CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD The Mail Bag eauty queen reams don’t | Dear Sir: Tam writing in response to “Rebecca Collard’s article, “Fenger claims Latin: - crown,” which appeared in the December: 15th issue of The Terrace Standard. I feel that the community of Terrace has forgotten about what is important in our w orld loday. Theresa Marie Fenger is portrayed as a child in need and sadly, it seems many people believe it. The financial support Fenger is receiv- ing from this community is undoubtedly _substantial, and more so, inappropriate. " Fenger’s interests in fame and beauty pageants ‘are out of personal interest,- meaning Fenger and her parents should be financially responsible. . Terracites have to be reminded that attending a beauty pageant in Guatemala is similar to taking a vacation in Hawaii. Therefore, why is Fenger petitioning for * financial support? Moreover, Fenger does not deseive the publicity and praise she is receiving. In fact, I think the community of Terrace has placed Fenger on a pedestal where she doesn’t belong: I am continuously hearing about Fenger’s role in representing Canada and . ; being, a role model for Canadian teens. ‘ Has Fenger contributed significantly to the lives of ‘those around her?. Has Fenger - earned the title of “role model”?: ‘It is unfortunate that’Wwe have forgotten eserve charity help the people of Terrace realize that - Fenger’s claims of representing Canada - are not of significance. - Her dreams of popularity and beauty should not come of importance to our community. Terrace is already in a state of economic hardship — sponsoring Fenger’s personal search for fame ‘and fortune should not come before helping those who are less fortunate. Vanessa Urbantke Terrace B.C. Frigid learning not very classy -Dear Sir: . ‘Despite what the current glossy “‘Lib- eral” advertising propaganda, currently on display in the media would have you believe, the B.C. public education system ‘continues to reel from the abuse and ne- - glect directed its way by Mr. Campbell and his cronies. Two local, ongoing situ- “ ations are cases in point. i about Craig Kielburger, founder ‘of. Free - ‘thé Children. At age 12, this boy from To- ronto traveled throughout Southeast Asia raising awareness about child labour. ‘Now 21, he is’ still fighting | for chil- ° dren’s rights. In my opinion, Kielburger should be the role model of Canadian teens. Is winning a beauty pageant compa- rable to Kielburger’s accomplishments? The heat in Terrace/Thornhill schools . and classrooms: used to be controlled by individual thermostats. - As simple and logical as this sounds, it was also an effective way for teachers and other workers in the school system to ad- just varying. heating and cooling needs to » fitthe myriad ‘of conditions that one would “expect. A specific “example Would be a® teacher going back to their classroom to do extra preparation, report work or mark: ing ona weekend or evening. _. Where in times past they would have. been able to adjust'the heat for the amount _of time needed to do their work now they are only able to work as long as their body extremities remain pliable (roora tempera- tures as low as 8 degrees being reported Jam hoping that with this letter, I can von before the cold snap, 0.9 after)! Two views on log exports SO a COMPETITIVE cycle racers don’t like the new rumble strips being added ‘to highway shoulders. The change, by School District #82, in their heating philosophy, is one of the “tools” (given to them by the Liberals) that they have chosen to help balance their budget. Rumour has it that all of the heat in our schools is now controlled by computers in the offices of the mega, U.S. Honeywell Corporation. This appears to mean that the heat au- tomatically comes on at around 8 a.m. and off at about 4 p.m. Mond-y through Thursday. Hardly an effective incentive .* for teachers to get in there and go that cx- tra preparation mile! Also laughable is the curfent “Liberal” line about their big push for daily Physical "Education classes for-all students. Laugh- able because even before the latest school amalgamation plans are “implemented . many schools haven’ 't the necessary gym time available to meet the education min- istry’s previous Physical Education guide- . lines. ; Take two schools, close one, putall the Short-sighted policies . squandering our future By RENEE MIKALOFF ’M NOT surprised cabinet’s Dec? 2 order allowing two more years of raw log = exports . very quictly. And - it proves that this government’ cares more about commodities than communities. For Roger Harris to continue cham- pioning the 35 per cent raw log export provision is shameful and unacceptable. It’s the final blow to already devas- tated communities in the North Coast, Kalum and Kispiox Forest Districts. We deserve more than a few crumbs or -tokens (some logging and hauling jobs) or tiny slivers of volume allocations dressed up as “community forests”. ° Some would say thisis better than nothing. | say “reach for the top, don’ t grovel for the bottom.” Raw raw log exports are knee jerk re- actions to a symptom of an industry in Strategy for future rooted in seedlings By ROGER HARRIS °. Skeena MLA and Minister of State _ for Forestry Operations HE NORTHWEST Order Council allowing log exports is a temporary feature. It is in place asa means to an _ end. It is not about harvesting but rather about growing trees. As we look and plan long-term it is one of the tools by which we move our northwest timber profile from one of a li- ability to one of. an asset. It is how we will build sustainable, secure, long-term family supporting employment in the for- . est sector. across the northwest. The northwest OIC for export will al- low for the continuation of forest activity: today. This activity will sustain. our lo- cal forest infrastructure; both people and equipment, by keeping them employed within the region. , It will provide the necessary flow of logs that will support our local dimen- sional milling needs and: specialty log milling market, It will provide the flow of fibre neces- in was done _ -as possible to _change the pro- crisis and make no economic sense in the long term. But then B.C. wouldn’t be a “Have Not Province” if this govern- ment was economically astute. Here’s " porate give-away is at the expense of — our communities, which are already in J some figures from a government source | - a fellow Sierra Club of Canada worker sent to me: M@ In 2001, B.C.- forfeited more than 800 potential full-time jobs by exporting over a million cubic meters‘of logs. @ With the 2002 Order In Council, 700 potential full-time jobs or $144 mil- lion in potential wages and benefits were lost in our region and only $2.7 million was recovered by the province in roy- alties. It does not take an economist to conclude these jobs directly benefit peo- ple and communities, whereas the rela- tively meagre royalties paid to the crown only benefit corporations. Also, none of those royalties “trickle. backup” to benefit our areca, This cor- the toilet, economically speaking. Hi In 2001, Peter Pearse recommend- © ed that government provide © incentives to the forest’ industry for investment in and re-building of many older mills so that this industry has a more sustainable footing in the long term. It’s a sad day when our MLA does the opposite and perpetuates: economic: hardship in this region. By extending the log exporting provi- sion and removing appurtenancy (break- _ ing the social contract. that tied forest tenures to processing jobs) the govern- ment has ensured that no processing fa- cility will reopen in our area any time soon. (A stable, guaranteed wood supply is essential im obtaining the necessary capital fora processing facility.) So forest companies will continue to The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, January 12, 2005 - A5 students into the other and, yes, you will have less available gym time. School clo-. sures, another “tool” from that old “tool- box”, The welfare of public education and the children in that system is not what our current provincial government is about. As usual, actions speak much louder than glossy words. Richard Eckert Terrace B.C. Still rumbling Dear Sir: I feel compelled to respond-to some : recent back and forth banter in the paper regarding the placement of rumble Strips ‘Separating the -shoulder from the main lanes ofthe regions highways. ° - Being an avid road cyclist | was con- cerned when I saw the equipment cutting the strips into the highway. I was however dismayed by the lack.of tact used by Rudy’ and want everybody to. know that his talk ° of gene pools and cell phones on speed: ’ dial are his views and do not represent my views or the views of the cycling commu- nity as a whole. . We all share the highways with trucks - and tourists and our friends and neighbors, and appreciate the extra space the majority of motorists afford us. Thank you all. Maybe if | explain-a bit about our - sport more of you will appreciate our con- cerns. ‘The shoulders do provide plenty of room for a single cyclist to ride. Although the sport of cycling involves solitary. training italso involves group training and races. These activities make the shoulder of the highway very small _ very fast. While riding in single file, the lead rider has an unobstructed view of the road ahead, however the riders following him or her have only an unobstructed view of the backside of the rider immediately . ahead of them, This leaves little time to react. if the lead rider checks and s sees that ‘there is no ‘traffic they can move out to avoid the obstacle and the riders behind can follow suit. The rumble. strips will » make this activity very | difficult and prob- ably unsafe. ~» Though group rides are often fairly. social the reason we are so close to cach ° others’ backsides is actually to draft in the wake of the riders ahead. This i is called‘a pace line and the riders at the back can ride ovith significantly | less‘effort duc to the re- * duction of wind. T his results.in a: group being able to’ travel. much faster than a single’ rider.» - , a The lead rider can only’ ‘pull” the group for so long before they will be forced to ei- “ther slow dow‘ or pass out, creating more debris‘for the riders behind. This necessi- + tates a change in lead riders. We do this by moving to the left and . slowing down, allowing the group to over- take us, and then tucking into the back. The rotation moves continuously at intervals of between 30 seconds and two minutes de- pending on how long the current lead rider can maintain the pace of the group. . |. The rumble strips will make this activ- ily much more challenging. I say challeng- ing because challenge is what this sport is ‘really all about, and challenges can:be overcome. We learn that about ourselves | every ride and will continue to — rumble | strips or not. So as we all adapt, please have pa- tience. We will do our best to stay out of the way, but please remember to respect us as We respect your space and give us the occasional brake. We may need it once ina while. And we do appreciate it. ‘Rick McDaniel — “Terrace-B. (On School week | vote explained — Dear Sir: In Tanis Purssell’s letter to the edi- tor “Trustee Vote Claim Challenged.” ° She writes, “In a recent letter to the edi- tor school trustee Peter King claims to ° have originally voted against the four-day school week. Perhaps Mr. King could cx- plain when this vote occurred, ye Tam happy. to explain when this vote “occurred, . _ A special meeting of the board was held Wednesday, April 14, 2004 at 7: 00 p.m. inthe School board of fice. 44139 motion that the proposed 2004- ~ 05 schoo! year “draft” calendars for the — Four.and Five Day. Instructional Week, be approved for circulation. a #4140 motion to divide. #Al41 motion Five’ Day | Instructional Week, #4142 motion Four Day Instructional Week, . { voted against motion #4142 and then the Standard interviewed me and printed my reasons. We had tried the four-day. . week and parents and employees’ ‘that had spoken to me said, “We have ‘to get rid of © ihe four-day week at all cost.” Then after the 30 day consultative pro- cess with stakeholders it was clear that, though the parents and employees were » not happy with the four-day week it was better that the. other two options : ‘school , Closures or massive tay" ‘offs: and larger”. ‘class sizes.’ we Asa school trustee I have always tried to support the wishes of the people I rep- resent, but some, times laws and. financial constraints don’t allow me to do the wish- es of the people. This is why fam trying to: change the problems that have been forced “on US over the last three years. “ Peter G. King school trustee ' soe eo ay oben Ayo ‘ LOGS that are being cut here now. pile up for sale on the open market, with about 15 per cent of them exported outside B.C. FILE PHOTO export the best and leave the rest. This high-grading is bad not only for the economy but also for the ecology. [agree with a good friend of mine who said we need a Safe Streets Act that ‘protects the public from corporations that pillage our resources and impover- ish our communities. Mr. Harris, when can I expect a reply to my email I sent to your office over two months ago in which I requested da- ta like “how much volume has been ex- ported from our region since: the 2002 oIc’? We must replant.and transform our low-value forests. Log exports help us get there: _Sary to create new opportunities. around. . ‘non-traditional timber. products such as pellets, co- -generation” “and other biomass products If the current SCI challenge has taught us nothing else it is the need to move as quickly - file of the fibre - basket of the northwest. We need to - create _ higher valued saw log stands.. As we do, the need for export will diminish, as the economics around local processing becomes economically viable. The long-term economic success of our northwest forest industry will come with the change in timber profile. A plan that Roger Harris gets us there sooner benefits everyone. Those who advocate an absolute ban on log exports today have forgotten that “all.the legislated tools in the world are valueless if the industry financially col- lapses. They fail to recognize that every region and forest in the ‘province is dif- ferent and. needs to be managed accord- ingly. Recently, 1 spent a significant amount of time in the central interior of the prov- ince putting together and implementing a strategy on how the provincial govern- “ment is managing the largest natural in- festation in the history of North America: the mountain pine beetle. One of the ways to mitigate the long- term impacts to communities across the central and southern interior of the prov- ince is to move as quickly as possible in planting a new, biodiverse forest. In order to start that replanting process we need to increase the harvest activity there today. The challenge in the northwest is in many ways quite similar to the central interior. . The northwest contains“ihe ‘lowest value timber profile of any forest region in the province. The combination of low valued timber and high coastal operating costs has combined to be one of the major "contributors to the many collapses of SCI over the years. It has also been one of the barriers to- day to attracting new interest.and invest- ment into the forest industry i in the north- west... The Wes Cheston report, which was drafted in the ‘90s, has as ils over-riding _ principle this concept: If the northwest is to finally find long-term stability in the - forest industry: it has to fundamentally move from the over-mature, high pulp timber profile of today, to a younger, higher valued saw log profile. Wes Cheston clearly stated that gov- - ernment needed to put in place a regula- tory and pricing regime to facilitate the economic harvest of current stands so that replanting could commence. The longer the delay in harvesting, the longer the du- ration of impoverishment and uncertainty - for the families, communities, businesses — and industries that relied on the forests for a livelihood. Log exports is just one of the tools that Cheston recommended that allows us to move the timber sooner. Its objective. is not the facilitation of harvest but rather the tool by which we can replant sooner. It is not the export of jobs, but rather the: process that finally starts to allow us to change the profile of the northwest forest so that our ultimate objective of no log | exports and local processing becomes a reality, Log exports are not anyone’ s first choice. Everyone would like to see each and every log harvested ina region manu-. factured within the province. This should be the essential long-term goal of any forest policy. The discussions, myths and politics around log exports have to be taken in the context of that broader policy objective. But most importantly the politics needs to be removed from the debate. repaes ° :