New Directions Plan Put on Hold
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.................................................... .3.:,, ,:,,ke,ye season the oad Soot i ng it The commercial nets are set, and A 66-year-old version of Forrest A Terrace soccer sensation is now the fish wheels will soon be Gump treks his way through the driving hard in her new home turning\NEWS PAGE All I northwest\COMMUNITY B1 down south\SPORTS B5 WEDNESDAY 93¢ PLUS 7¢ 6ST JUNE 26, 1996 D__A,RD VOL. 9 NO. 11 New Directions plan put on hold THE PROVINCE has pnt the brakes Directions remains solid." gram to the rethink of the Year 2000 edu- The regional health board will even- "We don't have the doctors on side," on its controversial phm to regionalize The review is expected to last at least cation relbrms that ultinmtely led Io a tually be responsible for allocating money he snid "As long as you don't have the B.C.'s health c~u'e bureaucracy. two weeks and will concentrate on major watering down und elimination of and deciding where services will be doctors on side, the program can't work." Newly appointed health minister Joy bureaucratic overlaps, streamlining the more contentious items. located. Terrace community heallh council MacPhail said Friday cost pressures on finances and dealing with decreased fed- "As with the year 2000 program, it Both sets of bodies have been slower member Val George said the problem has the medicare system have halted further eral transfer payments. may be that what comes out of this is a than expected in getting started, however. beer the way in which New Directions decentralization pending u full review of MacPhail has criticized her own min- different form of it and one that is more The system is sttpposed to give more has been carried out. the NDP's New Directions policy and its istry for not being more aggressive in acceptable to the genend public." control over loc~d services to communi- "They should have tried a couple of potential impact• eliminating doubled-up services. A review of the program won't cause ties. The reforms were also designed to pilot projects like the municip,'dities rec- "What I am doing is saying let's all Skeena MLA Heimut Giesbrecht said problems for the community health coun- move services from expensive hospit,'ds ommended to them at the beginning," he take a pause so that I can assess fldly the that's the key to the announcement. cils or the Northwest Regional Health and acute care facilities to cheaper one- said. "You can't bring about that great a impact of those changes before we make "There may have been people get- Board, said board member Jim Thorn. stop clinics, home care and outpatient change to the system ,all at once." them permanent," MacPhail said tting into this and doing some hiring when In fact it will give them breathing services. The experience in other countries Whether or not a review will spell there was never an intention to create a space and a bit of extra time to prepare for Thorn said patting decision-making was an early signal that regiomlization in another round of reorganization is not buremmracy," Giesbrechtsaid. "Maybe the transition. in the hands of locnls is good. B.C. would run into some major pro- clear, but MacPhail did say she intends to there's a move towards that thai can be The Terrace community health coun- "We have a better understanding and blems, said Terrace annesthetist Dr. Philip Ibllow throu~,h with the program. nipped in the bud before it goes too fro'. I cil is to eventually take over control of comprehension of health care m the Lin. "There is absolutely no intention don't think you want any increase in the Mills Memorial Hospital and other health region." "Regionalization does not save mon- whatsoever of moviug backward," she bureaucracy" care facilities and decision-making in the But he says there ar'e large unresolved ey because you incur extra costs else- added. "The commitment to New He compared the review of the pro- Terrace area. problems. where," Lin said. Talks on local ..... J :.-J --J ......... fd " • . ,. , school issues bogging down r i, By CRIS LEYKAUF HOW MUCH fundraising should schools do? Should teachers have more input into the school budget? These are some of the issues that are still undecided in local contraet negotiations between the Terrace teacher's union and the School District 88. The two sides met late last week, but failed to come to any agreement on most issues. "We didn't get very far," said Sandra Audet, chair of the bargaining committee for the Terrace and Dis- trict Teacher's Union. School district secretary-treasurer Barry Piersdorff had no comment oa the negotiations, saying that both sides had agreed not to talk publicly about them. .... ,." :.i ;' ~:)2! "~',.'' ..,::,. :: " The talks are about strictly non-monetary issues. Agreements on wages and benefits were recently ham- toured out during province-wide negotiations. Both teachers and school boards voted in favour of a contract which gives teachers a total of a two per cent raise over the term of the contract. Negotiation of the local issues, which were excluded from the province-wide talks, began last fail. Audet says very little progress has been made so far. "We haven't seen a great deal of willingness to resolve these issues," she said. Among the issues on the table: • teacher involvement in extra-curricular activities • an unpaid leave plan li A new toy • race relations • a sunset clause on negative remarks in personnel files • corporate involvement in schools. THORNHILL FIREFIGHTERS are now much better equipped with than the 650 gallon per minute limit of its predecessor, It's also a lot Only two issues were decided last week, said Audet, and the addition this month of a brand new 1996 Freightliner fire truck, more comfortable and can carry more people. That's Thornhill the remaining ones were shelved until the two sides meet It cost $149,000 plus tax, but the new diesel air brake-quipped ma- regional district director Peggy dulseth and Thornhill Volunteer Fire again in the fall. chine can pump 1,050 gallons of water per minute ~ way more Department chief Guy Belanger with the new model. The teacher's union was concerned about teachers trans- porting students in cars, and wanted guidelines on when they might be required to do this. The school district agreed that teachers only have to Treaty effect probe underway transport students when it is part of their job description. Teachers were also worried about the use of schools by By JEFF NAGEL will also have to agree on a new openness the public after school hours. Some teachers leave valu- THE PROVINCE has begun its analysis of how City says gov't study of protocol to guide the final talks. ables in thek classrooms, and wanted to know when their the proposed Nisga'a treaty might affect people deal could be biased Smith said that will probably mean a change classroom would be used. The school district agreed to in- and busiaesses in the northwest. from the secrecy that was in place throughout form them. Aboriginal affairs ministry spokesman Peter "The ministry obviously has some biases. I agreement-in-principle negotiations towards But other issues were left undiscussed. Smith said it was decided to have ministry staff don't think we can put much confidence in a talks like those underway in various parts of the For example, how much corporate involvement is ap- carry out the socio-economic impact study, rath- study that's done by the ministry in house." proviuce under the B.C. Treaty Commission. propriate in the schools? er than hire an outside contractor. Mayor Jack Talstra says he's not sure if lie's Open negotiations took place here two weeks "There's no paratneters for this. We want some pro- "We've got a lot of experience and talent in going to take further action. ago in the Tsimshian land claim talks, for exam- tection for our members and for the students in our house that enables us to do it on that basis," he Earlier this spring he said he might give Ter- ple. schools," said Audet. said. race residents a referendum on the agreement in The Nisga'a framework agreement's secrecy The teacher's union also wants to know what will happen Smith said they'll be eonduetiag iaterviews principle if it becomes a controversial docu- clause allowed negotiators to negotiate in secret to contract language when the Kitimat and Terrace districts with people living attd working in the north- ment. and keep all topics confidential unless all three amalgamate in December. west. Nisga'a leaders maintain the treaty will result parties agreed otherwise. For example, Kltimat teachers have an agreement where The results of the study will be used to help in a tremendous amount more ~ not less The clause was signed by former Socred they can work at 80 per cent of their salary for four years, guide the final treaty negotiations, which could money flowing into Terrace. aboriginal affairs minister and now B.C. and take the fifth year off, at 80 per cent salary, at no cost get underway later this year. Smith said detailed treaty negotiations won't Reform leader Jack Weisgerber, who says nego- to the dlstricL Terrace teachers want to know if this option Smith said they hope to finish the study by begin until after the public consultation process tiators misinterpreted its intent. will extend to them when the districts amalgamate.