AA - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, November 8, 1995

TERRACE,

STANDARD

ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988

ADDRESS: 4647 Lazelle Ave., Terrace, B.C. * V8G 158
TELEPHONE: (604) 638-7283 + FAX: (604) 638-8432
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Worthy merger

NOW HERE’S an idea from’ the provincial
government that could genuinely cut costs.

Education minister Art Charbonneau feels there
are too many school districts in the province,
creating too many administrative and other
bureaucratic expenses. —

His plan is to merge school districts where and
when it makes sense, It’s an idea Mr. Charbon-
neau floated some time ago and one he’s now
reviving as the government continually looks for
ways to trim expenditures. while keeping up with
expected levels of service.

Our suggestion is that area taxpayers need only .

look at the Kitimat and Terrace school districts
as an example of where Mr. Charbonneau’ S plan
deserves a cold, hard look.

Given that the two cities are so close together,

given that educational issues are similar between
the two and given that modern communications
systems can collapse the need for stand alone
and expensive bureaucracies, merging the two
school districts and boards makes sense. .

A merger of the two districts would also
eliminate the need for two separate streams of
labour contract negotiations for teachers and sup-
port workers. Indeed, the provincial government
is already working on reducing the number of
bargaining units in other public sector areas un-
der its control.

And should there be any opposition to such a
merger, detractors have only to look at the geog-
raphic area already being administered by the
school district and board in Terrace. It already
takes care of schools in the Hazeltons, Kitwanga,
Meziadin and Stewart.

With this being. the case, extending the bound: .
aries to encompass Kitimat 1S not above compre- _

hension, oo

os B i
Canadians first
OTHER THAN the wrack and ruin of what was
Yugoslavia, only Canada seems insistent on

defining people by racial origin.

We have only to examine the Quebec
referendum as evidence, On the ni ight of the vote,
CBC-TV provided us with voting patterns
broken down into three groups — Anglophones,
Francophones and Allophones. Allophones? You
bet. That’s the tag given to those people whose
mother tongue is neither French nor English.

As the night went on, it was clear that these
people did not buy into the separatist vision of
Quebec. As one representative from the Greek
community pointed out, 20-plus years of
draconian language law in Quebec has not
worked. These people are first and foremost Ca-
nadians.

It’s something we must keep in mind as the
country struggles over what to do next. Local
tesident Chris Spang!, who flew to Montreal to
take part in that massive rally prior to the
referendum, put it best when he said we should

not abandon those that are separated by miles
and notideals,

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COHTROLLES

Special thanks to ‘all our contribute and c
- for their time and talents

vis SCARY Liz...

VICTORIA — Canada was
the big winner in Quebec’s in-
dependence referendum. Now
it’s time to be a gracious win-
ner,

at best and destruction at worst

by the slimmest of margins. :
Surely, Canadians realize that

this was a wake-up call. We
can’t go back to business as
usual, , .

In the wake of Jast Monday’s:
referendum, I have heard
several politicians say that Ca-
nadians have no appetite at this
time for another round of con-
stitulional talks. Canadians,
they say, still have their fill of
the Charlottetown’ § Accord
debacle. ,

' Weil, it’s not a question of
appetite, Tt’s a question of hav-

ing to eat before we starve to...
‘death,

‘There can be no repeat of Jast -
’ Monday’s brush’ with disaster,

Fifteen years - ago, René
Levesque lost the first bid for
Quebec’s independence by. a
40 to .60 per cent margin. The
second attempt last Monday
nearly succeeded.

It is almost certain that the
third time around, _ the
separatist forces in Quebec
will carry the day.

Failing to address Quebec’s

' fears and aspirations, real or

imagined, would put the lie to

A WEDEEPER |Buy
WIM, THE FASTER

HE POPS BACK Up

The country escaped turmoil :

_FROM THE CAPITAL

HUBERT BEYER

the outpouring of love for their
country Canadians from coast
to coast have demonstrated at
rally after ally, as. the
referendum steamroller moved
towards its climax last Mon-
day.

AS. a ‘nation, Canada isn’t -

known to wear its collective
emotions on its sleeve, but

- hundreds of thousands of Ca-

nadians- knew what: was at
‘stake:. the country | itself, a

country that is the undisputed ;

envy of the world;

The rallies weren't self-

‘serving as Lucien’ Bouchard

called them. - These” people
didn’t- come to Montreal,
150,000 ‘strong, to save their
own hide, Each one of them
made an appeal to Quebec to
give Canada another chance.
And Pm ceriain had they

been asked whether Canada

’ should launch another constitu-

tional ~=round fo address

‘whatever ails Quebecers, their

reply would have been a

'|:"} resounding yes.

One of the problems with the

Charlottetown Accord was that

it tried to be too many things to

‘too many people. We cannot

go into another constitutional
debate and try to address every
minority group’s concerns.
The-next one must deal with
Quebec,
alone.

I spent the evening of
referendum day at the Yes-
side’s headquarters, I spoke to
dozens and dozens of

.Quebecers. Mind you, none of
“them were in the mood to

speak English to reporters, and
I was. forced to do an on-the-.

spot brush-up job on my |

French.
Again and again, they told

‘me that, from their point of
‘view, they had tried everything

to become an equal within the
Canadian family, to no avail.

The point made most often
was the wish to have. distinct-
society slatus, a demand that
has never gone over well with
the rest of Canada. But what, I
ask, do we have to fear froma
Quebec which can take pride
in being officially recognized
as a distinct society.

and with Quebec

In reality it already is. You
only have to spend a few days
in Quebec to realize that here
is a culture as different from
that of the rest of Canada as
any you can imagine. And it is
precisely that difference which
makes Canada such a unique
country,

I am convinced: that, in the
wake of Jacques Parizeaw’s
resignation, Bouchard will take
over Parizeau’s job as leader of
the Parti Quebecois. And: he
will demand that Canada deal
with the problems that have, so
far, given rise to two serious
attempts by Quebec to leave
Canada.

British Columbia’s “forest
minister, Andrew Petter, & con-
stitutioial lawyer, is one of the
few who has alrcady stated. his
belicf that Canada miust ‘Work
out a constitutional sotution to -
Quebec’s problems. A close

no-vote, he said, might spark _ o

another constitutional round.

Well, the outcome: couldn’t
have been much closer, The
country survived on a few
thousand votes, It was far to
close: for comfort,. And there
must not be © another
referendum. Quebec awails
Canada’s goodwill.

Beyer can be reached at:
Tel:(604) 360-6442;
Fax:(604) 381- 6922;E-Mail:
hbeyer@direct.ca

Quebec can’t be satisfied

THANK HEAVEN Canada’s |

still one country from sea to
sea.

The prospect of a permanent -

Bailey bridge from Ontario to
New Brunswick ruined my
manicure last Monday night.

Bui tre to past behaviour, .
the moment the losing side: |.) *
conceded defeat they vowed to | -
fight on to leave Canada...with |

their Canada pensions, UI pay-
ments, and passport. They
even vowed to hold another
referendum “sooner than we
think.”’

I also heard them say, “No |

tialter what package of
changes Canada offers us to
stay, it won’t be enough,”

And clear as iceberg melt,
even having new powers’ from
Ottawa won't salisfy them if
the other nine provinces enjoy
those same powers. —

Quebec wants more, That’s it

in a nutshell, More than any:
olher province. Equality, no

WHAT ARE

THROUGH BIFOCALS—
CLAUDETTE SANDECKE

OVER CROWDING AT |
Home AND THE
OTHER MARSHES —
ARE DRAINED:
FAR HOUSING
DEVELOPMEAITS

matter how sclf-governing that
might make them, won't do.
Their goal is superiority.

. One CBC radio caller sald
she finally understood,
‘Because it’s one of the two
founding nations of this coun-
try, Quebec believes it should

control: half the. power; the -

other nine provinces may share

the remaining uty percent of —

SiG | A
AND (NTREPIP HUSKY

RESCUING A YOUNG BUCK
BEAVER. FROM URBAN SPRAWL

power,”’
_Talk about ego on stilts!
Now Parizeau has resigned

to devote himself to keeping

his foot out of his mouth.
* Tn bis tum, Lucien Bouchard

| says, ‘‘Quebce will not negoti-
‘| ‘ale with Canada until it can do

so nation to nation.’””

Ah, oui. ;

I have a few suggestions for
Ollawa. (Don’t laugh. Ot-
tawa’s ideas haven’t worked.)

Offer a free, one-way ticket
to France to every Quebecer
who voted ‘Yes’,

Or let Quebecers switch pro- .

vinces with Newfoundland,
Because  Newfoundlanders
have to move to central Cana-

-da to find jobs, the switch will .

solve their major problem. In

‘return, Quebecers will be .

closer to France and St, Picrre-
Miquelon. ,

“Tt’s. the - only. way. many
Quebecers will ever see anoth-
er part of this great coumiry,

AN ACE TRAPPER

And the Newfoundlander sense
of humour might rub off on
Quebecers:: They need.” |
lighten up.

Mainly, the switch would
prevent Canada having a
gaping hole in the centre. I
don’t object to Quebecers eav-

‘ing Canada so long as they

leave the land bebind.

One hint for all Canadians,
especially CBC and newspa-
pers: Quit saying: Canada and
Quebec. Would you say Cana-
da and Alberta? Or Canada and —
B.C?

Of course not. To do so.
would swell our heads. and
make us think we are superior.

During the Gustafsen Lake
slandoff, the psychologist said
referring to the armed camp as
terrorists fed their ego. He said
they should be called natives;
Wolverine was downplayed ¢ to
Ignace.

Quebec ‘is the tenth province. :
No more, no less,

OH Weel! ‘TS,
THE Awenes /

as

Ln uedutner