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| TEBHACE |

ANNIVERSARY

2003

>. VOL. 16-NO, 29.

‘Wednesday, October 22, 2003.

City wide open to holiday s

Failed by-law would
have permitted

only three stat days

By JEFF NAGEL
HOLIDAY SHOPPING is now legal in
Terrace after city councillors voted 4-0
to defeat a compromise proposal that
would have let stores open only on
three summer holidays.

The Oct. 14. vote saw holiday shop-
ping opponent Lynne Christiansen join
forces with Marylin Davies and Carol
Leclere — who had spearheaded the
three-day compromise but now see a
chance to win a total victory allowing
wide-open holiday shopping.

“Tam going to change my vote and
vote ‘No’,” Davies said. “Either we're

tury or we're going lo stay wherever
we're going to stay.”

Leclerc said it’s time to get in line
with most other places, noting they
don’t restrict holiday shopping.

Councillor David Hull said he lob-
bied Davies and Leclerc to reverse
their previous votes and defeat the by-
Jaw, which had received three read-
ings, because he says the compromise
served neither side.

The vote sets the stage for a final
all-or-nothing battle between retail
workers who oppose holiday. shopping
and business leaders who favour it.

Christiansen says. she will likely
propose a new bylaw be drawn up to
restrict all shopping on the holidays
that were previously covered under the
provincial Holiday Shopping Act,
which expired Oct. 1.

More shopping on A2
M One city councillor pre-
dicts council will ultimately
give up on the idea of reg-
ulating shopping.

M@ Workers fear stores
would violate a by-law any-
way and simply pay fines.

“There’s a huge majority in the
community who want to keep stat
holidays closed,” she said, adding op-
position will likely increase now.

Because of the legal vacuum,
stores could have opened Thanksgiv-
ing and will likewise be able to open
Remembrance Day. There isn’t enough

time for q
council to ‘
pass a new i
bylaw before 4
Nov. [1 with- 4%
out holding j
special meet- |
ings.

Absent |
from last ¥
week's vote }
was council- 3
lor Rich Mc-
Daniel, who
had previous- '
ly favoured
the three-day
summer-only compromise. Mayor Jack
Talstra tried but failed to convince
council to pass a tabling motion to

Marylin Davies

And councillor Stew Christensen
did not vote. He declared a conflict of
interest when store workers presented
a petition that listed the McBike Shop
- which Christensen owns with his son
— among local businesses against holi-
day openings.

Christensen, who had previously
backed the compromise, said voting
could have been construed as a benefit
to him via the bike shop.

He said his son plans to keep the
store closed on holidays no matter
what council decides. Therefore,
Christensen said voting te block com-
peting bike sellers fram opening on
stats could be seen as potentially
channelling.some sales back to Mc-
Bike. “It’s marginal, "he said. “But:
it’s perception.”

going to become part of the 21st cen-

By JENNIFER LANG

to kids.

about remembrance and the sacrifice of
our veterans.

The legion started selling them in
September, but Terrace’s Branch
13 didn’t approve their sale here
until last week.

Despite reports that some
veterans have complained that
the puppies trivialize a revered
symbol, few of the legion’s
1,600 branches have refused
to sell the dogs.

Poppy Puppies were
pioneered in the U.S., where
the Veterans of Foreign
Wars group sold more than
amillion of them. —

“The first time it was
presented, we said no,
poppies are not for toys,”
explained Terrace’s Mary

year,

Ann Burdett, first vice president of the national execulive and
chair of the poppy and remembrance committee.

“We wanted to rest assured that in no way would the sanctily of
the poppy ever be questioned,” she said, adding debate lasted one

In the end, the executive realized it was vital that the legion

A new way
to relate an
old message

THEY’ RE CUTE, they’ re cuddly, and they’re designed to appeal

The Royal Canadian Legion’s newest venture, plush toys
called Poppy Puppies, aims to teach children

stall the vote until McDaniel returned.

TERRACE'S
Mary Ann.
Burdett, first.
vice president of -
the legion’s _..
national executive,

said the decision to-~

go ahead with Poppy — =

Puppies was mada by: -

a body of 35 people.
representing alli0
Canadian commands. °°

JENNIFER LANG. -
‘PHOTO ©.»

moccame

Cont'd Page A16

ICBC drops
auto death
award appeal

y SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN
THE INSURANCE Corporation of B.C. ICBC) has
‘dropped an appeal of a court-ordered $100,000 award

‘| destined. for a.local. couple after the loss of. their saugh:

ter in an automobile accident.
ny Gordon and Nancy Lee were awarded: the $100, 000
last year after launching e lawsuit connected to the June

. 12, 1999 car crash death of their daughter, Laura.

“The Terrace couple hopes the award — the largest of

c its kind in Canadian history —will’set a precedent for

: other families who lose children .in car crashes,
' “Hopefully by setting a precedent we can help prev-

ent other parents from having’ to deal with ICBC in the
same way,” says Nancy Lee.

. There was no immediate reason from ICBC as to why

: -itdropped the appeal.

“<The Lees sued Aaron

: “Douglas, the driver of the

speeding car involved in a
police chase when il
slammed into the vehicle
carry Laura Lee, 17, and
her Belgian boyfriend Re-
naud Fontaine, 19, at the
intersection of Highways 37
and 16,

When Douglas did not
respond to the suit, ICBC
the defendant

: ‘ through provisions under the

find a way to reach very young children with the message.

She plans to give one to each of her grandchildren,

“I think that overall, we have taken the right step, but we have
to be patient. We are aware that with any change, there will be a

smal! amount of upset or dissension.”

They go on sale here Nov, |

Health workers vote again

HEALTH CARE support workers will vote ear-
ly next week to decide if they’ll take wage
cuts in return for keeping their jobs.

The vote will be the third this year in-the
attempt by health care authorities to cut costs.

The first attempt was province-wide and
was rejected. Two weeks ago. the Northern
Health Authority reached a tentative agree-
ment with union leaders for wage and benefit

cuts for the northern portion of the province. —

Although it was passed by workers overall, the
agreement failed. because not enough workers
voted ‘yes’ in each local to have a.two-thirds
majority of the locals be in favour.

This time, locals are voting independent of
each other.

Cathy Jessome of the Hospital Employees' a
Union (HEU), which. represents 2,500. of the:
2,800 Northern Health Authority workers asked“

to take cuts, said members havé no choice but

to accept. “It’s the best way of trying to keep

health care in the public sector,” she said.
The Northern Health Authority had told
workers they would begin to contract out serv-

-ices such as laundry, food and housekeeping if

wage and benefit cuts weren’t accepted.
Those cuts. amount to $3,25 an hour, a loss
of a cost of living increase, working an extra
hour anda half each week and. losing four va:
cation days each year.
_ Health authorities estimated they need ‘to

‘cut nearly $7 million to help ease a deficit
that is already higher than they had forecast.

As of Inte last week, six of the HBU's 20

“locals within the Northern. Health Authority

area indicated they want.to take a vote, said
Jessome. HEU members at Mills Memorial
Hospital were still considering-what to do.

Other unions involved are the B.C, Govern: .
‘ment and: Service Employees’ Union, which’
“yepresents workers at Tetraceview Lodge here,

the B.C. Nutses’ Union and the International ©

Union of Operating Engineers.

Jessame described the situation as upsetting
and extreme to her members.

“We will survive day by day,” said Jes-
some. “There’s a lot of anger out there,”

“The members are being boxed into a corn-
er and it is completely disrespectful to. state
that someone else can you their job cheaper
and better. We know that i is not the case,’ ’ she
added.

_ But: Jessome:’ said union members don’t lay

the blame for the cuts on the Northern Health

Authority, “It is. the provincial government's .

ideology. They're shori-funding health authori-

ties They're deliberately doing that, until the

health authorities ha¥e no choice.”
The- provincial: government has, essentially

frozen health authority budgets for three years, ’.
‘Ithas passed through health. caré ‘monies pro- °
- vided by the: federal govnernment which this ©

year amounted to $6 million.”

Fe Recep ore data eee ota tee eal el boat Rd tg be

: Teminding: parents to keep track of their children,

| provincial Family Compen-

sation Act,

The Lees believe the act
needs to be changed to fur-
ther compensate - grieving
relatives in situations simi-
lar to theirs.

The early October payout comes nearly a year to the
date of the start of the jury trial against ICBC for dam-
ages for Laura's loss.

ICBC had offered the Lees in the. neighbourhood of
$20-40,000, The Lees argued that figure didn’t reflect the
actual! loss the family would suffer because of lost future
wages their daughter would have earned and may have
contributed back to the the family. -

“It was never about the money,” explains Nancy Lee.
“It was always, to me, more looking at what is a fair
settlement for the loss ofa child’s life.”

, Lee says the payment came out of the blue with no
prior’ indication the insurance corporation was’ prepared
to avoid the court appeal process.

“We don’t feel like celebrating at all,” says Lee, ad-
ding she and her husband never want to see the inside of
a court room again.

‘The award puts nearly four and a half years of crimi-
nal and civil court cases stemming from their daughter's
death to an end, Now the Lees say they can carry on
with the healing process,

Stranger lures boy

POLICE are investigating an incident of a strange man
attempting to get a nine-year-old boy into his car.

The Oct. 17 incident happened at 7 p.m, on Paquette
Ave. in Thornhill. The boy was walking when a man
driving a small bluish-brown older model car asked him
if he wanted a ride, police. say,

* “When. the boy didn’t answer the man got out tof the

Laura Lee

‘car and told the boy to get in, police say. The boy ran

home and reported the incident ta the RCMP.
The incident is still under investigation and police are
-Atiyone with information is asked to’ contact Terrace
"RCMP at 638-7400 or Crimestoppers at 635-8477,

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