Cassiar Courier the Voice of Cassiar Country JUNE 1980 10 cents HRH The Duke of Edinburgh’s Fifth Commonwealth Study Conference: + sass rion Over ten months of planning had been devoted to develop - ing a comprehensive itinerary for the Cassiar Study Tour portion of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh’s Fifth Common- wealth Study Conference. The purpose.of the conference, as set out by HRH Prince Philip, was to provide individuals selected from industry, trade unions and public administration from every part of the Commonwealth with exposure to the widest possible aspect of the human problems in industrial communities | and to encourage them to compare and discuss their ideas and reactions. The local advisory panel, consisting of Don Toth, Norm Cosnett/Glen Billingsley, Sandra Crawford, Barbara Rior- dan and Lou Vujanich (Local Liaison Officer) at a final meeting held on May 22 to review the itinerary in detail, certified that all was in readiness for the Study Tour Group. On Saturday, May 24, representatives of the local advisory panel met the fourteen conference members, their Study Group Chairman and Group Secretary at the Watson Lake Airport. The group had just flown in on a charter aircraft from Haines Junction. The trip to Cassiar on a charter bus ‘offered the conference members the opportunity to re- view their information folders on Cassiar, to chat with the representatives of the local advisory panel and, for some, to catch up on their sleep. Conference members on the Yukon and Northern British Columbia Study Tour were: - Bill Apted (Canada) — Director of Sales and Marketing, Beverage Packaging with American Can of Canada Limited. Jean Bezusky (Canada) — Associate Registrar of the Labor College of Canada. Richard Dennison (Canada) — Director General of the National Theatre School of Canada. Carol Fuller (New Zealand) — Assistant Director, Re- search and Planning Division, Dept. of Labor. retary for the Australian Bank Employees Union. David Holland (United Kingdom) — Deputy District Eng- ineer, North of Scotland Hydro Electric Board. naantaeaee: K. Kutty (india) — - General ies, Ad- ministration, Wimco Limited. Michael Leung (Hong Kong) — Deputy Director, Home Affairs Department, Hong Kong Government. Guy Paquet - (Canada) — Manager of a Seagram’s Distill- ers plant in Quebec, James Raman (Fiji) — National Secretary, Fiji Trades Union Congress and General Secretary of the National ‘Union of Factory and Commercial Workers. Brian Reid (Canada) — Regional Representative, Public Services Alliance of Canada. Bob Siddall (United Kingdom) — Colliery Manager, Blid- worth Colliery. CONFERENCE MEMBERS - ‘Leonard Hingley (Australia) — Queensland Division Sec- * °° Ishmael Yamson (Ghana) — General Manager, Group Tex- tiles Division, U.A.C. of Ghana Limited. Kandeh Yilla (Sierra Leone) — General Secretary of the Electricity Employees Union. On arrival in Cassiar each conference member was match- ed with his/her billeting family and treated to a sump- tuous buffet dinner prepared by the Cafeteria personnel. Following the dinner each conference member rose to give .a short account of his/her background,’ interests, etc. Brian Reid of Canada stated how pleased he was to be in oar and after an embarassed pause and assistance from a colleague, he blurted out Cassiar. James Raman of Fiji delightfully declared that he had ac~ quired a taste for Canadian rye (fortunately his hosts had purchased a bottle of Canadian Club earlier in the day) and Len Hingley produced. his business card to assist him in remembering the name of his employer in Australia. Ap-+ parently on two previous occasions Len had difficulty re- calling the name of his employer ........... the organization had very recently undergone a name Chane: ‘ Cont, on page 15 Hydro Electric Feasibility Study Crippen Consultants ‘have been engaged by Cassiar to car- ry out engineering studies on the feasibility of developing hydro-electric power on the Cottonwood River. The act- ivity in the Cassiar area by this group during May and _ June is related to the field work required for the project. > by E. L. Alexander — TREES As in previous summers, the 1980 summer environmental program is in full swing with a variety of projects in the town. A priority of the 1980 program is the introduction of four hardy species of deciduous trees to the townsite. These in- clude Cutleaf Weeping Birch, American Mountain Ash, May Day Tree, and the Shubert Cherry Tree. The Cutleaf Weeping Birch, the most graceful of all weep- ing birches, is known for its white bark and finely dis- sected leaves. The May Day Tree has fragrant white flowers that hang in loose racemes which mature into fruit like small cherries. A beautiful tree, the Shubert Chokecherry, intoduces it- self to the season with small green leaves which soon turn a deep purple and which are accented by white flowers. The importation of these 91 trees by truck from Rich- mond is especially significant since they are not native to - : this area. The saplings will be planted in various areas ‘throughout the town, including the park along Connell Drive and the town entrance. ’ It is hoped that with the co-operation of local residents, the trees will flourish and enhance the appearance of the town. by Ken Wright