“If that’s the route to go, we will look into it. . .we will follow it up along those lines,” he said. Browne said the report also revealed CP and PVVA were two of three airlines flying out of 35 communities, adding after the merger only two airlines would service them. “But many of those markets where they were the carriers could only support two competitive carriers,” he said. Browne said the CTC could have disallowed the merger if it believed the public interest would be damaged, but it decided one large airline could provide better service than two smaller ones. “The negative effect was not large enough to offset the public interest good to Canada of the merger,” he said. Under Bill C-18, which is working its way through Parliament, it is easier for airlines to apply to fly into new communities, Browne said. “That allows for freer market entry. The paper process is much quicker.” Several Prince George travel agents say they have received complaints from businessmen about the fare cancellation. “We have had complaints,” said Debbie Ford of Seven Seas Travel. “The businessman’s fare was $245 and full fare is $288. The difference is $47.30, including tax. If you don’t stay over Saturday night we can’t offer you any deals now,” she said. John Van Der Vliet, owner of Marlin Prince George Travel, said that while he personally believes “the fare to Vancouver is too high,” the public has not been adversely affected by the merger. Van Der Vliet, who is a Chamber of Commerce member, said the cancelation is just a normal fare change by the airline. If businessmen don’t like it they should write to CAI, he said. “We are telling people to complain,” he said. SPRING CARPET CLEANING CALL Carl’s Clean Care 561-0320 Leaving Your Home Unattended for Any Reason? Holidays — Working Out of Town PflWCC GEOAOf SECURITY PATROL * LTD. PRINCE GEORGE SECURITY PATROL LTD. We service all of take care the Prince George area of For information Call 561 "1020 your home We Do House Calls" Local news The Prince George Citizen — Saturday, May 16, 1987 — 3 BOB MILLER City editor Early buildings singled out The Prince George Visitor and Convention Bureau is recognizing six old downtown buildings, some beyond recognition due to facelifts, with plaques to _ mark their history. In the case of the old city hall, the building doesn’t even exist anymore. A framed picture of the former seat of city government (70 years ago) will be on display in the modern city hall. Other structures earmarked are: The Northern Hardware store, Knox United Church, the former post office at Third Ave. and Dominion, the Prince George Hotel and the Caine Building, which now houses the Northern Ski shop. “It’s just a start.” said Lee Morris, bureau marketing manager, who added that more buildings will be recognized in future years. The program is being done in conjunction with the Towncenter Business Association which for several years has produced an “historic walking tour” map for the city core. Houses worthy of heritage designation near Vancouver Street and Seventh Avenue are likely future candidates, Morris said. In each case, a period photograph of the building will be framed, along with a brief history, to be placed prominently for visitors to see. Unfortunately, in most cases the photograph bears little resemblance to the building now standing. As the Town Centre Business guide puts it: “Time has erased many of the reminders of our early days.” The write-up in the plaque for the Caine Building, built in 1917 and moved to its present Third Avenue site 30 years ago, says: “Additions and renovations have greatly changed the structure and its former glory is now only a matter of photographs.” Ditto could be said of the Prince George Hotel, which is pictured on the cover of this year’s guide to the city, published by the visitor bureau. “Although greatly altered since its construction, the Prince George Hotel remains a landmark of historic importance,” says the inscription to be included on the plaque for the hotel. Gone are the bay windows and the wooden cornice of the original building, built in 1914 as the King George Hotel. A 1960s vintage facade of stone, stucco and wood with illuminated signing has changed the hotel beyond recognition. Fire escape ladders from the top floor appear to be the only visual tie between the hotel today and the photograph of yesteryear. The fact Prince George has lost so much of its heritage, points to the need to preserve what’s left, said Aid. Monica Becott. She recalls a few years ago a businessman suggesting that large sections of downtown be bulldozed to make way for new development. “I was horrified,” Becott said. “But then I looked around at some areas and I thought maybe he was right. . .but I think there are other ways we can save some of these areas.” The alderman was recently appointed to the Project Pride provincial task force which is conducting hearings around the province. After four days of hearings in Vancouver, Becott has concluded that the Heritage Act needs “more teeth” to ensure that historic buildings don’t disappear. Downtown Vancouver has suffered much the same fate as Prince George, she noted. Preserving old buildings hasn’t been a priority here and that needs to be changed, she said. While the city has catalogued a list of buildings worthy of heritage designation, only the facade of one building has been actually designated. That’s the former Sixth Avenue liquor store, which has an Art-Deco front. Becott believes there should be some form of economic incentive — tax relief, perhaps — to encourage building owners to preserve old structures. She hopes that homeowners in areas like the Crescents and the Millar Addition can be encouraged to preserve older homes in their original condition. Those with views on preserving the past will have an opportunity to address the Project Pride task force when it meets here June 3. Airl ine proposes flight alternative by GORDON CLARK Staff reporter Canadian Airlines International’s monopoly of the Prince George-Vancouver route may end June 14, Air B.C. president Ian Harris told The Citizen Friday. The airline, Canada’s largest regional carrier, has applied to the Canadian Transport Commission to launch the new service and expects to get permission. “At the present time we have applied, but we expect to have approval very soon. We are announcing (the new flights) with confidence,” Harris said. If approved, Air B.C. will offer four flights a day from Prince George to Vancouver beginning at 7 a.m. The flights, which take VA. hours on Dash-8 aircraft, would allow Prince George business people to make 9 a.m. meetings in downtown Vancouver, something they can’t do with the existing CAI service. The first CAI flight leaves Prince George at 9:25 a.m. When informed of the news, Prince George Chamber of Commerce president Tom Griffiths said. “That’s great. I’m quite pleased to hear that. “The additional service is good for the city of Prince George.” Griffiths said he hoped people would use the additinal service so Air B.C. keeps offering the flights. He said he thinks Air B.C.’s flights will be cheaper than CAI’s jet service to Vancouver, adding “it’s only an extra 15 minutes, which isn’t bad.” Harris could not say how much the flight will cost but said they would be “very competitive” with CAI fares. “The good new is that choice is on its way and it will be a viable alternative and save people money,” he said. Air B.C. will offer special fares before the service starts, Harris said. He said the airline was also starting once-a-day flights between Prince George and Dawson Creek and Prince George and Edmonton. The Dash-8, produced by de Ha-villand Aircraft of Canada, is considered a “state of the art aircraft.” It cruises at 500 km-h. * * P.G. area not alone in flight mergers Knox United Church, top photo, and the old post office on Third.Avenue are among six city buildings being recognized for thier historical significance. Citizen photos by Brock Gable AIDS VIRUS Authorities keep Although one more carrier of AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) has been identified in this region, the Prince George area continues to remain free of any actual cases of the dreaded disease. The latest identification brings the total number of virus carriers here to eight, but the medical health officer for this region believes there could be more than 60 unknown carriers who are capable of spreading the disease through sexual contact or by sharing drug syringes contaminated by the virus. All that’s known about the eight carriers is that four are males and that there are no prostitutes among the eight. Dr. John Millar, chief medical health officer with the Northern Interior Health Unit, said with the estimated number of carriers around, “one day we’ll probably have to report our first case of AIDS here, but it hasn’t happened yet.” A recent development at NIHU is current information updates regarding newly-identified carriers, 1 from the AIDS Testing and Education Counselling Clinic (ATEC) in Vancouver, part of the Health Ministry’s sexually transmitted disease program. “As soon as a carrier is identified from this area, we are informed,” Millar said, explaining not all persons come to NIHU for testing. By the end of April, 13,929 British Columbians had been tested for the disease. A total of 1,191 tested positive and there are 225 actual cases in the province. Of the B.C. cases, 214 or 95 per cent are homosexuals or bisexual males, six are blood-transfusion victims, two are heterosexual contacts of bisexual males, one is a haemophiliac and two cases are a result of unknown causes. The age breakdown of cases is: six less than 15 years old, six between 15 and 19 years, 351 between 20 and 29 years, 517 between 30 and 39 years, 218 between 40 and 49 years, and 69 cases involving those older than 50 years. In 24 cases, the age is unknown. According to Millar, statistics clearly show the number of cases in B.C. is doubling each year. “There were seven cases in 1983, 25 cases in 1984, 56 cases in 1985, 105 cases in 1986 and 225 cases so far in 1987,” he said. “At the mo- YM-YWCA of Prince George Vr. 2020 Massey Drive 562-9341 The route between Prince George and Vancouver was one of five in Western Canada to become monopolized by one airline because of the merger of Pacific Western and Canadian Pacific Airlines, a Canadian Transport Commission report reveals. The report, prepared by the air transport committee of the CTC when it studied the merger application of the two airlines, says the routes linking Prince George and Vancouver, Terrace and Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton, Vancouver and Whitehorse and Prince George and Whitehorse, would only be serviced by Canadian Airlines International after the merger of CP and PWA. The two airlines were sole competitors on the routes before they merged in late April. Evan Browne, director of communication for the CTC in Ottawa, said the commission wanted assurances from CAI that it would not reduce service on the five routes once it was in a monopoly position. “In effect what it’s saying is that PWAL undertook not to reduce service,” he said of the report in a telephone interview. Earlier this week, The Citizen reported that CAI cancelled its lower business excursion fare to Vancouver immediately after it became the only airline flying the Prince George-Vancouver route. Prince George Chamber of Commerce president Tom Griffiths was upset by the move, saying it was poor timing on the part of the airline to cancel the cheaper fare when it became the only game in town. A spokesman for CAI said the fare was cancelled because it wasn’t heavily used, not because of the merger. Browne urged Prince George businessmen to apply to the CTC to have the fare cancellation reviewed if they are seriously concerned by the change. track of carriers ment there are no signs of the numbers levelling off.” Prostitution does not appear to be a threat to spreading the disease in Vancouver at this time, but it’s expected the number of carriers will increase. From 75 prostitutes tested recently, only two females and no males were identified as carriers. “On the other hand, in New York, 70 per cent of prostitutes tested turned out to be carriers,” Millar said. Blood testing for antibodies has also been carried out among members of households where one AIDS virus carrier lives. From 1,918 females, only 15 tested positive and from 1,465 males, only 20 tested positive. In Canada, AIDS has stricken more than 1,000 persons and there’s an estimated 50,000 infected with the virus. Health oficials believe at least 30 per cent of all carriers will eventually become ill with the disease. So far, there’s no known cure for AIDS, the virus of which attacks the body’s immune system, leading to a collapse and leaving the person vulnerable to a number of other infections or cancers. The virus causing AIDs is found in the blood, semen or vaginal fluid of an infected person and is spread when any of these substances enter another person’s body. Spreading occurs through sexual contact with an infected person, by sharing contaminated syringes or needles used for injecting drugs, or by an infected mother transmitting the virus to her baby before or at birth, or through breast feeding. “If someone feels very strongly about it they could contact the air transport committee,” he said. But Browne said that while he didn’t want to be an apologist for the airline, there was probably a simple explanation for the fare cancellation. “I can only presume they would say, ‘We are only eliminating a special promotional fare we offered at one time,’ “ he said. “One of the difficulties is you don’t want to sell something cheap when you can sell it expensive.” Earlier, Griffiths said the Chamber would consider applying to the CTC to have the cancellation reviewed.