Page 2 November 1983 Cassiar Courier

M.L.A.

REPORT
Al Passarell

‘October 1983—The B.C. School Trustees
Association and its member School Boards have been very
well served by the N.D.P. although one wouldn’t be able
to determine that from recent Government news releases.

On July 7th the Socred Government introduced Bill 6
which gave the Government the right to issue directives to
School Boards about their budgets.

The B.C.S.T.A., and a number of individual School
Boards, approached our N.D.P. caucus objecting to certain
provisions of Bill 6. We agreed with those objections and
put up the most spirited fight we could in the Legislature.

We told the B.C.S.T.A. that our only line of defence
was to delay passage of Bill 6 to give time for consultation
with the Government. We had to resort to a fillibuster to
postpone that Bill. I’m not going to put words in the
mouths of the B.C.S.T.A. representatives with whom we
met but they certainly supported our actions to give them
that time for consultation.

Without that filibuster there is no doubt Bill 6 would
have passed in its original form.

Let me list the days upon which the Government call-
ed Bill 6 for debate in hopes of pushing it through with-
out any change as requested by B.C.S.T.A. It was called
for Second Reading on August 4th and again on August
Sth and on August 16th, August 17th, August 31st, Sept-
ember Ist, September 19th and September 20th. Finally
at about 3:00 a.m. on September 21st, we had exhausted
our procedural opportunities and Bill 6 passed Second
Reading.

In providing that opportunity to the B.C.S.T.A. we
have been accused by the Social Credit Government of all
surts of incorrect behaviour ranging from obstructionist to
seditious. However, that is what one has to put up with in
politics. But, we stood our ground for we knew our cause
was just.

Almost three months-to the day following the intro-
duction of Bill 6 the B.C.S.T.A. table officers met with
the Premier and the Minister of Education and reached
asreement that Bill 6 would be amended. It was, and the
1u.ndments followed almost exactly the case that we in
the » 9.P. had put forward in the Legislature day after
day on Bill 6. ;

If it had not been for the effort of the N.D.P. caucus
in providing the time for the B.C.S.T.A. to marshall its
forces and its arguments Bill 6 would have gone through
in its original form.

Politics is a cruel game and I can only hope that a few
people will remember three or four years from now that it
was the N.D.P. which saved the day for the B.C.S.T.A.
and for School Boards.

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NOTICE

Articles for the December Issue of the Courier
must be in by November 10th. If you wish to run
a Christmas Ad, please call Town Administration
at 778-7477 or phone Kerry Jones at 778-7371 or
Lee Coran at 778-7456.

TO THE

Response to Mr. Frank Cserey-re:Cassiar Theatre

First of all, I would like to thank Mr. Cserey
for his interest in why the Cassiar Theatre sits
closed for the winter of 1983/84.

I will endeavour to answer the questions that
he has posed, and hopefully the community will
understand the situation.

The Cassiar Theatre opened its doors in early
1978, with the intent of providing movies to the
community. These movies were to be up to date,
and directly off of Granville Street, and of course
this was done. The movies were shown 6 nights a
week, and for the first part of the year, the
theatre went well.

Things started to change in the latter part of
the year, when the town of Cassiar had the good
fortune to have cable installed, providing the
town with satellite television. Response to the
theatre became less and less, as the movies on
cable became better and better.

Cut backs on movie nights came into effect,
with the idea that maybe a cost saving could be
realized, however, this didn’t prove to be so. A lot
of factors hurt the theatre and they were as fol-

Erickson Creek Column

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7 74 , Pr AN .

ane Aa

October, 1983, will be remembered as an important
month in the history of Erickson Gold Mine. In October
we reached a milestone of our first 100,000 ounces of
gold produced since our mill first turned over in Decem-
ber, 1978. It’s been a hectic and harried five years as
Erickson’s fortunes rose and fell with the price of gold,
the grade of ore and the stubbornness of this mountain.

Needless to say our stubbornness has matched that of the
mountain!

by Pat Lewis Beaton

This month we have also finally erected an Erickson
sign. It’s not just any ordinary sign either! Developed in
Erickson’s Planning Office under Mine Superintendent
Jim Bondesen, it features gold letters on a green back-
ground atop a black ore car. The car is sitting on the same

rail tracks as we use underground. On either side of the

sign sit two jackleg drills and to finish it off two large
quartz boulders rest on both sides of the car. It’s a beauty
and we’re proud of it!

There’s been a lot of activity here at Erickson over
the last few weeks. We’ve had Sethan’s ore trucks hauling
what was Plaza ore down to our mill at the rate of four
trucks every hour. A portal is being driven on the Plaza
mine side under Project Engineer Tom McGrail and Shift
Boss John O’Brien who hope to be in ore soon. Our new
surface superintendent Ernie Hatsel and his crews have
been preparing for winter while dealing with the increased
work load. Mine Foreman Cary Moffat and Shift Bosses
Donny McLellan, Frank Kollar, Ron Mayer and Bill Gray
are busy at the new portal sites at 14 and 39 levels in addi-
tion to our ongoing mining at 28 and 21 levels. There’s al-
most an audible hum of activity around here these days!

Meanwhile, in the mill, Kieran Loughran has been
promoted to Mill Foreman. This is a new position necessi-
tated by the increase in the mill work load. Kieran is one
of Erickson’s longest serving employees.

Well, winter’s on its way. We really enjoyed the first
snowfall this year. The Saturday night snowstorm on Oc-
tober 8th brought with it scores of ducks, geese and swans
who settled on McDame Lake to wait out the bad flying
conditions. We were serenaded by a variety of honking
noises all through the night! Sunday morning we watched
a dozen swans circle above the mountains against a blue,
blue sky and head south for the winter. It was a sight to
see on a Thanksgiving weekend when our sense of nature’s
beauty had been dulled by weeks and weeks (and weeks!)
of rain and cloudy skies.

But nature has two faces and all of us were reminded
of this when Walter Bondesen recently visited Erickson.
He had quite a story to tell the folks back home in Vic-
toria. Shelley and Sam’s Grandad had an unfortunate boat
accident and took an unplanned swim in the cold, clear
waters of McDame Lake. It was a swim he’ll never forget!
After tipping the boat over, he managed to get on top of
it and somehow paddle to shore. Then he had to climb a
steep hill before he emerged from the woods near the
Erickson shops. It’s lucky he’s a strong, determined man
for the swim and hour in the wet clothes had lowered his
body temperature by three degrees. The hospital treated
him for hypothermia and released him the next day.
Grandad, we love to have you visit us, but next time let us
plan the excitement!

lows: heating, sound, cancellation of some
movies,.and price increases.

Each year, when the financial statement was
drawn up, the theatre showed more and more de-
cline in admissions, and higher operating costs. It
is to be noted that the theatre did have brochures
provided free to the patrons, and ticket specials
were introduced. These worked for a while, how-
ever, eventually died off.

In December 1982, the financial statement
showed that the theatre ran a deficit, to the tune
of $18,650. This was $9,500 over budget, and
this was for only six months Operation, as well as
only two nights a week.

Alternatives were discussed at the Annual
General Meeting, and the Executive agreed to
look at alternatives. The cheapest alternative was
estimated at $75,000. With the recession that we
are in presently, it was decided to close the
theatre, and bring it back up for discussion in the
spring of 1984...

Mr. Cserey stated in his letter that he wonder-
ed about smaller communities that have movie

operations. Here is the information:.

Watson Lake had a theatre, and is now closed
as it went bankrupt.
Elsa had a theatre operation in the Recreation
Centre, and that no longer exists.

Mayo doesn’t have a theatre at all, and only
have an occasional movie in their recreation

This is Equality? Continued from Page 1

route immediately at a cost of $122. Now, two years later
the cost is $128 one way. The regular cost of a return
flight from Watson Lake to Vancouver is $473. Of course,
a percentage of the seats south are set aside for charter
rates. We understand the percentage figure is based on the
number of empty seats for the previous three years. This
presents us with a ‘Catch 22’ situation. With the cutback
in the flights there are very few empty seats. Does this
mean that there will be no charter rates for 1984? And
while we’re on the subject of cost — where are those won-
derful deals available to southerners for east/west and
west/east flights? We sure are EQUAL in the North!

The cutbacks in flights to the “Isolated North” has
far reaching effects. Businesses have increased expenses
since the limited number of flights necessitates longer
hotel stays at points south or north while one waits for a
flight. And how would someone, say in Vancouver, like
to be able to buy the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday
issues of the Province only on Thursday, and then at a
cost of 70 cents per paper — mail service is also seriously
disrupted. y

Southerners should be aware that air travel is the
only fast travel to the south. If there is a personal family
crisis, ie. illness or death, there is a period of three days
when one can’t fly south. The only alternative then is to
drive. It’s 400 miles to the nearest continuous paved high-
way from Cassiar and for eight months of the year this
drive usually takes place in snow and/or icy conditions. In
summer, the pot holes and dust are even worse than the
adverse conditions of winter. The wear and tear on one’s
vehicle is obviously a great deal worse, as well.

The list of inequities goes on and on — housing,
telephones, television reception, etc. It seems as if the
government backed off on many “southern” taxable
benefits, but kept many Northern ones.

Of course, there is the myth that salaries are astron-
omical in the North. Southern salaries are fast catching
up — if they haven’t already done so — and southern
residents also have the advantage of seeing something
for their tax dollar. Just look at the wonderful facilities
available — large sports centres, excellent roads, public
transport systems, communications, fair competitive
prices (Food is another more expensive necessity in the
North because of very high transportation costs).

Oh yes!! We're all for EQUALITY. By all means, tax
our Northern Benefits, but supply us with the same facil-
ities available in the South. These northern benefits are
offered as an incentive to encourage people to come and
develop the “Last Frontier”. There certainly isn’t too
much incentive supplied by the government; the same
government which cannot supply enough jobs in the
South. Maybe while we have our northern benefits taxed
Southerners should be asked to pay a tariff for the priv-
ilege of having all those government supplied benefits.
This tariff could be used to provide the same benefits to

' Northerners,

It’s time we in the North stood up to be counted. If
we sit back with a passive attitude we deserve what we
get. Last year we had four flights per week — this year
three — maybe two years down the line only one — and
all the far-reaching effects brought on by such cuts.

It’s time the bureaucrats in their Ivory Towers down
South realized that the North is also a part of Canada, and
its residents would be only too delighted to be entitled to

TRUE EQUALITY with those other Canadians down
South.

centre.

Faro has a movie operation, however, the op-

eration is a family one, and his operating

costs are minimal.

Apart from Whitehorse and Faro, there is no

other movie theatre in operation north of

Cassiar (excluding Alaska).

To give the general membership an idea where
the theatre stands as far as deficit to the end of
August 1983, these are the figures for four
months of operation from January to April 1983:

ACTUAL BUDGET

Revenue— 6,266 11,400
Cost of Sales—Film Rental 2,666 3,700
GROSS PROFIT— 3,600 7,700
Expenses—
Wages— 6,378 5,200
Supplies— 3,030 1,500
Building Maintenance— 443 500
Equipment Maintenance— 508 800
Power— 3,816 2,800
Fuel— 3,783 3,600
TOTAL— (17,958) (14,400)

TOTAL NET LOSS FOR THEATRE—
(14,358) (6,700)
- Eontinued on Page 16

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CASSIAR
Bits & Pieces

Continuing the saga of the mis-directed teacher—
_..seems while out at the annual B.C.T.F. confer-
ence in Whitehorse, he got fooled again!!! Sure
can’t trust those detour signs—eh Glen!!

And which senior Education Administrator de-

layed the homeward flight in order to retrieve
his P.J.’s? It sure wasn’t the Australian flag Dor-
othy was waving at the plane from the shores of
Atlin Lake!!!!

Hear Verna was stopped at C.P.’s security Van-

courer for carrying a dangerous weapon in her

hand baggage. Wonder what plans she had for

those embroidery scissors. And what does that

other lady take to church every Sunday in a

brown bag???

On the local front there’s an even more danger-
ous weapon located in the Bank. They call it the
computer but we hear it likes to chew up
peoples’ pass books.

Did you hear about Ida Walters about to sit
down on an outhouse when out crawled a porcu-
pine?

Did you read in Hansard about Mr, and Mrs. Bill
Deline being introduced in the B.C. Legislature
(do they know something we don’t?) They were
introduced as coming from the capital of the
Great White North—Cassiar.

Hear that several interested individuals have al-
ready spent a great deal of time grooming and
extending the ski-trail behind the school. Now
all we need is a bit of the ‘White Stuff’ and a lot
of consideration from residents to treat these
trails with respect. No one wants. to ski over
snowmobile. tracks or through dog excrement-
there’s lots of room for everyone.

Many Cassiarites were sad to hear of the passing
of Peter Hisch, who passed away in Cranbrook,
B.C., on September 30th, at the age of 47. Peter
worked here in Cassiar from February 1965 to
September 1968 and again from October 1971 to
February 1974. He leaves to mourn his passing,
his wife Erna and other family members.

17th Annual
_Firemen’s Ball

oe
Z
2

*

The Courier office has a new face these days.
Marian Craft has been helping out and we've
sure been glad of that help.

Cassiarite Arun Lekhi, who is attending school in
Penticton, was chosen from six candidates as goal-
keeper for his minor hockey team and will travel
with them to Finland in December. Congratula-
tions Arun and Good Luck!

Pat and Glen Madore are visiting their children,
Kim and David, as well as other family members,
in Ontario. and Cathy Murtagh just returned also
from a visit to Ontario.

Lindsay Beck was back in town for a visit before
leaving to spend the winter in New Zealand and

Australia.

Seems everyone’s getting mended for the curling
season. Nice to see John Colak and Jay Lee back
_after their recent operations. Al Whiteside decid-
ed to get into the act as well—even tho nota curl-
er. Speedy recovery to all of you.

Cecile isn’t telling but.....guess who aE
half her big toenail putting on a pair of slacks las
Friday evening - was in such a hurry to get to
the bar after Aerobics!!!!

Be sure to check out all the courses being offered
by the Arts and Crafts Society. More details on
Page 4.

WELCOME TO: pie
“ine and Shirley Fournier and daughter Candy.
FAREWELL.TO:

Frank, Irene and Erika Gricnik who have moved
back to Ontario.

Mike and Marie Zemenchik and their children
Tyler and Natasha. The Zemenchiks have moved
to Tumbler Ridge.

with
Herb Marks and His Band

Sat., December 3, 1983

AT THE REC CENTRE

COCKTAILS — 7:00 p.m.
DINNER — 8:00 p.m.

DANCING 9:30 p.m. — 1:30 a.m.

DRESS SEMI FORMAL — NO MINORS ALLOWED

TICKETS AVAILABLE FROM ALL FIREMEN

‘WendinasgA

Cassiar Courier November 1983 Page 3

DRZIMOTTA — MENZUL

Lorraine Menzul and John Drzimotta were mar-
ried this summer in Surrey, B.C., on August 26th.
The wedding ceremony took place at 6:30 p.m. in
the North Surry United Church, with a reception
following at The Langley Civic Centre.

Lorraine’s Maid of Honour was Lisa Abernethy,
the Bridesmaids were Colleen Starheim and Karen
Kristensen and Stephanie Slana was the flower-
girl, John’s Best Man was Greg Morgan with

’ George Drzimotta and Bernd Guderjahn as

Groomsmen.
There were 150 guests with out-of-town relatives
and friends coming from as far away as Florida,
Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Cassiar,

B.C.

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Kurian - Robinson

The wedding took place between Leonard Sunil
Kurian and Rose Marie Robinson on August 12th
in Riverside, California.

Following the ceremony, a reception was held at
the Spanish Art Gallery, The Mission Inn in River-
side.
Leonard is the son of George and Grace Kurian of
Cassiar, and his family travelled to California for

the: ceremony.
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Evelyn and Ken Frenette are thrilled to announce ~
the arrival of Ross Gerald Anthony on October

7th, 1983 at the Lions Gate Hospital in
Vancouver.

Abdou and Jamila Mimouni are pleased to an-.
nounce the arrival of their son, Zakari, born Sep-
tember 12th, 1983 in the Surrey Memorial Hos-
pital, weighing 7 Ibs. I oz.

Lisa.and Rick Prosser are pleased to announce the
birth of their son, Skylar Clayton Les, born Oc-
tober 12th, 1983, in Quesnel, weight 6 Ibs. 15oz.

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