+

 Where’s that old

familiar feeling?

”. For the past two weeks in here we’ve had the vague
uneasiness that we’re missing out on some important
event. Then it came to us: it’s the third week in
November, there’s no civic election and there haven’t
been any local political campaigns to cover.
Going to the once-every-three-year system for _
municipal, school board and regional district elections
seems suspiciously like the provincial answer to the
federal government’s annual hatchet jobs on the CBC:
depriving us of entertainment. .
_ November is a good, grim time for the sort of in-
door spectator sport provided by, say, a four-way race

for three seats on city council. Remember the earth-

shaking number-one issue in last year’s all-candidate
forum? Was it the state of public works, the level of
property taxation, fiscal accountability? Ah, no... ac-
tually, it was a telephone call placed by incumbent
Bob Jackman to rookie candidate Dave Hull, pur-
portedly urging him to drop out of the race and save
the taxpayers some money on ballot printing. If Hull
had been enough of a dunce to cave in at that point,
what sort of an alderman would he have made? Phone
calls like that should become compulsory features of

municipal elections in order to weed out entry-level

deadheads. Federal and provincial politics rarely hit
that level of degenerancy in debate, and even when
they do it’s seldom at election time.

If the chance to cast ballots sends up an obfuscative
cloud of this kind, perhaps the electorate is somewhat

‘better off studiously watching thé week-to-week grind-

ings of local government rather than storming the
polls. Watch when they’re able, that is. It is worthy to
note that city council is still the only local government
body that holds open committee meetings.

On the other hand, elected officials can only be
called to account once every three years, something
that’s part of the problem with the higher levels of
government in this system. © -. :

a
te

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ONT UNDERSTAND
WHYTHS PLACE ISNT
(NORE POPULAR...

The view from
Victoria —

by John Pliter

VICTORIA — There is no
question that Premier Bill
Vander Zalm’s decision to call
the Oak Bay/Bordon Head by-
election immediately is a wise
one.

After five crushing by-
election defeats in less than 18
months, the premier and the
Social Credit Party are:
desperate for a win; and Oak

Bay affords the best chances
they’ve got.

Although the Dec. 13th date
for the poll is perilously close

to Christmas, it makes political

sense for the Socreds to strike
now, with a credible candidate,
and with the opposition parties
slightly behind in their prep-
arations.

There is little point in com-
paring the Victoria suburb by-
election with the Cariboo
defeat for the government on
Sept. 20th. Oak Bay Mayor
Susan Brice is 10 times the can-
didate the bumbling Joe Wark
was upcountry; and she also is
a strong-minded woman who
has made no bones about her
views on abortion and religion
in politics.

Those views are the opposite
of Mr. Vander Zalm’s — she is
solidly pro-choice, and opposed
to mixing church and state —
and as far as Brice in con-
cerned, he has to like it and
lump it.

Having feceived nothing but
lumps for some time now,
especially when he contributed
to the whipping the party took
in the Cariboo — the premier
will pretend to like it, believe
me.

It would be foolhardy to sug-
gest that the vote is going to be
a cakewalk for the Socreds,
however. The independent

thinkers behind the Tweed Cur-
tain of Oak Bay have a record
of voting differently than the
rest of the province.

A Liberal stronghold. in the
1960's, it was won by the
Socreds in 1969 by Dr. Scott.
Wallace, who three years later
became a Tory candidate and
won two elections as a Conser-
vative into the late 1970's.

Brian Smith, also a former
Oak Bay mayor, was a Tory in
Socred clothing when he was
elected in 1979, 1983 and 1986;
but it is worth noting that the
NDP percentage of the vote in-
creased steadily (to 36 percent)
with the influx of families into
the apartments and condos of
Gordon Head.

The fact that most of the
constituents sided with Smith
against Vander Zalm when he
(Smith) resigned as attorney-
general in June 1988, suggests
that the Socred voters have
some serious thinking to do
before they enter the voting
booth next month,

If they back Brice, who is
supported wholeheartedly by
Smith, will that be seen as a
vote of confidence in the ~
despised Vander Zalm who tor-
pedoed ‘‘their’’ Brian?

If they choose not to vote
because of that dilemma, can
they live with a ‘‘socialist” rep-
resenting one of the province’s
most affluent enclaves?

Will the Liberal candidate be
a safe alternative? 7

"My, I can just imagine the
buzz over afternoon tea that
this Christmas by-election has
created! Stay tuned.

As you read this, the premier:

and International Business
Minister Elwood Velteh are in

Munich as part of a mission to

promote investment in British

Columbia. —
As well as opening a new

B.C. trade office in the West

‘German city, they have lined

up-a series of meetings with
German and international com-
panies to try:to woo their
deutschmarks into the pro-
vince.

Business related to tourism
and the environment tops.the
list of the two ministers’ agen- ~
das, with Veitch flying the B.C.
flag in Paris and Milan as well
as Munich. You may not be
surprised to know that Mr.
Vander Zalm will also visit
Holland again — sort of an an-—
nual pilgrimage to see the tulip —
bulbs, I imagine — during his
seven-day whirlwind trip.

Some of the sessions are
follow-ups to the successful
B.C. presence at the World
Economic Forum in Davos,
Switzerland, in February of this
year. |

We may not have seen any
direct jobs or projects yet, but -
British Columbia’s star is in-
deed rising on the world stage: ~
because of such sessions and |
because of the new interna-
tional ministry which was spun -
off from economic develop-
ment in July 1988.

Chilliwack’s John Jansen,
now health minister, got the
new ministry organized and
rolling, and the wily old .
political veteran Veitch should

handle this latest portfolio with -

aplomb.
Who says we columnists do
not give credit when it is due?! -

Parting Thought: Thoughts .

continued on page 6 |

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