SR EME ener RES Fi ’ A6 Terrace Review — Wednesday, May 8, 1991 professional help ing table. The table, which sometimes seems ‘more like a podium from which to launch © - intemperate screeds and posturing invective, has obvious- ly become too burdened with confusion for either side to deal with. The mediator sensibly walked away from the situation, knowing a hopeless situation when he saw one. The fact is that both the board and the ‘teachers have . proven themselves, over a number of years, incapable of — effectively conducting negotiations of this kind. The complexity of the issues, the personalities involved and the acrimony embedded in local history would daunt a — professional negotiator of the highest stature. The extreme social disruption that results from the failure of these efforts is proof that they shouldn’t be left in the hands of people who are neither qualified nor objective. If ever there was a case for binding arbitration, this has to be it. | - They never fail © to surpise us e city government in Terrace is astounding in the } way it ranges between wisdom and folly. The budget table Monday night is a sensible docu- - ment that shows sound financial management and a good sense of civic government responsibility. The manner in which council dealt with the Art Gallery issue, channeling the money and the responsibility through the Terrace and District Arts Council, was particularly well- reasoned. But then there are the washrooms in Little Park... $54,000? Have they no confidence that such structures could be attached to the library expansion? And the tree- cutting fiasco by Heritage Park... Are these decisions really made by the same group of people? ' . ediation was certainly the right idea for the oe M current situation at the trusteé-teacher negotiat- Second-class mail registration No. 6896. All material appearing in the Terrace Review Is protected under Canadian copyright Registra- tlon No. 362775 and cannot legally be repro- Established May 1, 1985 The Terrace Review is published each Wednesday by Close-Up Business Services Ltd. Publisher: duced for any reason without permission of the publisher. Betty Barton Errors and omissions. Advertising is accepted Editor: on the condition that in the event of Michael Kelly typographical error, that portion of the advertis- ing space occupied by the erroneous Hem wilt not ba charged for, but the balance of the adver- {isement will be pald for at the applicable rate. Advertisers. musi aasume responsibility for er- rors in any classified ad which is supplied to the Staff Reporters: Tod Strachan, Betty Barton National Advertising: Terrace Review in handwritten form. Marjorie Twyford in compllance with the B.C. Human Rights Act, Local Advertising: no advertisement will be published which Jack Beck discriminates against a person due to age, Trace, « ; raligion, cotar, sax, natlonallty, ancestry or place Office/Typesetting: of origin. Carrie Olson Production Manager: Jim Hall ' ee Production: Charles Costello, Gurbax Gill, Ranjit Nizar, George McLean 4535 Grelg Avenue, Terrace, B.C. V8G 1M7 Phone: 635-7840 Fax: 635-7269 Accounting” KD in —a sae Mar] Twyford, Harminder K. Dosanjn . ne year subscriptions: - Art and Graphics: outa $20.00 Marianne Brorup Weston Mark Twyford, President Close Up Business Services Lid. Senlors in Terrace and District $30.00 Santors out of Terrace and Disirict $33.00 GST will ba added to the above prices. eel Letters to the editor will be considered for publication only when signed. Please include your tel number. The editor reserves tha right to condense and edit letters. Opintons expressed are not necessarily those of the Terrace Review. dcr aE -THOPE YOU ARENT PAYING ATTENTION TO ALLEGATIONS AS To HOW QUE GOVERNITENT 1S TREATING =a THE PALESTINIANS... EDITORIAL - This situation needs COURSE NOT...\WEBE DOING THE SAME THING TO OUR, TAXPAYERS. “iy, 4 The view from Victoria — by John Plter VICTORIA — On Tuesday, the war resumed between the princi- pal political combatants on the floor of the B.C. Legislature. But the historic, turbulent changes within the Social Credit government in the six-and-a-half weeks since the brief mid-March session ended, suggest this will — be rather a different battle. Consider these changes: 1. The disgraced former premier Bill Vander Zalm will! be gone from the front bench, but appar- ently not from the spotlight. As predicted, he seems deter- mined to continue to whine about his "innocence", even while official investigations continue into his conduct. And even In the wake of written and recorded — information which supports the belief that he abused the office of Premier. ; His continued presence will bolster the Opposition’s chances — currently all but a certainty — to win the general election later this year. 2. Vander Zalm’s successor and former close friend and colleague Rita Johnston will be carefuily watched by her colleagues, her party, and her potential campaign contributors. They wili want to see how she handles herself as Premier during the session. And don’t be surprised if the New Democrats give her an easy ride. Johnston is the Socred leader they would have the least prob- lem defeating. 3. Confusion and consternation in the House are likely to be the result of the sweeping Cabinet changes Mrs. Johnston brought in last month. By shuffling a number of the ministers, amalgamating several ministries, and moving half a dozen deputy ministers, when it comes to reviewing the perform- ance of cach department of gov- ernment (the estimates), the So- creds can hide behind the fact that the new players cannot have had time to prepare for Opposi- tion questions on various issues. But the government must be careful in an election year that this does not backfire, leading to charges that it is a deliberate - attempt to duck, bob and weave and ignore the issues. The hostilities have com- menced! Was it not most ironic that on the very day that news broke of a campaign to convince Finance Minister Mel Couvelier to run for the Socred leadership because of his integrity and experience, he came under fire over a question of integrity? I do not believe that Couvelier did anything particularly unusual or even inappropriate by passing on a memo to the premier’s office which referred to an RCMP investigation of an indi- vidual realtor. Even though the realtor was Faye Leung, who handled the sale of former premier Bill Van- der Zalm’s ill-fated Fantasy Garden World, it should come as no surprise that ministers and deputies exchange confidential info. : No, where the brief flurry proved to be the most damaging to Mr. Couvelier, was in terms of how poorly he handled himself in the teeth of a media scrum on the issue, Perhaps one explanation for the unseemly and uncharacteristic reaction by Mr. Couvelier is that being tarred with the Fantasy Gardens brush could be damaging to his efforts to raise the money needed to contest the leadership. At a private Vancouver dinner meeting in late April, the finance minister addressed a number of Howe Street high rollers, and after he had left the gathering, solicitations were made for funds on his behalf. My information is that the "Mel for Premier" pitches didn’t exact- ly light their fire; but I don’t doubt that he will keep trying. Mr. Couvelier is fond of saying he has "no money, no friends, and no charisma." He is dead right on number three, but partial- ly wrong on the first two. Parting Thought: There are repeated reports out of Vancouver that its mayor, Gordon Campbell is being wooed to take a run at the Socred title. Traditionally, Socreds believe that their grassroots leader should be represented from outside the Big City, but this time it might not matter, given that the NDP’s leader is a former Vancouver * mayor himself. Don’t be surprised to see Mr. Campbell take a run at it. ot ete aedaeeia apm OE came it neha wd ee ee