4 Terrace Review — Wednesday, November 4, 1987"

Editorial

—q See

~ Government

We won’t know until Novem-
ber 21 whether Municipal Af-
fairs Minister Rita Johnston’s
plan to create more interest in
local government is working or
not, but if the volume of can-
didates for office in this area is
any indication, it will take a lot
more than triennial elections to
galvanize this particular elec-
torate. — -

The return by acclamation of
‘Mayor Jack Talstra and regional -

district Area-E arid D directors
Les Watmough and Gordon
Robinson could be taken as a
sign of approval from.voters, in
that no one seems to have be-
come annoyed enough to chal-
lenge them at the ballot box. It
could also be taken as a sign that
those who have an interest -in
politics don’t have the financ-
ing, the time or the energy to
fight a campaign. ,

The misfortune of these low-
key elections is that issues which
should be subjected to public
scrutiny are often buried be-
cause no election platforms exist
to bring them to light.. There is

a a |
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Terrace Review.

a Le
_ Terrace —
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4535 Grelg Avenue,
Terrace, B.C.
V8G 1M7

Phone: 635-7840
ee)

no competition for votes, and

consequently no pre-election

Statements or positions for
which officials.can subsequently
be held accountable. =...

The acclaimed candidates in
this civic election may have done
a good job in their previous —
terms of office, but even Solo-
mon shouldn’t be given an elect-
ed position on the strength of
merely walking in and, filing -

C00) MORNING, |
SIRO HAI
NAVIREP YO... jf

nomination papers - and this

time it’s for three years.

ee

What we saw was not what we got

_ Anniversary time is here. On Oct. 22,
1986, Premier Vander Zalm swept the
Social Credit Party to an impressive victory
over the New Democrats. _

Time to take stock. Time to reflect on
the accomplishments and or failures of the
man who promised to usher in a new era of
co-Operation and prosperity. Time to

os 7 realities.
_ Ifthe measure of a leader is his ability to
Hubert Beyer _ wrest, control and perpetuate power, his

own power and the. power of those he
represents, then Vander Zalm stands tall.

When he inherited the Socred leadership at that memorable
Whistler Mountain resort convention three months before the elec-
tion, Vander Zalm took over a party that appeared doomed.

Three years of restraint, an ailing economy and high unemploy-
ment had placed his predecessor’s chances of political survival in
doubt. The public was disenchanted, Bill Bennett had to go.

_. Of the early contenders to the leadership, few if any had the stuff
it would take to win the next election. The strong ones were tarred
with the Bill Bennett brush, the rest never stood a chance to begin

_ with,

Into that vacuum stepped Bill Vander Zalm, a knight in shining
armor, his image unblemished by the political fallout that had set-
tled over British Columbia in the wake of restraint. If he could get

_ the leadership, he would have a good chance of winning: the next
election. As it turned out, he did both, leaving a beaten and
demoralized opposition NDP in the dust.

What gave Vander Zalm his landslide victory? It: certainly wasn’t
a detailed and well-articulated platform. His campaign was totally
devoid of substance. But there were promises, spoken and
unspoken, : .

Vander Zalm promised co-operation. A new way, he said, must
be found for unions and management to settle their differences. He

gave us Bills 19 and 20, But rather than heal old wounds, they open-

ed new ones. Rather than foster co-operation, they killed what little
was left of it. a
Vander Zalm promised increased prosperity, a vague but, never-

theless, powerful promise. Look at the unemployment figures and

find out what happened to that promise. Look at the recent welfare
cuts; look at the number of bankruptcies; look at the economy in
general and tell me he kept his promise of creating prosperity.

But more potent than the few articulated promises were the hints,
the mystique, the aura, with which Vander Zalm sold himself to the
public as somewhat of a latter-day messiah. His euphoric smile, his
upbeat mannerisms, his unwavering optimism, his naive, almost
child-like conviction that there is a simple answer for every pro-
blem, no matter how complex, were the secrets of his victory, He
may not have promised miracles, but that’s exactly what the public
expected.

A year has gone by, and no miracles have happened. For all the
difference it makes, Bill Bennett might as well still be premier.
Restraint is still with us because high unemployment and a weak
economy are still with us. Labor unrest is still with us because no

.Temember old promises and consider new

“‘new way’’ has been found to bring unions and management closer’

together. It’s business as usual in British Columbia. .

In another year, the judgment of Vander Zalm’s performance
may have to be harsher and more critical yet. His privatization plan
may wreak terrible havoc with our social and economic fabric, just
as the restraint program did. -

If ICBC goes on the auction block, how long do you think it will

be before the private sector bleeds us dry, as it does in other pro-

vinces, charging two and three times the insurance premiums we

‘now pay? And what effect, do you think, the diversion of that

money into the coffers of the insurance companies will have on the

economy?

How long before the private sector that is to buy the highways’ .
ministry’s. maintenance operation, including the huge fleet of
machines, trucks and cars, will ‘get around the union successorship |

regulations and pay the employees starvation wages?

_ How long before the big boys of the energy industry can hold us .

at ransom again because the B.C, Petroleum Corporation will have
been dismantled? And what of the municipal resource stabilization
grants that now flow from the profits of that corporation when it

does make a profit? -

When the last session of the legislature came to an end, the

seen nothing yet,’’ he said,

premier told the House that the best was yet to come. ‘You ain’t

I'm afraid he could well be right.

Commentary

Problem, potential
and opportunity —

by Frank Howard

The 100-percent Liberal sweep
in the recent New Brunswick
election brought Premier Frank
McKenna a problem and a po-
tential. The problem: no parlia-
mentary opposition. .

-The potential exists for

McKenna to transform parlia- .

mentary opposition and govern-
ment into political institutions

which function for people, and

not just for themselves.

Quite frankly our inherited
British Parliamentary system in-
hibits objective thought and ac-
tion within parliament. Govern-
ments are in dictatorial posi-
tions. The concept of Opposi-
tion is heavily weighted towards
oppasing government. Whether
in Government or Opposition,
political parties react the same
way when it comes to ideas from
the other side: ‘‘If it’s your idea
it’s no good.” .

Our Parliamentary system
needs an overhaul. It’s a horse
and buggy operation in a jet-
speed world. It’s the quill pen
stacked up against the compu-
ter. Its worst feature is that it
stifles imagination and smothers

freedom of expression amongst.

elected officials.

Premier McKenna can give

our system a revival and turn
politicians into born-again
democrats. Here’s how: _
McKenna should declare that
all legislation be voted upon

under the free-vote arrange-

ment. If a free vote can work for
capital punishment, it can work
for capital ideas. Voters in New
Brunswick eliminated a Parlia-
mentary Opposition. McKenna
can install it within the
Legislature by encouraging
freedom of Parliamentary votes,

Historically, it was thought
that a defeat of government-
sponsored legislation would
mean the defeat of government-
sponsored legislation would
mean the defeat of the govern-
ment and, consequently an elec-
tion, That is more myth than
truth. The truth is that a defeat
in Parliament will bring about

an election only if the govern-.

ment wants an election.

If McKenna goes the free-vote —

route on legislation he will at the
same: time need to declare that a
defeat of any government legis-

continued on page 19

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