A4 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, February §, 2003 TERRAC E 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 WEB: www.terracestandard.com EMAIL: newsroom@terracestandard.com Our future BACK IN Quebec in the early 1960s it was called the Quiet Revolution — the assertion of French Canadians as a potent political, social and economic force. As laid out last week in The Terrace Standard and elsewhere in these pages this week, some- thing similar is happening here in Terrace. Na- tive people are establishing themselves as a erowing and vital part of the city and its im- mediate environs. Unlike other signposts of development, com- mercial and industrial construction, for exam- ple, which offer more traditional, immediate and eye-catching symbols of growth, the native fact in Terrace is different but just as econo- mically vibrant. For the most part, the growth is being fuelled by federal tax dollars with the provincial gov- ernment acting as a player to a lesser extent. In public sector circles it’s called capacity build- ing, the development of a social and educational infrastructure. As such Terrace is home to any number of groups and organizations run by native people designed to provide the foundations of society. Consider the Muks-Kum-Ol Housing Society, a native run non-profit organization responsible for providing housing. For the number of apartments, townhouses and single family homes under its wing, the society is probably the single biggest landlord in town. And given the number of units it has when laid against the size of the city, it is one of the largest non-pro- fit native housing societies of its kind in the country. Consider the Nisga’ a treaty: While we may | not be able to point to anything tangible here, Terrace is a prime beneficiary of the treaty. Local tradespeople have work and goods and material and services flow north to the Nass Valley. If even half of the recent construction in the Nass Valley had taken place in Terrace, there’d be dancing in the streets. And while the Nisga’a are building up the Nass, Terrace is a second home to many of them and it benefits from the resulting econo- mic activity. The next step involves the needed participa- tion of native people in the economy, creating opportunity, value and wealth. The Kitselas and Kitsumkalum Tsimshian have their eye on tourism developments. New Skeena’s Dan Veniez is to turn over portions of Tree Farm Licence 1 to the Nisga’a, as called for in the Nisga’a treaty, ahead of time. All of this — and more — is a strong message to all of us of the potential that lies ahead. Without the native presence, Terrace would be a much poorer place. With native people, it is stronger and more prosperous. De ne i - PUBLISHER/EDITOR: Rod Link ADVERTISING MANAGER: Brian Lindenbach PRODUCTION MANAGER: Edouard Credgeur NEWS: Jeff Nagel NEWS/SPORTS Sarah Zimmerman NEWS/COMMUNITY: Jennifer Lang CCNA BETTER FRONT OFFICE: Darlene Keeping & Carol McKay NEWSPAPERS CIRCULATION SUPERVISOR: Terri Gordon COMPETITION ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS: Bert Husband & Stacy Gyger TELEMARKETER: Stacy Gyger COMPOSING: Susan Credgeur AD ASSISTANT: Sandra Stefanik . SUBSCRIPTION RATES BY MAIL: $56.25(+$3.94 GST)=60.19 per year; Seniors $49.50 (+$3.47 GST)=52.97; Out of Province $63.22 (+$4.43 GST )=67.65 Outside of Canada (6 months) $152.34 (+$10.66 GST)=163.00 WINNER MEMBER OF B.C. AND YUKON COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION, CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION AND B.C. PRESS COUNCIL (www. bepresscounell.org} Sarving tha Terrace and Thomhill arga. Published on Wednesday of each weak at 3240 Clinton Straet, Tarrace, British Columbia, V8G 5R2. Storles, photographs, itustrations, designs and typastytas In lhe Tarrace Standard are the property of Ihe copyright holders, including Carlboo Prass (1969) Ltd., Its illustration tepro servicas and advertising agencies, Reproduction in whola or in part, without written permission, 15 specifically prohibited, Authorized as second-class mall pending the Post Office Depariment, for payment cf postage in cash. Speclal thanks to all our contributors and correspondents for their time and tatents . onnreto3 FL Freedom iS eroded bit by bit VICTORIA —- Law-abiding ci- tizens should have nothing to hide, said John Reynolds, Ca- nadian Alliance House leader in the Commons, as he threw his party’s support behind the federal Liberal government’s various initiatives that lower the levels of personal freedom and privacy Canadians enjoy. It strongly reminds me of my mother’s account of the last so called free election in Germany after Hitler came to power. Instead of booths where vo- ters might have filled in their ballots in some privacy, there were long tables. As people prepared to mark their ballot, storm troopers looked over their shoulders, pointing to the name of the Nazi Party’s candidate, say- ing, things like, “law-abiding and patriotic Germans put their ‘X’ right there. The others are shady characters.” Some 99 per cent voted for the Nazi party. I have no idea _how many did so out of con-* _"Wictiony but’) ‘do! know that fiy parents were too ‘seared to: vote for anyone other than the Nazi candidate. Lest I be accused of taking too strong a position on. the erosion of personal! freedom in Canada, I give you George Radwanski, the federal pri- vacy commissioner. Ottawa has “lost its moral compass”. when it comes to privacy and is using the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks as an ex- cuse to violate the rights of ‘and that, indeed, have no _ Place’ tia “free anid“démocraric: ‘FROM’THE CAPITAL HUBERT BEYER Canadians, Radwanski said in his annual report, “The fundamental human right of privacy is under attack as never before,” Radwanski said. “The government is, quite simply, using Sept. 11 as an excuse for new collections and uses of personal information about all of us Canadians that cannot be justified by the re- quirements of anti-terrorism society.” He condemned the “Big Brother” database maintained by the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency. The data- base contains detailed flight travel information, including destinations and what the tra- vellers like ‘to eat. He said Elinor Caplan, the minister responsible for the database, has repeatedly re- fused to limit its use to anti- terrorism measures. 980M Whye-mails. ‘should | “It is difficult to imagine a more flagrant disregard for Ca- nadians. This database is leg- ally wrong and morally wrong,” Radwanski said. He demanded that the gov- ernment amend Bill C-17, the Public Safety Act, which was reintroduced last fali. It allows the Canadian Security Intelli- gence Service and the RCMP to access personal information held by airlines about all Ca- nadian air travellers on domes- tic and international flights. “The precedent set by this provision could ultimately open the door to practices si- milar to those that exist in societies where police routine- ly board trains, establish road- blocks or stop people on the street to check identification papers in search of anyone of — interest to the state,” he said, Radwanski also attacked proposals that would allow the government to monitor Internet activities and cell phone calls, stating: “I do not sep, any es subject, to a lower standard of privacy protection than letters or phone calls.” And finally, he voiced Brave concern over the immi- gration minister’s calls for a parliamentary debate on estab- lishing a mandatory national identity card and the RCMP’s use of video surveillance on a public streets. ‘Loss of freedom doesn’t have to occur in a Single in- stance. Like the Chinese water torture, a drop at a time has the same result. For instance, in British, ‘Co- lumbia a memorable and -'suc- cessful assault on democracy was launched by Dave Bar- rett’s NDP government, when it brought in a law limiting’ de- bates in the legislature. There was a certain justice in the fact that this legislation was also used effectively against them after they lost the election. But that didn’t do anything to restore the right of citizens to full debate of issues in the legislature. Benjamin Franklin had it tight when he said: “They that - can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty. nor safety.” It’s not just that 1 am ap- palled by these attacks on our personal freedoms in the dis- guise of national security. . The even preater danger is that they establish precedents which could be used by future “-!/- governments for even more ne- De er fasious’ purposes.’ Radwanski called ‘for a pub- lic outery to stop the govern- ment’s anti-privacy measures in its tracks, Oh, and he said Reynolds? law-abiding-citizens-have-no- thing-to-hide stance had the in- tellectual. level of a bumper sticker. - Beyer can be reached at: E-mail: hubert@coolcom.com; Tel (250) 381-6900;. Web fittp://www.hubertbeyer.com One call can save a person THE 1964 stabbing murder of Kitty Genovese in front of her Queens, New York apartment building while dozens of her neighbours watched and lis- tened to her screams for help, stand yet today as the top ex- ample of bystanders doing nothing to assist a victim. Next in line is the morning of December 7 last. year when teenager Breann Voth’s neigh- bours heard her scream, “Help me! Help me!” for more than ten minutes while she was dragged to the Coquitlam River and killed. Not one of her 15 neigh- bours got up to look out, yell “Hey, what’s going on?”, or even dial 911. Some neigh- bours said they mistook her screams to be partying teen- agers. Then January 24 of this year, about 1:50 a.m., a young woman was chased along - Kingsway and down King Ed- ward Avenue screaming, “Leave me alone! Stop fol- lowing me!” as a man gained on her, Motorists swerved to avoid running her over. Only one dri- ver circled the block for an- T's CHARLIE | “Ion PETER To te Pick UP LLY! y- THROUGH’ BIFOCALS’ CLAUDETTE SANDECKI - other look, dialled 911, and shadowed her flight while he stayed in contact with the po- lice by cellphone. Why do bystanders fail to help victims? Two psychologists who have researched bystander passivity offer some explana- tions in a July 1993 McCail’s article, Dr. Bibb Latane from the Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, and Dr, Ervin Staub at the University of Massachusetts at Amberst conclude when many bystan- THREE -YEAR- ELDERS ge You'RE SENDING A OUT WITH AN ders witness a crisis unfolding, each as an individual feels less responsible for doing something. The result: no one steps in to help. Yet when only one person witnesses a crisis, that person feels responsible en- ough to plunge in and try to save the situation. The psychologists conclude witnesses avoid getting in- volved for several reasons: We don’t want to risk look- ing foolish. Suppose the sitna- tion isn’t what we interpret it to be. Suppose it’s a parent trying to rescue a street kid, not child abuse. We should ask ques- tions to determine the situa- tion. Ask if the “victim” needs help. Experts in the dynamics of assault and abuse emphasize that even the smallest inter- vention by a bystander can change the balance of power and allow the victim to es- cape. This is particularly so in domestic abuse situations. Of course, if the victim ad- mits to needing help, then you are stuck with providing help, something we may wish to oLD THEY GoTH GO AT THE SAME speept avoid. We also worry about con- tracting AIDS if there’s a risk of scratches or a knife wound. And always there is the worry of retaliation by the aggressor. _ We all hesitate to intervene in child abuse or spousal as- sault, deeming those private family matters. Still we can re- port an incident to the police by phone immediately, or pass along a vehicle license number to police or child welfare. ; We’re more willing to jump in if the crisis occurs in‘ sur- roundings familiar to us. And if we’ve been coached taught, or prepared to deal with such in- cidents ahead of time. “Adults who feel responsible but powerless tend to deny the crisis rather than intervene,” say the psychologists in the ar- ticle. Trust your intuition. Don’t worry about appearing foolish. Better to call police toa non- ° event than let a victim. be harmed. If just one neighbour had in- tervened both Breann Voth and Kitty Genovese might be alive today.