Page A4 — Terrace Standard, Wednesday, October 3, 1990 Raglatration No, 7820 4847 Lazelle Ave., Terrace, B.C., V8G 1S8 (604) 638-7283 Serving the Terrace area, Published on Wednesday of each week by Cariboo Prass (1969) Ltd, at 4647 Lazella Ave., Terrace, British Columbia. Stores, photographs, illustrations, designs and typestytes in ihe Terrace Standard ara the property of ihe copyright hokiers, including Cariboo Pross (1988) Ltd, its i fustration repro Services and advertising agencies, = TERRACE § STANDA ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988 Reproduction in whole or in part, without written parmission, is specifically pronibited. Authorized a§ second-class mai! pending tha Post dttice Department, for payment of postage in cash. Editor: - Rod Link & Publisher: Jim Coulter Production Manager: . Edouard Credgeur oe Pa “hl! tapi : na ‘Dunean - Typesetier, Rose Fishar — ; Carolyn Anderson — Typedatler, Susan Credgeur — = Composing/Darkroom Jim Coulter — ~ Advertising Manager, Janet Vivelros ~, Advartising Consultant Sam Cail — - *Advaisg Consultant, Tam Milter * Cireuatan Supervisor "Sports, Malootm Baxter. ~ News, Front Gtice Manager a special ‘thanks to all our ‘contributors and correspondents for - their. time: and: “talents. EDITORIAL He’s smiling now Somewhere, W.A.C, Bennett is smil- ing. He’s smiling because another government has taken up his vision of the Dease Lake rail extension. When Mr, Bennett was premier, the extension was part of the Pacific Great Eastern (now B.C. Rail) rail line, It was, he said, to be another transportation connector, reaching north and to the west of Prince George, to develop the in- terior of the province. But all was not well with this par- ticular part of the vision. A railbed was built but massive cost overruns added up. Even NDP Premier Dave Barrett gave it a go, finally cancelling the project because of the financial implications. And there the vision slumbered. Con- struction camps became targets for those seeking ready building material. Resource companies began using the railbed as a highway to reach into the in- terior. The vision has now come back in the form of improvements so that woods companies, using Prince George and James as operations bases, could reach the Sustut-Takla wood north Fort St. of.Hazelton, .. . aM a “That decision in 1988” ‘Sain Over: the strenuous objections of companies and local governments in our areas. It also, judging from a provincial Ombudsman’s report, took place in contravention of legislation at the time. The forests minister at the time, Skeena MLA Dave Parker, apparently told the deputy chief forester to award the timber to the Prince George and Fort St. James companies. According to the the deputy chief rules in place then, vince. There are, nightmare. corridors to forester was supposed to make the deci- sion independently. And, the great ma- jority of evidence supported the applica- tion by companies in our part of the pro- At last week’s town hall meeting Premier Bill Vander Zalm and forests minister Claude Richmond gave some of the most candid reasons yet for the deci- sion. To do otherwise, they said, would have cost 400-500 jobs in Prince George ’ area mills and wood processing facilities. Richmond, too many sawmills chasing too little timber. So where once W.A.C. Bennett had a vision of resource development in building the rail line, the present govern- ment had prospects of an unemployment said Mr. Yet there remains the hope of further resource development from the construc- tion of the line. That hope had better materialize given the strong suggestions that in despite of pronouncements that the line will not cost taxpayers any money, there will be some sort of sub- sidy for its operation. Yet somehow there remains the im- pression that W.A.C. Bennett’s vision is “coming true, His stamp,on B:C. of pro=) viding the province with transportation exploit resources continues on, But in this case of allocating scarce wood resources to keep sawmills afloat the vision has a bit of a tarnish. It’s another example of how govern- evils. ments function nowadays. Governments used to formulate and execute policy based on hopes and expectations. They now take action as a rearguard reflex to fend off any number of accumulated Appealing methods Principals haven’t even tallied their official enrolment for this school year and already we're grooved into another 10 months of meetings, sports, and fundraising. Band students have criss- crossed the neighbourhood tempting us with Hershey bars; we've been coaxed to pledge the Terry Fox run;and Terrace Arts Council has warned us Join now or see the council disband. Thanks to our Matsqui fenc- ing and a pair of small but possessive mutts, even illiterate canvassers skirt our property, Determined solicitors — such as for the heart fund — gauge the reliability of our fence, then stretch their arm way out to drop a pre-addressed envelope into our gate mailbox, One form of appeal that makes me cringe like Lucien Bouchard sneaking past Mulroney to take his seat in parliament, is canvassers who flank store entrances expecting me to donate spontaneously as an “Open Sesame’? to my weekend shopping. Regardless of how worthy their cause — whether its firemen proffering a rubber boot to be stuffed with $10 bills in aid of muscular dystrophy; veterans hawking Remem- brance Day poppies; or a polyester Santa jangling belis beside the Salvation Army's: plastic "kettle’’ — alms-seekers - are a speed bump on the drag strip of bargain hunting. . Another canvasser - “that Through | Bifocals by Claudette Sandeck! tightens the drawstring on my handbag is the affable fellow who phenes, calls me by my first name, and introduces. himself in the manner of a Lakelse Avenue booster whom ] should recognize. He turns opt to be in Vancouver, and far from representing a charity, he profits from printing programs for childrens’ sports competi- - tions. When it comes to picking the knot out of my purse strings, 1 respond intuitively. I never jab my finger into a canvasser’s breast bone and demand what percentage of my contribution will go to good works and what portion wii] be squandered, on administration. E long ago settled on those charities | prop up; I trust them to put my money to good use locally, Usually, they reach out through B.C. Tel to touch me. They make it convenient for me to back them: A short phone call requesting my continued patronage. (There’s a word with unfortunate overtones. at. :the moment.) Soon someone arrives to pocket my cheque. Voila. Fait accompli. And J have a tax record to. satisfy Michael - Wilson next March, : aa ‘Phone solicitations should os make it easier for me to say No, Sorry. But even then I can be talked into forking over cash | really can’t afford. What to do? I thought I'd been handed the answer by a pitchman who pushes car wax on fair mid- ways, After running through his spiel while waxing his gleaming Cadillac to a blinding lustre, he invites observers to step up and pay $8 for a container of wax smaller than a hockey puck. Some do. Others hem and haw, but don’t buy. The barker sneers, ‘‘Why make excuses? If I have the guts to ask for your money, you should have the guts to say 'No’’?, Oh, that I did. SKOOK | YoU GOTTA. HELP ME ESCAPE FROM AN OUTATTER! HE STARVES US AND LoADS 0S PowN WITH FAT HUNTERS |! aR ATLL LAN, SICK FEATHER N Mis HEADBIND.. xan BEADS ... SCKOUNGE qREN D FOR KATEW OD BaNeS Province appears to be under siege VICTORIA — The political and judicial systems are under siege in British Columbia. Cynicism is taking the place of trust. The public is losing con- fidence in the insitutions that separate parliamentary democracies from autocracies, benevolent or otherwise. After four years of blunder- ing from one scandal to the next, Premier Vander Zalm has brought’ us to a'point ‘Pied where the mere mention of in- . tegrity and honesty in politics causes British Columbians to doubt your sanity. Vander Zalm promised in- tegrity and open government, but I cannot remember a four- year period in B.C, politics that was marked by more scan- dals, embarrassments and public disgrace than Vander Zalm's term in office to date. Let’s skip the David Pool story, the Cliff Michael debacle, the Bill Reid scandal and all the other political calamities that have rocked this government almost con- tinuously, and deal only with the last two controversies — the sale of Fantasy Garden World and the subsequent discovery that the premier had never relinquished his majority shareholder status in the fami- ly business. Vander Zalm's total disregard for or, at best, ig- norance of tradition manifested itself in the way in which he sold Fantasy Garden World. Instead of being far away on the day of the sale, addressing some chamber of commerce on the benefits of investing in British Columbia, the premier rolled out the red government carpet for the pur- chaser of his Richmond theme park, Treating the billion-dollar woman, Emilia Roxas, like some head of state, he even took her to see Lieutenant Governor David Lam, thereby, in a very real sense, dragging the queen into his own private . dealing. That wasn't the intent, the premier said later, The deal had already been signed, and he was only trying to woo a ME FoR SURE! Od.ve quasar From the Capital . by Hubert Beyer ui -OHTHERE'S Is SUPERCUS! HELL SPoT potential investor in British Columbia, What the premier forgot was that appearances aré? ‘as'itportant as:reality; ° What he'also forgot was yb it it was he who spoke of the great importance of appearances, — shortly after becoming premier. And just when this par- ticular controversy had died down a bit, we got hit with another, An enterprising reporter checked the company records at his lawyer's office and found that Vander Zalm had never relinquished his ma- jority ownership of the family business until it was sold to Roxas. : The papers showed the premier owning 83 per cent of the shares in Fantasy Garden World Inc., when all along he had told British Columbians that it was Lillian’s business. Initially, the premier blamed the press, saying they had only assumed that he didn’t own the majority of shares. Then he changed his tune, blaming his ‘‘stupidity”’ for the mixup. When he relinquished his directorsip in the business in 1986, he was led to believe that there was also a transfer of the shares. Opposition leader Mike Har- court accused Vander Zalm of a “monstrous lie.‘ There was no way he couldn’t have known that he still owned Fan- tasy Garden World, Harcourt said. ; . Without accusing the premier of lying, deliberately or inadvertently, 1 also find it hard to believe that a man who parleyed a relatively obscure nursery business into a $15 million theme park with castle and all, wouldn’t know that he still owns the place. Stupid people don’t make million- dollar profits in business, [ watched in some agony as DANG! THE Wolves ALREADY GT OLD” BLAZE THERE'S ONE ST CHEM’ ON Him! Set a some of his ardent supporters tried to make light of the mat- ter. What was the big deal anyway, asked Cliff Michael. + What-indéed? It .was}/of (3 "" course! Michael who was ‘sack- ed by the premier for mixing private business with public _ duties when he tried to peddle recreational property to people with whom he was dealing as highways minister. This is pro- bably Michael’s way of paying his debts to the premier For’ let- ting him back into cabinet, All the while, public trust, in the system is fading. Cynicism and the suspension of disbelief: are, so far, the greatest legacy of the Vander Zalm years. _ And that is the greatest danger to which our system of © © parliamentary democracy can be exposed, “The rule of law | Nao <4 democracy requires the =. |: public’s ongoing consent and © confidence to survive,’ ~""" Stephen Owen said in his in-~ terim report on the Bill Reid ; affair, ‘Any widespread unease with the essential fairness of our system can cripple it, Perception becomes reality when suspicion of injustice is allowed to fester. The system. must be capable of quickly and convincingly resolving any. such doubt,”’ Owen added.” The validity of the om- ~~ budstnen’s remarks isn’t con: fined to the justice systemy i it applies to the entire process of parliamentary democracy which has been crippled time © and again. There can and should be no. more well-meaning excuses, for - Vander Zalm’s blunders, must be held accountable, : and the sooner, the better. Unfpr- - tunately, some very capable people in cabinet will have to’ share the blame with him on; election day, rT oe WELL WE BETIER GET BACK To Came AND” PUT THAT FAT OL HERMAN Guy on gessiy woe ewe ee ee 1, ew SaT