Hubert Beyer Terrace Review Victoria Correspondent. ) Sometime next month, Premier Vander Zalm will re- call the B.C. Legislature, and 69 elected representatives will converge on Victoria to ‘‘do the people’s business.” Foremost on the agenda will be the 1987-88 budget, expected to be brought down sometime in March. It will be the first budget against which the new premier can be judged. But even before that, the throne speech will give us a good indication of whether the premier really intends to change B.C. politics from the confrontational style of the past to a more co-operative effort. | l Kt io n 5. — Throne speech will tell what Throne speeches are generally considered meaningless exercises, designed to make the government look good. Throne speeches written for the Bill Bennett govern- ment and duly delivered by a succession of lieutenants- governor have. had very little substance. But that needn't be so. oe If Vander Zalm wants to usher in a new era of politics, he may well use the throne speech as a vehicle to announce major changes. I’d like to take a stab at guessing what some of those changes will be. Expect strong hints in the throne speech about changes in the province's labor laws, among them a pro- mise of legislation that will forge employers and unions to start contract negotiations six to eight months before . - existing contracts expire. : That would certainly be a good move. I’m sure many Y \nano.peRSIKE z = = EASON Lm J meena MW Terrace Review - Established May 1, 1985 The Terrace Review is published _. gach Wednesday by Close-Up “+ Business Services Ltd. To the editor, In reference to the response, from Judy Vandergucht, to my arti- wa, Publisher: art Mark Twytord cle, ‘‘The rights of men mann Or our need attention’’, it would Stat Reporter: appear that . Ms. "Michael Kelly Vandergucht has misinter- Advertising Sales: preted me. ~/ dean-Lue Roy =. 638-7840 . Production: A number of other peo- ple made the same mistake so I must accept some _ Tesponsibility for the Carrie Olson misunderstanding. _ “Accounting: — I did not intend to ” Mar} Twyford argue, nor did I in fact argue, that women who are physically abused are deserving of it, Physical abuse is never justified regardless of the provoca- tion (predictable, given sufficient provocation, *." Sacond-class malt. registration No, 6896. "Reproduction of this paper or any por- ---tlon thereof Is prohibited without per - : mission of the publisher. 4535 Greig Avenue, Terrace, B.C. V8G 1M? RTS . yes; justified, no). 7 Phone; 635-7840 To reiterate, the point of my article. which you —— : — = q LE, a BC. TRANSIT st es is op ALE wel tctd _". Pas y y Ey ee le ae 2s cA seem to have missed, was that the feminist move- ment in its attempt to cor- rect an unjust distribution. of power has inadvertently created a one-sided perspective on some issues, spousal abuse be- ing one of them. | Everyone knows that men are often physically and emotionally abusive - of women, This is a well publicized fact. Now what needs to be said, openly and publicly, is that men too are often the victims of abuse, especially emo- tional abuse. I said this because I believed it needed to be said and judging from most of the reactions I have received from both women: and men, I was right. Physical abuse is — never justified — There is obviously a lot of abusive behavior going on: and men are being forced, finally, to accept moral responsibility for their abusiveness. Would you not agree, Judy, that women should now do the same? Or do you think that women are never abusive? Surely not. If there is to be any hope of reducing the amount of hostility that obviously and unfor- tunately exists between the sexes, a lot of people, of both sexes, are going to have to honestly confront themselves and each other on this issue. I would submit, also, that men are at something of a disadvantage in this regard having not been ~ continued off page 17 a strike or lockout has been triggered by one party or the other refusing to start negotiations until after the ex- isting contract has expired. , TS A promise of new legislation designed to help small business is also a strong possibility. 1F Vander Zalm wants to lower the unemployment rate, the small busi- ness sector is his best bet. Mega projects are o.k. for the duration of construction, but more than 70 percent of all permanent jobs are created by smail business. - The premier may also use the throne speech to get out the message that his government is willing to change its attitude on native land claims. ee Until now, the government hasn’t acknowledged the validity of any native land claims and has refused to enter into any negotiations. The first hint of a change.in that position came recently from Intergovernmental Af- fairs Minister Bruce Strachan. = The government has hidden for too long behind its Jegal position that aboriginal title doesn’t exist in B.C. and was now ready to develop a new policy that will ad- ‘dress native issues, Strachan said. That’s a radical departure from the status quo established and stubbornly adhered to by the Bennett government, a departure that speaks well for Vander Zalm. oo, There will probably also be reference in the throne speech to the lumber accord recently reached between the Canadian and the U.S. governments. Vander Zalm has come under heavy fire from the industry bosses here in B.C. for his support of the 15 percent export tax on Canadian lumber. And what would the first throne speech of Vander Zalm’s administration be without some hints about the. privatization of liquor stores. The premier has made no bones about his commitment to turning liquor outlets ’ over to the private sector. All that’s missing is a time frame. You may also expect more details about Vander Zalm’s plans to legalize gambling. a I wouldn’t even be surprised if the throne speech con- tained some reference about an increase in welfare rates, which would go a jong way towards erasing the reputa- tion he achieved years ago as a politician who’s down on welfare recipients. Besides, the rates need to be increas- ed. . All in all, the next throne speech, I believe, will. be very different from the ones we were fed by the previous administration. It will set the tone for the budget and the legislative calendar to follow. Just what kind of budget and legislation might be in- troduced in the next session is the subject of another col- umn, Winning number drawn Ursula Alihaus (right) drew the winning number for a SS&-25 snowmobile raffle sponsored by the Terrace Downtown Lions club. W. Schumeister of Terrace, was the lucky winner. Photo by Daniele Berquist. Letters to the editor witl be considered for publication only when signed. Please Include your phone number. The editor reserves the right 10 condense and edit letters. Opinions expressed are net necessarily those of the Terrace Review. . ;