A4 - Sunday, December 11, 1983 - North Shore News

by Bob Hunter

NEWS that the B.C. Ferry Corporation has turned
an operating profit in the midst of the long reces-
sion doesn’t come entirely as a surprise for those of
us who have followed the career of ferry boss

Stuart Hodgson.

For a former Navy anti-
aircraft gunner who got used
to dodging U-boats on the
Murmansk Run, taking com-
mand of the Dogwood Fleet
was somehow fitting. Cer-
tainly, Hodgson has _per-
formed a miracle in terms of
welding the militant Ferry
and Marine Workers’ Union
and the Crown company’s
Managers into an
astonishingly effective team.

And if the chairman and
chief executive officer shows
no sign of being overawed by
the responsibility of steering
a course for an armada of
ships that ts bigger than the
Canadian Navy and is also
the largest one-company
ferry system in the world,
why should he?

After all, he spent 12 years
as the de facto ruler of the
Northwest Territories. Large
horizons hold no terror for
Stu Hodgson, a big man in
every sense of the word.

lt has been two and a half

years since Hodgson resigned
his position on the Interna-
tional Joint Commission that
Stands on guard for us and
the Americans along. the
world’s longest undefended
border and heeded Bill Ben-
nett’s appeal to take over a
ferry corporation that had
proven to be a Crown of
thorns, as it were.

Hodgson’s grey eyes look
out from under extremely
bushy white eyebrows, and
with his glasses on, the image
that comes unmistakably to
mind is of an Arctic Snow
Owl. At 58, he clearly enjoys
the situation that fate has
handed him.

If you catch him in a
talkative mood, Hodgson has
such a vast repertoire of
anecdotes-as a union
organizer in the woods, gun-
ner in the North Atlantic, top
troubleshooter for the federal
government, and as a vice-
regal presence in the Arctic-
that he seems to have lived

the world
outside...

Rights Act

VICTORIA — The pro-
vincial government has
dropped its plan to adopt
a new Human Rights Act
during this legislative
session

The controversial act,
one of several that directly
resulted in the formation

of Operation Solidarity,
will be allowed to die on
the order paper.

But Labor Minister Bob
McClelland says similar
legislation will be intro-
duced to the next sitting.

The delay, says Mc
Clelland, will allow more
time for public tnput

Tax changes

OTTAWA — The federal
government ts warming up
for the income tax scason
with a 209-page bill that
implements income tax
changes announced in the
Apmil 19 budget

The bill, introduced to
the House of Commons
Thursday, climinates the
standard $100 deduction
for donations and medical
expenses, freezes the farm
ly tncome hhmit above

Israeli

JERUSALEM The
Israch government has
thrown a wrench anto the
planned evacuation of
Yassur Arafat) and = his
besciged PLO fighters
from Tripoh, Lebanon
Prime Minister Yozhak
Shamu said this week thal
his government ts “con
sidcring all the ways of ac
ton’ ¢o deal with Arafat,

which child tax credits are
allowed, raises child tax
credits for those cligible
from $326 to $343, freezes
the annual exemption for
dependant’ children at
$710 and doubles” the
cmusting $1,000 deduction
for single fathers and
working mothers

The government wants
the bill passed before the
House recesses for
Christmas

threat

including capturing
or killing him as he tries to
leave I cbanon

him

The statement” was
madc within bours of an
israch gunboat off-shore
artillery barrage directed
at the P1LO's gucrilla base
to i cbhanon, tn rectalauon
for the bombing of a bus
in Jerusalem carlier thas
week

many entire lives in ong
lifetime.

Few people have experienc-
ed it from quite so many
angles-on the union side, the
government side, and now
management. He has been
described as a man who is
good at bringing people
together. He has a talent-!
would go so far as to say a
genius -for making you feel
completely al ease.

When he’s sitting down,
Hodgson doesn’t give that
much of an impression of
great bulk, but when he
stands you realize he’s built
on the same scale as regional
IWA president Jack Munro.

1 once asked Hodgson:
““Do all you logging union
guys have to be quite that
big?”’

“*Yeh,’’ he chuckled,
“‘that’s why | survived. You
had to be prepared to stand
your ground. But | learned in
the game that it’s much better
to try to talk your way out of
trouble rather than punch
your way out. Because the
moment you threw the first
blow, reason went out of the
window.”’

His labor background has
obvioulsy served him in good
stead in dealing with the
2,200-member ferry workers’
union. But if there is peace
and profit on the ferries, it is
also due toHodgson’s per-
sonal style, not just his
background. The one-time

TWA vice-president tackled

his responsibilities as Com-
missioner for the Northwest
Territories by talking to ab-
solutely everybody-starting at
the bottom. And he applhed
the same technique when he
arnived at the ferry.

The
Tree Man

Dave China
wurk done property

can ounprove your home's
appearanne enhance your life
style and increase the value of
your entre property

In 25 years tn the tree
busimess on the North Shore |
have built a reputation tor
wank

Trew

quality tree
thousands of Chents Joon tee
removal topping. omamental

amung

pruning, seasonal matin
tenance. of other spexializerd
tree work call me ton con
sullaton My 9 prves are
competitive Iam tully ursuded
and tree estimates are gladbhy

given

Dove China,

922-2200

Ufm not th when you coh teave
a messge and | wil call you bach as
eoun as posse

Well done, skipper

Strictly personal

From his Navy days, he
remembered three facts of
life that he could immediately
apply to the Dogwood Fleet.

‘‘One,’’ he says, ‘‘was that
you have to have a happy
crew. That’s the most impor-
tant thing. The second is, if
you take those ships out of
the water, we’re all out of
business. And the third one is
that it’s all to provide a
public service to the people.’’

Three cheers for the
skipper!

APL WP

CHAIR REPAIRS
TOUCHUPS & REFINISHING FOR CHRISTMAS
IN-HOME FREE PICKUP & DELIVERY

ALL-WOOD FURNITURE REPAIRS
980-7112

THERE’S NOTHING _
LE A COZY FIRE...

Come see our large selection of fireplace -
accessories for your every need. They're
available in a wide price range and are
hand crafted on the North Shore.

“A LASTING CHRISTMAS GIFT”
20% off fire tools
until Dec. 17/83
Riverside Iron Works
1415 Dominion St. NV.

987-4494

EATON'S

EATON’S HOME IMPROVEMENT SERVICES

DECEMBER SPECIALS
COME EARLY — BOOK NOW

Book ahead now and take advantage of our December
slow tme to get the job you want done right: By
booking early you Il save yourself a lot of cash and more
than just a little hassle. That's because all our services
are guaranteed And you can charge them to your
Eaton's account Book today! Because there's only a
limited number of jobs we can do due to December's
unpredictable weather Cail us now — for ano cost,

no obligation in-home esumate

special 15% off

and get your

Call Day or Night

251-8335

EATON'S