a Latter to the editor will ba 4 Terrace Review — Thursday, July 2, 1987 scree - QUITE FRAN KLY ' Speciai interest groups not-the answer. by Frank Howard ; Were. Shakespeare alive «today he.might well apply his: famed ‘‘A plague.-o’ both your houses...” to the pro-choicers and the anti-abortionists. with equal force. He could also apply it. to both the federal -and Provincial govern- ments for, in- matters relating to abortion, they "> are equally villians. Surely hospital board "elections should not be the - arenas within which Pro- -choicers) and anti- abortionists conduct their battles. Such battles take .on.a life of their own resulting in the purpose of -. hospitals being shunted to one side and obscured by that which cannot be dignified as a campaign. A couple of months ago I expressed the opinion that the anti-abortion. decision of the Royal: in- land Hospital Board at Kamloops. could drive us backwards: into the dark .;, @ays when:abortions: were on ty ireeeiten performed es by frees ) |, considered for publication only when ‘Signed. Plaase include’ your phone number,’ The editor reserves the right to - condense and edit fetters. ' Opinions expressed are not necessarily ihose of the Terrace Review, “Terrace ‘Review Established May 1, 1985 The Terrace Review Is published each Wednesday by Close-Up Business Services Ltd. Publisher: Mark Twyford ‘ Editor: Maureen Barbour Staff Raporter: Michael Kelly Advertising Sales: . 635-7840 Production: . Jim Hall Office: ” Carria Olson Accounting: Mar] Twytord Second-class mail registration No. 6886.. Reproduction of this paper or any portlon thereof is prohibited without lesion of the publishar. germ and omissions. Advertising is accepled on the condition that In the event of lypographical error, that por- tion of the advertising space oc- cupled by the erroneous item wilt not - be charged for, but iha balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. Adverileers must assume reepon- sibility for errors in any classified ad which is supplied to’ the Terrace - Review in handwritten form, In compliance with the &.C, Human Rights Act, no advertisement. will be publishad which discriminates against a parson dua to age, race, raliglon, color, sex, nat anallty, ancestry or place of origin. 4535 Greig Avenue, | _ Terrace, B.C. V8G 1M7 Phone: 635-7840 At that time the Royal Inland. Hospital Board was controlled by an anti- abortion: faction. Now elections have resulted in that same Board being controlled by a pro-choice faction. I’m sure the pro- choicers were gleeful at - their success, Their victory refrain could so easily ‘be “‘we’ve won, we’ve wor’. That could also have been. the same victory declara- tion when the anti- abortionists won controla . few years ago. > Is the next move to be an intensified campaign by the anti-abortion crowd to get control of the. | Board back. into their hands? If it is I join ‘Romeo’s friend Mercutio in the “..plague o’ both your houses.” declara- tion. A great deal of respon- sibility. for this warfare . which detracts from the -need ‘to provide good . health care rests on both the federal and provincial _ governments. The federal — government amended the . Criminal Code a number | ‘of. years ago to permit - . abortions in hospitals, but - ever: since then-has aban- doned any further respon... sibility. To the House of Commons, therefore, a plague o’ your House. The provincial govern: ment is no less irresponsi- _ ble for it permits hospital board elections to be . dominated by . whatever special-interest group wants to exert itself. to gain control of ‘such - ‘boards. A special-interest group does not represent the public interest. Special- interest groups are. often natrow minded. Special- interest groups which want to use hospital boards to advance their own ‘sense of morality do . mot advance the. cause of .. good quality health care. ' The responsibility “for ' providing good quality. health care and of serving the public: interest in that regard is that of the pro- vincial government. It could stop hospital board ~ elections from interfering in health care matters if it wanted to. But, it appears to have replaced respon- sibility with the buzz word ‘fantastic’, A plague o’ your house, too. Police TERRACE — On Thurs- day, June 11 Terrace RCMP investigated two residential break and enters.: Police said the items stolen included a shotgun and revolver anda V.C.R. H4H a ~ HOTA WORKS. CLOSE VANE). FEN LE © By the time you read this, Bill 19 will probably be the law that is to govern: labor relations in British . Columbia for some time to come. Having written . more ~ about Bill 19 ‘than about. any other piece of. legisla- .tion since the 1983 restraint program and having been very critical of it, the time has now come to start living with it, to make the best-of it. For starters, I’d like to lend my soap box to so-. meone in support of Bill 19, someone who has no political axe to grind. Meet James Cutt, an economist and professor at the University of Vic-. . toria’s School of Public Administration. In a recent article, Cutt defends Bill 19, the Labor Relations Reform Act, as a necessary step in guiding British Columbia through an extremely critical period of economic ‘ad- justment. Cutt points out that the act retains the bulk of the ‘previous Labor Code, “but brings B.C. into a reasonably comparable and competitive position’’ better Thank you To the editor, I .would like - to thank you for your coverage of R.A.F.T. this past year. Sarah Vaal-Henke Activities Director Project R.A.F.T. Youth Services with. other Canadian: pro- ~ vinees and adjoining U.S, | jurisdictions. According to Cutt, one ‘of ‘the. ‘most politically contentious sections of the act -- section 62°--- is necessary if B.C. is to | make the adjustment to modern economic chal- lenges. . “Section 62 provides not only for the facilita- tion of collective bargain- ing but for the careful monitoring of disputes and. for their more effi- cient resolution where serious. costs are imposed by strikes and lockouts on. the public at large or on specific third parties not involved : directly in the dispute,’’ Cutt says. He also feels that the tightening of. provisions governing picketing other than at the. primary place of. work. will improve B.C.’s labor climate, The same, he says, goes for the requirement that bargain- ing precede a strike or. lockout vote and: the clarification of successor- ship Provisions. . Trade unions, ding to Cutt, aren’t given a bad deal at all. Improv- ‘ed notice of technological change, strengthened local autonomy, the reaffirma- tion of non-affiliation provisions in the construc- tion industry, the exten- sion of bargaining rights to teachers, the repeal of .the Essential Services Disputes Act and the phasing out of the Com-. pensation Stabilization Act, are all beneficial to trade unions, he says. “In sum, given a chance to work, the bill con- tributes to a more efficient and flexible labor market, which is a nécessary condi- tion of more investment, accor. ~ ‘Hubert Beyer Terrace Review Victoria Correspondent more output, more em- ployment and better in- comes and opportunities for all British Colum- . bians,’? Cutt says. - The bill, according to Cuit, provides for i improv- ed fairness j in three impor- tant senses. The legisla- tion’s recognition of third parties not involved in a dispute but affected by it © and its remedies, he says, is one aspect of this im- proved fairness. The pro- tection the bill offers in- ‘dividual union members and individual employers - i isution to fairness, Bill . through provisions rela- ‘ting to freedom of speech, protection against unfair Jabor practices, fair representation and the employment rights of union members, he says, is ‘the second aspect. - “Third, and perhaps most ‘important, the more flexible, accessible, labor market envisaged by the bill creates more oppor- tunities for the unorganiz- ed and the disadvantaged -- the youth, the elderly, part-time workers and the handicapped,” Cutt says, Bill 19, according to Cutt, facilitates a redistribution of power from ‘‘powerful, estab- lished, privileged and highly conservative trade union and employer DRIVE SAFELY organizations”? public at large and to in- dividual union members and employers. Cutt admits that the — first draft of the bill con- tained quite a few bugs. The amendments, how- ever, addressed the legitimate concerns of labor management, and while perhaps not perfect, Bill 19 in its amended form, according to Cutt, will work, chance. “In its powerful con- 19 -is liberal and’ pro- gressive. It is one of the ironies of the current debate that it has been labelled conservative. and reactionary,’ he says. _An_ eloquent assess- ment, indeed, and perhaps an accurate one. The joker in the deck, however, may be Cutt’s own. provisio that the bill will work ‘‘if given a chance,”’ As I have often pointed out during ihe heated debate over Bill 19, a law will only work if it is sup- - ported by the majority. - Lacking that crucial sup- port, the best law will not. work. I agree, Bill 19 should be given a chance to work. The opposition has put up a good fight and lost, If after its iroplementation the bill is still perceived as unfair and unworkable, I suggest that it be put to the test at the ballot box in the next general election. to the if given a.