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DITORIA

Alcan vs.

It’s not as if Alcan vice president Bill
Rich is standing, tin cup in hand, outside of
his Vancouver office, But the company’s
position that it needs more money from a
power sales deal it has with the provincial
government to finish the Kemano Comple-
tion Project is interesting. —

On the surface, the request isn’t that un-
usuai. It-demonstrates what has been. ap-
parent for some time — the large
aluminum company is hurting badly.
Despite strenuous cost cutting measures,
early retirements and the like, Alcan is still
getting hammered. The recession has hurt
and Russia is flooding the international
market with cheap aluminum in its own
desperate bid for cash.

Yet the Alcan position also continues that

company’s marvelous attitude of acting as.

if it is a sovereign entity.. Alcan is saying
that the budget it set aside for the Kemano
Completion Project way back in 1988 is
simply not enough anymore. No wonder.
Cost figures have risen from an estimated
$600 million in 1988, to $800 million in
1989 to $1 billion the next year and now to
perhaps $1.2 or $1.3 billion. Sounds like
any normal. government projes ject: to us.

It ‘would’ “be. “too easy to accuse
Homestake ‘Canada president Jack Thomp-
son of blatant-self interest. when he said
he’s happy’ with the response of provincial
mines minister: Anne Edwards to his com-
pany’s proposed: Eskay Creek gold mine.

That’s becatse this is the same Jack
Thompson. who, with other mining compa~
ny executives, told the minister and her
colleagues: they. were making a big mistake

in turning the ‘Tatshenshini: into a park and -

thus blocking: any Prospect of a copper
mine at Windy Craggy. -
Mr. Thompson wasn’t seoking ¢ to build

_can is

the govi

Mind you, a lot of what happened is not
Alcan’s fault. The 1991 court decision,
now overtumed, cast doubt on the project
and caused Alcan to stop construction. It is
natural to expect that costs will change
over a period of time.

But there is a sort of dark hint that bad
legal things might happen should the
provincial government not renegotiate the
contract. Mr. Rich politely points to the
opinion of a consultant hired by the

government to back up that kind of think-

ing.
Once again, that goes to Alcan’s attitude.

In a lot of ways, this is to be expected, Al-
a very single-minded and
determined company. It has outlasted
many and varied types of governments
here and around the world. Alcan probably
knows through experience and instinct
every possible move the Harcourt govern-
ment might make.

And all of this leaves the taxpayers feel-
ing justifiably nervous. After all, the tax-

_ payer is the person who’ll be forking over

the money. for whatever happens as the
situation develops.

up brownie points in Homestake’ s attempt ~
to have its mine receive “provincial ap- >
proval..His two seemingly contradictory

statements actually make sense.

_ Mr, Thompson knows the: Eskay project |
will get approval. There are no overriding

environmental issues to draw in opposi-
tion. And the provincial government needs
to give its blessing to an industrial un-

dertaking to help balance the effects of the -
Tat. decision, The northwest -has lost:
- hundreds of mining jobs over the past few

years. Replacements are due: and needed.
Expect more good news soon.

ess

Very tender process

With only. two months before
frost, the Terrace library expan-

sion project is finally about to go
fo. tender. Once again construc-
tion crews: can: look forward: to
working in raingear, down-filled
vests, and rubber boats: Because
that’s what they could be wearing

- if tenders..come in within the
budget approved by. referendum a
year ago.

| Through — |
Bifocals - a
by Claudette sandecki | -

furwnia

me rns
"GIVE Loceing
A BAD NAME.

Given the higher ‘cost ‘of lumber —_
and other building malerials since
the June 1992 referendum, there’s
a good chance tenders ‘could

shoot through the budget ceiling.
“What then?: Restart: the. ‘whole
process? © Hold ©

row a few more million?. °

If that: happens; two- -yearo from
now we could stlll:have the same:
crowded library with’ ‘plastic. ~.

wasiebaskels catching roof: drips
and towels tramped on the carpet
to soak up ooze.”

‘While doing ‘so, : perhaps | the tk

brary could recycle. our worn
terry towels and-emply glass: jars

as part of their mop-up. arsenal.
Then. kids ‘could : amuse’ thent- -
selves playing musical“ notes ‘on
rows of jats filled with: ipterent 2

amounts of rainwater.

Perhaps .- the’

ry
should -cotisider -replacinig:: the.
cancelled GO B.C. grant with a
©. within ‘the original estimate. The
‘ estimate could have been given

recycling grant. Tt’s:easier to. get
funding «for environmentally
friendly pursuits,

expansion project ma’
individuals differing:
brary features. mint be mall

cate Ral edikia aires peer eS

“another -
referendum for permission t to bor- =.

Pait of, the delay, tendering the 7
come, form mae

int the plan despite the whittled
“funding. The whole planning pro-

cess reminds me of a family or-

'. dering a custom boat canopy.

Father, “six. feet : tall, necds: a
high canopy so he can walk about

upright, even if that means an ¢x-
- tra-yard or two of fabric.
», Mother, : feeling "put: upon - as:
: skullery: ‘crew, demands. a $400.
backdrop across the middle of the: =.
boat to keep her ankles warm.”
~~ Father-in-law, -
_ pariner in-the vessel, says."“hang
the extm expense,’ he wants zip)
‘out windows."

Mother-In-law, a child: of. the

Dirty Thirties,~ argues for. in-
expensive: though. insecure. Dot:

- Snaps instead of sturdier but cost: ;

Mer turbuckles..
“Like the :architect, the’ wphol-

~aterer is “expected ’ to produce a
candp

y.;that fulfills everyone’s
wishes yet, keep the end - cost

over the phone, based on Father’s

, description of how he thought the
. he

uld looks: That? was
Petrone todlicication

Site yy

fifty ~ “percent 7

Modifications are fine if agreed”
upon before drafting the plans”.

and setting the price; modifica-

tions tossed in along the assembly:
line deform the product and esca-

late the price.

If committees had to. mect
where construction: crews often’:
‘lunch — in a cold: cramped truck:

cab, bundied in layers of damp

clothing, : their. feet wedged be-:
 pween extra boots and. tools - they.
might compromise more and nite
“pick less; :
“TL sympathize: with the architect:
On this project. ,

Harcourt scales tough

political geography —

VICTORIA — Premier Mike
Harcourt said in the legislature
the other day that he has had
“‘valleys and peaks’’ in his
political career. The NDP’s'
‘current slump i in the polls, he

mused, was just another val-.
ley...

Well, I don! t know Mikey,
from where I sit, it looks more
like a big canyon than a val-

ley, and Iam inclined to go

with Socred leader Jack Weis-
gerber who predicted that two
years from now, the polls will

- inake,the current yalley look
‘like a peak.

And for good measure,
Weisgerber threw in that Har-
court can take comfort in the
knowledge that he’s still more
than four times as popular as
federal NDP leader Audrey
McLaughlin, whose popularity
sank to five per cent in the
latest opinion poll. Some days,
premier, it just doesn’t pay to
get out of bed.

The NDP is in trouble, in big
trouble, no doubt about it. The

. latest Angus Reid poll, details .

of which came out in the Van-
couver Sun recenily, shows
the NDP government’s.:’. -

popularity ata paltry 27 per

"cent of decided voters.’

Even more shocking for an
already spooked govetnment
is the voter approval rating for

. the premier, which came in at -—

a mere 23 per cent, lower than
former premier "Bil Vander
Zalm at his worst, His
popularity rarely dropped be-
low 30 percent.
These figures: indicate some-
thing far more alarming for the

; government than’a simple

mid-term slump which, con-
sidering the NDP’s traditional
core vote, should put them at
no less than 33 per cent,

So what happened to alienate
not just the swing vote, which

turned its collective back on a.

scandal-ridden free enterprise
party in the last election, but
also tumed off a lot.of staunch
NDP supporters?

The short answer can be
found in the premier’s and the
povernment’s inability or un-
willingness 10 deliver on

"numerous election promises.

WHERE'S: my
Book! £s

THE BACON |
COOKING 71/

From the
Capital
by Hubert Beyer

“No new taxes,’’ is one that
springs to mind.

No explanation or excuse of
having inherited a fiscal mess
nobody could predict will
pacify voters who believed
Harcourt’s promise of no new
taxes, only to find themselves
reeling under an avalanche of
new taxes and fee increases,

The swing vote also was
turned off by the ill-advised
surtax on expensive homes,
which was withdrawn, and the
increased tax on luxury cars,
which stayed. Even though the
surtax on houses worth more

“than $1 million wouldn't have

affected that many people, the
measure was seen as a mean-
Spirited attack on wealth and
SUCCESS,

Among its traditional sup-
porters, it is the environ-
mentalists who are most dis-
enchanted with the NDP, and I
wouldn’t doubt for a moment
than any self-respecting en-
vironmentalist, polled by
Angus Reid, cast a negative
vote for both Harcour! and the
government.

Far from being assuaged by
the government’s decision to
kill the Windy Craggy mine
proposal and set aside the Tat-

_Shenshini area as a park, en-

: vironmentalists have been

stepping up their protests over
the decision to allow limited
logging in.the-Clayoquot
‘Sound’s old-growth forests on
Vancouver. Island,
Compounding Harcourt’s

_ problems is the public’s per-

ception that he’s not in charge.
Day after day,; we sce the most
powerful cabinet ministers, fi-
nance minister Glen Clark,
labour minister Moe Sihota,
forest minister Dan Miller and

~ health minister Elizabeth Cull,
on television, wielding their

” big Sticks, with Harcourt

remaining all but invisible.

It was a calculated strategy.
Harcourt was betting that Brit- .
ish Columbians had had their

| filFof one-man shows. ;

“Charisma, something Har!”
court has very little of at the
best of times, was banned
from the government diction-.
ary, but the strategy backfired. ...
People, no matter what their ~-*
political stripe, want to see the -
premier in charge, not his cab- we
inet ministers.

Add to all this a few con-
troversial pieces of legislation ©:
such as the new labour laws.
and you’ve pot a perfect recipe
for sagging government for-
tunes, But you can bet your
luxury Car surtax that the NDP
is going to do something about
its lack of popularity or go
down trying.

The first step will be a cabi- ~
net shuffle which willseea © -
couple of ministers shuffled —
out, others shuffled in a yet
others shuffled around. Next, =
the premier will fake his show .
on the road, He will criss-
cross the province, press the
flesh, talk to people, repeat his’.
message that ‘‘tough decisions *-

had to be miade,”? and that bet-

ter days are just around the
corner. a
You will also see more of 2
Harcourt on TV. He will try.’
hard to be seen as the one

who's in charge. Cabinet min-.

isters will be less in evidence.

And next year, you will proba- . :

bly see a much kinder and
gentler budget. .
The lesson the NDP should .
leam from ali this is thatit: © -°”
matters not whether B.C, out- a
performs every other pro- ..
vince’s economy, whether in- =.
flation and bankruptcies are- =

down and foreign investment. < —

up. Image and promises not
kept are what counts.

TURN THE RADIO
ON] THE HEATER
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