10 ~ Friday, August 16, 1991 - North Shore News GUEST COLU Down in the dumps THERE’S TOURISM and there’s reverse tourism. Reverse tourism is when you discover things you weren’t supposed to or weren’t likely to given the usual glossy guides. Reverse tourism gives you in- sights into your own life, usually now good you have it or how ig- norant you are as to how the rest of the country lives. Yes, 1 did the usual travel write-up on Uranium City, Saskatchewan, former mining .town. And then I went back (I had this friend there). I visited the town dump. I don’t know about you, but ! find dumps invigorating. All that heaped up, reeking debris hidden on the outskirts of town. There’s a kind of free-wheeling disdain for — the word sounds citified —- the environment. But is there? If you recall, there are no roads in or out of Uranium City (U.C.), only to the airport.’ No infrastruc- ture to support incinerators and recycling programs. No blue boxes. Whatever is consumed, from diapers to truck parts, ends up in the dump. City folks would shudder in eco-horror. A dump located on a Picturesque hill overlooking a small turquoise lake. (All around are purple clover, Queen Anne’s lace and flames. of firewced, .a- hum with bees.) But it’s likely that U.C. people consume less than us city folks. After all, there’s no mall. , Here in the heart of the muskeg, they have the odd iuxury of seeing and sharing quarters with the rotten fruits of their con- sumerism. How big would our stinky heaps be if we had to tend our own? By Barbara Biack News Reporter A dump, as some Californian experts know, is a socio-ar- cheological site. Since I did not have the benefit of a U.C. travel brochure (which would only have sung the praises of the now defunct uranium mine), & mace my own assessment about the town habits by sheer observation. Among the junk and garbage you find many wilted cardboard cases of condensed milk and other items, indicating that food is bought in large quantities. In fact, I discovered later that a can of Campbell’s soup costs about $2.99, since everything comes in via the Cessna express. People lucky enough to own a small plane fly to Fort McMurray or Saskatoon for a yearly supply of groceries. The dump (no, not ‘‘sanitary landfill’) is also a hang-around habitat for a variety of large birds. Ravens pose like rabbis on top of junked appliances and screech off into the trees if you get too close. Seagulls are less wary. They like to pillage on the fly and réar- range the contents of the pile. Their three-pronged footprints cover the dusty ground every- where, creating an abstract pat- tern. What I didn’t expect to find at the dump was a dead dog. It had “My neighbour biked Gary Born, but I've decided to use another realtor.” “Better let me choose the wine.” ‘For Results, Get Born Into It.’ GARY 30RN 984-9711 Sussex Grou 2996 Lonsda ary Bor Realty Corporation ets North Voncouver, B.C. a cord strangled around its neck. | immediately jumped to conclu- sions about callous animal-haters. However, later in conversation with long-time resident Maggie, I got the inside angle. Maggie just happened to remark, ‘fl don’t know who the dogcatcher is now.’’ ‘‘Dogcatch- er?’’ I shouted over the noise of the small plane we were flying in. When people deserted the mining town, they left their dogs behind. Too many. ‘Go wild,’’ says Maggie, with a glint in her eye. I now recall seeing oue of those canine degenerates skulking along the main gravel road in town. And one native resident, when calculating the population of the town remarked ‘200 — if you count the dogs.”’ You get the idea of reverse tourism. The dump actually made me nostalgic for simpler, pre-in- cinerator times. 1 toyed with the idea of living in a tiny ghost town and wheeling around the dirt roads on my three-wheeler vehicle, heaving my own personal garbage onto the town pile. But this was summer. Winter was the real killer. After eight months of snow and ice i ‘know where I'd be. Down in the dumps. or telephone (604) 687-5891 or cay eh anche ean tein halla eae ae | 1-800-663-9646. Please send me a copy of: (] CMA Corporate Brochure t \ C1 Professional Program 1991-92 H < Y NAME: \ } ADDRESS: ! H cm: PROV: i The Soci f Mi 1 POSTALCODE:_ Accounterisof Bish Columbia 4 ! PO. Box 11548 H ; H 1575 - 650 West Georgia Street ee] L Vancouver, 8.C. ¥68 4W7 J The “Mi” stands for Management cae ee at eS ee ae ee ee ey a a oe ee "NEW photo Cindy Goodman DANA MENNIE (artist) and Mike fe Nehanee (helpe7) kneel in front of s mural they are meking for Squamish Nation Days.. The annual event is on today at Ambleside Past: (tickets $10 for aduits, $5 for chikiren). CMAs won't survive the "90s. They'll — MANAGE the 90s. The managers of the ‘90s and beyond thanogh ponder i Bronce —then goes on fo provide an overview of all aspects of business, and how each contributes fo the boltom kine. ; As a CMA, you'll do more than just manage finondal information. You®