MONDAY, DECEMBER 7,1998
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SPORTS
CANADA
■ Lloyd Clemett, 99, and four other Canadian veterans of
the First World War, also pushing 100 years of age, have been given France’s highest award — the Legion of Honour, About 80 other Canadian veterans are still living and France plans to honour them as well. /7
BUSINESS
■ They said it couldn’t be done, but MacMillan Bloedel has developed a way of logging
'■"British Columbia’s rugged old-growth forests one tree-at a time, leaving the surrounding forest intact. And the technique is allowing the company to do it profitably. /24
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Bridge........................22
Business......................24
City, B.C.................3,5,13
Classified ................20-23
Comics .......................18
Crossword ....................18
Entertainment 18,19
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Movies........................19
Nation ......................6,7
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Television ..................19
World ........................14
Industry minister says high taxes helping economy
OTTAWA (CP) — High taxes improve the economy, according to Industry Minister John Manley.
His statement, made in response to a Commons finance committee report that called on the government to focus more on ways to boost Canada’s lagging productivity, including the reduction of taxes, was swiftly condemned, Southam News has reported.
“Arguably high tax levels, if anything, should increase productivity because it would drive innovation in order to lower other costs,,rManley said.
Scott Brison, the Progressive Conservative finance critic, disagreed with Manley’s claim.
“If Mr. Manley believes that high taxes improve productivity, I would ques-
tion his competency as a minister,” Brison said. “Every study in every country where they’ve ever evaluated the effect of high taxes on productivity indicate they kill jobs and investment”
But Manley claimed it’s not the case that high taxes hurt productivity, but rather that they encourage highly skilled workers to move elsewhere.
“The problem with taxation more lies in the area that we don’t want to lose some of the people that could contribute to innovation in our economy,” he said.
Liberal MPs, in their majority prebudget report, called on Finance Minister Paul Martin to cut taxes for mid-dle-and upper-income Canadians in his February budget.
HOLIDAY MOBILES — Gwynne Bilski,8, works on her mobile as part of the Family Sunday at Prince George Art Gallery. Children of every age were building wacky mobiles to hang during the
Man rams Deadline cruiser for recall
A 25-year old man is in custody and facing nine separate charges after he drove into a police car early Sunday morning.
City RCMP were called to a residence in the 3000 block of Eighth Ave. While they were checking the house, the man drove his car into the cruiser and then tried to flee on foot
He was apprehended. There were no injuries.
nrU---------------possession of
was arrested.
Christmas can
The last thing you want to give your pets this Christmas is flowers or chocolates said Shannon Steuart.
There are precautions people should take to ensure the safety and happiness of their pets during the festive season, said Steuart who is a local veterinarian.
A box of chocolates can be toxic to a 30-pound dog and cats love to eat poinsettia’s despite the fact they’re poisonous, she added.
“You’d be surprised how much they’ll eat before they realize they are sick,” said Steuart.
“Anything at table level, your pets will eat. It’s teasing them,” she added.
People should ensure decorations, tinsel and cords are placed so that your pet can’t get to them.
They can block your pet’s intestines if eaten, said Steuart.
Your pet might end up needing surgery, she added. “The longer it’s in there, the sicker the animal gets.”
You have to watch out for them on Christmas day also when there’s an abundance of ribbon and paper around.
Younger pets and high-strung animals are more likely to be the most curious, said Steuart.
If you have to be away from home, try to keep you pet in a room (like a bathroom) or a kennel where he/she won’t hurt themselves.
Christmas time is also a very stressful time for pets and they don’t understand the increase in visitors or all the excitement. All this is very overwhelming even for the best behaved pet, said Steuart.
Giving your pet extra attention and time will help curb some of their anxiety, said Steuart.
“In the business of the season, sometimes we forget about our little friends,” said Steuart.
Braaten
Veterinarian Shannon Steuart and her Airedale terrier Raleigh, who's having his first Christmas.
is today
The time frame for the gathering of signatures in the second attempt to recall Prince George North MLA Paul Ramsey ends today.
Proponent Bob Viergever — runner-up to Ramsey in the 1996 election — needs to have the signatures of about 8,900 people to force a byelection.
Last week, Viergever said he was about 2,500 signatures short. He also said he would only present the signatures to Elections B.C. if he had enough to force a byelection.
“Win or lose, we win because we have basically exposed an extremely flawed voters list, and we now hdve extremely knowledgeable people to fight the next election with,” said Viergever.
The first recall attempt against Ramsey — about one year ago — failed. Unlike the first campaign, Ramsey did not have an anti-recall team in place for this attempt.
Paper carrier to the rescue
EDMONTON (CP) — A newspaper carrier delivered a freezing taxi driver from the trunk of his cab where he had been locked up by a robber.
The cabbie had picked up a man in the wee hours who pulled out a handgun and stuck it into the driver’s face, said Staff Sgt. Garry Crawford.
The bandit robbed the driver of a small amount of cash and ordered him into the trunk of his own car before fleeing on foot, Crawford said.
“(A) delivery person was making his rounds and heard the noise coming from the cab and discovered the gentleman uninjured, but a little cold,” said Crawford.
The driver was treated at the scene by an ambulance crew. Police did not release the names of the cabbie or the newspaper carrier.
It’s beginning to look a lot like... spring?
by CRAIG WONG Canadian Press
Department stores are festooned with brightly coloured lights and packages tied with oversized red bows.
Television ads are pitching Christmas presents. Shopping mall Santas sit waiting for children to arrive with their wish lists.
But there’s something missing from much of the Canadian holiday landscape.
Snow.
While a lack of the white stuff is nothing new for Vancouverites, Canadians in other parts of the country are walking the streets this year with jackets more suitable for springtime — with Christmas less than three weeks away and retailers getting increasingly nervous.
In Regina, normally under a thick white blanket on snow by now, the cold weather is only just beginning — and the mercury has yet to significantly dip to the double-digit sub-zero levels that are normal at this time of year
on the prairies.
Dave Snider, manager of a Canadian Tire store in the city, says the warm weather has contributed to slower sales at his store. He believes that’s because shoppers relate cold weather with the holiday season and shopping.
“I think, with snow, it reminds them of the Christmas season,” Snider said.
The temperature in Regina on Friday was about four degrees Celsius below freezing. It is ordinarily around -15 C.
“Temperatures are certainly eight to 10 degrees warmer than normal and it’s pretty well that way across Canada,” Environment Canada climatologist David Phillips said.
The warm weather is affecting those who manufacture goods that are usually snatched up during a typical Canadian December.
Two Kaufman Footwear plants near Kitchener, Ont., have started a temporary shutdown for the next four to six weeks, putting about 750 people out of work.
Mild temperatures have left the com-
pany, which makes winter and work boots, with too large an inventory.
“We’re the manufacturer of a very seasonal product and so far it hasn’t been much of a season,” Kaufman spokesman Tony Dowling said.
John Winter, a retail analyst in Toronto, says companies had to plan for the season sue to nine months ago, long before the warm weather was predicted.
The problem is compounded because strong retail sales earlier in the year, which lead many retailers to anticipate strong sales for the winter, have slowed.
“We’re talking about needs that are triggered by atmospheric conditions and they haven’t arrived yet,” he explained. “People aren’t buying because it’s too hot.
“The ideal thing is for it to snow in the first few days in December, which is a wake-up call because most people procrastinate and leave it all to the last week. You want to get them going now.”
For the Sunshine Village ski resort in the Rockies, the warm temperatures in Calgary have, strangely, meant more snow on the slopes.
Resort spokesman John Ross says the warm dry weather in the city has meant much of the moisture has been deposited in the mountains.
The resort, near Banff, Alta., received 130 centimetres of snow by the end of November. Last year it hadn’t received that much snow until January.
Ross had worked as a stockbroker until about a month ago when he took the job with the ski hill.
He said the prices of oil and gas company stocks have fallen due in part to a weAer demand because of the warm weather.
“Everyone was predicting very cold temperatures and a strong gas price but it’s been so warm that gas prices started to go down like the oil,” Ross said.
Phillips, who has worked for Environment Canada for 31 years, says this year is the warmest on record.
COMMUNITY
PRINCE GEORGE
Serving the Central Interior since 1916
PAGE 13
It’s a lip-smacking experience.
■ The Prince George Cougars opened a five-game road trip with a defeat Sunday night in Cranbrook. The Kootenay Ice jumped on the Cougars for seven goals in running up a 7-2 victory. /12
WORLD
■ President Bill Clinton is virtually assured of being hit with articles of impeachment this week, but the U.S. population seems to show little concern. /14