Page A Ad'— Tefrace Standard, Wednesday, JUNE 5, 1991 ”

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— Iastration repro sacvices, afd advertising agencies.
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= TERRACE “STANDARD

ESTABLISHED APA a7, 1988

- Roglataton No. 7820 4647 Lazella Ave., Terrace, B.C., V8G 188 (604) 698-7283

Sorving the Terrace area. Published on Wednesday of each week dy Cauboo Press (1989) Lud, a 4647 Lazelie Ave., Terrace, British Columbia,
. Stones, photographs, ilustratons, dasigns and typestyles in the Tetace Standard ara tha property of the caper hoklers, inciuding Cariboo Prass {08) Lid, ita I

is d.
 Aythorized as soon élass mail pending the Fost Okice Department, for payrat of postage in cash.

Gu |

Rod Link

Production Manager: | 0S
‘Edouard Credgeur }

Sam Collier —

Jel Nagel =
alts .— ~ Typesetter, Aose. Fisher, —
| Andersdn = Typesetler, Susan Credgeur = - Compasing/Darkr :
ry Rodin “Advertising Manager, Janet Viveiros — “Advartising Consultant: i
Advertsing C Consuttant, Terry Miller ~ Careylaion Supervisor,

Sports, Wall Baxter ~ ‘News
- Front, Gilice’ Mi

“Special, thanis to'al

que Contributors. an:

_” porrespondents. tor:
their tine and’: pea

au Went TEN

~ EDITORIAL

To its credit, city council is acting on a
solid precedent in its decisions not to
permit rezoning for apartment buildings.
As a matter of fact, it’s gone right back

to Bethlehem. There is no room at the

inn.

And just as the situation jis with any
government body, council — at least the
_block of three aldermen who have voted
_against the two most recent rezoning ap-

plications — is working at cross pur-

poses.

On the one hand it’s spending lots of
_.money to promote the city. But on the
_other it’s telling investors and people not '
‘to bother with the hype unless they’re
prepared to bunk down in the nearest

manger.

Council may have had good reasons to
turn down the rezoning applications.
And those reasons may have something
to do with the opposition by those peo-
ple living where those apartments would
have ‘gone. Yet council has failed in

In these days of a massive public debt,
cartoon-like' ‘political leadership, an
uncertain future and a confused national
identity it’s difficult. to. find those things
| which ach as.asignpost for this country.
‘Thatts “why”

‘ remember tommatrow, J une 6. It’s the an-
niversary date of D-Day, the invasion of
Europe — the day the Allies opened up a
new front against Germany during the

- Second World War.

The success of that day added to the
_ pressures against Germany. Already
‘fighting’ the the Soviet Union on the
_ground to the east and with an Allied
‘push from the south in Italy, Germany
was forced to divide its forces even
more. Less than a year later, the war was

- important to

outlining those reasons. oN

Another reason seems to: be the revi-
sions to the city’s official community
plan now underway. That ‘plan will
outline where and what type of develop-
ment will go in the city. Some council

members are loath to do anything in.ad-
vance of having a plan upon which to

act a

People who are elected to office are
expected to make decisions. It’s part of ©
being a government and part of Pro-
viding leadership.

Yet there is another aspect of leader=
ship. It's providing some sort of vision.
In this situation that could have been
giving potential apartment developers a
list of alternate sites.

Certainly council must have a rough

itiative.

over.

beaches.

idea of where it thinks apartment

buildings should go despite not having a -
finished community plan. And certainly
the citizens of this city should expect to
have a council that shows a bit of i

igo oF cE,

vacton — Let history
record that 1991 was ihe year

“we forced our politicians to lift

the yeil of government secrecy

Canada played an. important ‘role i in

D-Day. Canadian soldiers parachuted i in

- with others in advance of the invasion,

‘its’ navy: ‘and airforce provided support
and ‘its troops and: tanks landed on the -

‘War was and is not popular nor
desirable, despite those lovely TV images
that came out of the Gulf this year. Yet it

is a sign of nationhood, a certain draw-

It’s

took part.

ing together for a common purpose. -
D-Day represented that for Canada.
something that
remembered on behalf of those who
It’s also something to
remember as the country struggles to
survive the problems it now faces.

should be

‘Pm far from being a model

- member of the public library.
’ Returning books before they’re
- overdue is a perpetual problem
- for me, especially since there's

“no longer a pocket card for
_ quickly checking the due date.

Over the years I've received

‘my share of reminder nolices.
: |'ve found a yoga book three

Rootes

months overdue, standing
behind a dresser, I’ve reclaimed
a 33 vinyl record upright .bet-

" ween’ the record player and the

wall,

30 late CD’s had taken

: their place.

on er Ee py Oe es ee

re ar et re ee oe

But at least I’ve never added
library property to my family
library. I’m ‘inclined to believe
some members do... a

If. you’ve ‘ever’, staked out ‘a
library shelf waiting for 4 cer-
tain book,-you'll know what I
mean. Month. after month: the
book is-never. in, This leads. me
lo suppose someone is ignoring
the librarians pleas to return it.

It could: be the same person'is®
spiriting’ away ° specific
magazines ‘the minute a’current
issue is placed-on the shelf. For.
instance, ‘the’ March © 1990
Writer's Di as. been miss
ing forever ;

‘That issue. of. the ‘writers’:

how-to magazine gontains two”

general interest. “articles _
Breaking into : Print ‘Through

Newspaper.’ is’ Columns,
“Thi fOF Writers:

le gigi Rese

Overdue comment

Through
Bifocals
by Claudette Sandeck

want to scream. ‘Photocopies
are 20 cents a page, for gosh
sakes. If you can’t live without
an article, phatocopy it. Don’t
walk out with the magazine.”
Books with hairs. pinched in
their hnges, cookie crumbs
pressed between their pages,
and corners bent down by
forgetful readers wha would
otherwise have to begin again
from page one, like Sesame
Street’s Ernie counting when
Bert interrupts him — none of
these desecrations trouble me. 1

regard them as a cost of doing ;

business, like soap) rings in a
bathtub,

Neither am | steamed by “i
tellectuals’? who underline
noteworthy passages, star key
wards, or jot cryptic notations
in margins. Vandalism comes in

‘many forms, from the timid: to
the: bold: ‘

- [ean even overlook : books

“that. open by themselves to -

pages: ‘grubby with fingerprints

asa mechanic! s work orders at-
testing to.countless te-readings.

1 don't have to read. a review
“of the: book. 1 one have ‘to

iT

ed deeds described in detail. Not
my kind of reading.

Browsers who remove a 149
book and set it back on the 179
shelf annoy me. | pluck the lost
book from its hiding place and
leave it to await re-filing by so-
meone who can see clearly. And

those who cut pages from

books, as someone did a
photograph from a .Marilyn
Munroe biography, deserve to
be barred from the library for ©
three years. But thieves top my
list of complaints.

Librarians are happlest when
books are being’. worn out .
through use. So am i. Pd just

“dike an equal opportunity’ .to.

contribute my share of wear,

were ARE youl
Gointe NOW 7?

in British Columbia,
When the call to the polls ,
comes, we should all make it
clear that candidates. who dg 4
‘nat, commit. themselves. (0 init

freedom-0 -information Ipisle-

_ tion are destined for the

political scrap heap.

The right of access to
government.information is
-guch a basic tenet of
democracy that its suppression
by our political representatives
ought to have provoked a
public outcry long ago. But
better late than never,

The time has never been bet-
ter to push for freedom’ of in-

_ formation laws in British Col-
uumbia. The political turmoil of
the past four and a half years
' has taught us that governments
should not be the sole trustees
of information.

A well-informed public is
essential to the democratic pro-
cess. To keep information
from the public is to mistrust,
the public.

The temptation to keep as
much information from the
public as they possibly can is
inherent in every government.
The more information the
~ public has on which to base its
thinking, the less a govern-
ment’s chances are to hoad-
wink the people.

Although there were many
contributing factors, it was the
jnability to keep information
from the public that eventually
swept aside the corrupt and
backrupt governments of
eastern Europe.

And even though democratic
- governments are guilty to a.
lesser degree af trying.to block
public access ‘to information,
they do so, neverthless.

- Ina recent piece in the Van-
‘couver.Sun, Murray Rankin,
professor. of Jaw at the Univer-
sity of Victoria and a founding

member of the B.C. Freedom

in Information and Privacy
wy CAN'T “You:

Just STATON THE
TRAIL AND READ,

ooT

Just CHECENG
AN oP

THE INTERPRETIVE
SIGNS JUST LIKE
_ENERYEODY ELSE?

eil of secrecy
being removed _

_ hold elected officials. accoun-"
‘ table, unless they have a ris

From the
Capital
by Hubert Beyer,

baad

i at eres ree

sine

Association, listed 12 examples
of the B.C, gavernment having
refused to make public certain
information over the last four
years.

+The list included government .

services minister Carol Gran

refusing to release the flight

logs for government aircraft, .
the initial refusal of the en-
vironment ministry to disclose
the location of unsafe starage
sites for PCBs, the govern-
ment’s refusal ta disclose
details of the sale of the Expo
lands, and the environment
ministry’s-refusal to disclose
how many wolves, were killed
during a wolf-kill program.

The items listed above may
be importatnt to same and not
so important to athers The,

. point is though that someone

asked for the information and
the government refused to
make it available, And that’s
simply not acceptable,

‘Rankin says there are three
components lo any worthwhile
freedom of information law:
* A clear statement of the
public's right of access to in-
formation in Government files.
¢ A clear statement that the »
necessary exceptions should be
limited and specific.

* A clear statement that
decisions on disclosure should
be made independently of

_ government.

“A statutory right. ta ‘acquire
access to records generated at

. public expense is. vital if. :

citizens.are’ ‘to participate more

effectively in decisions affec-

ting their lives,"”: -Rankin says.
a The government is simply

: too big and too-complex for

citizens to know enough to

HONESTLY! SINCE YOUR (-

You ACT AS IF THE .
WhOLe. WIlPER NESS,
48! YOUR BACK YARD.! iu

_ the information, -and the infor

SAID SOMETHING PRO!

to acquire information,” he.

adds.- ;

The Freedom of Information
and Privacy Association says
in one of its publications that

‘ a state which is truly”

democratic will ensure that its
people have maximum access

to and a control over‘ vital in-
formation gathered by the

“gavernment on behalf of its

citizens.

‘When governnicnts have’
sweeping powers to.grant or.
deny. access to the vital infot-
mation it gathers, we have at
best a benevolent dictatorship
of.information.”” +

Another major force. in 1 the .
push for freedom’‘of infornia-.
tion Jaws has been John ~~

Westwaod, executive director’ :

of the B.C. Civil Liberties” ’ 4
Association. Westwood warts

‘that even ina democracy the’!

unchecked gathering of infor-

_mation by the state can hold”

great dangers,

“First, the state may’ colleet
~ information which it has 1 na.

business possessing, . and this”
information can’ be used ,

"against us. Second, the state,
- may use information collected.
. for a legitimate, purpose ina.

way totally unforeseen, by. us.
when we originally supplied *:

mation can come back. to: ¢

_ haunt us,”' Westwood says;-+

‘There is one: way ‘to: make: =
sure that this won't happen. _

put an end to goverriment..._ .
secrecy once and forall: Con: : _

flict of interest‘and ‘ethics’ j in-
government will, no doubt}:

- play’a large part, in. the: next’ ae
-- election campaign, Let's ‘add
: “freedom of information’ ‘to the
list of things’ we dénig d fem
y our politicians, oe.

IONE ITM NO ‘sue!
VISIT Ta FT DOGGEREL|" ae Mi jf

£ THINK You's So