serge keg

A4 - Tha Terrace Standard, Wednesday, October 13, 1993

TERRACE:

STANDARD

ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988

ADDRESS: 4647 Lazelle Ave., Terrace, B.C, * V8G 188 TELEPHONE: (604) 638-7283 * FAX: (604) 638-8432 MODEM: 638-7247

Too long a wait

IT MIGHT be hard for a lot of people to feel sorry for a company, but Orenda Forest Products does deserve some sympathy.

The company has taken a bit of a kicking be- cause of its long delayed plans to build a $500 million pulp and paper mill south of Lakelse Lake. It stands accused of having its plan act as a front so it can continue logging and exporting without fear of losing its licence. There are also suggestions there may not be enough wood float- ing around the northwest to support a new pulp and paper mill given what capacity exists now.

‘Most of all Orenda lacks the kind of money it needs to build the mill. It simply isn’t large enough to reach into a bank account to pull out the required cash. So that’s taken it on a world wide search for the required hundreds of millions of dollars.

The search has also taken it to the provincial government for a $100 million loan guarantee. And this is where the sympathy part comes in. The problem is that the provincial government’s economic development arm doesn’t have a loan or loan subsidy program to which Orenda can apply. There hasn’t been one dating back to the

. brief days of Rita Johnston’s Social Credit

government two years ago.

Mrs. Johnston made promises of a review but her defeat naturally precluded anything from happening. The NDP have since made all sorts of hints about loan and subsidy programs but nothing -has happened. Indeed, a good argument can be made that the government has had a min- istry devoted to economic development but which can’t do anything because it doesn’t have any money. .

Complicating this.is the recent dismantling of

séqueiif creation of: something called the employ-

ment and investment ministry. To be sure, Orenda’s request is still being considered but there must be a bit of a wobble given the massive change in government ministries,

Orenda: officials say their request is being in- vestigated i in some detail and are happy with way that is. going. Yet the overriding impression is that ‘this is an issue that has dragged on and on

' and ¢ on: and threatens to extend into infinity.

No they can't

BETWEEN NOW and.election day we're going to hear lots about a marvelous little ‘phrase called “political will.’? It’s the item each candidate and party say they possess — the ability to grab the reigns of power. and make some changes.

pirient ministry anid the sub-~

‘Lots of parties say they have it, but not many .

can pull it off. In living memory, has there ever been a Canadian government that’s reduced the size of the civil service? Nope. Bill Bennett, con- sidered one of the more ruthless premiers, did reduce the number of provincial employees. But those jobs eased over to become auxiliary posi- tions or ones under contract.

The reality is that all civil services are so big, — ' so experienced at survival and so tied into the

fabric’ of Canadian society, they would be im- possible’ to dislodge. Even the Reform party’s grand plan to cut the deficit to zero in three years

would look a lot differently in practice compared

to the way it’ S being sold now.

_ PUBLISHER/EDITOR: Rod Link GBu ADVERTISING MANAGER: Mike L. Hamm PRODUCTION MANAGER: Edouard Credgeur NEWS COMMUNITY: Jeff Nagel * NEWS SPORTS: Malcolm Baxter OFFICE MANAGER: Rose Fisher COMPOSING: Pam Odell « TYPESETTER: Tricia Walker DARKROOM: Susan Credgeur ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS: Sam Collier, Janet Viveiros CIRCULATION SUPERVISOR: Charlene Matthews

Secving the Temrace aren, Plt on Wed of each week by Caritoa Praga (S965) LA. 4047 Larelle Ave.; Teirace, British Cokunbla ¥1 Ihe Torna Gtandard are thw property of the

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"Special thanks to ‘ell otir r oGhtribuitore and correspondents “for thele ihe and talents:

to gat you

Cone on me. oot!

: (have | ; oe | Ae salotion oo

ean Separate: “you! + .

VICTORIA — When I wrote a year ago that the defeat of the Charlottetown Accord might

‘well be the beginning of the

end of Canada as a nation, an

. irate reader wrote:

“you have shown your colours, you filthy piece of

slime.’’

I'd like to repeat what I said

~ then, Accepting the accord was

the last chance to keep Canada together. And before you call me a filthy piece of slime, hear me out.

Watching the debate on na- tional television last week of

the party leaders, it struck me that the only one speaking with any conviction and: genuine emotion was Lucien Bouchard.

|” White “the* ‘Ophers traded mild

ic ickarent |

“nous over their various tco- nomic plans,. Bouchard was driven by pure passion.

Throughout the debate,

_ Bouchard was fired by his vi-

sion of a sovereign Quebec, a

vision shared by enough —

Quebecers to send a mighty contingent of separatists or to use a less inflammatory term, sovercigntists, to Ottawa. On several occasions, Bouchard said that confedera- tion has failed Quebec, not in a financial way, but in not hav- ing been able to accommodate

“FROM THE CAPITAL”

HUBERT BEYER

Quebec’s, deep-felt fear of .

losing ils cultural and linguis- tic identity.

I was horrified by Jean. Chretien’s reckless and simplistic replies. There has al-. ways- been talk ‘of Quebec separating, he sald, but it will © always be part of Canada, hint- ing that being in confederation provides a certain financial security. In other words, they know a good thing when they see one and will think twice

- before abandoning the gravy

train.

Chretien clearly hasn't kept up with world affairs. People who feel their identity is threatened by the majority of whatever country they live in

will not hesitate to accept a lower standard of living, even hardship, in return for being masters of their own destiny. _ Tt’s happening in the former

_ Soviet Union, where Georgia went its own way, and now a part of that country wants to go it alone, It’s happening in the former Yugoslavia, where the tiny former province of Bosnia may end up. split into even tinier pieces. And it’s already a

fait accompli in the former

Czechoslovakia, which split into two separate nations.

Listening tc Bouchard, I came io the firm conclusion that the eventual separation of Quebec from the rest of Cana- da is inevitable. Quebec is sick wand. tired of trying,in vain, te to"

"convince the test of Canada that it is a. distinct society which needs nurturing; and pro- tection.

Without that — protection, Quebec would very quickly be diluted by and -absorbed into the English-speaking majority. lis beautifully different culture and language would slowly disappear until it is littl more than a quaint footnote to be used in the tourist industry hype.

But the separation of Quebec

will only be the beginning ofa

Passionate about Canada

much more traumatic develop- ment. Sooner or later, there will be an independence move- ment in western Canada, led by credible people, not Doug. Christie, and they won’t find it difficult to garner support. © Not only is British Columbia and Alberta a region with a distinct character, but it is far enough removed from Ottawa to have felt alienated all along. — From an economic point of . view, too, the . proposal ’ will make sense to a lot of people.

" A country composed of British

Columbia and Alberta would be among the richest in the world, There would be no, budget deficits. a , | ae jhe oat pro i —

fro. 4

* whiat remains of Pane after! : Quebec’s separation, will bea. . prime candidate for a new,

separate . country,.. leaving Manitoba. and Saskatchewan - free to apply for membership - in the remaining stump of what was once Upper Canada, throw

in its lot with the west, or form its own club,

Admittedly, this is the worst- case scenario, but anyone Te- jecting it out of hand is either naive or doesn’t care.

And now, go ahead ane call me a filthy piece of slime.

| People speak and act out —

How quickly the shoe can switch to the other foot.

Four days ago my grand-_

children’s 35-year-old Aunt Wianie was brutally assaulted as she walked from the corner store in her tiny Newfoundland community. Her alleged’ as- sailant is a 15-year-old who has lived two houses away from her all his life.

She was rushed to a hospital In St. John’s over an hour away where she underwent x- rays, brain scans, and had six fractures in one arm surgically stabilized with two metal plates. =

The assault plunged Winnie, her husband and her three kids into a slump of depression, anger and fear, They pictured the ‘Young. Offenders Act ad- ministering a tap on the alleged

’ offender’s wrist in exchange

for her massive injuries and excruciating pain. But ‘Winnie en a victim, She went pub- & nside of 72 hours she had

THROUG H BIFOCALS CLAUDETTE SANDECKI

Tefused to:

wow! MARTEN! A WORLP E - RECORD FOR SURES!

given a bedside television in- ferview which aired province- wide on the supper news. Two major dailics reported ‘ber as- sault in vivid detail. The local weekly prepared a front page story to publish next day. Television viewers. got a technicolour close-up of a bad-.

_ly frightened, horribly battered - woman. ' Public ‘reaction | was

immediate. Support for.° .Winnie’s courage flooded in Visits.

yer! over 30 YEARS oLp! BEEN HERE EVER SINCE you WERE JUST A KID AND NOW You Bork GOT KIDS oF Your aL!

Phone calls. Flowers. Canis, At home, her family received phone calls of encouragement from total strangers. Two radio open-line talk shows jammed with calls condemning the Young Offenders Act. Perhaps coincidentally, two days after her interview the Young Of- fenders Act is io be a “*Moringside”’ topic. ; Publicity has affecied the al-

" Jeged assailant, too, though not

so kindly. Since he is a juvenile, RCMP

released him within 24 hours -

of his arrest, with orders to stay away from his home town, to be in the house by 7 p.m. each night, and to attend schoo], something he- hasn’t done for years, despite the law.

Both the school superinien- dent and the police monitor his whereabouts as though he were a crown jewel. Several of Win- nie’s nieces and nephews at- tend the same school. They have pointed him: out to un- aware students and made his alleged deed known. Taunting

aad

THIRD TIME THIS, \¥53 SUMMER aL" BUDDY, hi

students send him minning to the principal for sanctuary. , On the street, one perturbed motorist swerved toward him. Because of media coverage, and the grapevine , everyone knows who he is, where he | lives, and what he is alleged. to have done. If he darcs to show | up in his home town, he can -

: expect RCMP to be notified

forthwith. His alleged deed °. will dog his days, something — the law protects him from, Jot ‘When Winnie was; assaulted, she, her family-- and her com- munity - went into shock, soon |. followed. by anger, :fear-and

‘dread. Overwhelming. public :-

support has restored -a.measuzt * ..

of control to Winnie and her: °

family; their natural optimism. .:

has revived: They plan to ‘pay’

for. several . newspaper ads to ; thank well wishers. . ue Public opinion has ‘meted out punishment « far more -severe,". Zn swift, and long lasting than the ©. Young Offenders. Act. ever © could, .