Ad - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 1, 2000 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 _ A symbol THE ASCENT of Ujjal Dosanjh to the premier’s chair — the first Indo-Canadian to take the top elected job in any province — is something to cele- brate in B.C., and not just for Sikhs. Indeed, we’ve come a long way in our collec- tive treatment of minorities, Seventy five years ago our province barred entry to the Komagata Maru, a ship carrying hundreds of Sikhs from India, in a standoff that dragged on for weeks as conditions deteriorated. The new arrivals were all British subjects, and technically entitled to entry anywhere in the Com- monweath. No matter, they would eventually be forced out of Vancouver harbour at gunpoint by our navy while surly mobs ashore hurled abuse. We’ve also seen race riots in Chinatown and the internment of Canadian citizens of Japanese ancestry during the Second World War. Some enlightenment came 50 years ago when Sikhs and other minorities got the vote in B.C. Among their many accomplishments, Indo-Ca- nadians today can claim a high degree of political interest and participation. Folks who somehow think they’re hijacking the political process through mass membership signups have to wake up and smell the coffee. If rules have been broken or weren’t made clear enough, surely it’s up to the NDP and any other parties affected to fix it. If the rest of us simply haven’t become as ac- tive in political life, that’s no fault but our own. : Pa sq Py hee alii GT BAG, IT’S ‘THE big scandal of the new year, although it’s far from new. It should come as no surprise federal grants from Human Resources Development Canada have, besides providing much good, also served as a giant slush fund targetted to recipients and ri- dings that often tended to benefit the Liberals. Reformers have said so for years. The only difference is an audit has put the spot- light on the issue and provided lots of ammuni- tion that the government has had trouble ducking. Enter Mike Scott. . Skeena’s MP has long disagreed with the grants and says he has, on a point of principle, tried his best to have nothing to do with them. Instead of vetting grant requests — which he rightly says could lead to political control of grants by an area’s MP — Mr. Scott says he al- ways signs off as having no objections to the grant and sends them straight back to HRDC. What doesn’t make sense is that he’s never kept any of the paperwork sent to his office. One would think an Opposition MP would want to keep track of such stuff in his riding, par- ticularly if it’s as skunky as has been suspected. Seems there’s bungling on both sides here. ee 1998 WINNER CCNA BETTER NEWSPAPERS COMPETITION PUBLISHER/EDITOR: Rod Link ADVERTISING MANAGER: Brian Lindenbach PRODUCTION MANAGER: Edouard Credgeur NEWS Jeff Nagel » NEWS/SPORTS: Christiana Wiens NEWS/COMMUNITY: Alex Hamilton FRONT OFFICE: Darlene Keeping CIRCULATION SUPERVISOR: Carole Kirkaldy ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS: Sam Bedford, Mark Beaupre & Stacy Swetlikoff TELEMARKETER: Stacy Swetlikoff DARKROOM/COMPOSING: Susan Credgeur AD ASSISTANT: Donna Sullivan, Kulwant Kandola SUBSCRIPTION RATES BY MAIL: $57.30 per year; Seniors $50.75; Out of Province $64.39 Outside of Canada (6 months) $158.25 (ALL PRICES INCLUDE GST) MEMBER OF B.C. AND YUKON COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION. oo CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION ¢ . AND hen PRESS COUNCIL agtectitian Wit CrH ath 40d Bales Serving the Tarrace and Thorhill area. Published on Wadnasday of sack week al $210 Clinton Slraet, Tarrace, British Columbia, VaG SRz, Stories, photographs, illustrations, designs and typestyles in the Terraca Standard are the property of the copyright holders, Including Cariboo Prass (1969) Ltd., Ils lWustration repro services and advertising agencis, . Reproduction In whole of in par, without written parmission, ls specifically prohibited, Authorized as second-class mail panding the Post Office Daparmant, for payment of postaga in cash. Special thanks to all our contributors and correspondents “20S for their time and talents” / GETMESOME TS... f_- AND A ROBD MAP. “THIS IS convention-assisted ’ suicide,” said Marcus Davies, a Corky Evans campaign worker. “Pm going back to Saskat- chewan tomorrow, but you've got to live with this guy,” he said of Ujjal Dosanjh, who won the NDP leadership on the first ballot. Marcus used to work as a communications type for the NDP here in B.C. but left a couple of years ago to work for Roy Romanow’s government in Saskatchewan, He took a leave of absence lo work on Evans’ campaign, Marcus is a friend of Evans’ and his remarks would normal- ly have to be taken in that context. Alas, his feelings were echoed by scores of other Evans supporters I talked to. Every leadership contest causes divisions. Volunteers put their hearts —into...the.. campaign,-..some. .. working 20 hours a day to put their candidate over the top. Then comes the letdown and the inevitable tears when their candidate loses. That's when the contest was fair. This one created at last the appearance of consid- erable unfairness. First there was the phoney membership issue. Farmer vows par DAWSON CREEK activist Nick Parsons expects to wheel his Massey Ferguson harvester into Ottawa by mid-March, He’ll be there to tivet the federal govern- ment’s attention on the plight of Canadian farmers. Parsons vows he wan't leave Ottawa until he gets an audience with Jean Chretien. “The combine stays parked, even if [ have to chain myself to it for a month,” Parsons says. Let’s hope Parsons doesn’t choose to park his 14 foot wide Prairie Belle in the driveway of 24 Sussex Drive. Can’t you picture the breakfast scene when Mrs. Chretien discovers the 19- year-old Model 860 blocking her view of the blue spruce. She'll pull aside the lace cur- -tain for a clearer view, ‘Jean, Come. look at this.” The prime minister closes the National Post on his index finger and moves to These wounds wi ‘FROM THE CAPITAL | HUBERT BEYER A zealous Dosanjh cam- paign team waded into the Indo-Canadian community, signing up new members en masse, who would then stack delegate selection meetings and send pro-Dosanjh dele- gates to the convention. Many of these new mem- bers had their fees paid for by third parties, . And,.when --the ~ Liberals: -- compared: a leaked NDP membership list to their own, they found more than 3,000 duplicate members who were quickly informed of their ex- pulsion from the Liberal Party and had their membership fees refunded. One party insider, who asked not to be identified, told me that when the NDP THROUGH ‘BIFOCALS: CLAUDETTE SANDECKI peck over her shoulder. “Look at what, Aline?” “What is that red minister sitting in our driveway?” “It’s flying four flags — the B.C, flag, Manitoba’s, Sas- katchewan’s and the red maple leaf. It’s definitely not from Quebec.” "Is that the Dawson Creek farmer who asked to meet with you? You refused?” “Well, you know, [’m busy. This morning I’m tap- DEAR PROFESSOR |“ WHENEvER T AM SK00 H TORN BETWEEN TWO ‘ Kum EVILS, I CHOOSE -.. “Do huskies have aconscience ? checked the credentials of de- legates, they found that some had their convention expenses paid by cheques written by third parties. Some of those cheques, he said, weren’t signed, implying that they wouldn't clear if Do- sanjh lost the leadership bid. I don’t know how these she- nanigans stack up against the scandals that has cost the NDP so dearly over the past few years, I don’t even know whe- ther or not they qualify for the term scandal. But I do know that they have left a lot of old-time NDP supporters very bitter, And ] cannot imagine that they will let the matter rest. They will not challenge the legality. of or his moral claim to victory, but they will be hard to convince to give their all to the renewal of the party at a time when it faces the possibility of annihilation. --/Ewo things got mixed-up in-- this leadership race. One was the election of the best candidate for the job. The other the historic opportunity of electing the first Indo-Cana- dian premier. Both are worth- while endeavors, The future will tell whether Dosanjh is the best man for the job, but the second ingre- dient of his victory, the elec- ence in ing a scene with This Hour Has 22 Minutes . After lunch, I play golf.” Chretien retums to reading his newspaper. “What’s on your agenda today?” ; “Pm reviewing landscap- ing plans with Francois. He wants to plant some new flo- wer beds. He. mentioned more ground cover in a few areas but I doubt a combine was what he had in mind.” She shook her head doubt- fully. “He'll be some upset when he finds that combine interfering with his sight lines.” “Have Francois barricade it with tubs of six foot del- pheniums. They should help to blend it in with the alys- sum border.” “Purple delpheniums, red combine? Bien. That would camouflage the wheels. Above that, maybe we can hang baskets of trailing ivy on every railing and mask the NN | be hard to heal tion of the first Indo-Canadian to serve as premier, has unfor- tunately been marred by ques- tionable campaign tactics. Indo-Canadians are celebra- ting the event, as they should, but in a horrid way, Dosanjh's victory may do to the Indo-Ca- nadian community more harm than good, because the ill feel- ings over the way it was achieved will fester. The NDP has traditionally been a party in which policy flows up from the membership to the elected MLAs, whether in government or opposition. That process has become flawed in recent years, but it received a real blow in this leadership race. When a large contingent of the delegates who elect a new leader consists of recent mem- bers, who have not had any ex- posure to the party’s grass roots, and whose only motiva- tion is to elect the first Indo- Ganadian premier, the. bedrock on which-a party is: built be-; comes quicksand: The election of a party lea- der should not be based on the members’ overt commitment to multi-culturalism. Oo When I suggested to a dis- appointed Evans supporter that theyll be back electing a new leader two years from now, he said, “less than that.” Ottawa grain hopper with trellises Overgrown by scarlet runner beans,” She squinted. “Someone's sitting in the cab. He looks to be writing.” “Parsons keeps a diary of his trips.” “Trips? You mean this isn’t his first combine caper?” Chretien shook his head absently, “Non. Two years ago he travelled from Dawson Creek to Victoria, 1200 miles. He takes his combine on the road every January.” “Why?” Chretien shrugged. “Car speeds make him neryous.” “It wouldn’t be because politicians refuse to fund far- mers the way they do big bu- siness?” “What are you saying, Aline?" “YT think I'll ask Francois to use perennials for the trellises, and tell Cook to set another place at our table, Parsons may be here a while.” Cy The one I NEVER - TRIED BEFORE!