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CITIZEN
Serving the Central Interior since 1916

PRINCE GEORGE

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2003

80 CENTS (HOME DELIVERED: 54 CENTS A DAY)

Councillor riles DBIA
Call for safe injection site has downtown businesses fuming
by MARK NIELSEN Citizen staff Coun. Brian Skakun's call for a safe injection site in the downtown area is doing more harm than good, says Downtown Business Improvement Association president Kirk Gable. "I'm not sure how much more assistance from Mr. Skakun we can afford," Gable said Sunday. Gable said drug addiction is a problem all over the city, not just downtown, it's hardly a new issue, and there are already programs in place to deal with such troubles. "The worst part of all this is the adverse publicity that it gives the downtown," he said. "From the perspective of the business community that have tried to improve the downtown, having someone like him pointing at an obvious social problem doesn't help us at all." Last week, Skakun said a safe injection site may be in order after he came across a man shooting up while hiding in some bushes last week. During a city council meeting earlier in the week Skakun voted against a motion to devote a significant portion of revenue raised through city land sales to downtown redevelopment, arguing social issues need to be addressed first. Gable and Skakun will be meeting this week to discuss the issue. At that time, Gable plans to remind him that RCMP members and bylaw enforcement officers routinely patrol the area and that Partners for a Healthy Downtown has been formed. Contacted Sunday, Skakun stuck to his guns. "I guess I could've been really nice and maybe not said anything and go with the flow, but I feel really strongly about this," he said. "That's why I went the route I did. I took a stand right off the bat and aired some of my concerns. And now that they're out there, I don't think he (Gable) can ignore them."

Transit front, centre at council
by MARK NIELSEN Citizen staff Changes designed to increase ridership on Prince George's transit system by 10 per cent but also expected to increase the cost to the city by the same amount, will be the subject of a special city council meeting tonight. If council adopts the changes, set out

TODAY
ENTERTAINMENT

in the final report of a yearlong review of the system, the number of people who use the system is expected to increase by 75,000 riders to 875,000 a year by the end of 2005, almost 10 per cent. But to implement those changes, council will be asked to increase the city's contribution to the system by $245,000 in 2004, bringing the total up to $1.05 million, and representing about one-third of the overall cost of the system. Council members may still have some time to think about the additional $245,000 because changes related to that money won't begin until January 2004. But they'll be asked to get the ball rolling tonight by approving an additional $25,000 to cover the cost of relocating some bus stops and to market the changes this fall. Council's approval pending, new routes and schedules, and an integration of the conventional and handyDart services, would come into effect Jan. 2, which would also be the first of

two "free ride days" to allow riders to try the new service. A special semester pass, worth $105, would also be made available to UNBC and CNC students at that time. Meanwhile, a referendum will be held at UNBC to see if students want a UPASS, which would give them unlimited bus travel in exchange for a blanket fee added to the student fees. Other changes proposed for 2004 include earlier service to UNBC and CNC in the morning and later service in the evening, along with evening service in the Hart, introduction of evening service on Saturdays from September to April, and on weekdays and Saturdays from May to September. And starting in September 2004, the cash fare would be $2 for both conventional and handyDart, while the costs of tickets and passes would remain unchanged until 2005, when there would be a slight increase as part of a threeyear strategy. Tonight's meeting starts at 7 p.m.

Citizen photo by Brent Braaten

Charlie Philp gives a toot of his horn as he takes off on his bike for the annual Terry Fox Run on Sunday.

Hundreds make Terry proud
720 locals run, bike, inline skate in Terry Fox run
Citizen staff Inspired by Terr y Fox and his Marathon of Hope across Canada 23 years ago, more than 720 people showed up for the Prince George edition of the Terry Fox Run on Sunday, raising more than $20,000 in the process. Both numbers were an increase over last year, when about 400 participated and $18,700 was raised. "We're just thrilled with just how well it has gone today," said Elizabeth MacRitchie, one of the two main organizers along with Terry Cramer. Along with walking and jogging, participants inline skated and rode bicycles over various distances up to 10 kilometres, dropping off pledges and donations beforehand. The event is held every year in memory of Terry Fox. Stricken by bone cancer and amputation of his right leg at age 18, Fox nonetheless launched his Marathon of Hope, in which he attempted to run across Canada and raise $24.1 million to combat cancer in the process, or a dollar for every Canadian citizen at the time. He walked for 143 days, doing about 26 miles a day, covering 3,339 miles, until he was forced to stop at Thunder Bay, Ont., because the cancer had spread to his lungs. He was flown home to Coquitlam where, for Terry, the hurting stopped June 28, 1981 when he died at age 22. This year's event was also held in memory of Nancy Attwater of Prince George, who died of breast cancer in July. As well as an active organizer of the Terry Fox Run and a participant in the Canadian Cancer Society's Relay for Life, Attwater paddled for two years with the NorthBreast Passage dragonboat team and stayed involved with the team even when she could no longer work the oars. Members of the team, and of Attwater's sorority, Beta Sigma Phi, were part of this year's event, as was her husband, Chuck, who said he was impressed by how many people showed up. "I just think that it's a great event." Another $10,000 to $20,000 will be raised by the end of October, MacRitchie said, as local schools hold their own runs.

Rain dampens fires
Premier lifts state of emergency
PAGE 17
VANCOUVER (CP) -- Premier Gordon Campbell lifted a provincewide state of emergency on Sunday as rain continued to fall on hissing flames across the province. Campbell said the solid work of everyone involved in battling the worst forest fire season in 50 years, along with the favourable weather, is the reason the province lifted the state of emergency that had been in place since Aug. 2. The next step is completing damage assessment, Campbell said from Montana, where he was attending a meeting of western premiers and western U.S. governors. "My deputy ministers are working across government on this and will be visiting Ottawa within the next 10 days. We're going to do everything we can to move this as quickly as possible." British Columbia also signed an agreement with the United States on Sunday aimed at improving crossborder wildfire management, said Campbell. More than 7,600 firefighters, including some from the U.S., have been involved in helping battle B.C. fires this summer. "This experience has shown the vital importance of cross-border co-operation, and how we can work together as neighbours to protect safety," the premier said. Meanwhile, wet weather continued to give firefighters a break on Sunday as officials remained optimistic that a forest fire season that has seen hundreds of B.C. residents lose their homes is coming to an end. "It will still be a number of weeks before the fires are out and it'll be closer to winter," said Kirk Hughes, a fire information officer with the B.C. Forest Service.

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INDEX
Annie's Mailbox . . . . . . . . 23 Bridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 City, B.C. . . . 3,5,13,15,22,24 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . 18-21 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Coming Events . . . . . . . . 2,15 Crossword . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Entertainment . . . . . . . 16,17 Horoscope . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Lifestyles . . . . . . . . . 22,23,24 Lotteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Nation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,7 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-12 World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Campbell calls for U.S. to accept NAFTA softwood rulings
BIG SKY, Mont. (CP) -- The United States should accept NAFTA rulings and negotiate a fair resolution to the softwood lumber dispute, Premier Gordon Campbell said Sunday. Campbell made the comments during a Western Governors' Association meeting on improving crossborder trade. He presented British Columbia's softwood case to governors from 21 western states, as well as Paul Cellucci, the U.S. ambassador to Canada. "Workers and communities on both sides of the border depend on fair, open access to markets," Campbell said. "Nearly $589 billion of trade flows between our two countries." Campbell said every NAFTA decision to date has found either that the U.S. duties are in breach of trade laws, or that there have been significant flaws in how they are calculated. "B.C. and Canada have negotiated in good faith, and worked tirelessly to reach a solution," he said. "It's time to resolve this dispute, for the sake of workers on both sides of the border." Earlier this month, the U.S. Commerce Department began reviewing how it calculates anti-dumping duties of about eight per cent on Canadian softwood lumber. Two recent NAFTA panel rulings have gone against the U.S. calculation of softwood duties, ordering the Commerce Department to revise its methodology. On Sept. 5, a NAFTA panel also gave the United States 100 days to prove that Canadian exports threaten the American industry at all. Since last spring, Canadian lumber companies have been hit with combined U.S. anti-dumping and countervailing duties that total about 27 per cent.

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