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AA - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, April 8, 1998
| TERRACE

- STANDARD

ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988

PUBLISHER: ROD LINK
ADDRESS: 3210 Clinton Street Terrace, B.C. * V8G SR2
TELEPHONE: (250) 638-7283 * FAX: (250) 638-8432
EMAIL: standard@kermode.net

Seeing red

FINANCE MINISTER Joy MacPhail let some-
thing slip during her budget speech last week. In
commenting on the need to reduce red tape, she
said the government should be less concerned
with process and concentrate more on results.

But that’s the essential problem with all
governments and with this NDP one in particu-
lar. The NDP is all about that horrid word’
“process.’’ Its members and supporters revel in
the formation of committees, advisory groups
and the like. They love to ‘‘facilitate’’ meetings
in an attempt to ‘‘consult’’ with ‘“‘stakeholders”’
so as to produce endless streams of minutes, ac-
tion reports and reviews. All of this fits nicely
into the bureaucratic nature of governments
where creativity is stifled.

There’s no better example than what followed
after Ms. MacPhail gave her process comments
during the budget speech. In order to cut red
tape, she said, a task force was being formed.
That makes more red tape in order to cut the red
tape which Ms. MacPhail says is the problem in
the first place.

If the government is serious about red tape, of-
fer an expanded version of the cash reward pro-
gram it now gives civil servants who come up
with ideas to make’ things more efficient. How
about creating an award within each ministry to

provide an extra incentive. Please, just do any- .

thing to save us from another task force.

Right on, Iskut

A GROWING number of community groups in
America’s inner cities are taking to the streets to

rid them of drug dealers. What these groups do-is -|-
march to the homes of suspected dealers and:call |

them by name in a very powerful act of public
shaming, The idea is to shine a symbolic light
into the dark corners of evil.

And that’s what the good people of Iskut, a tiny
village north on Hwy37, have in mind. Tired of
drug dealing and bootlegging and of paying the
cost of the ugly consequences which result from
these acts, Iskut is fighting back. A group is writ-
ing warning letters to the dealers and might even
set up camp in front of their homes,

RCMP officers, who admit they can’t stop drug
dealing without first having the help of the com-
munity, are backing the group’s efforts. These
officers correctly point out that stopping crime in
small communities is difficult because of close
social and family ties.

But it’s also these close ties which can give
small communities the power to act for the pub-
lic good. In a lot of ways, what’s going on in Is-
kut matches closely with traditional native prac-
tices of shaming and banishment.

What the people of Iskut are doing will no
doubt strike a chord elsewhere. Just consider the
innocent people who had to put up with last
week’s roaming drug-infested frenzy here in Ter-
race which sent five people to hospital and three
people to jail.

a
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Special thanks to all our contributors and correspondents
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. MUST GET MYSELF
A HEAVIER CANE...

MLA caught red-handed

VICTORIA — I'll say one
thing for Gordon Campbell: he
knows when to take decisive

action.
The morning after Paul
Reitsma, Liberal MLA for

Parksville-Qualicum, admitted
that he had written a bogus let-
ter to a newspaper, and then
lied about having written it,
Campbell fired Reitsma from
his caucus.

“Mr, Reitsma’s conduct in
relation to the phony letter he
wrote in the Parksville
Qualicum Beach Morning Sun
has not been forthright, truthful
or acceptable,’ Campbell said.

“Notwithstanding his written
apology, I want all British
Columbians to know that Mr.
Reitsma’s conduct is unbecom-

ing of an MLA and-utterly at-

“odds, With the" standards ‘that I
expect and demand. fromi my

caucus colleagues.

“T have instructed that he be
immediately suspended from
the official opposition
caucus,’’ Campbell said.

The Liberal leader’s quick
action was not only warranted,
it also sent a strong message to
his caucus and, indeed, all
British Columbians that he will
not tolerate any bhanky-panky,

The sleazy way in which

EACH YEAR Terrace

elementary schools pick a
month during which students
are challenged to read more.
This year Copper Mountain
chose March, Students kept
track of the books they read,
parents signed vouching for
the kids’ efforts, and the
school tallied the grand tolal
on a Grizzlies poster, like a
fund raiser inching wp a
thermometer.

A highlight of reading month
invites community dignitaries
— the mayor, police chief, fire
chief, authors to read
storybooks to — individual
classes. With so many classes
and too few celebrities, the call
went out for volunteers, Now,
reading a bedlime story to your
own little ones is cozy. Read-
ing the same story to a class of
18 little strangers seated in an

"attentive semicircle about your

feet is quite unnerving for the

first thie volunteer.
Preparation is key: First,
polish your shoes. Next,

rehearse the story until even

te

marten! wHAT

FROM THE CAPITAL
HUBERT BEYER

Reitsma tried to put one over
on the newspaper and its
readers bears some scrutiny.
On March 15, the Morning
Sun received a phone call from

’ Reitsalh:who “wanted to know

the deadline for letters to the

editor. Three hours: later, a let-

ter, under the signature of one
Warren Betanko arrived at the
Morning Sun.

The letter praised Reitsma’s
work as an MLA and slammed
the NDP’s Jan Pullinger for
her hypocrisy. Tt even accused
her of lying.

“She (Pullinger) never stood
up for Island residents and
spoke out against the massive
B.C, Ferries fare increases. At

THROUGH BIFOCALS
CLAUDETTE SANDECKI
unusual names such = as
Rumplestiltskin, Balthazar and
Melchior come trippingly to
the tongue. Finally, train your
butterflies to fly in tight Snow-

bird formation, or migrate.

Of all the worrics that
precede Grst-time public read-
ing, coping with butterflies or
knots in the stomach heads the
list, An award-winning colum-
nist and editorial writer, Joan
Eyolfson Cadham, from Foam
Lake, Saskatchewan, who has
given countless readings over

ae ARE YU DeWkING!)) |
ml ‘(dust tAKE water!

tS COLD , CLEAR
FRESH AND PuRé.!!

gre! Glug. |WHOA-HaL!
GluP! GLuP/
SPLURK/!

least, our MLA stood up, loud-
ly protested, addressed rally’s
(sic) and meelings, forcing the
government lo back-track
(after their promise not to in-
crease taxes/fees)! Paul and his
Liberals at least kept their
promise, the NDP did not.”’

The newspaper’s editor, Cam
Purdy, was immediately suspi-
cious and compared the hand-
written letter to some of
Reitsma’s other hand-written
letters on file. They appeared
to be the same, allhough the
bogus Ictter’s writer seemed to
have made some cffort to dis-
guise his hand-writing.

Purdy next checked out the
phone number given in the let-
ter. It was the old number of a
motel, which was owned by
Reitsma. The name Warren

Betanko was nol in the phone ~
book. The address was a park- -

ing lot in Parksville.

To make sure he was on the
right track, Purdy enlisted the
help of Don Gamble of Vic-
toria, former lead of the
RCMP Decument Section in
Regina and a 30-year veteran
of document analysis.

Gamble said there was no
question at all; “‘he is your
mat”?

Having written

the  dirty-

the years, suggesis tricking
yourscif by renaming your but-
terflies excitement,

“Excitement,’’ Cadham
claims, ‘‘gives you ami
adrenalin rush which helps you
do your best.’? Easy for her to
say; not so easy for a first-time
reader lo do.

To show students the impor-
tance of learning to read, each
reader was asked to explain
how reading proved uscful to
him in daily employment and
leisure, I’m sure students enjoy
the chance to ask extra ques-
tions.

Beyond the exhilaration of
surviving the reading, one
payoff for the reader is the
delightful thank you letters stu-
dents wrile. Oflen funny and

endearing, the letters
demonstrate the student's
grammar and penmanship.

What better way to see your
tax dollars at work?

My _ five-year-old — grand-
daughter’s kindergarten class
had the thrill of a reading by
Terrace author, Brenda Silsbe,

TAKE IT

AN
<

iricks letter in the first place
was stupid enough, but con-
fronted by Purdy, Reitsma lied,
No, he didn’t write the letter,
No, he had never heard of
Warren Betanko, And he stuck
to his lie until he saw no way
out.

Even his apology was Jame.
He had written the letter for a
friend. Right. His friend didn’t
know how to write a letter. I
see. The name Warren Betanko
just popped into his head. No
kidding.

This is the kind of thing that
gives bad polilics and even
worse name. And let’s not
forget that Reilsma was the
guy who was caught loading
up on free food whenever he
travelled on B.C. Ferries,
‘We: don’t need people like

Réitsma,.in politics.....Small -

wonder the public believes that
all politicians are sleaze balls,

Campbell deserves full
marks for suspending Reitsma
from his caucus. He should
never let him back in. And
Reitsma should do us all a
favour and resign.

Beyer can be reached at:
Tel: (250) 920-9300; Fax:
(250) 356-9597;  E-meait:
hubert@coolcom.com

e finds a local author

who read two of her own
books, books we also read at
bedtime.

However Silsbe was intro-
duced, my granddaughter
seems not to have connected
the author as the writer of the
books she was reading.

But when my granddaughter
arrived home and Dad made it
clear to her who her reader bad
been, the kid was so excited
she could scarcely contain her-
self. Especially since, at that
moment, she had another of
Silsbe’s books in her back-
pack. She bad borrowed it that
morning from her school’s li-
brary. Well! Talk about walk-
ing on air!

Sunday, aS we Junched on
pizza, ta make conversation I
asked her about the reading.
Then J showed her a February
25 clipping from The Terrace
Standard with a photo head-
lined ‘Fifth book to hit

shelves soon.”
“Who's that?’’ [ asked,
“That's her! That’s Brenda ~
Silsbe!’* oe