A4 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 6, 2002 TERRACE . STANDARD ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, [988 PUBLISHER: ROD LINK ADDRESS: 3210 Clinton Street Terrace, B.C. * V8G 5R2 TELEPHONE: (250) 638-7283 * FAX: (250) 638-8432 WEB: www.terracestandard.com EMAIL: standard@kermode.net George Petty WAY BACK in 1986, the first time George. Petty of Repap bought Skeena Cellulose, he was the beneficiary of a $75 million loan from the B.C. Development Corporation, a provincial agency. At least one experienced woods industry obser- ver up here will tell you he liked that. It gave the province a handle on Repap’s financial dealings in that the development corporation knew what was going on because of the loan. As soon as the loan was repaid, Skeena Cellulose was no longer beholden to the development corporation and the rest, as they say, is history. By 1997, deep in debt and leveraged to the max, Skeena Cellulose collapsed. Mr. Petty was demonized, Hundreds of people protested on the arena hill, some carrying placards branding him public enemy number one. Today Mr. Petty’s back as chair of NWBC Timber and Pulp Ltd., the new owners, for a knock-down price of $6 million, of Skeena Cellulose. Last fall we published a lengthy defence of Mr. Petty from Daniel Veniez, president of NWBC and a one-time senior Repap executive. Mr. Petty, said Mr, Veniez, did everything he could to save Skeena but ultimately had to give way to the bankers. Indeed, Mr. Veniez said Skeena Cellu- lose took Repap down, not the other way around. Mr. Petty’s vision was sound, but things didn’t work out on the money end. This week, on the facing page, there’s a letter from Mr. Veniez. He has every hope and confi- dence in his plan for Skeena Cellulose. “And the level of community support for the opportunity — and. more-4 important, ‘the commitment of commu {-' nities to be actively involved in securing their fu- ture through it — is so resolute that I must here acknowledge it, embrace it, and salute it.” Mr. Petty may be a visionary. Mr. Veniez may have a plan. He’s charmed the pants off diverse factions from mayors to workers to union bosses, promising payment of property taxes, aid for contractors, even profit-sharing, And let’s not forget that Mr. Petty pulled this kind of thing off once before, the first time he bought Skeena Cel- lulose, Mr. Petty’s return can only mean he is deter- mined to move Skeena Cellulose, now a defeat, back into his personal win column. If Mr, Petty is successful, we will all be winners, But this time let’s do things differently. We don’t have a provincial loan allowing us to keep an eye on things. So let’s, to use Mr. Veniez’s word, embrace NWBC-. Let’s ask it to publish monthly financial statements - what’s going in, what’s going out. Let’s have a list of all of the investors. Let’s find out who is getting paid what. Let’s not have the northwest find out again that the emperor has no clothes. PUBLISHER /EDITOR: Rod Link ADVERTISING MANAGER: Brian Lindenbach PRODUCTION MANAGER: Edouard Credgeur NEWS: Jeff Nagel 2001 WINNER NEWS/SPORTS Sarah Zimmerman CCNA BETTER . 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Storias, phetographs, illustrations, designs and typostyles In the Terraca Standard are tha property of the copyright hotdars, including Gatiboo Press (1969) Lid. ifs illustration rapt services and advertising agencias, Roproducion in whole oF in part, without written ponmilon, (s specilically prohibited, ; Authorized as second-class mail pending the Post Offica Dapartment, fer payment of postage in cash. Speclal thanks to all our contributors and correspondents for their time and talents FOUR LONG NEARS OF SACRIFICE WAS WORTH iT To WIN THE GOLD FOR, CANADA MAKES ME FEEL Goop To BE A WOMAN HOCKEY y PLAYER. od — SACRIFICE? To WIN THE GOLD FOR CANADA... ... MAKES ME FEEL Good TO BE A MAN WITH A 4 MIL.U.S. NHL c <2 Z; ZZ. CONTRACT. @iaseca2 Ease Up those reins, Mr. Premier VICTORIA — Who was it that said “the art of governing is to not alienate the vast majority of people in the centre of the political spectrum, while keeping the lunatic fringe on either side happy?” Gh yeah, that was me, back in the days of Solidarity, the extra-parliamentary opposition that was spawned by Bill Ben- neti’s restraint program. It’s hardly @ new and bril- liant insight. Politicians have made use of the strategy since time immemorial. Alas, the peasants are revolting and the lunatics are coming out of the woodwork as a result of the Liberal government’s agenda. I don’t care how often Gor- don Campbell, the premier, tells us that he is determined to make British Columbians swallow the bitter medicine he says is needed to take the pro- vince to a new and glorious future. When, he needs. RCMP body: ‘guards | and some brain- less idiot commits the crime of fire-bombing his consti- tuency office in Vancouver, when 20,000 people show up on the lawns of the Parliament Buildings in Victoria to tell him they hate his guts, it’s perhaps time for the premier to take W.A.C. Bennett’s famous second look. I'm not suggesting Camp- bell scrap his entire agenda. That won’t happen. But maybe for starters he can reign in his A trium ONCE AGAIN women Afghanistan openly practice an old custom of “making mu- lida’, an informal get toge- ther of a few women, probably neighbours, similar to our North American coffee klats- ches minus kids and the grip- ing about insensitive hus- bands, ungrateful children, and interfering in-laws. To make mulidah, the women meet in one of their homes ta visit, drink tea, and snack on a cake secret to all but other women. Men are for- bidden to learn the ingre- dients, the appearance, or the taste of the cake. Legend has it one man who insisted upon knowing more about the secret cake later became blind. A female CNN reporter, tiny camera in hand, was invi- ted to observe. She was not permitted to film or even to verbally describe the secret cake to viewers. At the filmed party, stubby candles nestled in cups of sand dimly lit the sparsely fur- nished room of a typical Afghan home. Women discar- ded their burkas to blossom like flowers sensuously sway- FROM THE CAPITAL HUBERT BEYER shock troops a bit, turn down the rhetoric. It doesn’t exactly help him when his esteemed Minister of Finance, Gary Collins, tells a friendly audience of well-to-do business folks that for 10 years, British Columbia re- sembled Cuba, but that Fidel Castro (Glen Clark et al) have finally been relegated to the political. trash heap. - _ Not only is red-baiting, a bit. ‘out of fashion and somewhat childish since the Soviet em- pire collapsed, its also not wise to insult 37 per cent of the electorate that normally votes NDP. As one of my readers sug- gested, Campbell should take his finance minister behind the woodshed. Campbell has already shown that he is able to admit having made a mistake, al- though I still find it hard to be- THROUGH BIFOCALS CLAUDETTE SANDECKI ing to faint music, diaphanous veils floating about their heads and shoulders. Clear glass mugs of steaming tea to hand, _they sang, chatted, and joked. A religious undertone guides the making of wishes as a part of the ritual. These days Afghan women wish for peace, health,and security like all mothers. Though the six-year Taliban regime treated women like sub-human outcasts, beating them at random, forbidding them to work even to feed a WELL Tite VOLUNTEER SPIRIT OFTAIS COMMUNITY WILE pee CERTAINLY MAKE THIS GROUP aICFFECTIVE AND... ( oS [ wole-0° lieve that he came up with the idea of taking the $45-a-year bus passes for poor seniors away in the first place. Talk about a no-brainer. Back in the 80s, when Bill Bennett put on the tough act, there was a real danger of a general strike. That’s not in the cards this time, Even labour leaders admit that. They would rather see their members work than go on strike. What is disconcerting is the ugly mood that has gripped the province. Jim Hume, a friend and fellow columnist of mine suggests that Campbell is merely following the script of the old master of B.C. politics, W.A.C Bennett, shoving all the bad news down our throats during the first year of his mandate, loosening his draco- nian grip somewhat in year two and three, only to rain goodies on us in year four, leading up to the next election. sos TI-believe it when J see i Campbell‘ is no WAC) T b “Old Man” was one of a’ kind,” He was fiercely rightwing when it suited him, but didn’t bat an eyelid when he “nationalize” British Colum- bia’s energy and transportation industries by creating B.C. Hydro and B.C. Ferries, social- ist moves by any other name. You will see no such poli- cies emanating from this gov- ernment. Campbell and his ca- binet, truly and unapologetic- ally pursue a right-wing agen- their families, torturing and killing women on a whim, neighbours still congregated in secret to make mulidah, For the women to meet and make mulidah even at the risk of Taliban retaliation proves their family men supported the women. Mulidahs can go on for five or six hours. The hus- bands and fathers had to be looking after themselves and the kids while Moms relaxed together. The mulidah shown on CNN lacked western party props of takeout foods and stereo music. The party resembled a homesteader visit where neighbourliness, conversation, and sharing experiences drew them together and entertained them. Throughout the bombard- ment of news reports and do- cumentaries from Afghanistan since the Twin Tower attack of September 11, I’ve seen brief glimpses of women struggling to hang on to their familiar methods of housekeeping de- spite the crushing oppression of demented rulers. Through it all Afghan da, which is fine if the broad masses are in agreement. They are not. Not anymore. ; The premier will ignore Sa- turday’s protest rallies at his own peril. He may be tempted to just attribute it to angry trade union leaders. That would be a mistake. Just as the busi- ness leaders cheering him on at chambers-of-commerce meet- ings are actually few in num- ber, compared to the general electorate, so the union leaders are not the only ones to con- demn his policies. There is a growing anger out there, an anger that govern- ment cannot afford to ignore. Rightly or wrongly, a lot of people who voted for this gov- emment feel betrayed. , Maybe they simply believed - what they wanted to believe during the election campaign nine months ago, but right now, they feel that they didn’t vote ne what this government is oe AA Cp voll Pie "erst ththg’ ne" pPéthier ‘ should’dé right about now is to tell his people to tone down the inflammatory rhetoric. Then he should meet with some of the groups that are so up in arms. Saying he is not interested in the protest rallies but will watch the Olympics at home is’ not exactly statesman-like. Beyer can be reached at: E-mail: hubert@coolcom.com; Tel (250) 381-6900; Web http://www. hubertbeyer.com oh for Afghan women women have scuttled about raising their families despite no help and heaps of misery from their government. They even succeeded in sending some of their girls to underground schools regardless of the risk to their lives. These glimpses of family life shine bright as sunlight through the gloom of hardship and hunger. Watching three Afghan women, freed of burkas, dan- cing for the freedom of it, ad- mired by a quiet audience of tea drinkers delighted me as much as any Salt Lake City performance. It also reminded me of the Saturday night my Mom and three aunts tested her dande- lion wine after we kids were thought to be asleep. One touch of the bottle opener and the metal cap turned inside out chipping the ceiling plaster while. 90 per cent of the sticky ‘liquid drooled down the walls. , From the Jaughing and hilar- ity that ensued, you’d have - guessed they'd drunk a bottle each. VOLUNTEER din AY. FIRE DEPARTMENT!