Ad - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 14, 2001 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 , Bad boy, Kevin THE NORTHWEST should get on its knees and pray that if, as expected, B.C. Liberal leader Gor- don Campbell is elected premier, he does not let one of his MLAs near anything that has anything to do with this area. That MLA is Kevin Krueger who represents Kamloops-North Thompson in the provincial le- gislature. He knows beans all about the northwest by virtue of a column published in a Kamloops newspaper on March 4. The column is about the flood of government spending announcements in the lead up to the provincial election. It’s a relevant topic and one that we should rightly expect an opposition MLA to criticize. Where Mr. Krueger falls to pieces is in his listing of the $2.3 million supportive housing project on the vacant land adjacent to Terraceview Lodge. Mr. Krueger would want his constituents to believe this is something that should not have happened. He tags the project as unworthy be- cause it is in the riding of Skeena, held by NDP highways minister Helmut Giesbrecht. Not so, Mr, Krueger. This project actually pre- dates the current NDP government with the first. proposals made back in the 1980s. If anything, Mr. Krueger should be asking why it took so long to be approved in the first place. Mr. Krueger isn’t finished. He writes, “The public is accustomed by now to government waste” and includes Skeena Cellulose on a list with fast ferries, the failed convention centre in Vancouver, FRBC and the Carrier lumber case among others, ., Mr. Krueger.,and,the B.C. Liberals ~ obvious, . ly disagree with what the. NDP did with Skeena Cellalose. And his boss, Mr: ‘Canipbell, ‘has made it quite clear that if elected, he’ll sell off Skeena Cellulose as fast as he realistically can. But to categorize the Skeena Cellulose purchase as “waste” shows a remarkable ignorance of the complex and horrific events of 1997 when the company was headed down the tubes. Mr. Krueger would have been far better off to state what he would have done if he were the government back then. Being in opposition is easy. and Mr. Krueger. has shown he can do that. He once called union- ized health care workers “toilet cleaners” in op- posing a pay equity settlement. But being a member of a government is a very serious business. Mr. Krueger, in his comments. about the northwest, appears to show little capa- city to extend beyond his role as an opposition MLA to being a member of a governing party. Politically, he certainly hasn’t done his fellow northwest candidates any favours. Mr. Krueger is just another southern guy who thinks he knows what’s best for us. 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ONE OF ‘pssst! ARE YA BUYING I(T? (Urged , fr ea) AGAIN ~CRYIN? STOCKWELL PAY The system needs to change VICTORIA — The choice of parties British Columbia vo- ters will have in the next elec- tion is truly astounding. Aside from the Liberals and the New Democratic Party, the two major adversaries, there will be the Greens, the Pot Party, the Rhino Party and maybe either some sort of right-wing fringe party or Re- form Party, Family Coalition Party and Unity Party. Some even want to revive -" the old Social Credit Party to “give voters a viable alterna- tive” to the Liberals. Now, there’s a laugh. Obviously these folks aren’t aware that it is a right-wing party that appears to be headed for certain victory in the next election and that the so-called Liberals will have a smali army of former Socreds jt. the starting gate when Pre- . ‘Distal Of the further-rans, only the Green Party may have chance - to elect one or two members. They are waging their biggest battle in Nelson-Creston to beat Corky Evans. * And then it’s back to busi- ness as usual, with the govern- ing patty, due to its majority, Tamming through every piece of legislation it may take a FROMTHE: CAPITAL HUBERT BEYER fancy to. It is a system that actually makes a mockery of demo- cracy, a system that demands blind obedience from MLAs to support their respective par- ties, even if they may have Other dens, an i vhen Pre--, It is, a isystent that makes... ier Ujjal Dosanjh fires the debates on spending estimates, . ludicrous since in ‘the end, the government can and will force closure and railroad their bud- get through the House. It is that system which has led to the ugly spectacle of ~ the federal Liberals killing, contrary to their own policy, an Alliance motion to appoint an ethics watchdog who re- ports to Parliament rather than the prime minister. Allow me to present my idea of how Parliament might actually work. Imagine an election campaign without parties, All candidates would Tun as independents. Rather than parroting the party line during the cam- paign, candidates would actu- ally have to think for them- selves, present voters with their own vision of the fulure of their country or province. Voters would send their choice to Victoria, based on. individ- ual merit. ; Next the legislature com- prising only independent MLAs would appoint a premier and cabinet ministers, The cabinet, with input from ministries would generate legislation, which it would present to the legislature for debate and approval, Since all (MLAs, are. independents, free votes, are A given. brary Mere they would shift, based on free and individual choices of whe- ther to support or oppose legis- lation, I suppose that every first- year political science student would gleefully cut my idéa to pieces. Actually, studies have been done on this and similar modeJs and they are believed - to work — on a small scale. - Most municipalities are operating on this model, but if we don’t try it on a larger scale, we can’t really say that jt doesn’t work. And try it we probably won't. So we will continue to be treated to the spectacle of can- didates checking their brains at the constituency office and submitting to the brainwash tactics of getting them to mouth party platitudes during the campaign. Staying inside the box is what it’s sometimes referred to. And once elected, they'll dutifully check their brains at the revolving doors of the le- gislative chamber, heckle when they’re told, bang their desks when they’re told and vote how they're told. I have covered the B.C. Le- __gislature for 18 years. Yes, , “s fromj,time to time, there has seapi nee i HUM intelligent debate, but Alliances would form, but .. most of the time it resembles more of a sitcom than a cham- ber where grown-up people de- cide the future of the province. The system survives in spite of itself, but more often than net, it subtracts from the sum total of mankind’s progress. Beyer can be reached at: E-mail: hubert@coolcom.com; Tel (250) 381-6900; Web http://www. hubertbeyer.com This is just far too dangerous _ PARENTS’ DIFFICULTIES raising teens were treated 40 years ago in a bestseller titled Where Did you go? Out, What Did You do? Nothing. Parents of today’s teenagers are still in the dark. ' Or some parents agree with Roseanne who said, “As a housewife, [ feel that if the kids are still alive when my husband gets home from work, then, hey, I’ve done my job.” Over the past two summers our neighbourhoods’ dirtbikers have swarmed over two moun- tains of gravel stockpiled by a developer. Kids are drawn to the piles like gamblers io Vegas. Until dark each day, dirt bikes and ATVs snarl up, down, and around those two heaps. I worried the gravel might dry out, slide, and bury a smaller kid. Indeed, last sum- mer in the lower mainland Loox! Te: ANIMALS | ARE PLAYING: / TOGETHER! THROUGH BIFOCALS CLAUDETTE SANDECK] RCMP issued a warning about a sandpile that could shift, suffocating kids. Thankfully, no ATV flipped over, no kid was injured, and . though the pile wore down, it never avalanched, Last weekend we enjoyed our second spring weekend. As ACTUALLY EACH IS FIGHTING [1S OWN KIND #! i g bil 5 : I walked home after lunch Sunday, the pravel area was alive, Two dirtbikes rode the cir- cuit — out across the flat, turn toward the gravel pile, throttle up for enough momentum to scale to the plateau, descend, circle. Repeat. . A knot of young folk chatted beside several cars. A pickup, backed up to the ditch, had no doubt transported one or more bikes to the site, Half an hour later as J washed dishes, a truck roared past and J caught a flash of ... a waler skier? On Dobbie? I crossed the kitchen for a second look. A speeding pick- up was towing a dirtbike at the end of a 30 foot rope. The rider wore a helmet. I was stunned, Anpered at the kids’ arrogance. Annoyed that their parents hadn’t a clue what they were up to. Suppose the pickup slowed and the rope tangled around the bike’s wheels? What if the bike hit a rock? What if he lost control on the curve? Or lost his balance but couldn’t dis- engage from the tow rope? What if he careened off into someone's yard? On any public road, towing . with a rope is illegal, Unli- censed dirtbikes are also ille- gal. In the words of one RCMP officer, “There are plenty of fines here for everybody.” Luck — not good judgment - saved the biker Sunday. Next time he ~ and anyone on or near his path - could be maimed or killed. Yet when those boys walked into their kitchens that evening I'll bet when Mom asked, “Where did you go?”, the kid mumbled, “Out”, And if. she asked “What did you do?" the -kid grunted, “Nothing,” , Teest \ 7 My case!!