A4- The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 25, 1998
ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988
ADDRESS: 3210 Clinton Street Terrace, B.C. * V8G 5R2
TELEPHONE: (250) 638-7283 * FAX: (250) 638-8432

TERRACE |
PUBLISHER: ROD LINK
EMAIL: standard@kermode.net

Strange stuff

SOMEBODY LANDING from Mars would
have to be forgiven for thinking the Coast
Mountain School District is a life form deserving
of intense study.

In just the past several weeks these issues have
popped up:

a Trustees want to set up drug pusher-free bub-
ble zones around local schools.

a Administrators clamped down on Skeena Jun-
ior Secondary School students who wanted to
circulate a petition on school property asking
that there be condom machines in the
washrooms.

a Everybody seems to be in favour of serding in
police sniffing dogs to snuffle out drug users and -
pushers.

a When there is a chance to save a fairly healthy
salary owing to a high level administrative retire- :
ment, the board with nary a peek at its skinny
taxpayer-financed wallet, dives right in to ap-
point a replacement.

The impression left upon the visitors from Mars -
is that there’s rampant drug use inside and out-
side of the district’s schools, democracy may be
taught as part of a course but not allowed in
practice and that the district is flush with cash
despite reports of a daunting deficit.

Of course, the above is an overstatement
brought on by the normal pulls and tugs any or-
ganization endures to do the job at hand.

But when these issues and others are lumped to-
gether, an observer — even one from Mars —
gets the feeling that all is not right at the school
district headquarters.

Perhaps it’s the outcome of having two school
districts jammed together, leading to an overall
lack of a common direction. Or perhaps there
remains a problem with parents and others reach-
ing through to be heard by board members and’
administrators. Whatever the reason, normal life ©
at the schoo] district might not be considered that
way by those people from Mars.

apel

Meal deal

HATS OFF to the new airport authority board. It
faces a challenging job in negotiating control
over the federal facility.

While the feds are eager to rid themselves of
worrying about the airport, they won’t be so
eager to pony up some cash and that’s what will
make the negotiations tricky.

The new authority just might be put in the posi-
tion of casting around for other revenue sources
and that-could mean a particularly unwelcome
phrase — user fees. Which is just another namé
for a tax if you are just a lowly civilian doing
daily battle with the unseen forces of a
_ bureaucracy. .

To get on the good side of the citizenry the new
authority can pick on a winner of an issue —
tackle the airlines to provide better food. A no
nonsense approach here will pay dividends down
the road or should we say up in the air.

ne
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*
Pod Calaebie er Feaw

VICTORIA — When Premier
Glen Clark and his merry band
of Social Democrats face the
legislature soon, they will be a
party bereft of a meaningful
constituency.

Whoever voted for the NDP
in the last election — special
interest groups, swing voters,
public servants scared for their
jobs and plain folks who
thought, ‘‘ah, what the heck,
give them another chance,”
will by now feel somewhat
betrayed by the party that
promised balanced budgets and
jobs, and delivered neither.

The business community,
from he small mom-and-pop
operators to the high-rolling
Jimmy Pattisons, never did and
never will support the NDP,

. Which leaves the

we Supporters ....... Who,
dwindled to a minimum, will
not be able to carve out anoth-
er tenn for Clark.

Nor can the NDP count
anymore on its traditionally
biggest ally: the fractured
Tight-wing vote. The Reform
Parly of B:C. has no members
left in the legislature, and the
party itself is deader than a
door nail, pompous pronounce-
ments by its leader, Wilf
. Hanni, notwithstanding.

Much of the problem the
NDP is facing can be laid at
the doorstep of the leader,

SINCE SEPTEMBER I've
endured without complaint
CEC Radio’s replacement for
“‘Momingside.”

But I] often substitute cassette
music, AS soon as another
episode of PM or some other
wilkess drama or reading is an-
nounced, | switch to tape for
fifteen minutes, or until the
next half hour break,

Half hour breaks also irritate.
Mid-discussion the program
halts dead for the nearest af-
filiate station to butt in and tell
us what we’re listening to, and
to repeat news we've heard be-
fore and will bear again in 30
mules.

On ‘Morningside, ”
Gzowski cased in with
“You're listening to CBC
Moruingside, My name is
Peter Gzowski.”’ If he was ten
seconds late because he let a
guest complete a thought, who
cared,

This season, only two dramas
rate for me: Roomers and
Boarders, and Dead Dog Cafe.
Their likable, average charac-

hard-core |
aoothaving .:.

MEL! UR MARRIAGE
MIS GOING DOWNHILLI!

FROM THE.CAPITAL

HUBERT BEYER

Clark has abandoned most of
the groups that tended to sup-
port the NDP,

To mend fences with the
forest industry, he is drastically
weakening the Forest Practices

Code and ‘providing: stumpage™

relief to forest ‘companies,
which alienates most environ-
mental groups.

To keep the deficit from
going even higher than the
projected $187 million, he has
tald public servants they won't
gel a raise for the next two
years.

The unemployed have little
hope of finding jobs, particu-
larly young people who will be
flooding the job market during
the summer holidays. Job crea-
tion statistics released last No-
vember showed that British

THROUGH BIFOCALS
CLAUDETTE SANDECKI

ters solve everyday problems
in funny fashion at a speed
that’s realistic.

Music tapes rescue me from
frenetic dramas where every-
one jabbers faster than an auc-
tioneer and makes less sense.
This leaner CBC seems to
equate speedy chatter with
humour. Not me.

During Gzowski’s lime, even
on my mornings off I listened
to CBC. “This Morming’’ is
scarcely warth listening to
while 1 wark; I’m not wasting

ia
=

ES

ah aan
an wae .

Ly,

OP.umbyaay |

Columbia was tied for last
place with Prince Edward Is-
land with 0.3 per cent.

The only thing the NDP is
very adept at is to create the il-
lusion thal ali’s well in British
Columbia. Its hard to. sit
through a prime-time TV show
without being brainwashed by
those slick adds, touting some
value-added company that cre-
ated a few jobs, and telling us
“it's working.’’

Well, it isn’t working, not
even in the premier’s wildest
dreams. British Columbia is a
hairs breath away from a
recession. Even Clark seems to
know that. In an interview with
the CBC last week, he started
to say thal a recession might
jurking in the rafters, but after

the: first syllable, he. caught-:,

himself and, substituled,a Jess
foreboding word.

The biggest problem for this
goverment, however, is that it
has no vision, no ideas, no
clear concept of where it wants
to lead the province. You
might have disagreed with the
previous NDP government un-
der Mike Harcourt, but it did
have a vision.

You may argue with the need
or the sensibility of doubling
British Columbia’s park land,
but future generations will not,

You may disagree with the
Forest Practices Code, but con-

c

aday off to hear it.

‘*This Moming’’ ignores Ca-
nadian authors and _— their
newest publications. (One Sas-
katchewan writer pointed to
the imbalance of regions
represented by CBC’s recent
Great Canadian Novel con-
test.)

‘*Moringside’’ treated us to
an interview a week with the
author of a new book, from
September to Christmas. My
memory may be faulty, but [
can recall only two authors
fram last fail’s book lists —
Carol Shields for ‘‘Larry’s
Party’’ and Mordecai Richeler
for ‘*‘Bammey’s Wedding,’’

Even bi-weekly provincial
reports suffer cutbacks. Before,
three journalists presented and
commented on a province’s
news; now we're reduced to
one reporter and one-third the
insight.

Gzowski was expert at few
things; but be knew how to re-
search, and how lo ask in depth
questions ta dig out informa-
tion. And he resisted flippant

YEAH! IT'S BEEN T] HARE To Focus
ROCKY LATELY ON OUR PROBLEMS
he AND GET THE ;

reg WHOLE PICTURE:

It is truly time for a change

sidering the international pres-
sure brought on British Colum-
bia and the never-ending con-
frontations in the forests be-
tween industry and environ-
menlalists, something had to
be done. And the Harcourt
government did something.

If the Clark government will
be remembered for one thing,
it is the expansion of gambling
or rather ils attempt to expand
gambling, not the legacy I
would want to leave behind.
Sorry, nothing else comes io
mind, although, I’m sure the
premier would have a few sug-
gestions.

Unless this government per-
forms a few miracles over the
next two years or so, it will be
defeated, and rightly so,
_-Lam.a firm believer that no
aigovemment should be

power for more than two
terms. A government perform-
ing poorly reinforces that
belief. And this government
has performed poorly.

As Dave Barrett’s slogan
said in the 1972 election which
unseated W.A.C. Bennett's
government after 20 years in
power; “‘It’s time for a
change.”

Beyer can be reached at:
Tel: (250) 920-9300; Fax:
(250) 356-9597; E-mail:
hubert@coolcom.com

Yearning for Peter Gzowski

remarks.

It’s no doubt unfair to com-
pare Avril Benoit to Peter, At
‘63, Peter had criss-crossed
Canada more miles than CNR,
appreciated Canada, its litera-
ture, music art, inventions, co-
medians, history, geography,
and people — from coast to
coast to caast. He didn’t focus
on Toronto-Montreal-Ottawa
as the epitome of Canadian
culture of life. Avril is 32, She
doesn’t stutter.

Based on six months of the
program, ‘‘This Moming”
lacks depth, national scope,
aud heart. Neither host serves
as kingpin; nor do Avril and
Michael Enright mesh to make
a team, They've not captured
my loyalty, I’d be salisfied if
they captured my interest,

I suspect CBC is hoping
we'll all tire and tune out.
Then, in good conscience, it
can Teduce our national radio
to recorded time signals and
s0-sO imiusic controlled by
computer,

Listeners be damned.

MEL! we NEeD|
A DIVORCE!!

in.

Pe ee

aaeaze

ra