G PENINSULA NEWS REVIEW

PRALINE

~ Publisher: Jean Butterfield —
Editor: Judy Reimche _-
Phone: 656-1151 / Fax: 656-5526
A division of Island Publishers Ltd.

9726 First St., Sidney, B.C.
V8L 3C9

Vol. 87 / No. 06 / Circulation: 13,796
Canadian Publications Mail Agreement #41815"

EDITORIALS
Exercise showed expertise

ast weekend’ S mock disaster brought to.
light more than the planning that must be
\_4done before the real thing hits. : a
‘By. staging the. ferry ‘explosion scenario,
groups who have been planning their own re-
sponse ‘methods individually were able to lift.
those plans. off the table and see how they ac-
~ tually work.
Some. things. worked well” ‘others. need ade
justments, or new ways of doing the = Job: and.
- those are now to be made. — Be
- But: to observers, there. were ‘some. other ©
_jessons learned that were just as important as.
knowing there will be expertise in the air, seas.
and on land when we néed it. They also had the -
‘opportunity. to witness. ‘the. levels of. training.
that not only. the response teams’ have, but also. ‘
h people. who. work on the ferries. ;
Ss: xpected thatthe: emergency. Te-
ponse crews would have top lotch skill
many ‘prised: when Fert vorkers.
whipped. off their aprons, dropped their mops
«fla ind began treating the. ‘in-

on Geos 5 eh yp iehen a Man ca geieghee ce a ee

Miller had’ cameras” and: re-
porters chasing him all over the
precinct, but he didn't have any
answers to offer, just: the
promise that more. feports, were
being prepared. :
~ And to top it off, the overpaid
B.C. Ferry workers had:put the
 Fastcat behind a picket line.
The ship that could answer all

‘than one obser ver. aid: “p W feel: a
slot safer when ‘m riding the. ferries, from now
oe | Rethaps. we do. get What we pay for.

- Sanscha i in crisis _

~ Nhe saga. of Sanscha Wall is vather ite |
j Nero fiddling while Rome burned, For |
years; politicians have been haggling. i.

over territorial rights, and about whether the
hall needs” renovating or should just be torn
~ down to start anew. And all the while, the poor, | |
well-used building has been literally staggering |
from event to event..And now it’s threatened
-with closure because the Peninsula Recreation
. Commission simply can't continue to operate it. i on the project,

“If we want to save the hall, or see it rebuilt, =| Wilson was ‘the jeader.« of the
“the communities. of North Saanich and Sidney _ :
can’t: sit back and. wait for either municipal. |
council or even just the MPS to do the job. Peo- t
ple have sat, wailing, for years s, and now this in- (

type pay raise. So what to do?
-This week the premier. made
‘the. decision
friend Dan Miller from his pet
B.C. Ferry project and put new-

Democratic. Alliance.
appear that. after the PDA's dis-
appointing third-place finish in
the Parksville by- -clection —- and
facing a mounting $80,000 party
+. debt — Wilson was ready when
{ Clark. made an offer that was
i (oo good to be true,.

-evitable impasse is right here in our faces, |
This is not a municipal problem — they don’t
own the building or the land. The people do.
~The Sidney Ratepayers Association has offered
to help the MPS put ona public forum to de--

“cide what needs to happen next, . a snes
“Leave behind the name-calling and blame. the historic aboriginal treaty
Now is the time to come forward to help with e process,
I

ee A

‘the fund-raising, the planning or whatever | “And he was offered the B.C.
“needs to be done. I’ sup to the residents) a Reece

enced

=

‘ee

sainatcalilan whaimeaiconasnsanmnianéyermsrensssenin Nosesianwivesiain

|  Sonlors Meal Pra
Tile ‘ Uae nant Peay a Bae
Wd} Sample Din ef & Barley Sou
= ff Rotter Moats | | toll free 1.

Wholesome home e cooked food delivered to your door Complete Dinners oF res Sandwiches ® Breakfast»

ar

‘hat. a-classic week in.

B.C. politics. ‘And. the

urprising | thing: is 1.
Whi :

ect and its cost over-runs. Dan:

Gordon Wilson whipping post.

the criticism was locked up —
tight to make sure the union put:
- maximum pressure on the NDP’
“to get their next hostage-taking::

toremove’ his
found outsider; Gordon Wilson,

one-man provincial Progressive »
It.would..

He had the opportunity: to
iF have his name forever linked to
ee

sear yy enmuyatciyieae gaits naan gdnsaninnnma oe whe gan foay Laie dh eptnae-one nt eevee rt a mE
i f

ase en aenatvemanenereanryn ane manure

zuma ¥ 3 course dinner for $5 1

‘It-'seems® like.“ a: marriage

made. in heaven. Miller is off
‘the hook, Gordon's ego has.a

home. Clark suggests the new

minister needs time to prepare .
-for his debates in the house on
-both the Nisga'a treaty and the

ferry fiasco and-has a reason to -

shut, things down for a while.
What a deal.
-- And as a bonus it appears that
Clark has united the centre left
even
Presto Manning.

However the real aired was

to provide a cooling off period:

and time to unveil the new gov-

- ernment. economic. plan. that
minister Moe Sihota has been.

building. In fact the Forest Ac-

jon Plan announced last .week
was hardly noted due to the fast.
i ferry mess.”

More than-l, 000 forest work:

_ers returned to their jobs at Do-
- man Forest Products because of
the plan, but little media alten:

Perry Corporalion, a favorite, | tion was riven,

Uh fo Homemaite Pies * * Individual Dinners and Snacks. © Member of Better Business Bureau

ferry fiasco. “
"The so-called 1A Team": felt ©
‘that the legislature’ should ad-—
_journ for four weeks to allow = |
“their programs to.be presented. pense

before you could say.

Wednesday, February 10, 1999

work ona high tech strategy, a
Vancouver: » Island: economic.

-plan,: a new:ski resort program %
and revitalizing B.C. fish farms
will be overpowered. by. the Nneg-

overage. of ‘the

So now that ‘the decks have

_ been cleared for some major ad- ae
justments to the B.C: economy,
along comes one of the most in- .

ept press briefings T have expe-
rienced.
A technical briefing on the

. fast ferry performance specifi- -
‘cations contained wrong num- :

bers and information that just

rekindled all the negative media’

that has dogged this project.
It-seems doomed, Yet it ap-
pears to-be loved by those that

have built it and those that have

travelled on it.

Probably .the only way. ‘this

project. will get built is if some
heads. are. chopped, starting
with the B.C. Ferry employees
who don't want this fast ferry to
sail,

Gortlon: Wils on will become |

their worst nightmare, At this
stage’ it appears that Gordon

Wilson is the perfect candidate |

for the job, as he's got some dis-

tance in the public's mind from

the governing NDP.

‘Now if things settle down for
a while Moe can get on with sav-
ing the economy. After all he's
gotthe plan,

But will anyone. listen?

scoiumermenimateauiaee

4 The fear: was. ‘that: all 1 Moe! Sig

A ee CR