Ad - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, February 11, 1998
TERRACE

ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988
PUBLISHER: ROD LINK
ADDRESS: 3210 Clinton Street Terrace, B.C. * V8G 5R2

TELEPHONE: (250) 638-7283 * FAX: (250) 638-8432
EMAIL: standard@kermode.net

Recall

BACK IN the Russia of the Czars it was not a
good thing to have your picture taken. The rea-
soning was that if you did something to displease
the authorities, your picture would make it all the
more easier for the Cheka secret police to find
you.

Not nearly as dramatic or with the same con-
sequences was a clever tactic used by the sup-
porters of Skeena MLA Helmut Giesbrecht
which helped stop the move to recall him. And
that was the constant stream of information that
should you sign the recall petition, your name
will become public and everybody will know
what you think. The underlying theme was that
the everybody would include the provincial
government and its allies and that somehow this
was going to make your life more difficult.

For those members of the New Democratic

Party running the Skeena Taxpayers Association '

being publicly identified wouldn’t be a problem. .
But for the thousands of people out there who
only exercise their democratic right once every :
four or five years, it would be. Direct democracy
isn’t an easy matter for those who have never be- '
fore carried a sword into battle.

But there are other and bigger reasons the recall

campaign failed. There was never a single issue:
or collection of smaller issues which, when taken
together, became large enough to galvanize a
sufficient number of voters to want to oust Mr,
Giesbrecht.
The issue of homosexuality in public schools
didn’t catch on as expected. Health care, or the
lack thereof, never did pop up. Even the quaky
state of Skeena Cellulose failed to light a suffi-
cient fire.

But the biggest reason the recall petition failed
was probably Kitimat. People tend.to.rgspond to
issues which directly affect them. Self interest
rules. In the insulated community of Kitimat,
which has enjoyed decades of consistent highly
paid jobs, there is never any reason to deliberate-.
ly go out and change anything.

Gov't freebie

A RECENT letter to the editor from the Liquor
Distribution Branch objected to an editorial
‘questioning the handing out of free alcohol
samples at liquor stores. The letter said the
samples are closely monitored and that the inten-
tion is to encourage people to try different kinds
of alcohol in hopes of enjoying them without
drinking too much.

Handing out free samples to build a customer
base isn’t a new thing. Coupons, product dis-
plays and the like are common in the retail trade.
And the moral argument of having the state hand
out free booze can go on forever.

But what is startling is the revelation that the
Liquor Distribution Branch doesn’t charge the
‘ alcohol companies for this service. You’d think a
government which stays up late at night thinking
of ways to tap the taxpayer would have, by now,
hit upon the idea of charging for this kind of ser-
vice.

a
PUBLISHER/EDITOR: Rod Link
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NEWS Jeff Nagel « NEWS SPORTS: Dave Taylor
NEWS COMMUNITY: Cris Leykauf
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MEMBER OF
B.C. AND YUKON COMMUNITY REWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION,
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BC. PRESS COUNCIL @ CN A

Sarving the Terrace and Thomhill area. Publishad on Wednesday of sach week at 3210 Ciinton Stree,
Tertaca, British Columbla, VG 5A2.

Storlas, photographs, Iltustrations, designs and typestyies In the Teiaéa Standard ate the property of the
a holders, Including Cariboo Press (1969) Lid,, its Illustration repro services and advertising

paproadont whole orl part, without written parmission, ia spacifically prabiblied.
Authorized as second-class mall pending the Post Office Department, for payment of postage In cash.

Special thanks to all our contributors and correspondents
' for thelr tlma and talenta

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Watch out for im...
hes avegular Bill Clinton.

Captain Clark’s dodgy SOS

VICTORIA — If all the jobs
Premier Glen Clark promised
to create had materialized,
British Columbia would have
zero per cent unemployment
by now, and we'd be shopping
for skilled labour elsewhere,

If the economy had _per-
formed as the premier
predicted it would, the provin-
cial budget deficit would be
wiped out and we’d be the
envy of other provinces:

As it is, British Columbia’s
economy is mnning on idle,
outperformed by those of
Ontario and Alberta, the deficit
stil looms large and unem-
ployment remains an untamed
monster,

But if nothing else, our
premier is pragmatic in his ap-
proach to politics. Bashing big

__ business may be staple fare

during an election campaign,
but now that the economic
chips are down, he decides it is
time to call on his traditional
foes for help.

To that end, Clark met with a
group of British Columbia’s
most influential business lead-
eis last week, asking them to
come up with suggestions on
how to improve the province’s
economy.

At the same time, the
premier announced the forest
industry will get a substantial
stumpage fee break.

THE CAPITAL

HUBERT BEYER

FROM

Meanwhile, finance minister
Andrew Petter, normally a fire-
breathing, dogma-bound New
Democrat, said last week that
there may be room in the next
budget to tell investors that

_ British Columbia. is open for

business.

Petier held out the possibility
that he’s ready at long last to
reduce, albeit not abolish the
hated capital tax. There’s a
need, Petter said, to make Brit-
ish Columbia appear more
friendly to business and attract
invesiors.

Well, [H be damned. Are
these the same people wha
asked voters in the last election
campaign to choose between
the Liberals, whom they
portrayed as being in the pock-
et of big business, and the

NDP which, they said, was
looking out for the proverbial
little guy?

What of the little guy, a
couple of years after the elec-
tion? Who cares, certainly not
the NDP, Or have you not
noticed what this illustrious
government is doing in the in-

terest of battling welfare
fraud?
If you are unfortunate

enough to fund yourself on in-
come assistance, not that in-
conceivable a scenario in these
mean, lean and job-scarce
times that, have befallen our
province, you will have to sign
a waver, giving the govern-
Ment investigalive powers that
would have made the Gestapo
blush.

The consent, form income _as- |
sistance. recipients ate . being

asked to sign, says ministry

checks may include a variety
of goverment and police
agencies, banks, landlords and
‘past and present or future
employers of myself or my
family members.”’

That sort of thing makes one
yearn for the good old Orwel-
lian world. At least no self-
respecting totalitarian regime
would insult its oppressed
masses by asking them for
permission to investigate them.

It is astounding to what de-
gree the NDP has muddied

British Columbia’s political
waters. There was a time when
each political party wooed a
narrowly-defined constituency,
You knew that the Socreds
would govern with great
tolerance towards business.
You could depend on the NDP
to favour the less fortunate.
Nor more.

This NDP is all over the
ideological map. It hammers
business during _ election
campaigns and courts business
when things go awry, It
promises the downtrodden a
caring government and then
makes them sign their privacy
away in return for welfare pay-
ments that are just a little too
high to starve to death on,

And to think it’s all about

trying to.be re-elected, not

anabout governing inthe, interest,

of all British Columbians.
Business has never trusted
the NDP, and [ don’t think it
trusts this particular incarna-
tion, even if the premier calls
on business for help out of the
current economic woes.
Meanwhile, the NDP’s core
supporters ate given a lot of
reasons why they, toc, cannot
trust Glen Clark’s government,
Beyer can be reached at: Tel:
(250) 920-9300; Fax: (250)
385-6783; E-mail:
hubert@coolcom.com

Fluttering slips can tell all

DAILY WE bemoan losing
mare of our privacy to com-
puter record keeping.

If it isn’t the Royal Bank set-
ting out analyze our financial
habits, it’s the provincial
government preparing to share
its information about us with
the federal government.

B.C.’s privacy commissioner
is kept busier than a scam
roofer after a hurricane fending
off those who want more of
our personal data.

But have you noticed how
much your cashier's printout
reveals about you in case it
falls into hostile hands? I was
amazed.

Right off, the stub locates
store by number, Lose the stub
in a provincial campground,
say, and a finder familiar with
the store’s identification sys-
tem will know you bought
your frankfurters and charcoal
started in Terrace,

Purchases are itemized by
mame, price and amount. A

Bay GREAT CONFERENCE | EE
m SEAUTICUL ROTEL!

‘THROUGH BIFOCALS.
CLAUDETTE SANDECKI

glance gives away your eating
habits. The quantity of your
purchases hints at your family
Status.

Purchases totalled $8.35, 1
handed the cashier a $50 bill,
and received $41.64 in change.
Tf, on the way to my car, the
stub flutters to the ground to be
picked up by a potential thief,
he knows exactly what I’m
loading into my car. He also

OF EVERTHING!!

WELL YOU \fyouaw't

SURE THOUGHT \ SuRISED
He AGuy WHO F NortH!!

LOOKS TIKEME

knows I’m carrying at least
$41.64 in cash.

This makes me an idea target
for a purse snatcher. Plenty of
muggers reap far less.

At the bottom of the stub ap-
pears the date, time and num-
ber of the lane I checked
through. The clerk’s number
99104 and her name follow.
Matilda.

Suppose, once I transfer my
groceries from the shopping
cart to my car,I go off to com-
mit a crime of my own. Losing
by cashier’s stub at the scene
where a policeman could pick
it up would direct him to
Matilda, Lane 2, for a little
chat.

My freedom might teeter
upon Matilda’s memory. Even
if she had never checked me
out before, any chance remark
or behaviour by me might have
etched on her memory; she
could very well rattle off an
accurate description of me. I'd
be collared before I left the

| Hew! om
FROM THE

2

parking lot.

Why should a cashier’s stub
convey so much information?
Do we need a written record of
having checked out through
Matilda’s Lane 2? Cashiers
Wear name tags. I can read,

No doubt management wants
to track Matilda’s sales for the
day to be sure she’s scanning
and packing quickly enough.
Or if there’s a problem — the
ice cream packed beside the
hot loaf of rye break melted —
management knows which
clerk to blame. Or maybe since
the computer prints fast, It
might as well print lots,

You can scoff at the informa-
tion on a supermarket cashier's
stub,

Just remember a signed
charge slip from a gas station
found in a snow bank added Its
featherweight to the evidence
that convicted Colin Thatcher
of murdering his wife and sent
him to prison for 25 years,

EVERYONE.
Eooks LiKe You,