The Prince George
Citizen
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9,1991
51 CENTS
(Plus GST)
Low tonight: 6 High tomorrow: 16
Unemployed face trouble 6
Iraq’s H-bomb ambition 7
Pulp woes spelled out 11
Kings hot when it counts 15
Phone:562-2441 Classified: 562-6666 Circulation: 562-3301
HARCOURT RUNS INTO ‘SCOLDING MOM’
Mudslinging dominates debate
by Canadian Press VANCOUVER — British Columbians who tuned in the provincial election leadership debate Tuesday instead of the Toronto Blue Jays’ baseball playoff may have hoped finally to see campaign issues get a thorough airing.
What they got was a first-hand look at the personalized mudslinging that characterized the first half of the campaign leading to the Oct. 17 vote.
Premier Rita Johnston, whose Social Credit party is trailing the opposition New Democrats badly in the polls, kept NDP leader Mike Harcourt off balance for much of the one-hour televised debate.
Liberal leader Gordon Wilson, who crashed the proceedings at the last minute, watched Johnston and Harcourt strike sparks off each other and told voters that’s just why they need a third choice on the ballot.
Green Party loses in court
VANCOUVER (CP) — A B.C. Supreme Court judge threw out a Green party application Tuesday to be included in the televised party leaders’ debate on CBC.
Justice Ross Collver refused to grant an injunction that would have prevented the Tuesday evening debate from proceeding unless a Green party representative was included.
Doctor, wife die in crash
A Vanderhoof physician and his wife have been identified as the victims of a floatplane crash Sunday near Fort Fraser.
Dr. Donald Charles Rummel, 43, and Mary Ann Rummel, 36, died when their single-engine Piper Cub crashed in a farm field about five kilometres east of Fort Fraser and burst into flames on impact. Fort Fraser is 130 kilometres west of Prince George.
“It’s a sad business,” Dr. Alex Black of Vanderhoof said today. He said there are no plans in place yet for a memorial service.
“There was some difficulty in contacting relatives in Britain at first,” said black, “but now we’ve contacted Dr. Rummel’s brother and sister-in-law.”
The loss is a double tragedy for Vanderhoof and its outlying area, with only six physicians now on staff at Sl John Hospital. “Traditionally, it takes us months and months to fill a position for a doctor,” said Black.
The cause of the crash is not known. Observers at the crash site said the plane swiftly lost altitude before it crashed.
Fort Fraser RCMP said today an investigation by the Prince George coroner’s office and federal Transport Safety Board is continuing.
Wilson’s participation forced debate sponsor CBC television to change the format, allowing fewer one-on-one exchanges between leaders after a trio of journalists asked their questions.
But Johnston made the most of it, frequently butting into Har-court’s answers and needling him.
That’s not what the NDP leader expected when he walked onto the blue and peach colored TV stage.
“Tonight I hope we stick with the issues and talk about the future,” Harcourt said, leaning off camera to shake Johnston’s hand. “I’m willing to do that.”
But not Johnston. She accused Harcourt of being dishonest about the cost of his 48-point campaign platform.
“You are afraid of the truth,” she said.
Harcourt deflected questions about his top priorities and how he would pay for them, and when he
B.C. ELECTION
tried to tum the spotlight on the Socreds’ record $1.2 billion budget deficit last spring Johnston just rode over him.
“What about the promises?” she interrupted. “What . .about . .the PROMISES?”
When Harcourt tried to nail Johnston on her apparent willingness to consider health-care user fees, she erupted again.
“Why don’t you stop scaring the senior citizens of this province with your lies,” Johnston said, glaring at him.
“This reminds me of the legislature,” said Wilson after one exchange. “Here’s a classic example of why nothing ever gets done in the province of British Columbia.” Harcourt and Wilson worked from a sheaf of notes on their lecterns but Johnston arrived with
enough material to fight a major court case — a ring binder full of briefing papers plus a pile of documents on the chair beside her.
At one point she picked up the NDP’s platform pamphlet and budget proposals and waved them at Harcourt.
“They don’t add up,” she said. “They.. .don’t.. .add.. .up.” Advisers from all three parties sat with reporters in the CBC cafeteria to watch the debate on TV monitors.
“I’m very, very pleased with Mrs. Johnston’s performance,” said Socred campaign manager Jess Ketchum.
Ron Johnson, Ketchum’s NDP counterpart, thought his leader also did well but “Mrs. Johnston showed a complete lack of dignity.
“She didn’t have anything positive to say. I was shocked by her performance.”
The premier said later she didn’t
mean to sound like a “scolding mom.”
“But when you hear outright lies and untruths and innuendos continually for three weeks of a campaign and then you’re face to face on a platform, it gets a little difficult to continue to take that kind of rubbish that was coming out of his (Harcourt’s) mouth.”
Harcourt said his first goal in the debate was to set out the issues.
“I did that,” he said. “I didn’t succeed in my second goal, which was to stop the sniping and the name-calling and distortions.”
Political scientist Don Blake, who scored the nine-round ques-tion-and-answer session like a boxing match, gave the victory to Johnston on points.
“There were no knockout punches, no blood on the floor,” he said.
Blake said Harcourt was just too
polite with the heckling Johnston, but even discounting that, her answers were more explicit.
“She was very well coached,” said Blake.
Wilson may have gained the most because he had nothing to lose, said Blake. The Liberals arc struggling to return to the legislature after being shut out since the mid-1970s.
Although Wilson’s style was at times too hectoring “he was very well informed on both the record and the promises of both parties,” said Blake.
CBC producer Rik Jespersen estimated the potential B.C. audience at three million, including radio listeners.
Harcourt scotched the idea of a second TV debate, tentatively organized by CTV-affiliate BCTV for next week.
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Road to progress
Citizen photo by Dave Milne, courtesy Canadian Helicopter
The construction access road leading from Highway 16 West to the site of the University of Northern B.C. can be seen in the foreground of this aerial view of the city. The university site is off to the left of this picture where construction crews are clearing the right of way off the end of 15th Avenue and along the escarpment of Cranbrook Hill for the permanent road to the site.
Jobs putting stress on students here
by DIANE BAILEY Citizen Staff
What students do outside school has an impact on how well they do and how well they expect to do inside the classroom.
And that is something school trustees and administrators must
INDEX
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Bridge.................25
Business 10,11
City, B.C.............2,3
Classified .... 22-26
Comics..................18 —
Commentary 5
Crossword..............23
Editorial . . .
Entertainment Family ....
Horoscope..............25
International 7 IT
Movies.................18
National................6
Sports..............15-17
Television..............24 --
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'Got a toothbrush with an extra-long handle?"
consider when planning, the School District 57 board was toid at its regular meeting Tuesday.
The board received the results of a survey of 458 English 12 and Communications 12 students taken last spring.
The survey asked students about their activities, goals and expectations.
Some of the answers they gave “totally astounded” members of the Education Policy and Planning Committee, said trustee Ann McQuaid.
The survey found that of all Grade 12 students, 44 per cent work after school at least three days a week.
Seventeen per cent work more than 20 hours per week, said McQuaid, which means they spend more time on the job than in the classroom.
A variety of activities take students away from class, including 24 per cent for athletic teams, 17 per cent for work and 11 per cent for personal and social reasons.
In fact, only 11.5 per cent of all Grade 12 students have neither part-time work nor outside activi-
ties in addition to their school work.
McQuaid emphasized the results are just “raw data” and need to be analyzed, but said in an interview later there are some obvious implications.
“I think those kinds of commitments create lots of stress on students,” she said.
“But on the other hand, when you compare this to the results of provincial exams, you become aware of the kind of energy and commitment these kids have.”
Last year, School District 57 students turned in their best performance ever in provincial and scholarship examinations.
McQuaid said the information is especially signficant because it comes from the students.
“It’s the first indication we’ve had from the students themselves what the school experience is like for them and what their aims are,” she said, something that should make long-range planning more relevant
The survey found some significant differences in Grade 12 boys and girls.
In general, girls consistently aim for and expect higher achievement than boys involved in the same types of outside activities. And as they get more outside involvements, they raise their academic aims.
The reverse is true for boys, who lower their academic aims as they become more involved in work and extracurricular activities.
A significant number of students indicated they were aiming for and expected to get only a C or a pass in their courses.
For boys, 42 per cent were aiming for marks in this range and 52 per cent expected to get them. For girls, 27 per cent were aiming for a C or a pass in their courses and 40 per cent expected to get them.
But while they weren’t all aiming for A averages, a large number were hoping to get a university education.
The 41 per cent who said they planned to take university or university transfer courses is higher than the percentage who normally follow through, said McQuaid.
Overall, 25 per cent were plan-
ning to find a job after graduating, while 21 per cent were planning to go into some kind of college training program. Five per cent were undecided and eight per cent had other plans, like travel or returning to high school.
The survey found boys are a little more likely to go directly to work after graduation. Girls are more likely to aim for university.
One trend School District 57 students appear to be bucking is the tendency of females to gravitate out of the sciences when they reach high school.
In fact, girls here are more likely to enrol in biology, chemistry, French and literature.
Boys are more likely to take history and physics, while both sexes participate equally in mathematics and geography.
A district panel will look more closely at the report to interpret its findings.
McQuaid said a special student panel may be converted to give its thoughts.
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