Ad - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, December 1, 1993

TERRACE.

STANDARD

ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988

ADDRESS: 4647 Lazelle Ave., Terrace, B,C. * V8G 188
TELEPHONE: (604) 638-7283 * FAX: (604) 638-8432
MODEM: 638-7247

The challenge

UNLIKE HORSESHOES, being close in politics
doesn't count. A loss by one vote or by a 1,000
is still a loss, Yet the vote result from the Nov.
20 mayoral elections between Jack Talstra and
Lynda Bretfeld was tight — about 130 ballots.
Significant was the nearly 450 votes cast for
Francisco Trigo.

Mr. Talstra, being the clever politician that he
is, raised the closeness issue without being
prompted. It represents, he said, a ‘'wake up’’
call from the voters. Mr. Talstra followed that
with some musings on how he and the new coun-
ci] should act. Top of the list is more communi-
cation to dispel! the constant swirl of conflict of
interest rumours around the last council. Yet the
need for more communication should have been
apparent a’year ago when conflict of interest fig-
ured heavily in responses to a city opinion sur-
vey. :

Me. Talstra and the new council will also have
to act on two other items raised during the
campaign. One of those is holding town hall
meetings in various parts of the city. The other iS
having an outside firm conduct a kind of per-
formance audit of city government and services.
Mr. Talstra says that should happen at least
every two years,

But there are three big issues that will take a lot
of council’s time — green belt policy in general
and Howe Creek ‘in particular, the library expan-,
sion and the desire for a second sheet of ice, The
previous council may have been able to stall a
Howe Creek development decision until the elec-
tion but that clearly ‘can’t continue. If nothing
else, fairness to the prospective developers
means council must make a decision early in the
new year: -

- All ofithase.peoplesavho woted.in: favour .of.the

nificant gap between the amount voters approved
for borrowing and.the lowest construction bid. If
we are to take Councillor Ruth Hallock’s com-
mitment to “‘sweeten the pot,’’ than we can ex-
pect the city to dip'into its version of a savings
account to come up with what’s needed.

Most troubling for this council will be the sec-

ond sheet of ice. It’s a big ticket item and all that:

glowing talk during the campaign may yet come
back to give the six aldermen and one mayor
more than a few sleepless nights.

THE JUST concluded local elections are sig-
nificant for a number of reasons, not the least of
which is the departure of a number of experi-
enced politicians. Maybe. it’s a sign that the

1980s are over and that people are thinking about -

the-1990s and what lies-ahead.;
Those

whom the-voters did not

position as school trustee.

*

It means we'll be getting used to alist of new — |
names and a batch of new faces. The one thing

the above and their replacements have in com-

mon is the work that-is involved with local

governments. It’s not easy, not very appreciated
and not very well paying.

‘COMPOSING: Pam Odell»
~ DARKROOM: Susan Credgeur . -..

ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS: Sam Collier, Janet Viveiros
CIRCULATION SUPERVISOR: Charlene Matthews

Serving the Terrace area, Pubished en Wednesday of each week by Caiboo Press (1969) Lid. a 047
Staten ology reason eens and ypest hthe Trace Stand are the propery of the
Stories, photographs, liustralions, Gelgne an jen | errace Sts ate ope
copyeight holderé, Including Cariboo Prass (1959) Lid, t's husttalon repro services and advertising
Reproduction in or ‘wilhett witlen pormiss speclica : ea .
Adhovond pa wazand Oifice Department, Int paymenil of postage in cash.

’ Spectal thanks nur contributors and correspondents

coos ofarthelr time and talents

briny epinsion  project"ayebr aHd (hal? ago
aré also owed a quick answer. There’s a sig-

i

ose. he-v not approve of in- ~ |.
cluded regional district director Les Watmough. .
and city aldefman, Bob Cooper. Those retiring .
from the city are Mo ‘Takhar,’ Danny Sheridan.
and Darryl Laurent. From the school board, Edna —
Cooper joins ‘her. husband ‘in ‘voluntary retire-
ment, Wayne Braid also did not run again for a | iets you Have removed with
“your last’bite,
|. For me, apple eating is a tvin
- activity to reading, watching
"Midday, or whiting letters with
a-fountain pen. So I should
know: betier than ta wash

1G.

+

Just call him Boxcar Bill

VICTORIA -~ He wants to
slap posters of Beautiful Brit-
ish Columbia on every: rig
travelling down to the States.
He wants every B.C. rail
boxcar to carry the message
that B.C. is the hot spot for
tourism. Meet. Bill Barlee,
minister of small business,
tourism and culture,

Barlee calls his scheme
“Rolling Billboards.” Why
have trucks and trains going {o
the U.S. with only their licence
plates and logos betraying thelr
point of origin?

Every boxcar and every truck

_ going across the border can

spread the word that British

no@olimblails not only ‘beautifid

but affordable. and «safe, :dc-
cording to Barles. One of Bar-
lee’s ministry -officlals is al-
ready working on the plan.
‘Ever. since. Barlee moved

over from ~-agriculture to

tourism, he gives the impres-
sion ofa kid in a candy stor.

“It’s the “best. portfolio in.
government,'’ he’ says. Not

that he was a slouch as minis-

‘ter of agriculturé. The Buy
‘-B,C, program has been very

successful, and so have his ef-

. forts to get restaurants to serve

local products wherever pos-
sible. .

HUBERT BEYER

/ FROM THE.CAPITAL

But tourism is what he has

been! ‘Wafiting® all” alongyvands

‘now that he’s got it, he’s losing

no time running ideas by his

senior staff . The rolling

billboard scheme is just one of
~ them.

Barlee loves to quote figures...

During our 45-minute ’.con-
versation, figures képt pouring
out of him like water down the
Niagara Falls.

‘Tourism revenue stands at
about $5.5 billion a year right
now. My target is to increase

_ that figure to $7.2 billion over

the next three years, Can we do

_, it? I think so.. Despite the

recession, intemational tourism

has grown by about three per
cent a year. We want one in
2,000 world travellers to come
to B.C.,”’ he says,

“If you apply the formula of
15 jobs for each million, we
will end up with 25,500 new
jobs at the end of three years,
if we reach the $7.2 million
figure,”

Barlee believes thal, com-
pared with other international
tourism destinations, British
Columbia has more to offer. .

‘We have something for
everybody, from whale watch-
ing, to skiing, to sailing the in-
side. passage, from a camping

holiday .at.Long Beach to au..

wrbdnvacdtion inv Victoriai atid’
Vancouver.) tre

“We can offer wine tours su-
perior to those of the Napa
Valley because there’s no con-
gestion in-the Okanagan and
we're talking: about better

_ wines and'a ‘larger area;’’ he *
gays, Fo

Barlee also doesn’t miss the
Opportunity to beat the NDP
government drum a bit. British
Columbia, he says, is out-
performing every other juris-
diction in North America. The,

only two places that come

close, he says, are Utah and
Nevada, but they don’t have

B.C.’s social safety net. ,
* All our economic indicators.

are up. We created 58,000 new

jobs, most of them full-time .

jobs. We make the rest of Can...

ada look like an economic
wasteland.” .
Barlee is also busy with the
second part of his portfolio —
small business, and with his
penchant for quoting statistics,
he reels off a bunch of figures.
‘There ate 130,000. small
businesses in British Colum-.
bia. The small. business secior
has: created 100,000 new jobs -
in the last three years, During -
the same time, the. corporate.

_ sector,lost. between 10,000 and .

12,Q00, jobs,” !:he says. curse SL

:. Asvfor the ‘third component: .-

TAY

of his ministry, Barlee thinks -

it, too, can play. an {important

role in matter economic. '*Cui-
ture gives a face, to Cana-

Oo

djanism.:-Our -ethnic: makeup .

“set. us-apart from the United.
“States. Let’s celebrate ‘it and

make it part of an overall plan

to bring the world to British ~

Columbia,” hesays. |

When Barlee was made min-
ister of lourism a few months -
ago, I said it was probably the
best appointment in the cabinet
shuffle, [ stand by that stale-
ment.

DAMN, I DID it again. Ate

half a gummed label while
munching a ‘McIntosh and
reading an engrossing book si-

multancously, .

Can you. imagine how unset-

_ thing it can be to discover only

half a label cohesing to an ap-
ple skin where you've just bit-
tenoffamouthful? =
To be holding a partially
eaten apple and discover only
half a label remaining is almost

- upsetting .as noticing ‘a pale
/; green caterpillar feeling around
~ for the upper story-of his home

several apples ahead of time,
then set.themn aside leaving un-

_ fil later the final detail of tug-

ging off tenacious stickers. Es-

"- peclally in light of my unrell-

able memory.
Predictably, in this instance I
forgot to check for up front ad-

How to

THIS IS A VERY
TIGHT COMMUNITY!
IT MAY TAKE TIME

THROUGH BIFOCALS

“CLAUDETTE SANDECKI

_ Kilo?

vertising. I expected to én-
counter words only in Dorothy
Uhnak’s novel ‘*The Ryer Av-
‘enue Story,’’ which I propped
open with one hand while
rotating a crisp apple with the
other.’

Twinning activities makes

labelling - hazardous to . my
health If:ever I’m in. need of
fiber, I'll get it fromi my break-
fast Shreddies,
Why labels on fruit’ in the
" first place? Isn’t it sufficient if

‘AH RECKON
THAT. WON'T
BE So HARD!

TOMAKE FRIENDS |

become ung}

the supermarket bin marker an-
 pounces B.C. grown Mcintosh,
or Australian Granny Smith,
_and the- cost per pound and

If producers insist on tagging

. their fruit individually, labels

‘should be edible, After all, the

-. Lillehammer Olympics. will be

using edible plates made from
comstarch. Their cutlery, too,
will be made from cornstarch
and would also be edible if it
weren’t so hard. Instead, the

cutlery is - - merely
biodegradable. Environmental-
ly Friendly. _

Produce: labels have never

appealed. to me,: unilke a.

Kitimat-Stikine Regional Dis-
trict staff’ member. The long

“brass shield over his fluores- °

‘cent desk lamp is plastered

’ ‘with Chiquita and other banana

~ labels. ~ - i :
When T buy apples, I choose

~» according: to their. price: and

mouth-watering eye appeal.
Label glue flavour doesn’t en-

ter into my selection, Nor do
the microscopic words Oliver.

WEY THAT NeW GUYS
GREAT! HIRED MY

BACKHO FOR A MONTH dp

REF AND HIS WIFE |
BH pays MY KIDS Jim
We 0 BABYSIT! 6

+

" {he jiggling surfaces of prime

- sorting marks on the backs of «:

ued —

Fruit House Ltd, 4135, BC. ~

Grown McIntosh. Or B.C.

Gala #4173.

T'm awed by the glue fusing

these labels to the produce, In

my experience, «Scotch tape ~
tums up its mose at my. ~

cardboard parcels. Paper tape
curls loose as it is applied,

Yet packing houses apply ts
fruits these teeny labels that

defy removal by any means.”
short: of a determined. ‘yank. : ~--

After “you've
prying loose an edge.

persisted in =~

As with most fruit labels, +
‘these have been folded exactly 7.
in half. Picture the. hamied.’
‘fruit-packing ‘employee : with “=.
the Eronzied job of “peeling.

gummed words off a waxed _
sheet and transferring them to:

fruit as it wobbles down-a con-
veyorn Snr es

The oiler must be as frantc®
as a stockyard: worker chalking:

milling hogs.

His job should be phasedout.

I’m sick of eating his words.
YEAH ANP I'M BUILDING

A A SAUNA FOR HIM] SO
THEY RE COMING: OVER

oR DINER

a oe