The Prince George
Citizen
SATURDAY, JANUARY 26,1991
51 CENTS
(Plus GST)
nJttut XH$S2** Msaf-^+.
Cheap gas available 3
«2§I Picture war in the Gulf 5
Low tonight: -18 Super Bowl previewed 13
High tomorrow: -8 TELEPHONE: 562-2441 CIRCULATION: 562-3301
IRAQI FIGHTERS INTERCEPTED BY IRAN
Oil ‘as far as the
can see’
Oil Slick's Threat to the Gulf
200 mSas
200 km.
Map shows location of desalination plants threatened by oil spill
FULL-TIME JOB?
Mayor’s pay spurs debate
by The Associated Press and
The Canadian Press
Oil as thick as mud for “as far as the eye can see” scarred the Persian Gulf today as the war between Iraq and the U.S.-led coalition took its toll on the environment
Baghdad and Washington accused each other of causing the giant crude oil slick — so threatening the U.S. says it may dwarf the Exxon Valdez disaster off Alaska in 1989.
There was no letup in the air assault on Iraq today. As dawn broke, coalition bombers took off from dozens of bases in Saudi Arabia, pressing the nonstop air war for a tenth day.
Baghdad answered coalition attacks with Scud missies Friday and early today, hurling them at Saudi Arabia and Israel.
Iraq’s air force, hidden in hardened bunkers, has sat out much of the fighting so far. But Tehran radio said seven Iraqi warplanes were intercepted today by Iranian
The Canadian Press
While MPs may give up such perks as first-class travel to help pay for Canada’s war ef fort, the financial burden of a protracted conflict could fall to a familiar source: taxpayers.
: Defence Minister Bill McKnight said Friday the government has enough money to fund Canada’s role in the Persian Gulf War until March 31.
“But the minister of finance and the prime minister have said that dollars will be provided to support the men and women in the gulf’
air force jets in Iranian air space. It said six made emergency landings in Iran and a seventh exploded while landing.
The radio said Iran reminded both sides in the Gulf War of its neutrality.
In eastern Saudi Arabia, site of a huge air base, the planes were taking off into clear skies. The allies have flown more than 17,500 missions, officials said Friday.
Canadian CF-18s now are playing a role in the air offensive. For the second straight day Friday, Canadian fighter jets based in Qatar flew ahead of U.S. bombers into Iraq.
Coalition bombardment of the strategic Iraqi city of Basra intensified Friday night, said Iran’s Islamic Republic News Agency. Basra, Iraq’s second largest city with a population of more than 600,000, is headquarters for Iraq’s Kuwait theatre operations.
In a military communique today, Iraq claimed its air defenders shot down two coalition warplanes. The coalition has so far acknowledged
beyond the end of the fiscal year, McK night said in Ottawa.
The minister had suggested his government might have to seek tax increases to pay for the $60 million a month needed to sus tain the country’s forces in the gulf — 1,850 troops, 25 planes and three ships. A field hospi tal, staffed by more than 500 Canadian Forces personnel, is expected to be operating in Saudi Arabia next month.
“I wasn’t saying there would be one (a tax hike),” McKnight said in seeking to explain his previous statement. “I said there is only
the loss of 22 planes, 18 of them in combat; the Iraqis claim they have downed more than 180 allied aircraft
Today’s communique, broadcast on Baghdad Radio, repeated the Iraqi claim that the coalition is targeting civilian and residential areas. The United States has said the raids are carefully aimed at military and strategic sites, but officials have acknowledged that unintended civilian casualties are inevitable.
Iraq also said today it had begun a new broadcast service called Mother of Battles radio.
BBC monitors said the new Iraqi radio service appeared aimed at a wider audience in the Arab world.
Baghdad Radio broadcast an appeal for Arab soldiers to abandon the U.S .-dominated multinational force and join up with Iraq.
“Do you not feel proud to see us stand up against all the Arabs’ enemies, not scared or frightened?” said the Friday night broadcast. “Thai why do you not join us?”
one source of reve nue to the government.”
He said it would be up to Fi nance Minister Michael Wilson to propose how to pay for the war effort
Wilson said later the govern ment might prefer to chop pro grams.
“There are three ways of fi nancing additional spending: one is through the deficit, the other is reallocation of spending and the third is increasing tax es,” Wilson said after a cabinet meeting.
“My preference ... is to first look at a reallocation of spend ing.
eye
For the coalition, the most worrisome new development was a gigantic oil slick in the Persian Gulf, which they said was created when Iraq sabotaged Kuwait’s main supertanker loading pier.
Iraq said the U.S. caused it by bombing tankers in gulf.
The spill is likely to amount to “more than a dozen times” the 41 million litres the Exxon Valdez tanker leaked into Alaska’s Prince William Sound in 1989, Pentagon spokesman Pete Williams said.
U.S. officials said they believe the Iraqi move was an attempt to help repulse any allied amphibious attack.
Military officials said they were working on ways to counter the spill’s effects on their operations.
U.S. President George Bush pledged “every effort” by the allied forces to halt the spreading oil spill in the Persian Gulf.
But for now, the allies are helpless to halt the flow of oil. “We can’t just go in and shut it off,” Marine Maj.-Gen. Robert Johnston.
That’s the priority that I’ll continue to have.”
He wouldn’t say which pro grams might be hit.
The politicians in Ottawa will also do their bit for the war ef fort.
With the Commons adjourned indefinitely, the Treasury board has told MPs to cough up sav ings worth $2.6 million — one per cent of their spending — during the next two months.
Conservative Robert Layton said the measures could include a requirement he and other MPs travel economy instead of first-class.
by BERNICE TRICK Citizen Staff While two former mayors call the idea of a full-time mayor’s position in Prince George “criminal” and “ridiculous,” more than 155 businesses support it On Jan. 14 city council moved to increase the mayor’s position to full-time with a salary of $62,400 from a part-time position paying $39,825.
Aid. Rino Fomari, who made the motion based on a 70,000-population formula of $2.34 per capita, also proposed aldermen’s salaries be boosted by $400 annually to a total of $12,350.
The matter was deferred to Monday for further information from administration and input from the public, and that interim has given taxpayers and former politicians a chance to discuss the pros and cons of the proposal.
Former Mayor Harold Moffat calls the idea “criminal.”
“I think they’re (mayor and aldermen) more than adequately paid now for what they do.”
He said during his 10 years in office a lot of the development work of the city was done like expanding borders, rezoning, developing an Official Community Plan and accumulating land for future projects like Cottonwood Island Park and Cranbrook Hill, and without the help of the high-level administration team that’s in city hall now.
“We met two or three times a week, but even then I had trouble putting in the time from 2 to 5 p.m.,” said Moffat who served as mayor from about 10 years until 1978.
“If we start paying that kind of money, we better start look at paying volunteer workers like the hospital board.”
He believes the matter should go to referendum “to give taxpayers a chance to vote on it.”
Former Mayor Elmer Mercier who lives in Vernon, but is up to date on the news here, said in a telephone interview, "Tliat kind of a (pay) jump is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard of. It will set such a precedent in B.C. that we’ll all get carried away.
“Council should be restrained. What are they going to do with union contracts when they’re handing out raises like this? With that kind of money at the top, where will it end?”
Like Moffat, Mercier, who served from 1978 to 1986, can’t see the job being more difficult now with the Prince George Region Development Corporation and
• ^
a number of volunteer city committees and community organizations heavily involved.
On the other hand, a survey by the Chamber of Commerce shows 155 from 190 businesses participating support a full-time mayor while 17 want the part-time position to continue and 21 members had no comment
Asked about the proposed wage, 124 members approve the $62,000 as adequate while 12 members thought it was too low and 20 thought it was too high.
Harry Streckenbach, president of the Towncentre Business Association, says the full-time position “has to come.”
"Prince George is becoming a large city and we need a full-time mayor to make proper decisions.”
The one drawback he sees is that people with business interests may “shy away” from the job rather than resigning themselves to three years in city hall.
“It’s a tough question, but I think it should be a full-time position to get the input the city needs for major decisions.”
The issue boils down to two questions: Do we need a full-time mayor? What is the job worth?
The Municipal Act does not deferenthte between a full-time or part-ti rue mayor, says Norman McCrimmon, director of municipal administrative services in Victoria.
Rather, each municipality “sets the indemnity” and mayors are required to do their duty “to the best of their ability and as time permits.”
When a mayor is a retired person or has no business interests or job, they are usually referred to as a full-time mayor, but it has little to do with the salary offered.
Prince George’s Mayor John Backhouse is considered a part-time mayor. He spends mornings at his public relations job with the College of New Caledonia and afternoons at city hall.
Kelowna, with latest population figures at 70,700, pays its mayor $45,000, including expenses. Mayor James Stuart, who has no other work interests, is considered a full-time mayor.
Kamloops, with an approximate population of 67,000, is reviewing its mayor’s salary of $49,505 amd aldermen wages of $13304.
Mayor Kenna Cartwright, who has no other job interests, is considered to be a full-time mayor.
Mayor Backhouse says regardless of what council decides, Prince George has a full-time mayor putting in at least eight-hours from noon through evening.
INDEX
Ann L an den ... .7
Bridge .... ... 21
Business . . . . 10,11
City, B.C. . . ----3
Classified . . . 19-23
Comic .... ... 18
Commentary ____5
Crossword . . ... 21
Editorial . . . .... 4
Entertainment ... 18
Family .... ----7
Horoscope . . ... 22
Movies .... P10.P15
Sports .... . 13-15
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HERMAN'
'Guess what 'catch of the day' is.'
Tories get slight boost
Copyright Southam News 1991
OTTAWA — The outbreak of war in the Persian Gulf appears to have given Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and his government a modest boost in popularity, an Angus Reid-Southam News poll shows.
But while Tory support has risen five per cent since December — and a long period of record low levels — the party is still far behind the New Democrats and the Liberals.
And Mulroney is still by far the most unpopular federal leader — only one-quarter of respondents approved of the prime minister’s performance.
The survey of 1,501 Canadians was conducted Jan. 16 to 21, im-
mediately after war erupted and Mulronev committed Canadian troops to fight with the U.S.-led coalition against Iraq.
According to the poll, 20 per cent of decided voters now support Mulroney’s Conservative party — the highest level of Tory support found by Reid since last July.
However, the NDP still leads with 35-per-cent support, down one point, followed closely by the Liberals at 32 per cent, down two points. Another seven per cent prefer the Reform Party, while four per cent nationally support the separatist Bloc Quebecois and two per cent back other parties.
Twenty-five per cent were undecided.
Mopping up
Citizen photo by Brock Gable
The weather may seem almost like spring while it is sunny and highs are around -7, especially after the -40 to -45 cold spell earlier this month. But public works crews still have a lot of work to do mopping up after late December’s record snowfall. Here a city snowblower helps clear accumulated ice-encrusted snow away from sidewalks at the comer of Rainbow Drive and Stuart Drive.
Gov’t warns of tax hike for war
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