Ad - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, December 15, 1999 TERRACE. STANDARD ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988 PUBLISHER: ROD LINK ADDRESS: 3210 Clinton Street Terrace, B.C. * V8G 5R2 TELEPHONE: (250) 638-7283 « FAX: (250) 638-8432 EMAIL: standard@kermode.net Dan and Helmut PREMIER DAN Miller and Public Services Minister Helmut Giesbrecht should take leave of their high offices for a couple of days and pay at- tention to regional health care issues. As the elected representatives, and members of the government to boot, for Kitimat, Terrace and Prince Rupert, their presence is sorely needed. That’s because there is simply not enough in- formation out there. And what there is is contra- dictory, the result of which is to give people little comfort that the health care system is working the way it should, When Mr. Giesbrecht and Mr. Miller do take their leave, they would then gather the top health ministry officials in charge of northwest health care and key local officials in one room. They would then assemble the badly needed informa- tion that should be going out to the northwest. Once they have that information, Mr. Gies- brecht and Mr. Miller would then host public meetings in Kitimat, Terrace and in Prince Rupert to distribute it and explain what is going on. The idea is not to have some kind of large-scale government bashing session but to provide a for- um in which people can learn more about the ins and outs of health care. After all, they’re pay for it. If the system is in trouble, Mr. Miller and Mr. Giesbrecht should tell us. If it isn’t, then they should be able to tell us why. Mr. Giesbrecht has already begun this attempt at public explanation by asking that people with health care problems provide him with specific details so he.can have them checked out. That’s a-good start, And continuing that with _ more information is an equally good idea. The next step On the surface, the multiplex project appears to have been defeated. Although passed in Terrace, Thornhill and the rural area turned down the pros- pect of sharing with Terrace a maximum debt of $7.6 million. The split would have been roughly 70 per cent Terrace and 30 per cent for the rest. Multiplex supporters now say that since Ter- race voted ‘yes’ they can borrow the 70 per cent Terrace would have supported. They key is to first raise the amount that Thornhill and the rural area would have supported had they also voted ‘yes’, This is a tricky and expensive proposition, re- quiring $2 million and change. One idea might be to pursue community bonds, a suggestion which surfaced just prior to the referendum. This would not only raise some money but send an important signal to Thornhill and the ru- ral areas that those who want a multiplex aren’t. limiting themselves to a dependency on tax dol- lars. 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Publishad on Wednesday of each week al $210 Clinton Streat, Terrace, British Columbia, VaG 5A2, Stories, photographs, illustrations, dasigns end typesty‘es in tha Terrace Standard ara the proparty at the copyright holders, Including Caritoo Prass (1969) Ltd., its illustration tepro services and advertising’ agencies. Reproduction in wht'e of in part, without writen permission, Is spacifically prohibited. Authorzed as second-class mail panding the Post Office Department, for payment of postage In cash. Special thanks to all our contributors and corraspondents for their time and talents NDELA CANDO Tey, » ‘ WCIEN BOUCHARD CAN DO IT BETTER... VICTORIA - “Il's just been fantastic,” said Bill Vander Zalm. “It's just been wonder- ful. It's been a _ great campaign.” You've got to hand it to the guy. He's got style, consider- ing his comments came in the wake of the crushing défeat he had just suffered at the hands of his Liberal opponent, politi- cal neophyte Val Roddic. The byelection was the cro- cial test for Vander Zalm. A victory or even 4@ narrow de- feat would have given him the political credibility he needed to lead the B.C. Reform Party inte the next election. It was not to be. Instead, the Liberal candidate trounced Vander Zalm by a two-to- one margin, solidifying Liberal Ieader Gordon Campbell's tight grip on the political right while the candidate for the’ governing NDP came in dead- lust, behind the Green Party. ‘So, barring a miracle, this then- is the end of Vander Zalm's colourful and turbulent political career. Pity, in a “way, but as Bogey said, we'll always have Paris. Let's face it, we'll never have a guy like the Zalm for premier again, My memories of Vander Zalm are nothing short of precious. Like the time he told me during the 1886 election campaign that he wasn't about to add sub- -FROM THE CAPITAL: _ HUBERT BEYER stance to his campaign when style was working so well. One of my favourite Zalm episodes occurred shortly after he won the 1986 election. He is a devout Catholic who wore his religious convictions ‘on both sleeves. prayer room in the legislative buildings where those Mem- bers of the Legislature who wished to do so could begin the day in quiet prayer. Needless to say reporters and cameramen were on hand the first day to watch a hand- ful of MLAs enter the prayer room. We waited around fora while, but nothing happened. The second day, some of us had a hunch that not all might be peaceful in the prayer foom. And sure enough, all - One. of his first decisions as..::. (he new premier was:to open “a * hell broke loose. A couple of Satan worshippers had shown up, demanding cqual prayer opportunity. Soon after, the prayer. room was shut down, . never to open again. Sex education in schools? A red cloth to the Zalm, just another way of saying, “] want to have sex but [ don't want to die.” Then there was the Social Credit Party convention. at which, unaware that reporters were in the room, he tried to tell a joke, leading into it by asking the audience if they'd heard the one about the Jew. Mind you, he had been a master at making headlines during party’ conventions for years. oe On one occasion; he vented his dislike of Quebec by sing- ing a song about frogs. And in “commemoration, of ‘a remark © he once made to the effect that welfare recipients. should be issued shovels to carn their keep, he used to hand out sil- ver miniature shovels to dele- gates. As a brand-new premier, he told reporters that the job was “a piece of cake.” A while later, he reconfirmed it: “I can't believe how easy it is. It comes naturally to me.” Well, as time went on, it got a little harder. Plagued by scandals, he blamed the media, not an original idea. FONd memories of Vander Zalm But he never understood what all the. fuss was about. Why couldn't he use his influence as premier to sell his Fantasy Garden theme park? Why- shouldn't he have asked. the liéutenant-governor to entertain — a prospective, purchaser a Goy- ernment House? What was wrong with hin as premier trying to.ram his personal beliefs down the throats of all British Colum- bians by refusing to use health care dollars for abortions, even though the law said he must? I told him that , [ too, was opposed to abortion, but that it couldn't force my moral beliefs on. others, he looked bewil-. dered. “Why not?” he asked. | And when he was being for- « ced to resign, he said the judi- ‘ cial system in British Colum- bia reminds him a lot of Nazi | Germany, not the swiftest of | remarks. et et But when all is said and, ‘done, I'ma little: sad to see him ‘leave the political arena . for good. I wouldn't have minded having him back-in the : legislature. And I don't mean ' that sarcastically with a view towards good column material: * { genuinely liked the guy. But hey, Bill, we'll always | have Paris. ; Beyer can be reached at: E- mail — hubert@coolcom.com .- Tel — (250) 381-6900 Web: | hitp://Awww.hubertbeyer.com = + Time to get tough on crime. WHENEVER A_ court hands down a deterrent sen- tence, I cheer. I cheered Nov. 25 when BC Supreme court Justice Glen Parrett sentenced a young Prince George wom- an to {3 years prison for sex- ually assaulting children and videotaping the assaults for pomography. The judge did so despite Crown and defence attorneys jointly asking for a two-year prison term. Judge Parrett called the lawyers’ request “irresponsible” in view of the damage done to the children. He placed victims’ interests uppermost, He also con- veyed society's revulsion to- ward such crimes against our children. But how many Canadian judges care more about the victims than the criminals? Judging by their panty waist penalties, damn few. Most of their sentences repeat those THIS EARTH! THINK Die WELL! 250 YEARS ON J CASH A) SOON! 1M y THROUGH BIFOCALS CLAUDETTE SANDECKI handed down in similar cases even decades ago. Prece- dence, they call it. With this week’s introduc-_ tion of the (wo-block drug- free: zone around Caledonia - high school | hoped to cheer’. oftener. Thanks to’ a 1997 law, anyone caught within the zone can have his sentence doubled. -for- possessing drugs, tripled for trafficking. At last. We're stepping up EXHAUSTED! WHAT FROM © ALL YOU DO | 'S STAND THERE! I «cr ARE You Nuts °! TE RalseD A ZILLION SONG BIRDS AND SQUIRRELS ! SHELTERED RABBITS, MICE AND VOLES ! PRODUCED OXYGEN FILTERED AIR | BECAME ACARGON SiWK, RESEEDED BURNS , FOUGHT EROSION , SUPPORTED TENT POLES PRoviDED KINDUNG AND BEDDING BOUGHS TAND A@OvE ALL GRACED THE LANDSCAPE!) -< protection of our children from those who would addict them, I thought. Then I read that judges won’l necessarily increase sentences. To do so could punish first time offenders as severely as repeat offenders. That wouldn't be fair, a judge says. ce Heaven forbid we should be unfair to a criminal bent on addicting our kids. We might turn a beginner trafficker off crime! a Picture the resultant. unem- ployed - policemen, correc- tions staff, court workers,... Even afew: judges ‘might have more time for fishing, ‘Why shouldn't a- first. of- fence draw a maximum pen- alty. Criminals have ‘been warned, Do we. or don't we want to discourage drug use ~ and. sales. Do we or don’t we -want-to protect-our children. - and.our. community from drugs and: their attendant crime and heartache. If your three-year-old ran into the street, would’ you snatch him back and murmur, “Na, no sweetie.” Not likely, Panic would cause you to whack his britches until they smoked. In'seconds your tod- dler would learn that even if a ‘Hyundai doesn’t hit him, Mom will. In our courts, though, max- imum penalties are rarely im-: posed, even on career crimi-: nals. Instead judges pretend. they’re marking ‘a figure skat-' ing competition. They reserve! leeway at the high end of the’ score at the high end of the’- score for worthier crooks to come along, | ee Consequently we can rally, write our MPs, vote for Re-, - form party MPs such as, Chuck. Cadman who’ want tougher criminal sentencing laws and lug petitions to Otta-: . wa, Judges continue to bottle-: neck justice reforms. P THOSE ALSO SERVE. > WHO ONLY STAND. bara aon :