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Page 4, The Herafd, Friday, April 10, 1981

Ort KIWI

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-in the ‘Herald.

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_might be in

TTERS TO

To the Editor: : Was it an April Fool? -I

read last week in your paper _ that the Golden Rule, a local °

employment agency, has

had its funding cut off. No, | this sounds only too typical .

of government economizing, to cut out $551 a month, only to pay untold more dolfars in unemployment insurance and social assistance.. When I arrived. -in Terrace, some years ago, I was looking for a job. Many

people I talked to suggested

Igo tothe Golden Rule, and after an unproductive visit to Canada Manpower, 1 decided I had nothing to lose. That same day Ihada job.

Juanita Hatton knows. everyone in the community’ |

While I was in her olffice,. -

people came in to tell her how their jobs were, or what the prospects for work various industries.

Not only did Ms. Hatton find me a job, but that same week she travelled to where

Iwas working, ten miles oui, ;

Government failure. §

____THE EDITOR _

-of Terrace, » make ure that all was well, You can understand why I am .s0 impressed with her, She

_ takes a personal j interest i in.

"people, ’

What is never considered in these, budget cuts is the lives of people. Looking for a jobis miserable work, and

I can tell you from bitter. experience, that Canada. ‘Manpower is useless to. -, anyone wanting a job. The

system just doesn’t work.

The Golden Rule also alleviates ail the frustration of .. dealing

_ counseller, -only to be told

that people witli” certain .

training must goto another department,.or that I was

. missing ‘some essential

" document, :

“However, my "intention here is no to berate the “federal agency, but rather ‘fo expreas how effective a smail office and one woman can be in putting jobs and People together. » ; Yours truly, Frances Kerman

| articles dealing with the Kitimat Valley and ita potential as -

in the Valley. ‘This third articles reviews the productive capacity of the

- timber licences in the Valley, the investments in trees and

. ’ Kitimat Valley either through regenerating naturally or by contain a mixed stand of Western hemlock, balsam,

with © bureaucracy. I have spent hours waiting to see a

The Ministry of Foresis has proposed creation of a Provincial Forest over approximately 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres) of the Kitimat Valley, This area is the logged land bounded on the South by the Kitimat Municipal

boundary (Cablecar Subdivision), on the North by Onion }

Lake, and on the East and West sides by the base of the

mountains. As part of this proposal, the Ministry of Forests §

expects to hold a public meeting to discuss this project. The Association of B.C. Professional Foresters (ABCPF) supports the concept of a Provincial Forest and feets it is important the public be made aware of the Provincial

Forest Program. The Prince Rupert Regional Public ,

Affairs Committee of the ABCPF has put together several

a designated Forest. The first two articles published dealt - with the value of the forest resource to British Columbia, - legislation concerning Provincial Forests, the history of. the.

intensive forestry projects, and alternative uses of the land

lands within the proposed Kitimat Provincial Forest. The productive nature of the land is seen by its ability to grow , Tees. A new forest has been established over much of the

Planting seedlings. Those areas regenerating naturally

Western red cedar, and lesser amounts of Sitka spruce and Lodgepole pine. Most of the planted trees are Sitka spruce and Western hemlock, The spruce is planted on the Valley ‘bottom on reasonably moist sites and the hemlock is Hlanted on the drier sites, and slopes above. Some pine , Jarch, and red cedar have been planted in small quantities with the larch and pine specifically planted on severe sites in an effort io rehabilitate the Kat ,Fire Area. Reforeatation in the Kitimat Valley Is a comparatively | recent event, with the first plantation established on the Onion Lake Flats in 1970. In that year 6 hectares (18.acres) were planted with Sitka spruce. History has shown that initial growth was steady but not spectacular until 1976 at which time growth rates doubled. This increased growth has carried on each year and the same growth pattern has

called unacceptable

OTTAWA (CP) — Failure of the federal government and

moat provinces to provide for protection of children riding

in automobiles is unacceptable, says McMaster University

surgery professor P.R. Knight.

“It is beyond time when such foot-dragging can be tolerated," he says in an article published in the Canadian Family Physician. "How much more time can we afford in terms of lives lost?” .

Knight called for. immediate Gttawa actiog on recom- mendations of a study group of car seats And similar rontraiat systems to protect youngsters involved in ac-

ents, . .

The group's report, made public in January, 1960, called for new standards for restraint systems under the Hatardous Products Act and a public education program to promote child passenger safety.

“A year has passed and no action has been taken to im- plement this report’s far-reaching and comprehensive recommendations,” Knight complains.

The article says provincial governments hide behind Ot- tawa in not requiring the use of seat belts on their own. Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and Saskatchewan have mandatory selt-belt laws, but only Saskatchewan requires restraints for children under the age of five.

“Something like one vehiclein 12 is Involved in some type of accident each year,’. Knight writes. “Every trip therefore constitutes a risk. Every trip must be a protected one and the law must demand this.”

Knight also maintains that family doctors and hospitals should promote chr safety among the people they serve. Pregnant women should be reminded of the need to use seat belts and doctors should tell all patients that the risk of being killed while riding in a moter vehicle is the single biggest danger their children face.

“This constitutes the commonest cause of death in chil- dren below age 15 and amounts to more than the next four causes of mortality combin

Knight says babies are particularly at rink, beginning

with the time a child only afew days old is taken home from

the hospital by a proud mother sitting in the front seat of the family car. -

“This is the most dangerous position possible and the mother has no hope whatever of protecting the baby in the event of an accident," he soys.°

1973 planted Sitka spruce in Valley.

PLANTED 1972

BRITISH COLUMBIA FOREST SERVICE

Western hemlock plantation near Onion Lake and Highway 25.

béen repeated on every area planted in the valley, In all cases the trees start slowly but ence the reot systems have been established, four to six years after planting, they suddenly “release"’ and double thelr growth rate. Areas seemingly bare are “‘instantly” green as the trees “release” and growth becomes obvious. Area realdenta will have noted this on the Onion Lake flats where in the last two years thearea West of the highway is now covered with

“trees. It was planted in 1972 but it wasn't until 1979 that the

plantation became noticeable and probably within 10 years the trees wil] have grown enough to obscure the view of the mountains to the West,

Growth in the Kitimat Valley is good, but how does it compare with olher areas along the Coast? Direct comparisons are not possible at this time as the Kitimat — plantations are too young to have empirical data collected — on them. Growth and yield plots, where long term measurements of height and volume are taken, are not ' generally established until the trees are at least 20 years old, and the oldest Plantation i in the Valley has been in the ground only {1 years,

Subjective comparigons can be made however. Foresters who have work experience in other regions of the Province have noted the excellent growth of Kitimat Valley plantations. It has been pointed out that Sitka spruce plantations in the Valley exhibit growth rates comparable to the spruce on the Queen Charlotte Islands, the area generally acknowledged to have the best growing conditions for Sitka spruce in the Province. If perhage' the Young forest is not the best in the Province itis not: behind. The size of the spruce log at the fomer Kitimat Ranger station is an indicator of productive capacity of the Valley

. Glaciation history and present climate are the factors

which make the Valley productive forest land, :

Glaclal action deposited a thick layer of till and gravel materia] throughout the Valley and the result is a wide, relatively flat valley bottom. The high percentage of gravel In the soil structure tends to discourage any agricultural - plans but is no impediment to tree growth. There is good enough fine materials (ailts and clays), to hold and provide. nutrients. Particular areas contain deep gravels not suitable for intensive forest management and these would be suftable for industrial parks.

Climate is the other factor affecting forest growth. The: climate seems to be ideal, for despite the local climatic extremes of hot, drought conditions to freezing rains, the plantations continue to maintain excellent growth. The

~ soils high gravel coritent ensures fast soil drainage but the

abundant rainfall and snow compensates for this. Sunlight has been suggested a3 a limiting factor yet growth remains . good whether it is a bot, dry summer ora wet, cool ane. © “There has been inveatwnent in dollars and trees in the Kitimat Valley. Over 4.4 million treea have been planted. Intensive forest management projects such as thinning (juvenile spacing) have been started and completed. These

, projects and more like them will have to be done in the’

future if we are to realize the full growth potential of the land.

The proposed Kitimat Provincial Forest will provide a. fibre source for the area mills, will provide employment for

peters, tree planters, thinning contractors, equipment and:

ers; and will provide recreation and fisheries*.

opportualiles for Kitimat and Terrace residents. 4 Provincial Forest designation will ensure the work done td"

date will be continued and expanded and future proposed . land olienations will have to take into account. the. ~

productive capacity of the lapd.

We're nearing end of 54 years of disagreement

OTTAWA (CP) — Since 1927, when the provincial govern: ments first started talking about bringing the constititution home from Britain, there has been disagreement over an amending formula.

Everybody thought patriation of the British North America Act was a good idea but the provinces and the federal government — Uespite some near misses — have been unable to agree on a formula to amend It once it Is here. ‘

Must the federal government and all 10 provinces agree to any future amendment or would the support of a amailer number be enough? Should the provincea with the largest populations, such as Ontario and Quebec, have more weight - than, say, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland or Saskatchewan?

Should the majority be allowed to force changes onthe |

minority who oppase them or should provinces have the right to say no and opt cut of ceriain amendments? Should a

provinee get financial compensation if it opts out of an .

amendment that involves spending of tax dollars? . The eight premiers fighting the Trudeau constitutional

package will meet here April 16 to put the flalshing touches

on analtemative constitutional proposal -- and once again

the amending formula will be the major focus of their talks. The premiers are expected to unveil an amending for-

mula that |s an alternative to the one proposed by Prime

Minister Trudeau.

~ A national survey by The Canadian Press shows the eight

opponents — every province but Ontario and New Brun- swick — don’t like the amending formula proposed by Trudeau because it gives greater weight to the provinces with the most population.

"They also cbject to the principle in the Trudeau formula

‘that all provinces must abide by the decision of the majority of votera in Ontario, Quebec, any two Atlantic

majority. They want the right to opt out,

Trudeau and other opponents of this opt-out provision say it would result in an urieven application of constitutional rights, something they refer to derisively as “checkerboard © Canada.”

The opposing provinces particularly dislike the part of the Trudeau formula that would allow the federal govern- . ment to circumvent the provincial governments in the | event of a deadlock and go directly to the people by calling a national referendum on future constitutional amendments,

They say a referendum would divide the country if it pitted the interests of one part against another and they say it ignores the federal system and eliminates the incentive o

compromise. Their. worst fears are of the ted " government manipulating the public through a slick advertising cam-

paign and then launching a national referendum. The Alberta government, for example, has told its residents the

’ other provinces could gang up and take the province's

resources.”

‘The Trudeau formula is a revised version Of the so-called ** Victoria formula, named after the city where it was agreed .’ to by the 10 provinces and the federal government in 171, ‘Quebec and Saskatchewan later backed.out.- +.

. Itagys that anamendment must be backed by the federal government, any province that has or has ever bad 35 per cent of the population (Ontario and Quebec), at least two of _ the four Atlantic provinces arid at least two: western __ brovinces with at least 80 per eat of the population int the

region.

In the event of a deadlock, the federal government could calla referendum, Tobe approved, two majorities would be required — a national majority of all those voting and majorities in each area identified in the amending formula. In other words, there would have to be support from #

oi

fi,

“CERTAINLY, WALTER CRONKITE, ISN*T IN, CHARGE |

_provinces and at least two western provinces with 50 per -

cent of the population of the region.

_ The Canadian Press aurvey found that among the eight, there Was strong support for the so-called Vancouver for- mula, named after the city where it was first discussed last, summer, —

Under that formula, future constitutional amendments would require the support of the federal government and seven of the 10 provinces with 50 per cent of the population. And the provinces could opt out of certain amendments. '

But the survey also found that among the eight, Nova Scotla is flexible on the formula, willing to back either the Victoria or Vancouver proposal, whichever gets conserisus : support. Saskatchewan alse is flexible, with most of its opposition focused on the referendum proposal, Premier Allan Blakeney has demanded that the provinces also be given the right to cail a referendum. And he is willing to give mare weight to the provinces with the largest popu-

‘lations.

The other six back the Vancouver formula but British Co- lumbla, Alberta and Quebec all said they want unspecified: | refinements. ,

The Herald welcomes its readers comments, All letters to the editor of general public interest will be printed. We do, however, retain the right - to refuse to print letters on grounds of possible .

libel or bad taste. We may also edit letters for style and length. All letters to be considered { for. |: publication must be signed, :

TTT a 7 . orn ; - ; a:

“VN give you something to : ease the pain.’

*