The Prince George
Citizen
FRIDAY, JULY 30,1993
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Phone: 562-2441 Classified: 562-6666 Circulation: 562-3301
ROUGH RIDE FOR NDP GOVERNMENT
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Here is a list of the major pieces of legislation introduced by the B.C. government during the four-month legislative session that ended Thursday:
■ The Build B.C. Act creates a Crown corporation with the power to borrow millions of dollars to build and repair roads and bridges. The opposition said the scheme will increase the debt.
■ The Human Rights Amendment Act places new limits on free speech ir. a bid to clamp down on hate literature. The opposition said the reforms will muzzle public commentators, especially those critical of the government.
■ The Public Service Act allows the government to give preferential hiring treatment to under-represented groups such as women,visible minorities, aboriginals and disabled people. The opposition called it quotas.
■ The Public Sectc' Employers /.ct is designed to control civil service wage costs, the government said. Critics said it will grease the rails for higher wage settlements tor unionized public-sector workers.
■ The Treaty Commission Act creates a commission to negotiate treaties and land claims with the province’s aboriginal bands.
■ The Local Elections Reform Act required candidates in municipal elections to disclose campaign contributions, removed voting privileges from corporations and lowered the civic voting age to 18.
■ The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Amendment Act extends the province’s freedom of information laws to municipalities, police forces, hospitals, school boards and other public bodies.
■ The environmental assessment bill would have given sweeping new powers to a government-appointed board to shut down development projects. The government withdrew the bill under a torrent of criticism.
■ The health council bill was also withdrawn. The bill was aimed at transferring health-care authority to community-based councils. The opposition called it an abdication of responsibility.
HERE’S WHAT THEY
Accord could lead to peace for Bosnia
GENEVA (Reuter) — Bosnia’s warring Muslim, Serb and Croat leaders agreed today on a constitution providing for three republics in a new union state, international mediators announced.
A statement from the mediators said the agreement would form part of an overall peace settlement for the 16-month war which has left tens of thousands dead.
There still needed to be further negotiations on outstanding issues including the composition and competence of the human rights court, the list of human rights instruments and the role of ombudsmen, the mediators said.
The Muslim-led Bosnian government, Croats and Serbs would hold talks Saturday on maps of the internal boundaries, they said.
Raucus legislative session
by MICHAEL SMYTH Canadian Press VICTORIA — The British Columbia legislature closed shop for the summer Thursday after a raucus four-month session that brought new troubles for the governing NDP.
Premier Mike Harcourt saw his popularity slide in public-opinion polls after a tough budget, two controversial land-use decisions and an avalanche of legislation that critics attacked as radical and ideologically driven.
But Harcourt predicted a comeback, saying new job-creation and training strategies will be disclosed
before the legislature reconvenes in the spring.
“There are going to be a number of economic projects,’’ he said. “And we’ll continue our commitment to bring in a balanced budget and get rid of the deficit.”
The NDP’s problems began on the first day of the session when a crowd of anti-logging demonstrators broke through a barrier and into the legislature’s stately rotunda.
The protesters injured a 62-ycar-old security guard, smashed an antique stained-glass window and delayed the annual speech from the throne.
The crowd was angry over the government’s decision to allow logging in Clayoquot Sound, which contains the last major stands of old-growth rain forest on Vancouver Island.
The decision has provoked a summer of logging-road blockades and arrests in the region.
Land-use decisions proved to be a double-edged sword for the government.
When Harcourt declared the Tat-shenshini wilderness area a provincial park — killing a proposed copper-gold mine — the province’s corporate lobby accused the government of pursuing an anti-business agenda.
Tax hikes in the March 30 budget further angered the province’s conservative forces.
The sales tax rose a percentage point to seven per cent and there were new taxes on luxury cars, used-car trade-ins, gasoline, tobacco and liquor.
Harcourt reluctantly withdrew a surtax on expensive homes after a torrent of protest. The province’s poorest families received tax breaks.
Meanwhile, the opposition Liberal and Social Credit parties experienced a resurgence, although both are still undergoing restructuring and leadership races.
Both parties slammed the government’s legislative agenda, which included a new Crown corporation to borrow money for highway construction, limits on free speech to crack down on hate literature and a new public-sector hiring strategy aimed at hiring more women and visible minorities.
“It was a session of radical social engineering experiments,” said Socred Leader Jack Weisger-ber.
Harcourt’s hints of job creation and deficit reduction signal the start of two years of good news legislation aimed at bolstering the
ends
NDP’s fortunes before the next provincial election.
Weisgerbcr said that won’t work.
“I don’t think any amount of public relations is going to change the disatisfaction,” he said.
Liberal labor critic Gary Farrell-Collins said the fact the government withdrew some controversial measures during the session — including a much-maligned environmental assessment bill — showed the public disapproval of the rookie administration.
“I think they’re running out of the house with their tail between their legs.”
Civic complex
“After intensive discussion on a number of drafts, with amendments agreed by all three parties, there is now a Constitutional Agreement for the Union of Republics of Bosnia and Herzegovina which will form part of an overall peace settlement,” the mediators’ statement said.
But the statement made clear that agreement on a map delineating the territory of the three ethnic republics still had to be resolved.
Discussions would continue on the map Saturday, it said.
The constitutional accord was confirmed by Croatia’s President Franjo Tudjman, who took part in the talks. He said it went hand-in-hand with a _	.
ceasefire agreed upon Thursday by the three warring factions in Bosnia. (By a nose)
The winner!
Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic left the meeting without comment. However it seemed the Muslim leader had finally crumbled to intense pressure from mediators and Serbs and Croats and agreed to a three-way ethnic partition of Bosnia.
Earlier story, page 11
GUELPH, Ont. (CP) — The man who won the World’s Smelliest Socks contest says he’s tried everything to curtail the odor emanating from his now-famous feet.
Dave Hargrave washes them daily, uses foot powder, has dabbed them in cold tea bags, and has even tried a more exotic mixture of cucumber and milk.
All to no avail.
“I’ve had stinky feet all my life,” said Hargrave, who outstunk 250 others from around the world in a smelly socks contest run by the British Knights shoe company to promote a new canvas sneaker.
The smell from Hargrave’s feet is so bad that relaxation on the reclining chair in his livingroom must always be done with a pair of slippers covering his offensive feet.
“If I take my shoes off, my wife gags,” the 47-year-old tool and die worker said with a chuckle.
Citizen photo by Brent Braaten, courtesy Northern Mountain Helicopters
Aerial view puts into perspective a cluster of civic facilities including (from top) the public library and new civic centre, connected by a circular rotunda, Four Seasons Pool and the public fountain. While interior work continues in the civic centre, an outdoor plaza is taking shape in its front yard, with completion scheduled for November. The vacant lot in the forefront is the site of the old Civic Centre, which was demolished earlier this summer.
COUNTRY MUSIC TO A DUCK RACE
Holiday weekend: Lots to do
There’s no shortage of things to do or see during the B.C. Day long weekend.
■ The third annual Salmon Valley Music Festival began this morning at the BL Ranch in Salmon Valley, about 20 kilometres north of Prince George. A host of performers are on stage through Sunday night.
■ The Senior C provincial men’s slo-pitch championship begins today at 6:30 p.m. at Kenworth Park on Highway 16 West. Play begins resumes Saturday at 8 a.m., Sunday at 10 a.m. and Monday at 9:30 a.m. The championship game is slated for Monday at 12:30, although an extra game might be needed at 2.
■ The Save The Nechako canoe race and recreation days is sponsored by the Two Rivers Canoe Club. Saturday’s race from Wilkins Park to Cottonwood Island Park begins at 11 a.m., while the race Sunday from Foothills Bridge to Cottonwood Island Park begins at 9 a.m.
■ The Prince George Auto Racing Association roars into action Saturday night and Sun-
day afternoon at its oval track on Aitcheson Road off Highway 16 East.
■ The quarter-mile track at North Central Raceway Park comes to life with drag racing Saturday and Sunday starting at 1 p.m. both days. NCRP is located off Chief Lake Road.
■ The 10th annual International Food Festival happens Sunday and Monday in Fort George Park. Free entertainment will be provided and there will be other activities such as a skydiver parachuting into the park to spice up the proceedings.
The food fair is sponsored by the Prince George Multicultural Heritage Society.
■ The annual Duck Race begins Monday at 2 p.m. when as many as 5,000 wooden ducks will be released down the Fraser River from the Yellowhead Bridge. Holders of tickets matching the numbers of the first five ducks to cross the finish line in South Fort George will win prizes in the Child Development Centre fund-raiser.
INDEX
“For a lesser fine, I can turn in three other speeders and a litterbug."
Ann Landers	.... 21
Bridge.................31
Business........22,23
City, B.C.............23,6
Classified ....	25-33
Comics..................18
Commentary...............5
Crossword...............30
Editorial...............4
Entertainment .	18,19
Family..........20,21
Horoscope..............31
International	... 9,11
Movies................. 19
National...............7,8
Sports..........13-16
Television..............29
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