventing him

from being re-called by the parent club Vancouver Canucks, affect his play in Winnipeg.

~ “There’s nothing I can do except . “worry about my situation here,” Fla- ‘herty' said. “It’s still. frustrating but

hopefully it’ll take care of itself.” _ Flaherty would have to clear waivers to be brought up to the NHL and with his experience and skill, he’d likely be taken by another team. ‘For now, Flaherty said he'll do all he can to help Manitoba, second in the

North Division standings at press time, '

keep winning and hope the: Canucks make a decision on their goaltending that includes him.

In between, jook for Terrace’s most

famous puckstopper to do his thing with the AHL’s elite next week.

Terrace, two from Kitimat, _ and one each from Hazelton

MacKay.

“individual River Kings for their

. | uw

1 i

Deope

Atoms conquer the

competition |

THE TERRACE Atoms clinched second’ and third, *

nonth,

Prince Rupert ikated shootout against DR Haltom, who proudly took secoid.

The Terrace’ Number Three squad snapped! up third place after, beating the.. Methanex Flames. - |

“] knew Rupert would be strong,” said Atoms division manager Geoff Watt, adding he was was pleased with the number of close games, -

~ Eight teams, four fiom

and Prince Rupert took pirt.

Cal takes . third in PG:

CALEDONIA SENIOR boys basketball scored thitd sport in Prince George to start the year. ¥ . The squad beat Kelowna pretty handily, lost 82-71: to Duchess Park, who’s ranked number three, then went on to slam D.P. Todd 67-42 for, _ third place, said coach Cam

Jag. Aujla- and Jared Ste- 7 phens were named to the All-Star Team. |:

Pick your

favourite HOCKEY: FANS can reward

performance by voting for their favourites in the 2006. ‘Player ° Awards on the team’s website.

‘Cast your ballots for Most Valuable, Most .Dedicated, Most Improved, Best Forward, Best Defence and Seventh Player at http://terraceriverk- ~ ings.net.