& , PUBLISHER: ROD LINK WEB: www.terracestandard.com ~ ADDRESS: 3210 Clinton Street Terrace, B.C. - V8G 5R2 EMAIL: newsroom@terracestandard.com A4 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, May 26, 2005 ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988 TELEPHONE: (250) 638-7283 + FAX: (250) 638- 8432. ROGER 2 HARRIS 1 liked to say he wanted to take the politics out of government. By that he’meant having policy debated and crafted a absent of parti- _ sanship and emotion. But it was politics. which got the better of Skee- na Liberal incumbent Mr. Harris May | 17 as he went down to defeat, by a slim margin to New Democratic contender-Robin Austin. — ‘Specifically it was the politics surrounding the issue of Alcan power sales which ultimately ‘did in Mr. Harris in an otherwise victorious night for | ~ his party in'B.C. Try as he might, Mr. Harris: could never con- vince Kitimat residents and others that it was far ‘better to talk to Alcan about whatever plans: it ~” . mnight eventually have for some or all of the hydro ‘power produced at its Kemano generating station ‘instead of doing mighty battle with the multi- na- tional. ; Instead, Kitimat wanted a good old-fashioned ‘tub- -thumper of a politician who would defend his “constituents from evil either real or imagined. It -wouldn’t have mattered if Mr. Harris was also »quietly working with Alcan. Kitimat: wanted a _Tepresentative who would give voice to their wor- ries..If Mr. Harris had gone out and bought a lad-: ‘der, giving him access to rooftops from which he . could rail away, the May 17 result would have been a lot different. : It’s an ultimate irony that Kitimat, arguably the most stable of all the communities up here, helped cost Mr. Harris his seat. That’s compared to Terrace which supported him despite suffering terribly from the Skeena Cellulose/New Skeena roller coaster of the past four years, |. > .Mr.Harris:is not alone in his defeat. The minis- ter of state for forest operations joins a number of other cabinet ministers, including labour minister Graham Bruce from Vancouver Island, on the list of those who lost their political jobs. Mr. Harris is also not alone in that he has joined in on what is now a Skeena tradition. He becomes the third cabinet minister to be rejected by Skeena voters. Socred Dave Parker,was dismissed by vot- ers in. 1991 when he was lands and parks minister. . NDPer Helmut. Giesbrecht, who defeated Parker, was himself dispatched to the sidelines by Mr. Harris despite his status as highways minister. That. Skeena voters aren’t: ‘impressed by having . their Members of the Legislative Assembly carry the prestige of a cabinet post speaks very much to - that northern desire for an independent and fierce voice in Victoria. It now comes down to Mr. Austin to. take on that role. He will be wise to blend that with a con- sensus building approach within the riding to take down to Victoria. Shout loudly, Mr. Austin, but. | have a crowd behind you on that rooftop. PUBLISHER/EDITOR: _ Rod Link -ADVERTISING MANAGER: Brian Lindenbach PRODUCTION MANAGER: Edouard Credgeur NEWS: Sarah A. Zimmerman COMMUNITY: Dustin Quezada NEWS/SPORTS: Margaret Speirs FRONT OFFICE: Darlene Keeping CIRCULATION SUPERVISOR: Alanna Bentham ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS: be Bert Husband, Susan Willemen 200 S 2005 WINNER AD ASSISTANT: Sandra Stefanik NEWSPAPERS ‘COMPETITION PRODUCTION: Susan Credgeur SUBSCRIPTION RATES BY. MAIL: _ $57.94 (+$4.06 GST)=62.00 per year; ~ Seniors $50.98 (+$3.57 GST)=54.55; Out of Province $65.17 (+$4.56 GST)=69.73 Outside of Canada (6 months) $156.91(+10.98 GST)=167.89 ~ MEMBER OF a G CNA. Communtry Newsrarans B.C. AND YUKON COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION, Serving the Terrace and Thornhill area. Published on Wednesday of each week at 3210 Clinton Street, Terrace, CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION British Columbia, V8G 5R2. AND B. C. PRESS COUNCIL + (www bopresscouncil org) Stories, photographs, illustrations, designs and typestyles in the Terrace Standard are the property of the copy: right holders, including Cariboo Press (1969) Ltd., its illustration repro services and advertising agencies. _ Reproduction in whole or in part, without written permission, is specifically prohibited. Authorized as second-class mail pending the Post Office Department, for. payment of postage | in cash. Special thanks to all our contributors and correspondents for their time and talents _- Me ag OPO ae WEE IN A GALAXY FAR, BELINDA _ FLOORWALKER. 1S LURED To THE ome SIDE os WZ 4g NE 4 q; iy | ZY) REVENGE OF iA THE GRITS — MAY THE FARCE BE WITH You THE EPIC CONTINUES — Voters have asked for a change | _ FAIR VOTING B.C., one: of the citizen groups supportive of a ‘Yes’ vote in British Co- lumbia’s referendum on elec- toral reform, sees the approval of the May 17 referendum by 57 per cent of the voters over- all and a majority of voters in every riding afid region of the province as a very ‘significant step toward democratic renew- al not only for British Colum- | bia but for all of Canada. Premier Campbell and his government have shown re- markable leadership by initi-. ating a process allowing vot- "ers to decide the best way to ‘elect their MLAs. It is the first _ such initiative anywhere and is | watched with great interest all across Canada. . Perhaps with the benefit of hindsight the government may wish to reconsider the unusu- cally high requirement of .60 .per..cent. approval, and bring this process to the successful conclusion it deserves.’ Fair Voting B.C. expressed appreciation to British Colum- . bians who voted Yes in sup- port of the recommendation of the historic Citizens Assembly on electoral reform. The Citizens Assembly was a remarkable achievement. The 161 randomly selected ordinary citizens showed un- derstanding of issues, commit- - ment.to their task, and civility in deliberations that is extra- ordinary. It is fitting and rewarding for them that a clear majority of British Columbian voters in all regions of the, province "affirmed the work they did for -allofus. — GUEST COMMENT. NICK LOENEN ~ Fair Voting BC cites anum- ber of reasons why a review of - the approval threshold may be appropriate. The referendum met and exceeded the condition that it be approved in 48 of the, 79 ridings. Beyond expectations, it was approved in all ridings. No other province, or coun- try we know of requires such a high threshold for approving ‘a referendum on electoral re- form. ‘PEL ‘s referendum on elec- toral reform requires a simple majority. New Zealand’s referendum on electoral reform passed with 54 per cent. Both Ireland and Italy twice’ -held referenda on electoral re- form requiring simple major- ities. The B.C. Referendum Act stipulates a simple majority for any other — referendum. No former B.C. referendum has ever required more than a> simple majority. Referenda on Quebec sepa- ration and. the Charlottetown Accord referendum concerned significant constitutional is- sues of much greater impor- tance than electoral refrom, yet required no more than a simple majority. Nearly all governments. in ‘British Columbia are them- selves elected with = con- siderably less than 50 per cent support. ' Fair Voting B. C. asks. the government to consider hon- ouring ‘the clearly expressed will of British Columbians and to not extinguish the promise -of better democracy that it helped ignite. It is now evident that a clear majority of British Columbi- ans have endorsed the good work of the Citizens’, Assem- ,.. «bly on Electoral Reform and ~ voted-yes to BC-STV.. Support for STV is much stronger than support for any one political party, and cer- tainly more than the support _ for the new government, which was elected with only 46 per cent of the popular vote. A clear majority of British Columbians have voted for change, and we will be calling upon the government to imple- ment that change in time for the 2009 election. __ , It is particularly significant that although the technical requirement of 60 per cent of votes was missed, the referen- dum did pass in more than 90 per centof BCridings. In fact, at latest count, it looks like STV met the ma- jority requirement in more. than 73 ridings, which demon-_ strates broad support across all regions of British Columbia. , With the benefit of hind- sight, it is time to’the govern- ment to reconsider the highly {unusual requirement of a 60 per cent threshold for electoral reform. c Unless.this is reviewed, we are faced with the. prospect of . conducting the next election . with a system that has been clearly rejected by the voters of British Columbia. This is really an untenable situation, which I expect the government will want to cor- — rect.” We congratulate this gov- -ernment on implementing the Citizens Assembly process, and having the referendum on the ballot. . .A government elected with.. only 46 per cent of the--vote-- - has-no legitimacy to deny 57 per cent of British Columbians the system they want. STV was the overwhelming choice of the Citizens’ Assem- bly-on Electoral Reform. Despite the fact that the government committed virtu- > ally no funds to public educa- tion about STV, a clear ma- jority of British Columbians made up their own mind, and voted yes. . We will be requesting. a meeting with the Premier at the earliest opportunity to ensure that this issue is not dropped, and that the government moves with haste to implement STV for the 2009 election. : Nick Loenen is a former MLA from Richmond and a supporter of electoral change. Music adds Ke) an education MUSIC AND arts contribute so much to a happy life. they - should not be the first school programs axed when budgets need trimming.’ Look at the photo on the ~ front page of The Terrace Stan- — Mary © dard’s May 18 issue. ‘Schaeffer’ entertains residents ‘and visitors at McConnell Es- tates as she plays an electric organ donated to the home. ' Can you picture social studies or math filling the bill? Attending school for 12 years is tough enough without denying students the. fun. and incentive of music. Everyone talks of team sports keeping " marginal students in school. -Well, music can do the same for academic achievers. Band students not only. have to keep up their academic marks to remain a member of the band. They must also be- have well to participate in the draw of the year — the out-of- _ town trip to compete in Can- ada-wide performances. Nei- ther a band teacher nor parent chaperones care to shepherd delinquents who might misbe- have and embarrass both the THROUGH BIFOCALS CLAUDETTE SANDECKI group and their community. Much emphasis is placed on training high school stu- dents for future employment. But employment can come from music, too. Diana Krall, world renowned jazz singer from Vancouver Island, comes to.mind. And Nelly Furtado, another successful high school music program grad. There are others out there as well. As proof of how well stu- dents can progress in a high school music program, May 12 Thornhill Junior Secondary School’s band treated families and friends to a dessert concert as a final rehearsal before bus- sing to Richmond to take part - in the 33rd Musicfest Canada competition where they went up against the best Canadian schools have produced. The achievement of these students in a short time is re- markable. Two years ago the grade eights had never picked "up a flute or a saxophone. Yet there they were, 51 kids play- ing together, in perfect time and pitch. Several senior stu- dents offered polished solos. To keep the music program alive over the past 13 years since school funding was deci- mated if not killed, parents of music students constantly | fundraise. Fundraising has become a second job for many. parents. But thanks to their unflagging efforts, generous support of local businesses — and caring individuals such as Vesta Douglas who donated the cost of buying an additional saxophone, the music program at TJSS has clung to life. Besides the commitment of parents to fundraise: for the: entire band program, rent- ing or buying of instruments, ’ sheet music, music stands, and replacement of deteriorating - instrument parts such as reeds drains the family budget. _ For the kids, toting these . heavy brass instruments across the field from Thornhill Pri- — mary to Thornhill Junior and schlepping them on and off school buses takes muscle. . Velcroed seat _ belting around the handle of my granddaughter’s saxophone - case cushions her fingers. She could really use a mule. Pity — the tuba player. Band students are better be- haved than average students, - or perhaps it’s the other way around — only. well behaved students succeed and are al- 7 lowed to continue in band. Whichever the case may be. - Students at the dessert con- cert conducted themselves in an adult manner. They didn’t run about, holler, shove, or make a nuisance of themselves during the dessert break. Even their younger siblings did their parents proud.