; - TERRACE STANDARD LECTION The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, May 21, 1997 - AS OT a NDP CANDIDATE Itsaac Sobol campaign headquarters last week. NDP CANDIDATE Isaac Sobo} doubts Reform MP Mike Scott’s claim that he has strong support in native communities in the Skeena riding. Scott says native voters who are tired of corruplion in their native governments, and are disillusioned with government in general, are strong supporters of Reform. “Where Mike Scott’s base of support in First Nations communities is, I don’t know,’’ said Sobol. Sobol spoke recently with Masset and Skidegaie tribal councils on the Queen Charlotte Islands. He said native people there told him they’ve never seen Mike Scott in their villages. Sobol also accused Scott of trying to sabotage the land claims process. “Mike Scott likes to use the tactics of division. He likes to stir up the pot.’’ Sobol said Scott wasn’t looking for harmony or conciliation. Instead he ‘‘tries to show the whole system is unwork- able.’ His politics.”’ Gitanyow, Scott was, Lees ere cooks food at an open house at his Terrace Native vote claim doubted He wondered why Scott keeps claiming the government doesn’t represent people, and that government shouldn’t be trusted. Message is government, anti-this, anti-that,’’ said Sobol. ‘‘Maybe he shouldn’t be in Sobol himself was questioned at the all candidales meeting on whether he could represent all native people in the riding, since he’s been adopted by the Nisga’a. Gitksan Mary Dahlen of Cedarville demanded to now how Sobol will be able to campaign among the Gitksan and *7’m not going to be MP for the Nisga’a. I'm going to be MP for every- body,’’ said Sobol. He asked rhetorically if a Catholic coulda’t also represent Protestants. Sobol also took aim at Scott’s use of the word ‘Indian’? at the all candidates meet- ing, saying that showed how insensitive ised always anti- The family is the THE - CHRISTIAN Heritage Party candidate for Skeena is a man with strong family values. Rod Freeman says he’s a devout believer in the ‘stay at home parent.’” He’s made sure either he or his wiie have been at home while their five children are grow- ing Up. A teacher for several years, Freeman carned a Masters degree in education and holds teacher certifi- cates in Nova Scotia, Ontario and most recently British Columbia. He was: one of the first teaching principals in B.C., key for Freeman Rod Freeman -and is now a teacher at Centennial Christian School in Ter- race, where he’s worked for more than six years. A sclf-proclaimed ‘‘Bible Christian,”’ Freeman doesn’t describe his manner of teaching as imposing Biblical -values. Instead, ‘‘we teach the Bible principles to our chil- dren and encourage them to live by them,’’ he says. Children need to be ericouraged to go in the right direc- tion. ‘We don’t believe in coercion, but if they're shown all the different paths they will probably choose wrong.’’ In other words, Freeman doesn’t believe students should be exposed to every subject — including dealing with homosexuality, ‘‘In the (public) school system, morality amorality, immorality — it’s all the same. An individual is given the opportunity but isn't helped to see there are dif- ferent consequences for the choices they make. “Truths are being withheld in the (public) school sys- tem,’’ says Freeman. Aficr a long career in education, Freeman found himself “confined and burnt out.’’ He decided to take a break from the scholarly life and strapped on a tool belt to build a fam- ily home just outside Terrace. One thing led to another,”’ he says, and he began taking on more and more projects. He tuned in to the Canadian Heritage Party at its incep- tion and decided to continue educating on a different level. The party’s platform matches his strong personal beliefs. Leaning heavily as it does on the word of the Bible, CHP “holds to solid Christian principles that [ personally be- licve in,’’ Freeman says. Those principles include taditional family values, pro- tection of Life from conception and ‘‘traditional morality that our country bas always held to,’’ he says. “We're not intending to force upon our nation, the fam- ily of the 50s, but we want to give people today the free- dom to have a traditional family.”’ He wants to see a tougher justice system. ‘‘The majority of Canadians feel that our nation is not as safe as it once was,” he says. ‘‘Those that ought to be getting justice are the victims and the winners tend to more to be those that - are the criminals.’ : The CHP believes in a ‘‘God-ordained death penalty,”’ - which the party contends would bring order back. ‘“Those that are deserving of death, the government must define who they are and then give the just punishment for that.”’ According to Freeman, by iature, ‘‘all Canadians be- lieve in the death penalty.’’ He reasons that any person, faced with a deadly attacker, would in fact kill that person given the chance. “Those that oppose the death penalty have no problem with euthanasia and they have no problem with abortion right up to full term,’’ he said. Scott hasn’t registered guns SKEENA MP Mike Scott won’t say whether or not he will obey the law and register his guns. The Reform Party candidate owns his own hunting rifles and shotguns. But he hasn’t registered them yet — as will be required by the Liberals’ federal gun registration law. The deadline for registering has been extended out to the year 2001, he said. “T will face that at the time [ have to face it,’’ Scott said. ‘‘] have not de- cided what I’m going to do.” MANNING VISIT Glowinsk PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE candidate Kent Glowinski looked a lonely figure on May 7. While Reform party leader Preston Manning spoke to more than 350 people at the Terrace Inn, Glowinski, accompanied by one supporter, stood outside the room under a large loud- speaker carrying Manning’s speech. Glowinski said he wasn’t there to speak to Manning but to catch the at- tention of reporters accompanying the Reform party leader. “There aren’t any votes to be gathered here,’’ Glowinski said, ack- nowledging that many people there to hear Manning were former Tories. Glowinski said Reform isn’t a na- tional presence as it has nominated barely 30 candidates cast of Ontario. He called Reform instead a move- ment, concentrated in the west. “{ will not advocate that people break the law. I don’t think that’s a responsible position for me to take.”’ He says instead he’s hor ing to see a government elected that will repeal the measures before they’re enforced, Gun control proved to be a hot issue at the all candidates forum last week in Terrace, where Scott and NDP can- didate Isaac Sobol both spoke out against the government’s gun control measures, while Liberal candidate Rhoda Witherly defended her party. ‘We're nol advocating the wild west,’’ Scott says, adding many gun owners in the riding will face the same dilemma about whether to abide by the regulations. “The government is trying to make the ownership of guns very in- convenient in the hopes people will give up,”’ he said. That will work with some people, Scott predicts, But others won’t give up. “T think there are a lot more people who are going to dig in and fight this legislation.” i tried out Reform “The Reform party definitely isn’t going to be the government as a result of this election,’ Glowinski noted. He anticipated that people who were Tories but are now Reformers will return to the Conservative party. He handed out cards to national media representatives there, and tried to revive an episode that embarrassed Scott in 1995, That episode was a let- ter Scott sent to an Ottawa newspaper suggesting an armed citizenry is a counterbalance to big government. And while Glowinski tried to get his message across, he was noticed by several of Manning’s entourage. That’s because Glowinski once belonged to the Reform party, leaving last year after saying it was intolerant toward homosexuals and others who didn’t fit the Reform mold. One of Manning’s entourage said Glowinski had been a Conservative even while he was with Reform, sug- gesting he had been acting as an agent before leaving Reform. Local Reform organizer Ron Town wasn’t pleased to see Glowinski at the event, adding that he stili had a can- celled cheque for $300 used to send Glowinski to a Young Reformers’ Convention three years ago. ‘‘This is the way he thanks you,”’ Town said. *‘He goes back to the Tories.”” kkkak A TOTAL of three Terrace city councillors were front and centre in the Reform entourage when Preston Manning arrived in town. Val George, Linda Hawes and Rich McDaniel all indicated they’re sup- porters of MP Mike Scott. George worked for the federal Tories in the last election as campaign treasurer. Witherly takes second run RHODA WITHERLY has had her share of leaps in life and she’s taking her second jump into federal politics. The Liberal candidate fin- ished second in the 1993 election and this time around is up against two of the same candidates: Mike Scatt and Isaac Sobol. Contending the Liberals will form the next govern- ment, Witherly says Skcena will be better served by an MP whose party is in power. Her initiation into the political world happened after she moved to Prince Rupert from Alberta over 25 years ago. She grew up in Edmonton, although her family’s roots stretch back to Russia. They were Moravian Lutherans and artived from White Russia in one of the waves of emigration earlier this century, eventually settling in Bruderheim outside Ed- monton. “They were looking for a better life,’’ she says. “‘It was a religious-based thing.”’ Raised in Edmonton, Young A MEMBER of Genera- tion Next, 18-year-old Tory candidate Kent Glowinski is the antithesis of media portrayals of wasted youth who’ve run out of hope for Canada’s future and their place in it, He's articulate, thoughtful and has just completed his first year of political science at McGill University in Montreal. But Glowinski — the youngest PC cindidate in election history — is more than just his textbook con- servative looks. When he begins to talk about his desire to see a united Canada, a plan to~ raise the region’s tourism profile, and his credo of tak- ing the initiative, Glowinski betrays a wisdom beyond his years, and a passion for politics that springs from his deep northern roots. “4 was actually asked to consider running in Victoria because I had lived there for a year and gone to private school,”’ he says. “I thought Witherly attended the Uni- versity of Alberta, graduat- ing with BA, followed by a Masters of Music. After that it was the ‘‘ysual travel Europe, then look for a job,” she says. Drawn to media work, Witherly landed a job at an Edmonton TV station as a researcher. Then came the leap to B.C. in 1971. She worked for a while with a private radio station in Prince Rupert before moving on to the CBC Radio bureau there. But with changes and cut- backs to the corporation, Witherly made another leap. She went into business for herself, starting a title search company. She still owns and operates Rupert Title Search. Politics started at the com- munity level for Witherly. ‘'We worked very hard to get a transition house in Prince Rupert,”’ she recalls. ‘7 had small children at that time, so I did quite a bit of work with women doing tot programs, thal sort of Kent Glowinski about it, but it’s not my home riding. “Skeena is family for me. The entire riding I have so much family, It’s a piece of me.”’ Glowinski’s great grand- parents settled in Smithers in 1927 after coming to Canada from Norway. His ‘grandmother also lived in Stewart, bis mother was born and raised in Prince Rupert, and his father has worked at the local pulp Tory thing.’ The community work led to Witherly’s first public of- fice on Prince Rupert’s city council in 1984, Her entry to both federal politics and the Liberal Party came through a friend- ship with Iona Campagnolo, Liberal Member of Parlia- ment for Skeena between 1974 and 1979, That involvement wilh the Liberals was a big change for Witherly, whose youth in Alberta was dominated by the Progressive Conser- vatives federally, and the Social Credit Party provin- cially. She remembers as a girl watching Tory leader John Diefenbaker in action. Her local activist role returned earlier this year when the provincial govern- ment announced the closure of Prince Rupert’s land title office. That decision direct- ly affected her business and all others connected with land title work in the region. “When all was said and done, what they were really doing was exporting jobs mill for over 20 years. His parents also own a coffee shop in the port city and he has one brother in high school. “It’s so important to have a candidate who knows the region,’ says Glowinski. ‘Out of that comes an MP who can unite community leaders.” . What Glowinski envisions for the region is the creation ofa Skeena economic coun- cit to help end municipal protectionism and — work toward drawing tourists into the region. The ides, he says, is to make the north less dependent on natural resources, so its economy doesn’t fluctuate along with rising and falling timber or mineral markets, Glowinski also has a desire to bring his experi- ences from Montreal home to Skeena residents. He decided to pursue a de- gree back east where he could learn French, and un- derstand first hand how one of Canada’s two founding is full Rhoda Witherly © out of our community,” Witherly said. Afier petitions and a letter-writing campaign, the province agreed to a com- promise. A title registration centre remains open in Rupert, but all the records have been moved to Prince George. One title search business has already closed in the port city and she’s not sure about the future of hers. Asked if that experience leaves her wondering about the local effect of Liberal government cuts, Witherly says the Liberal cuts came with a plan to reduce the deficit, whereas the land title office closure seeming- ly saved no money at all. Married to a teacher for more than 25 years, Wither- ly has a 24-year-old son and 15-year-old daughter. She hobby is gardening. “Talk about a masochistic activity in Prince Rupert,”’ she laughs. Asked who her heroes have been in lile, Witherly says: ‘When I see people able to do what it is in their life that’s important to them, I'm always really quite amazed.’’ She cites the cxample of singer-performer Tina Turner. “‘When you think about her life and the kinds of stuff she’s gone through, and there she is still out there. What is she, in her mid 50s? You think, holy cow.” of ideas cultures sces itself in a na- tion dominated by the English language. “This is what I know about Canada. This is what I know about Quebec, I want to bring this back to people here and say look we have to be willing to build bridges between people, start filling in the gaps.’’ Glowinski first got in- volved in politics at age 13, when he helpzd to lobby for a tougher Young Offenders Act after seeing how people his age were abusing the legal system. - He also helped publish the Ruptured Duck — ati issues and political magazine — in Prince Rupert. The next step was as a voluntecr on Kim Camp- bell’s campaign team in Vancouver centre, as well as on the PC campaign in Skeena, That fact that Campbell was the first British Colum- bian and female prime min- ister was inspirational to Giowinski, Glowinski himself has fought hard to get where he is today, winning a high school scholarship to attend St. Michael’s University School in Victoria. “We've never had any- thing handed to us,’ he says. “I think not being handed something is good, having to fight for it. It’s like being from the North — it's harder to be heard. It builds character.’ He had a brief brush with the Reform Party, but couldn’t reconcile himself to its hard-line views on is- sucs like unity and treaty talks, As for his chances in the election, Glow|nski is confi- dent he'll make an impres- sion, “People don’t like watch- ing reruns, In the next elec- tion all three other candi- daies I’m running against are reruns. I’m the only new show out there and I prom- ise I’m going to go out there and offer people mew ideas.”