PAGE 4, THE HERALD, Tuesday, July 4, 1978 EDITORIAL Now that the Canada Week celebrations for 1976 - the largest ever type of National bash of its kind emphasizing “Unity” is over, we may be excused for taking a cold, dispassionate look at the multi-million dollar extravaganza to see if we really got our money's worth. After all, it. was financed, to a ‘major extent, by your tax dollars and mine. Waving flags, singing Ca-Na-Da, putting on ethnic dances and multi-national productions can be educational, informative - and sometimes highly entertaining. Eut, when it comes to helping cement the weakening foundations and alliances between Quebec and the rest of Canada, the usefulness and value of such hoopla can be questioned. Unfortunately, the reaction of several persons by Richard Jackson OTTAWA OFFBEAT Ottawa,- Well now, Industry Trade. and Commerce Minister Jack Horner is going out for the hard sell. Ho hum. Co. He and his bureaucrats are pushing a ‘‘Shop Canadian” campaign domestically which he calculates will rev up into an export drive. Sell here and sell abroad. That’s the idea. So how’s he doing it? With “Shop Canadian” logos, stickers and tage, and $1.7 million in advertising. Original, what? . Remember Commander Whitehead? The handsome, spade-bearded Englishman who flogged Schweppes into the lead in the sales race of mixers for North America’s drinks? And The Man in the Hathaway Shirt, the gent with the trendy black patch over the eye? . Path-finders, trail-makers in big-time salesmanship. Proved on the balance sheet, in the corporate annual report, on the bottom line. CA-NA-DA And U-NI-TY I know who watched the three hour CBC special Sunday telecast did not find the program helping them love Quebec one iota. Quite the opposite. When performer after performer spoke and sang in French - a language most of them could not ‘understand - they became resentful and sar- castic. Simultanaeous English subtitles on the screen might have helped. The sudden appearance on the screen of a group of old time Inuit “live. by satellite’ from Frobisher Bay, banging their seqlskin covered hoop “drums” and shouting ‘Ai-yai-yai" - or similar words with no introduction or ex- planation had the effect of making them appear not only anachonistic - but‘practically.an object of ridicule. As far as I know, there are only two sets of Eskimo (Inuit) Drum dancers in the Coincidentally with jaunty Jack Horner’s excursion into the semi-show world of sales, the British have unleashed another super-salesman on the North American market. | Stepping about Manhattan, starting a con- tinental show-sales tour that will take him across the United States and back through Canada with Stops Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Saint ‘ John and points east is_an Englishman in a cutaway frock coat, silk cravat, and with a silver-lopped walking stick, who is not quite as eccentric as the local cab drivers, winking, would have you believe. . He is Walter Otten, Esquire, who normally reposes in dignity and a conservative Edin- borough blue suit behind a polished desk in London’s Savile Row. ; . ; _ His family’s firm, Wain-Shiell, is a giant in fine fashion men's tailoring, the Rolls Royce of British haberdashery. ; Earlier this year, to celebrate his firm’s B.C. Hydro Studying Hat Creek Coal in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, . entire NWT. Drum dancing is no more typical of the 14,000 Canadian Inuit than is witchcraft among the Anglais. The electric guitar is far more likely to be packed on the back of a skidoo at Baker Lake , Aklavakik, or Pangnirtung than a skin paddle drum. L But - it is so easy to criticize rather than to remedy the complaint. O.K. If it is a remedy - or a “constructive criticism” that is needed - here is a suggestion. Offer every family in Canada a free pass on the government-owned railroads good for one visit per year (round trip) to any part of Canada where the “other” language is spoken. For English speaking Canadians, this would have to be Quebec. For Quebeckers, this would have to centenary, he had his nineteenth century gen- tleman’s garb run up out of his company’s finest cloth. He had fitted his wife, Bruna, in a bustled’ dress of Wain-Shiell’s finest silk, packed some order books and bought a pair of round-the-world air tickets to do a bit of door-to-door salesmanship, with class, for dear old Britain. He has been through Europe, the Middle East- what insatiable buyers are the Arabs!-to Csaka and Tokyo, and on to Hong Kong preaching the excellence of British craftmanship, - Wearing his fetchingly fancy frock coat, he has shown that by resting the company’s chauffeur and parking the Rolls for a few weeks, there is still business to burn for today’s merchant ad- venturers. In Hong Kong he showed those tailors, “ravenous for British suitings,” that the Brits ean gimmick it up too.,.cashmere cloths with 24 carat gold thread costing up to $3,000 the copy. © Frank Sinatra Tn Manhattan super-swinger = _— a me # B.C. Hydro’s principal activity at the site of a potential coal mine and powerplant in the Hat Creek Valley this summer will be a diamond core drilling program. Eight drill rigs and a peak labor force of 40 to 50 workers will be employed dortig’June;’ July” and Purpose of the program is to provide engineering in- formation on the large coal deposit in the north end of the valley, on underground rock formations, and on the quantity and flow of un- derground water. Asmaller number of “workers will remain at the site untli October to monitor assist Hydro in deciding whether or not te apply for government permits to Think small by Jim Smith Happy Birthday Il 1 years ago, anumber of regions lying above the north- ern border of the United States discovered that they shared two serious problems: a fear of being absorbed by their neighbour to the south and se- vere inequalities in the wealth of these regions. In order to prevent the weaker regions from becoming states of the Union, the stronger regions agreed to share their wealth with their weaker counterparts. 111 years, As nations go, Canada is still a pup. But there are serious signs of decay and indications that Canada, white she may live to be 112 or 113, may nat last much longer, In the beginning - and this may be hard to believe - it was not necessary to use July Lst a8 a propaganda tool, a time for slick advertising agencies to sell us Confederation like another brand of tooth paste or bubbly soft drink, Domin- ion Day was just a welcome opportunity to enjoy a sum- mer's day off work and fee! peaceful. Unfortunately, allhough Canadians have, until recently, takert Confederation for grant: ed, forces were building up which would threaten the unity, In particular, we failed to deal whih the {wo Issues ihat creat- ed Confederatlon in the First place. Today, there is more re- gional disparity than ever and Canada has never been more dependent on the Urited Slates, Afier 111 years, the poorest Canadian région - Atlantic Canada - is farther behind the wealthiest region - Alberta - than our forefathers dreamed possible. Meanwhile, our poli- ticians are leading the country towards 2 free trade agree- ment with the United States - a move thal would doom Ca- nada to a future based on the sale of non-renewable re- sources, 111 years ago, Sir John A. Macdonald designed what he believed to be the logical Na- tional Policy. Today, we still follow Macdonald's grand de- sign of tariff barriers, cheap resources and a centralized producing region supported by subsidized transportation of goods to the outlying re- gions, But the National Policy has not worked; not even the industrialized core of the coun- try Is strong today as a result of flerce competitive pressures fram the Third World. Simply stated, Confedera- tion has been a sorry failure. Which is not to say that Con- federation is a bad idea - only that the implementation of the concept has not been up to scratch. We now face only two possibilities: either Confedera- tion is restructured to live up to its original goals (which means that all regions must be allowed to develop their own innovative industries) or else the union will dissalve.. All the puerile good-cheer advertising jingles in the world won't overcome the fact that Confederation has not been good for a greal many Cana- dians, Ottaws owes us all a re- structured Confederation rath er than hoping that o satura: ton advertising campalgn will obscure the flaws. On yes. Happy birthday, Canada. excavate a mine and build a powerplant. Students from the University of British Columbia department of Anthropology and Ar- chaeology, continuing a Hydro-funded program started in 1976, are for summer activities from ancient times until white settlers arrived in the mid- 1800s. The visitors’ reception office at the entrance to Hat Creek valley will be open during the coming tourist season, Monday to Friday, valleys camped at Hat Creek week, From the United Church . Unchurcked Editorials THE RICH CONSIDER EASING THE DEBT BURDEN In Geneva, the rich industrialized nations of the world have been discussing one of the great issues of our time-how to ease the debt burdens of some of the poorest countries on earth. One of the awkward features about the indebtedness of these developing countries is the frequent confusion about the size of the amount owed, and what kind of debt has been contracted by which countries. Although this is somewhat of an oversimplification, it is fair to say that according to the United Nations and the World Bank, the debts owed by all developing countries to the rich world will surpass the staggering figure of $300 billion some time next year. Statistics indicate that the debt burden has been growing by more than 95 percent annually in recent years. The outstanding official debt of the 29 poorest and least developed countries was less than $7 billion in 1975~-but brought interest and capital payments of about $500 million. Yet the $500 million was the equivalent of a whole month's imports for the poorest 29. Now where is some hope of relief at last. Canada, Swit- zerland, the Netherlands and Sweden have led the way ky writing off some of the outstanding loans to the poorest nations. West Germany is ready to convert some if its Third World loans inte gifts. Britain is seriously considering forgiving much of its official debt to the very poor nations, Although commercial bankers tend to have nightmares about the more than $50 billion they have ient to the less developed countries between 1973 and 1976, they can really sleep soundly. It is unlikely that even the poorest countries will allow themselves to be led down the slippery slope to . Mass cancellation of debts and default. This would hardly be in their interest. But the fact is that if the richer governments can see their way clear to help the economies of the very poorest by writing off the official debts, they will be on the way to recovery. The explosion in the poor world debt stems from the $10 billion increase in the annuat oi] bill the poor nations have had to meet during the past four years, Canada and a few other affluent nations have shown the way. It is now up to the United States, Japan, West Germany atid other well-to- do countries tofollow suit and to join a global effort to ease the burdens of the poor. The Modern Miner LETTERS TO THE Desr Editer: North Coast Division, EDITOR be at least one hundred miles beyond Quebec borders, : This, almost certainly, would do more for the state of Canadian unity than all the Canada Day jingoism Ottawa “experts” on bilingualism, bu- culturalism and unity can come up with. Furthermore, the government could set up a bureau to handle exchanges by. French Canadians willing to accept Anglais guests taking advantage of the rail offer, and for English homes willing to play host to guests from uebec. ° This way we, in Canada, would REALLY get to know one another. If, after knowing one another, we found we did not like one another - then - let’s split! Timnity - love it - or leave it! Salesmanship “With A Touch of Class” has been fitted for one with an “‘S" pin-stripe pattern, . ; President Jimmy Carter last year was givena length of Walter Otten’s Wain-Shiell suiting by Prime Minister James Callaghan who had the letters “J” and “‘C” woven into the pin-stripe for himself and the President. _ Mr. Otten has stockpiled $2 million worth of cloth in his two London warehouses-quaint Savile Row and brutishly plain Bermondsey--to guarantee delivery. On the closing continental loop of the trans- world sales blitz-an operation with dash and tone-he already has filled his order books for $500,000 worth of cloth orders for some of the 62 British mills his firm patronizes in Yorkshire, Lancashire, Scotland, Ulster and the West of England. . That's salesmanship, Jack Horner. Selling with showmanship, a touch of the Ritz, . and the class of Claridge’s. AS Pa ..For years now, the public- our walls, We watch the “Think smati" is an editorial message rom the Canadian Federation of Independent Business - The contribution of people to the grawth of the mining industry is highlighted in a newly published 24-page booklet entitled The Modern Miner. A sample copy is available for viewing at the Terrace HERALD office. By describing the Canadian minor's work and way of life, the booklet un- dorlines the importance of human resources to Canada’s national mining industry. The four-colour publication in English and French, was prepared and published by the Mining Association of Canada, It describes in non- technical terms the work metheds and Ilving con- ditions of miners who work underground and of those who extract ore in surface or open-pit mining, es weil as those employed in the concentrators, smelters and refinerics of Canada’s $8.8 billion mining industry. The Modern Miner also outlines how miners are trained, the work safety programs that are in effect, the measures that are being taken to protect the health of workers, and the wide variety of public services and recreational facilities available in modern, well- planned mining com- munities, Copies of the Modern Miner, in English and French are available from the Mining Association of Canada, the national organization of the Industry, whose members account for more than 95 percent of the uutput of metals Geothermal Power . Congratulations on a thought provoking editorial in 20th June isaue of the Herald, . BC, is blessed with many options to meet the energy needs of its. cithesis, In- formed citizens can help to mould opinions and political decision to make the best cholees to meet the many goals of aoclety. . The options Include thermal power using coal, gas and wood waste - pnd gas thermel as well as our old standby Hydro- electric power. -. Geothermal power has not yet become the lowest cost optton economically nor is it without environmental consequences, Aa well as the on-going atudy of Hydro electric sites including the Stiklne-Iskut-Liard Rivers (See 30 June Herald), B.C. Hydro is studying geothermal posaibliities. The present preliminary investigation of the geology and other technical con- siderations of known sites auggests that the Meager Creek area has the most probability for success. . tf the concept is proven auccessful in B.C. then we can have higher hopes of subsequent developments will take place in the Nor- thwest. Yours sincerely, E. T. Davis, Heglonal Manager, B. C, Hydro and Power Authority. Editor's Reply Thank you very much for your Informative response to © our editorial of June 29. Several of our readers have enquired if anything is being seriously attempted to convert waste wood in the Northwest into methanol for fuel. Is B.C, Hydro involved in such research, and if so. how good are the prospects? As to geothermal power- which relatively poor Ieeland has found to be economic-even In the days of cheap electricity and oll- when can we expect definite word on the studies B.C. Hydro is carrying out in our part of the provence? The way it has been ex- plained to us, geothermal power generation is relatively almple: Once a “hat rock" source of suf- ficient duration ls located, water [a directed onto the rock through piping, and the steam generated by the water contacting the hot vock Is canducted through other pipes to drive a steam powered generating station, .. The DAILY HERALD will be more than happy to publish uny simplified reports of studies actually being condneled In British Columbla, (or even elsewhere) by B.C. Hydro. Particularly, through, a they could apply Ww the Pacifle Nutthwest. I'm sure you will agree - has been fed conflicting rumours - in the form of pseudo - “information’' as to the status of the various forms of alternate energy and their nearness to production and appearance on the market. . To date, the public is more confused than ever + and except for ai few ex- perimental solar-power kits and fanciful illustcations In “Selence'' magazines nothing has changed on the home front. . Instead, we are urged {fo insulate our houses with thicker blankets of rock wool and pump in. loone-fill_into prices of fuel for cur cars, gas and oll and electricity for our homes soaring. Each time this happens we are told how lucky we are - compared to other regions of Canada - and the poorer countrles. . Can you give us any simple explanation of how we stand, in Terrace and Kitimat, insofar as a date and cost-of alternate sources of energy? A tall order, maybe but certainly long overdue. 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