oe EMBs

Sell SCI undercut

- Get this unused timber to someone who can use it

Dear Sir:

The article in the Sept. 11, 2002 issue of The Terrace Standard outlines the undercut of li- cences by Skeena Cellulose over the last five _ years.

SCI has logged approximately 35 per cent less - wood than it should have in the northwest over the five-year cut control period. Those are the _ tules that all companies have to live by. Use it or - lose it. This 35 per cent undercut represents 35 per - cent less direct revenue to the Crown, 35 per cent less taxation to the Crown, 35 per cent less . jobs to the people of the Pacific Northwest.

“As the owners of the wood, this is too much of a business loss to take without our government taking action. After all, the Liberal government

is supposed to be business-like,

‘1 am not concerned with penalties, The licen-

People need to go back to work. The government needs revenue. This should be a no-brainer deci- sion.

see did not live up to terms of agreements and cut control regulation.

At least take the 35 per cent undercut of 3.4 ~ million cubic metres and immediately start sell-

ing timber sales competitively to fill government -

' coffers with stumpage and tax money from em- ployees and companies.

_~ People need to go back to work. The govern- “.-ment needs revenue. This should be a no-brainer decision.

This 3.4 million cubic metres is approximately 10 times the current annual AAC of the Kalum Small Business Program. [t would also go to- wards answering some American requirements ‘for more competitive sales of logs.

ll. Don S, Coburn

Terrace B.C.

_ Nisga’a gov’t lauded for watershed decision

“Dear Sir: > Since Nisga’a negotiations began, about 10 years ago, I’m finally able to congratulate Nisga’a Government for assembling their land- use program, which prevents logging in our non- Nisga'a watershed. Unlike the provincial foresters whose only ob- jective was to get a pat on the back or a promo- _ tidn’fér‘raping this watershed, the Nisga’a ‘people have, understood the bad ‘position they could put us:in by affecting our water supply. They have also understood that holding the hammer doesn’t mean you have to smash everything within reach.

‘T-hope this act of goodwill will continue throughout other land claim areas. Non-native re- --sidents living within the boundaries of native ’ land claims deserve special resident status rather ‘than being thrown into the pot with all other third _. party. outsiders.

‘ That creates an atmosphere of working toge- ther as a neighbourly group rather than constantly ‘fighting for equal rights and generating bad fee!- ings.

My compliments go out to the person or per- » sons who turned this situation around and took the time to give us a compassionate understand-

"Lloyd Brinson Nass Camp B.C.

Bus policy inexplicable

Dear Sir:

I am writing to you on behalf of the students of Caledonia and Skeena that have previously used the schocl bus service to and from Uplands.

I didn’t take the bus to school, bul many of my classmates did, and they find it an inconve- nience to have to walk, or get parents and friends to drive them to and from school.

If the bus schedule was affected because of _ Money shortage or lack of bus drivers it would be a different story.

“From what I was told by the people working in my school, it’s because of the lack of transporta- - tion on the south side.

"J am not aware of what is going on but would

-- like to find out the reasoning behind the bus can- . cellations.

<P reeall at least four or or five buses running to

7” Uplands last year, and even mow some still do,

Just. the other day I walked up to a bus stop-

ping at Caledonia (the school I altend) and I

‘asked the bus driver if this bus went to Uplands. He said yes, so I started to get on when he stop- a ped. me and said “sorry miss, we don’ t take Ca-

Jedonia or Skeena students anymore.”

“This puzzled me because around one third of

the bus was full with younger students, there was = plenty-of space, yet he wasn’t willing to take 15 “». Of us who now had to walk up Lanfear hill to get “home, “This isn't a critical problem at the moment, but during the winter months when the weather is ‘ colder,.it would be nice to know that buses will ‘be available to us as well as the other students in the. area,

Cassy Murphy Terrace B.C.

‘What does this mean?

the interests of its community. With this in mind, I was disappointed to see the placement of four

"CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD

The Mail Bag

THE ‘COOK chill’ food preparation and storage sytstem now in used at Mills Memorial Hos- pital and at Terraceview Lodge was unveiled in 2000. That’s Dieter Kuntz, former CEO of the old Terrace and Area Health Council and council member Les Watmough testing the

fare during a demonstration at Mills Memorial.

Hospital food no place to look for cost savings

‘Dear Sir:

This letter i is in response. ito the Sept 25, 2002 - Mills s, Memorial, only on: the’ ideas for “further

article “Health workers to get “job word by end of year.”

Perhaps Cholly Bolland, the Northern Health Authority official, should plan a stay at the Mills Memorial Hospital for about three days before he makes any further cuts to the food, cleaning and support workers.

Recently I had to spend three days in the hos- pital and two meals out of nine were edible.

How is it possible to prepare raisin toast two days in advance? Oh that’s sight. You prepare it, flash freeze it, and then when it’s to be served you stick it on a slab of pineapple and reheat it. The end resulis will amaze you!

As for the cleanliness of the hospital, I highly recommend you use the slippers provided or you'll end up with things I won’t even mention in your bed.

This letter is in no way a‘reflection of the staff,

cuts.

Menu systems will help cut | waste, which in turn will | cut costs. Proper prepara- tion of food goes a long long way,

Mr. Bolland should be for- ced to eat three meals a day for three days prior to

| his final decision to further | cuits.

Those of us who will at one time or another be required to have a stay in the hospi- tal will survive the food. But what about those at Terraceview Lodge? Lesley Allison Terrace B.C.

Cholly Bolland

cern of school district officials over declining en- rolment and the subsequent loss to the district of additional monies. Page Ald, the rear facing page, contained a report on the non-opening of a newly constructed school and a revelation about a pol-smoking student.

Hidden on page B3, near the list of entertain- ment in the local bars and theatres, was a short column listing the outstanding provincial exam results of significant number of Caledonia stu- dents.

Does the placement of these items, then, re- flect the educational priorities in Terrace?

Bon McLeod Terrace B.C.

‘Hide and seek

Dear Sir:

‘Ever tried to find a passed over family mem- ber, friend or anyone else who is placed at the Terrace municipal cemetery?

Well be sure to bring a lunch with you, be- cause as a stranger, it can take you about a day or more to find whoever you’re looking for. —

People who were in tears at the burial can have difficulty remembering the location later on.

Myself, [ could not remember where my fami- ly member was placed.

After phoning around, [ found out the city’s parks and recreation superintendent, Steve Scott, was in charge of the cemetery.

I requested and was sent a small map of the ‘Ferrace grave sites, with the approximate resting place,

This is helfpul, but what happens to out-of- town visitors who don’t know who to call? Or who arrive on a weekend?

It might sound embarrassing, but even with

this map in hand, searching, I almost felt like we were playing a game of hide-and-seek.

Sounds funny. Well it isn’t - I don’t think any- ,.

one visiting a grave site is in the mood for play-

. ing games,

So why not a grave sile marking layout ~ a

_insery at the cemetery that visitors could oak. " at to see who is buried where?

I was told the original plan for the cemetery didn’t look far enough into the future. That might have been so, but we are in that future now.

Well, it “changes” every week, 1 was told, “It changes.”

Sure, there are new placings, but what else changes? Do the older placings move around at night time? Don’t think so myself. —

- For the amount of money charged for burial (not including casket) - $265 for the plot, $340 for opening and closing, $158 for a liner and $53 GST for a total of $816 — surely some sort of dir- ectory should be possible.

So, Mr. Scott, let’s look into this again and not just say “Yes, yes, yes, it’s a good idea.”

That's what I was told a couple years back also. And still nothing is done about this problem.

| hope nobody ever has to endure this painful game of hide-and-seek.

Ray Drooger Terrace B.C,

Find real 9/11 culprits

Dear Sir:

Spare us the feel good jingoisms, Aron Stru- mecki (Terrace Standard column, “The Lessons of 9/11”, Sept. 11, 2002.)

Osama bin Laden, Bush's business partner, if he hit the trade centre at all, did it under the au- spices of the U.S. government.

Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Meyers are as guilty as sin, and we all know it.

Osama was allowed to escape (as reported by —

the BBC) in a convoy of over 1,000 vehicles be- fore the afore promised “carpet of bombs” was ‘delivered to Pipelinestan.

The U.S. Air force was ordered to stand down . on 9/1t and standard operating procedures in’ -

case of hijackings were neglected as the twin’ reichsiags were exploded due to an explosive ag-' gregate having been mixed into the concrete, not due to the planes flown in via remote AWACS using Global Hawk Technology.

And so we launched an illegal war of aggeres- sion against:a relatively unarmed opponent.

“And now people like you set us up to gO afier . unarmed and. half-starved Iraq... no,

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, October 2, 2002 - AS

You want to know who is behind 9/11? T'H tell you. It was the 100,000 missing Kuwaiti incuba- tor babies who did it to protest ethnic cleansing.

Seott Alexander Cowie Terrace B.C,

Airport takeover wrong

Dear Sir:

Thanks for printing the airport article, page All, in the Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2002 Terrace Standard.

And thanks to Rick Reed and Curtis Grad for their outspoken comments.

John Maxwell is going to install wings on the baggage handlers and others.

All this would not have happened if the Ter- race cily council had held a referendum before the takeover,

Instead, council rammed it ‘through, which meant expanding the city boundaries; thus an- other community 11.2 km distant. Kitimat, at the time, refuse to participate.

It is also frightening that we are dependent on Thornhill and Terrace Fire departments in the event of a fatal crash.

The way out of this physical and financial mess is a vole (referendum) backing the council in informing Ottawa that we have stopped opera- ting and are no longer responsible for its man- agement. Don’t worry, Kitimat will not allow it to be shut down.

“What has happened to the airport society? Does it publish periadicaliy a profit and loss sta- fement?

Please keep in mind that we are commilted to a million dollar fire station at Kenney and Park.

Gerald Dufus Terrace B.C.

Pro-Alaska boosterism ignores threat of road

Dear Sir:

In a recent letter to the Terrace Standard Lome Sexton attempted to defend the Bradfield- Craig Road that Alaskan officials are currently promoting in closed-door meetings with their B.C. counterparts.

Unfortunately, rather than provide any infor- mation whatsoever that would demonstrate eca- nomic benefits to B.C. from the road, he imme- diately descended into mudslinging and ill-in- formed attacks on groups that are trying to shed some light on this Alaskan proposal. As a repre- sentative of one of the groups badmouthed in Mr. Sexton’s letter, [ am happy to set the record straight. .

Sexton's first point is that there are lots of roads to the U.S., our largest trading partner, which he feeis proves that the Bradfield-Craiz road is also a good idea.

If the road is such a great idea, why have British Columbia governments never supported the idea in the decades since the Alaskans first proposed it? Why did Liberal MLA Bill Belsey State this year that he is not interested in the road?

The information we have provided was not --produced by- environmental organizations,:but ra- . ther came,directly from, a long. sesies of Alaskan _and B.C. studies,,that ,cléarly demonstrate ;the Bradfield-Craig road would be damaging to B.C. communities and economic interests, and parti- cularly to Stewart, Terrace and Prince Rupert.

Does Mr. Sexton have any new information to prove otherwise?

He then attacks the groups that put the ad for- ward, calling them “well-funded U.S. environ-

‘mental proups.”

In fact the groups supporting the ad are: the B.C. Labour-Envirenmental Alliance Society, the T. Buck Suzuki Foundation, Friends of the Sti- kine, and the Transboundary Watershed Alliance. All are B.C. organizations with the exception of the Transboundary Watershed Alliance, which has its headquarters in B.C. but includes both B.C, and Alaskan organizations in its member- ship.

Neither my organization nor any of the others “seek to stop all development.” In fact, we all work very hard to support sustainable economic growth,

It’s no secret that this region is in trouble, or that short-sighted approaches touled by Sexton and people like him have failed miserably to provide economic security to northern communi- ties.

It appears Mr, Sexton is inventing anti-deve- lopment boogiemen to make up fer the fact that he has no evidence to counter our very strong and conclusive evidence that the road is a bad idea for B.C. communities.

Mr. Sexton seems strangely paranoid about U.S. foundation money, yet eager to have B.C.’s development dictated to us by the government of Alaska. In joining the Alaskan interests cheer- leading this toad, he ignores the solid evidence we pravided and history itself.

‘B.C. fishermen sit on the beach to protect Skeena coho while Alaskans harvest them, That same Alaska fishing industry supports the Brad- field-Craig road that would allow them to bypass Prince Rupert’s canneries and fish plants.

They are equally indifferent to the negative impacts on the growing tourism economies in Prince Rupert and elsewhere in the B.C. north- west and they would love to help themselves to raw B.C. mineral and timber resources to gener- ate the more lucrative processing and manufac- turing jobs on the Alaska side.

Mr. Sexton's pro-Alaska boosterism and child- ish swipes at environmentalists do not change any of these facts.

David MacKinnon, coordinator Transboundary Watershed Alliance Whitehorse, Yukon

“About the Mail Bag

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