A6 www.saobserver.net
10-year contract unreasonable The rhetoric surrounding the B.C. public education system and contract negotiations with the B.C. Teachers Federation has been flying high, both in amount and stink level. Claiming they have the best interests of B.C. schoolchildren at heart, the provincial Liberal government is single-mindedly driving to ink a 10-year labour contract with the province’s teachers. The nuts and bolts of their plan are outlined in a document entitled: Working Together for Students. The plan has as its main goal longterm stability in education. At least that is what it says on the cover. Very commendable. However, the document identifies the biggest problem with the public school system as, “The ongoing cycle of teacher labour unrest in schools.” As if only the teachers were to blame in this mess. But 10 years is a long time. How many people, other than politicians want to be locked into a contract for 10 years? We have trouble with three-year cellphone contracts, never mind 10 years. What if there is another financial meltdown? What happens if the natural gas industry goes belly up? What happens if the courts uphold the BCTF’s right to negotiate class size and composition? Why not aim for a short-term contract to work out a set of guidelines that focuses on class size and composition that puts the students first, gives teachers the room they need to do their very best, and is mindful that the government purse strings must open for many public servants. In this way both parties are putting their money where their mouth is. -Penticton Western News
Publisher: Rick Proznick Editor: Publisher Tracy Hughes
171 Shuswap Street NW Box 550 Salmon Arm, British Columbia 171 Shuswap V1E 4N7 Street NW Box 550 Phone: 250-832-2131 Salmon Arm, British Columbia Fax: V1E 4N7 250-832-5140
Rick Proznick Editor Tracy Hughes Office Manager Phone:of the 250-832-2131 This Shuswap Market News is a member British Columbia Press Council, Louise Phillips a self-regulatory body governing the province’s250-832-5140 newspaper industry. The council Fax: considers complaints from the public about the conduct of member newspapers. This Shuswap Market News is a member of the British Columbia Press Council, Directors oversee the mediation of complaints, the input from both the newsa self-regulatory body governing the province’s newspaper industry. The council paper and the complaint holder. If talking theofeditor publisher does not considers complaints from the public about thewith conduct memberor newspapers. oversee the about mediation of complaints, the input from both you the newspaper resolveDirectors your complaint coverage or story treatment, may contact the and the complaint holder. If talking with the editor or publisher does not B.C. Press Council.Your written concern, with documentation, resolve should be sent your complaint about coverage or story treatment, you may contact the B.C. Press within Council.Your 45 days, towritten B.C. Press Council, 201 Selby St., Nanaimo, V9R 2R2. concern, with documentation, should be sent withinB.C. 45 days, to information, B.C. Press Council, 201 Selby St., Nanimo, or B.C. For phone 888-687-2213 goV9R to 2R2. www.bcpresscouncil.org. For information, phone 888-687-2213 or go to www.bcpresscouncil.org
If you did not receive the Shuswap Market News, call circulation for re-delivery: 250 832-2131. p
p
Friday, March 21, 2014 Shuswap Market News
OpiniOn
Lured by quality of a bygone era
You know you’re getting old when fishing lures that you used when you were a kid are now considered collectable antiques. The other day I found myself admiring some of the old plugs and lures that I have on display in a china cabinet in my living room. I remember, as a kid, rifling through my father’s tackle box and sort of helping myself to a number of those old wooden plugs. I also remembered all the times that we used to sit out in the boat fishing. I can still hear the sound of water lapping against the hull of the boat. I remember listening and laughing at all my father’s dumb jokes. Life was a lot simpler. When I look at all that old fishing stuff, I cannot help but think just how much fishing tackle has changed over the years. Cane rods have been replaced by ultra-high modulus graphite rods. Instead of hardware store Pfluegers, I now own hand-crafted, machined aluminum reels that cost more than a good number of the vehicles I have owned.
The GreaT OuTdOOrs James Murray Gone are the wooden plugs with their glass eyes. Gone too are lures with names like Chubb Creek Minnow and flies like the Lady Amhurst and Silver Doctor. We now have Killer Crank Baits, Buzz Bombs and Hawg-busters. When an angler goes fishing now, it’s almost as if they are at war with nature itself. Electronic fish finders and GPS’s (Global Positioning Systems) have turned the sport of fishing into more of a serious business. I have to admit though, I enjoy using my new graphite rod. It is much lighter and easier to cast than the old fibreglass or cane rods. Today’s fluorocarbon lines and leaders are thinner,
stronger and almost invisible to fish in the water. Computer designed lures are effective, if for no other reason than they probably annoy fish into striking, and modern fly-tying materials now give an almost life-like quality to any imitation fly pattern. Maybe it’s just me, but somehow there just doesn’t seem to be enough of the old romantic tradition left in fishing. Catching a bright, shiny rainbow trout on a piece of muti-coloured fluorescent painted plastic with a name like Trout Killer stamped on the side of it just isn’t the same. I guess that’s why I continue to collect the old stuff and use the new high-tech stuff. Including all the lures that I pilfered from my father’s tackle box, I guess I’ve been collecting antique fishing gear for more than 50 years. I’ve managed to put together a fair collection of old lures as well as dozens of steel and cane rods. I like to think that by collecting such artifacts I am, in a way, helping to preserve sport fishing history.
Fishing was a part of my growing up – a part of who I am. Maybe that’s why it annoys me so much when I see ads in the back of Canadian fishing magazines from some big fishing outfit down in Virginia wanting to buy old fishing gear. I just don’t think we should be selling off our history. When I’m going through and handling some of the old piscatory paraphernalia I’ve collected over the years, I cannot help but admire the craftsmanship and attention to detail on some of those old plugs and lures. I am often amazed at the creative lengths to which some earlier anglers went in order to catch a fish – it truly is amazing sometimes what did manage to catch fish. So, I guess some day, when my tired old legs are too weary to get me into some of the lakes and streams that I have fished, I will be able to look back and know that I was part of an era. Not one of plastic, but rather one of craftsmanship, glass eyes and sport fishing history.