Terrace Flre Chief Cliff Best, Kitimat Fire Department representative John

Cruikshank and Terrace firefighter Ron Flaming took jolnt possession of a
recent donation from McDonald's restaurants, presented by Karen Facker,:
to start a fund for bullding a Fire Safety House. The structure will be used
to demonstrate fire escape procedures to school children.

Fund started for
Fire Safety House

The fire departments of Ter-
race, Thornhill and Kitimat
recently announced they have
begun a joint fund raising effort
with the object of building a
“‘Bire Safety House’. The full-
sized, portable structure would

be used primarily in area schools .

to teach children how to get out

of a burning house alive.
Terrace fire department

representatives Ron Fleming and

Cliff Best and Kitimat fire

department spokesman John
Cruikshank all confirmed in a
recent interview that the safety
house. concept has proven to be
an effective teaching tool in
other B.C. communities, and it
has been well accepted by
students and school adminis-
trators.

The structure itself, Best said,
is a two-story moveable building
about three meters wide by six
meters long. It has full-size win-
dows and doors, and is equipped
with smoke alarms, smoke
generating devices and other

trappings that create a realistic |

scenario of a fire in the home.
Children are given direct instruc-

tion by: fire safety professionals

on how to safely escape from a
burning building.

The fund for building the
structure was given its kick-off
boost by the Terrace McDonalds

‘restaurant recently. During a

visit by the ‘‘Mac_ Tonite’’
character, restaurant publicist
Karen Focker took polaroid
photos of the well-known adver-
tising figure with McDonalds’
customers for donations. The
proceeds were turned over,
along with the take from a
previous fund raising action, to
the safety house fund last week.
The amount was $428.65.

The firefighters do not yet
have an estimate on the total
cost of the structure. Anyone in-
terested in becoming involved in
the project can call the Terrace
fire department (non-emergency
number) or Karen Focker at
McDonald’s.

TERRACE — The new federal
day care strategy devised by
Health Minister Jake Epp does
not inject as much money into
the system as it appears to, and
it may take years to access, mak-
ing it a poor replacement for the
inadequate funding system
already in place, according to
Mab Qloman, the Director of
Child Care at the University of
British Columbia.

‘by Charlynn Toews

Oloman told 20 child care
providers and students attending
a workshop Saturday at North-
west Community College that
about half the $5.4 billion be

spent over seven years is actually

old money. H calculations ex-
clude current day care subsidies
for low-income families already
paid for through the Canada
Assistance Plan (CAP), the new
money is less than $2 billion.
“The federal contribution to the
National Strategy on Child Care
translates into a real cost of $157
million a year for the seven
years,” she explained.

In addition to the money for
the ‘‘new’’ federal-provincial
cost-sharing scheme, which
simply replaces CAP, the
strategy includes a controversial
tax assistance component. ‘‘Giv-
ing small amounts of money to
parents does nothing to improve
or create day care spaces for
them to. choose among,’’
Oloman said.

In fact, almost half of the $5.4
billion announced will go
towards tax relief. $2.3 billion
will pay for the two alternatives
offered. The first is the child
care expense deduction, for
parents in the work force using
receipted child care which will be
increased from $2,000 to $4,000
for a child under seven years old
or a child with special needs.
The maximum deduction for
children seven to 14 years of age
remains at $2,000.

Agricultural lands transferred

Administration of all Crown-
owned agricultural properties
and lease-to-purchase
agreements for such properties
will come under the Forests and
Lands Ministry effective April 1,
1988, according to an announce-

ment last week by the B.C.

government.

Properties now managed by
the Agricultural Land Commis-
sion will be transferred to the
Ministry of Forests and Lands.

The ' administrative transfer
has no effect on the ALR status
of the properties, nor the ex-
isting terms and conditions of
the leaseholds. Agriculture

Minister John Savage said this .

transfer is a move to streamline
government administration pro-
cedures affecting Crown-owned
agricultural fand, and to in-
crease the possibility of sale
where appropriate.

The B.C. Lands division of
the Ministry of Forests and
Lands currently administers a
portfolio of about 1,600 lease-
to-purchase agreements for
agricultural land throughout the
province.

With the transfer, an addi- |

tional 126 farm properties,

totalling about 12,000 acres, will .

be added to the Forests and

xin
“ats ee ee ees

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atetetetetatetetetatata’ SR

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On complete picture framing

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4820 Halliwell Avenue —
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Open Monday - Saturday 9:30 - 5:30

Lands administrative portfolio.
About 80 percent of the 126 pro-
perties are in the south coastal
area.

SUNDAY: Terrace Athletics
MONDAY: Terrace Minor Hockey
TUESDAY: Kermodes or Jaycees
WEDNESDAY: Terrace Blueback Swim Club
THURSDAY: 747 Air Cadets
FRIDAY: Parapelegic Assn.
SATURDAY: Parapelegic Foundation

Sate ce Fara Reven— Wed February 24, 1988 3
Federal day care strategy
questioned by specialist

Oloman said this would be
worth an average of $514 for a
two-earner couple with a com-
bined income of $40,000, which
might pay for a month or two of
child care at present rates. As
well as offering little to parents
having difficulty finding an af-
fordable day care, ‘‘deductions
benefit mainly higher income
couples, and provide very little
accountability for spending
public money.”’

_ The second alternative is the
child tax credit, which is to be
increased by $200 by 1989.
Credits are payable for families
with low or no taxes. A parent
who stays at home to care for
children, or who uses unre-
ceipted child care may claim
this. However, “a few hundred
dollars is an insult to women
who lobbied to have their work
as mothers recognized by the
federal government in its child
care strategy,’’ Oloman com-
mented.

Many Canadians also lobbied
for improved parental leave,
which was recommended by the

Special Committee on Child
Care in its report last year, but
not included in the strategy.
And, according to the Canadian
Day Care Advocacy Associa-
tion, an analysis of what the
public said to the Special Com-

‘mittee shows that 78 percent of

the submissions called for the
government to fund services
directly, compared to 22 percent
recommending that funds go to
individual parents through a tax
deduction or credit.

Darlene Westerman, a
member of Terrace’s volunteer
Child Advocacy Committee,
which organized the workshop,
criticized the federal government
for disregarding the views of
Canadians expressed the the
report. ‘‘They ignored it and.did
what they wanted to do. It’s.a
small attempt to respond to pro-
blems in child care. People who
don’t know the system or the
details will be appeased.”’

_ The federal funds that do g0
directly to services will total
about $1.5 billion, depending on

continued on page 23

Val George appointed _
to Science Council —

TERRACE — Dr. Val George, Chemistry.

President of Northwest Com-
munity College, has been ap-
pointed to the Board of Direc-
tors of the Science Council of
British Columbia.

_ The Science Council was set
up in 1978. It has two principal
functions. The first is to advise
the government on science and
technology policy. The other is
to provide support for applied
scientific research in the pro-
vince.

The board of the Council is
made up of 15 leading scientists
and business people in the pro-
vince. Since 1980 it has
distributed over $25 million to
conduct almost three hundred
projects in universities, colleges,
and private industry.

Dr. George was educated in
Wales, and earned his doctorate
in physical chemistry from the
University of Wales. He is a
chartered chemist and a member
of the Royal Society of

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4616 Hwy. 16 West

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VAL GEORGE

Dr. George is the author of a
book on quantum chemistry and
has published many articles in
scientific and educational jour-
nals.

DOORS OPEN AT 4:30 p.m.

S68

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‘EVERYONE WELCOME age 14 years and up.
Thank you! Have a nice day!

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