Page 6 September 1982 Cassiar Courier GOVERNMENT He has also talked at some length on this topic with Mr. Al Passarell, the M.L.A. for Atlin. With over 200,000 players competing in the B.C. Games play-downs, it is just not economically feasible to subsidize their travel costs. Despite the expense involved, other communities as re- mote as Cassiar manage to take an active part in the Games. As far as lottery funds are concerned, Cassiar had not, until recently, made any applications for a grant. Of the eight applications received from the Atlin electoral district five were approved, one was paid under the Federal-Provin- cial Travel Industry Development Subsidiary Agreement and only two rejected. The charge of political bias certain- ly cannot be supported’ by this record. As far as travel costs are concerned, approval has been given for in-Pro- vince travel grants for Cassiar to include visits to the Yukon, On the basis of the above information, it is difficult to justify the claim that Cassiar has been unfairly treated. Like other remote communities, Cassiar faces a number of difficulties, but these are appreciated by the government and we can assure you that this will be taken into account in efforts to serve the community. The lottery application recently submitted by the Cassiar Community Club for the Recreation Building is being reviewed and we hope to have an answer to the community very shortly. EDUCATION The government realized that there is an additional cost involved for arural school district, particularly in the northern parts of the Province, to provide the same level of service as a school district in an urban area. To this end there has been a project launched to develop, in conjunct- ion with the field agencies, a new Educational Finance information system. This committee will be studying the whole question of costs to deliver educational programs in different geographic locations of the Province. . The present Facilities Manual does provide for addi- tional space for small schools and schools located in the northern regions. For example, special consideration is given for small secondary schools to have full sized gym- nasiums, mud rooms and space for special assistance class- es. Where a school district can demonstrate special educa- tion needs for a larger than usual number of students with learning problems, additional instructional space may be provided. The Ministry of Education would be pleased to dis- cuss these issues and other matters with you at your con- venience. POWER B.C.Hydro has identified hydro-electric sites on the Stikine and Iskut Rivers which could provide a total of 2,800 MW of capacity or about 13,020 GW.h/year of energy. Engineering, economic, and environmental feas- ibility studies of these potential developments have been underway since 1977. B.C.Hydro expects that studies will be sufficiently advanced by 1983 that it could, if neces- sary, apply for government approval under the Utilities Commission Act. However, no decision has been taken by the corporation to seek approval. If development is per- “i