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A8 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, May 28, 1997

Few gov't jobs are lost here

LOTS OF shuffling among civil servants is going on in Terrace because of provincial government changes but not many people are losing their jobs.

Local staff representative Shelley Anderson of the British Columbia Government and Service Employees Union says the greatest impact is being felt from the creation of the children and families ministry.

“Bits and pieces from other ministries have been transferred over,’” she said.

While that alone is having an effect, more serious is the attempt by the province to cut its budget by offering buyouts or issuing lny off notices.

“In Terrace, none our people in terms of those with more than three years who are regular employees have been affected,’? said Anderson. But some auxiliaries and those with less than three years of employment have been laid off and are on recall lists, she added,

“We haven't had happen to us what has been happen- ing in places such as Victoria and Vancouver and the lower mainland,’’ Anderson continued. ‘‘People seem to be, for the time being, coping fairly well.’’

But in Dease Lake the impact has been greater with the closure there of the Cassiar Forest District office and converting it to a sub-office of the Bulkley Forest Dis- trict in Smithers, Only nine employees are left there and the rest have been scattered across the province.

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Northwest flunks air quality testing ©

THE ENVIRONMENT ministry's air qual- ity objectives were not reached for the Skeena region this past month.

Most communities experienced poor air quality during the first half of April.

The ministry measures the fine particulate matter daily. Fine particulate matter, also called inhalable particulate, are tiny parti- cles caused from things like car exhaust or smoke from-backyard barbecuing.

These particles can remain in the air for days, penetrating deep into the lungs and causing respiratory problems.

ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY technician Helen Joseph poses with delicate and expensive equipment which daily tracks the quality of our air.

While Burns Lake fared the worst, Ter- race experienced four hours’ of poor air quality.

There is only cause for concem if the Air Quality Index reads higher than 50 micro- grams per cubic meter."In such cases, the ministry issucs a warming to the regional waste manager and” ‘recommends a stop on open burning.

Several communities, like Smithers, : have enforced bylaws in an attempt to regulate open buming. Terrace is not one of them,

The people who are most susceptible are the elderly, children and those with pre- existing lng and heart disease. --

While beehive burners produce the most smoke, backyard garden refuse burning is also a large detriment to the air we breathe and is a cause of great’ discomfort for asthmatic people.

Terrace has its own TEOM, the instru- ment that measures the particulate matter in the air. It lias been in operation for a year now. Up to date recorded air quality in- formation is available at 638-6513.

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if you are not on the list of electors, you can still register and vote on polling day; just make sure you bring identification . that shows your name, address and signature. —

For more information, call Elections Ganada at 4-800-INFO-VOTE (1-800-463-686 TTY/TDD: 1-800-361-8935 | Internet: http:/www.elections

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