I National The Prince George Citizen — Tuesday, November IT, 1987 — 5 P.E.I. BRIDGE, TUNNEL Questions persist on mainland link CHARLOTTETOWN (CP) — Now that Ottawa has approved a fixed link to the mainland, residents of Prince Edward Island are viewing the proposal as either a bridge to the future or a road to hell, albeit paved with good intentions. “We’ll be swamped by tourists and everything else on the mainland,” said Charlottetown resident Peter Murphy. “The water is a barrier between us and the issue will surely polarize Islanders.” Public Works Minister Stewart Mclnnes announced Monday that seven Canadian construction groups have been asked to submit detailed proposals by next April on either a tunnel or a bridge across the 14-kilometre-wide Northumberland Strait between Borden, P.E.I., and Cape Tormentine, N.B. Construction is expected to take five years and could cost between $850 million and $950 million. The bridge or tunnel would be privately owned but subsidized by Ottawa until the developers make a reasonable profit, at which time the government would have an option to buy it. By comparison, Ottawa estimates the heavily subsidized ferry service run by Marine Atlantic, a federal Crown corporation, would cost $3.5-billion over the next 35 years, allowing for inflation. “If the federal government actually builds a fixed crossing, it will seriously jeopardize this town,” said Mayor George Ramsay of Borden. “However, nothing has been carved in stone yet — we’ve heard this idea for a hundred years.” The ferries are Borden’s life blood, employing 500 people. If they go, the town might just as well go with it, said Ramsay. However, Mclnnes said Ottawa will negotiate with the P.E.I. and New Brunswick governments to retrain and offer early retirement to any ferry, railway and other workers who lose their jobs if a crossing is built. And federal estimates indicate the fixed link project would create 20,000 direct and indirect jobs through construction, maintenance and the expected influx of 125,000 additional tourists a year. Not all inhabitants of this lush, red-clay island province famous for its potatoes and beaches were critical. “It’s a great big boost for the economy,” said Bruce MacDougall of Summer-side. “Just think of the convenience of not being on a ferry for an hour and a half — the only people I hear against it are over 65.” Cliff Thompson, spokesman for the 600-member P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association, said inshore fishermen have deep concerns, but the association will not react until it has seen a batch of recently cc.npleted environmental studies on a crossing. “It would be really easy to act on emotion, stamp our feet, and say we don’t want anything, but if the environmental questions are answered, then it’s up to the public,” Thompson said, referring to a round of public hearings to be held on the issue soon. Thompson said Ottawa has agreed to provide the association with a consultant to interpret the studies which looked at' the effects of a fixed link on lobster, scallop and groundfish species in the strait, among other matters. Dorthy Marks, 74, of Montague, in western P.E.I., has seen fixed-link proposals come and go. This time, there seems to be no stopping the idea, she said. “Coming to the island by ferry is part of coming to the island, and a crossing will certainly destroy something unique to the island,” she said. For Gary Webster, a political scientist at the University of Prince Edward Island, the fixed link defies rational explanation. “I think it’s the worst */aste of time and money — the worst farce in the history of public policy — the ferries are part of the charm of this province,” he said. OFF NEWFOUNDLAND COAST 'GP' was synonymous with Canadian Press TORONTO (CP) - Gillis Purcell, who as the forceful general manager of The Canadian Press raised the standard of journalism in the country for a quarter century, died Monday in hospital. He was 82. Purcell, who died at Sunnybrook Medical Centre in Toronto, developed pneumonia on the weekend and was in grave condition for the previous two days, his wife Mary said. He had been in hospital since last summer, when he suffered a stroke. Purcell retired as general manager of CP in 1969 after 24 years in the position and 41 years with the national news-gathering co-operative. “He did more to help CP than any other individual,” CP presi- Gold price TORONTO (CP) - Gold was quoted at $611 bid Cdn ($464 US) and $612 asked Cdn ($465 US) in mid-morning trading today by Deak International, a major gold and foreign exchange dealer. Harminder Manhas Will Work For: Discovery Placc Convention.Centre at minimum cost.to local taxpayers Promote Prince George as a place to do business NOVEMBER 21ST - VOTE MANHAS, Harminder ALDERMAN X Trawler sinks, all 34 missing ST. JOHN’S, Nfld. (CP) — Little hope was held today for any of the 34 crew members of a fishing ship believed to have sunk Monday in violent seas 240 nautical miles southeast of Cape Race, Nfld. Hosanna I, a 60-metre, 350-tonne stern trawler, has not been heard from since about noon Monday, when a distress call was picked up by the Korean trawler San Won Ho. Authorities were unsure where the Hosanna I was from. Tljje U.S. coast guard said the trawler was registered in the Spanish-owned Canary Islands, but the Canadian Coast Guard said it’s registered in Panama but owned and crewed by Koreans. Hosanna I later disappeared from the Korean ship’s radar, and search and rescue officials in New York fear the vessel has been lost. “It doesn’t look good,” said Lieut. Brad Robinson, a spokes-.man for the U.S. Coast Guard search and rescue centre in New York, which is co-ordinating the search. "The conditions out there are very poor.” Two Canadian ships and at least one Korean trawler continued to ply the huge waves around the missing trawler’s last reported location — in the same general area where the Titanic went down with the loss of over 1,500 lives in 1912 after striking an iceberg. High winds and poor visibility prevented aircraft from taking part in the search again today. There have been no sightings of survivors, debris or bodies and Robinson said if conditions remain poor as expected, little can be done. “I don’t know what much more we can do,” he said. “Aircraft can’t see anything.” Weather forecasts for the area today weren’t encouraging. Environment Canada’s Newfoundland weather office in Gander said gales of 35-45 knots were not expected to taper off until mid-afternoon. Snow flurries were forecast to continue and the air temperature will hover around zero degrees all day. But the wind chill factor was a frigid —20, roughly the temperature where exposed flesh freezes in less than a minute. Robinson said anyone in an open lifeboat would have little chance of survival. Dale Freeman, a petty officer with the U.S. Coast Guard in New York, said the nationality of the ship’s crew wasn’t know but a distress signal was transmitted in Korean. “We’re fairly sure that at least one crew member is Korean, but other than that, we are not sure what the nationality of the crew is.” Capt. Jerry Hanlan, skipper of the Canadian fisheries patrol boat Cape Roger, said heavy seas and poor visibility were hampering the search. “The search conditions are certainly not ideal,” he said via ship-to-shore telephone. “We’ve got blowing snow, heavy gale winds and high waves.” Robinson said ships in the area were reporting 11-metre seas — more than three storeys high — Paid foi by the commlttn to elect Hirrnlnder Manhti HANDLING OF SIKHS Gandhi dishes out praise NEW DELHI (AP) — Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi has praised Ottawa for taking what he termed as strong steps toward Sikhs in Canada who are alleged to have links with the Sikh separatist movement in India. Gandhi’s praise, published in the latest edition of the Indian magazine Sunday, is in contrast to past Indian complaints that Ottawa was not acting against Sikhs in Canada who allegedly support violence in the northern Indian state of Punjab. “We are happy with the Cana- dian government,” Gandhi said in an interview quoted in the weekly magazine. “The Canadian government has taken strong steps.” Gandhi said that until two years ago, “Things were not moving as they are now. “Sometimes there is a feeling that matters could be speeded up, but when we see their thoroughness we are happy,” he added. An alleged plot to assassinate Gandhi was reported to have been uncovered by RCMP during his presence at the Commonwealth summit in Vancouver last month. Man mauled by bear continues to improve dent Keith Kincaid said Monday. “He was a giant in his time.” Patrick O’Callaghan, chairman of the board of CP, remembered Purcell as a man of tremendous character and integrity “who lived and breathed CP” and maintained an interest in company affairs long after he retired. “There was never any doubt who was in charge when Gil was running CP,” O’Callaghan said from Calgary. Ross Munro, a former president of CP, described Purcell as “a tough and demanding boss and stalwart friend.” “Gil Purcell built CP to a major news service in his time and started the service in French when bilingualism wasn’t the issue it became,” said Munro. “He believed emphatically in unity and understanding between Canadians from coast to coast and worked for it throughout his CP career.” CBC radio personality Clyde Gilmour, a friend for nearly 50 years, said “the world is suddenly a chilly place without GP.” Purcell “was one of the brightest and best persons I’ve known,” Gilmour said. EDMONTON (CP) — A Pentecostal pastor from northern Alberta, severely mauled by a bear last week while trying to save his daughter, is recuperating from a second operation on his mangled right leg. Doctors removed dead tissue Sunday and cleaned Pat O’Rourke’s leg after the bear encounter last Wednesday near De-Bolt, 360 kilometres northwest of Edmonton. Doug Isaac, a family friend, said Monday the operation was very painful for O’Rourke but he continues to improve. A hospital spokesman said the man’s condition has been upgraded to serious from critical. On Satur- day, the man had surgery to implant a vein in his injured leg. O’Rourke, 35, of High Prairie was trying to save his daughter Grace. The family was attending a Remembrance Day religious retreat with church members at a. big farmhouse when the 10-year-old girl was attacked by a black bear she unwittingly roused in its den. The father was mauled while trying to pry his daughter away from the bear, which caught her in its jaws. Her funeral will be held Thursday in Grande Prairie. Donations have started for a fund established to help th.2 family pay for funeral and personal expenses. PUT THE PRIDE BACK IN OUR SCHOOLS Profile ★ 35 years old, born and educated in Prince George ★ Degree in economics ★ Married with 4 children ★ Director of A.I.M.H.I. 1980-1987 ★ President of A.I.M.H.I. 1982-1986 ★ Director of British Columbians for mentally handicapped people 1983-1987 ★ President of BCMHP 1986 - present ★ Two-term director, automobile dealers association of B.C. Paid for by the committee to elect Doug Walls for School Board. YOU’RE INVITED TO EXPERIENCE A UNIQUE SCENT Enchanted Meadow Pot-Pourri will fill your home with a light and pleasurable fragrance. It will delight your senses. Potpourri. . . the perfect gift for you or a friendl Potpourri container handcrafted in Prince George available at... pottery galore ...and more 1264-4th avenue 563-3880 “What is needed is political will,” Gandhi said. “Good work is being done because there are orders from the top that the terrorists have to be checked.” More than 890 people have been killed in Punjab this year in attacks which police blame on Sikh militants seeking in Punjab a separate country to be called Khalis-tan, or Land of the Pure. The Indian government has complained repeatedly that Sikh communities in Canada, Britain and the United States are financing and supporting the Sikh separatists. Gandhi said he believed Canada was taking a more active role than U.S. authorities against Sikh militants in the two countries. “The British government still needs to act,” Gandhi said, adding however that he was pleased British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has openly criticized militant Sikhs. Sikhs are about two per cent of India’s population of 780 million, but they are a majority in Punjab, a rich farming state. Sikhism, founded about 500 years ago, includes elements of both Hinduism and Islam. Sikh radicals maintain that their people need a separate country to keep them from being overwhelmed by Hindus, who are more than 80 per cent of India’s population. and visibility of less than half a mile. He said a Canadian military airplane assisting in the search was called off in the middle of the night because of the weather. “The aircraft that was out there was experiencing really bad weather conditions, and he’s already departed,” Robinson said. “He didn’t see anything while he was out there and we still have those vessels remaining on the scene right now.” He said the high seas and gust-ing winds had turned the ocean surface a frothy while, making it almost impossible to pick out anything even if there was something there. Hosanna I was formerly registered in Japan. The registered owner now is Great Marine Co. of Las Palmos, a seaport on Grand Canary Island. The vessel was scheduled to deal with a shipping .agent on the French islands of St-Pierre Miquelon south of Newfoundland, although no scheduled arrival date was available. Christians form federal party Southam News OTTAWA — They are opposed to abortion, homosexuality, prostitution, pornography and universal day care, and think the country should be run on biblical principles. And their numbers are growing. Wednesday, more than 500 delegates from across the country are expected when the Christian Heritage Party of Canada’s four-day founding convention gets under way in Hamilton, Ont Although it is still small, its membership has grown quickly to nearly 5,000 from the meager 125 it started with’last year. Despite the name, members do not have to be Christians to join. But members do have to swear they “believe in one creator, God, the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and the inerrancy of the Holy Bible as the inspired word of God,” — a pledge the Surrey, B.C. native admits would discourage most non-Christians. SEARS AD CORRECTION To Sears Inside Story Ilyer in today's Citizen: Page 11 - 30% Oil Winnie the Pooh should read: Choose Irom Festive Sets and Separates not "Choose Irom Festive Outfits in 2 pee. sets". The copy does not show the range ol prices, instead it shows the prices separately. This is incorrect. Sears apologizes lor any inconvenience lo our customers. VOTE JULIA A. SERUP for SCHOOL TRUSTEE JULIA A. SERUP IS: • Vitally interested in Education. • She cares about the quality of Education that students receive. • She is willing to work hard for the best possible learning environment for students. 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