Page A4 — Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 7, 1990

LO ERRACE STAN DA Publisher, ae
- Cary Rodin: “itt Nagel ~
a * ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988 ; . .
Eat ci at
Registration h No. 7820 4847 Lazelle Ave., Terrace, B.C., VG 188 (604) 036-7283 Res tink a
Serving the Terrace area. Publned on Wednesday of each week ty Cariboo Press (1989) Ltd. 11 4647 Lazsia Ave, Terrace, British Columbia, mh : . : many we oh
auras Photographs, ilvstrations, designs and typestyies in Ihe Terrace Standard are tha property of the copypght ficklers, lnchuding Cuiboo Press (1969) Le, its - : Production Ma nagor:
Copra services and advertising .

Repeoduction in whole or in part, wit titon parison, is specltiwty protiblted, oo Edouard 1 Credgeur.
Authorized as second-class mail pending the Past Otice Department for payment of postage In cash, ' -

oe ‘cea ‘imaughty = - Compasitor, Rose Fisher —

aes ‘Carolyn Christiansen. =: Piensa es
f So Advarising Constant
ist:

“Spi, “Malcolm Baxter. - ‘News,

Front Ctice Manager -

Special thanks to ail
- our contributors and
f. ome h for
“) their: time and.
talents.

_EDITORIAT, —

Bill's new look

Remember Bill Vander Zalm? He’s
the guy who, a few months ago, was
either ready to flee to South America or
about to make a desperate last stand ina

bunker below his office.

Nowadays, the heat’s off the premier
and he’s making nice-nice noises leading
up to a provincial election. It’s as if a
carefully thought out and patient plan is

in motion.

The key is that a politician can do
whatever he or she wants to do in the
first three or so years of office. After
the process of re-aligning the
machine takes place in preparation for a
trip to the polls, The premier is following

that,

this design perfectly.

Abortion? It’s no longer an issue. The
premier wanted to let us know where he
stood and, he did. Those opposed to the
premier on abortion have exhausted
themselves — they’re out of cliches to

The departure of Larry Guno from the
race to become the New Democratic Par-
ty’s Skeena riding candidate in the next
election leaves an unfortunate gap, Mr.
Guno is a Nisga’a from the Nass Valley
and is now the MLA for Atlin. That
tiding- has disappeared under: -boundary
‘revisions. which lead to-Mr. Guno’s' an-+-
nouncemen: last year he would try for

the Skeena candidacy.

But now that Mr. Guno is no longer in
the Skeena race, the party and the nor-
thwest misses out on the opportunity to
fully debate and become aware of the
biggest issue up here — land claims.

This is not to suggest that the rest of us
still won’t have the opportunity to tangle
with land claims but Mr. Guno would

use, Those against abortion bays been i
placed in a corner and Jabelied as crazies,

In no way can they be regarded as having -
anything to do with the premier and so”

don’t pose a threat when being con-

away.

sidered by the vast amounts of people
who wish the whole thing would just go

Problems within the Social Credit par- |

ty? Not anymore and besides, it’s

natural to have some conflict within any
organization, Grace McCarthy did her
Joan of Arc impression but couldn’t get
up the nerve to light the match. The rest
of the boys have had their little fling with
revolution and are back to the serious
business of staying in power.

And now the premier has an election

issue, The federal cap in payments ‘to .-
provinces méans Mr. Vander Zalm can . - ie
strike out at Ottawa. It’s an old tactic = =: -
and one that shouldn’t work. But hey, SS

it’s happened before. -

iss | e

have acted as a lightning rod and as a’
conduit on the issue.

The two candidates left in the race did
speak of land claims at last week's
meeting here attended by those who'll be
voting at the March 31 nomination

meeting, Arid although, they spoke of the
‘neéd to negotiate settlements, the native
perspective remained unknown.

Like it or not, land claims will be the

government.

dominating factor in the northwest in the
1990s. It’s now up to those two remain-
ing candidates to ensure land claims
questions receive- the priority they
‘deserve. After all, the NDP does support
settlement and the party will be responsi-
ble for that should it become the next

Her nap’s ruffled

I’m not a raging feminist.
You won't see me dislocating
my shoulder snagging a
chairperson’s attention when a
speaker uses a pre-Steinem ex-
pression like “‘man-hole cover’
or ‘fireman’. Sexist words
disturb me less than the foot-
falls of an underfed Siamese
skirting a snoozing Labrador.

Only one thing shortens and
lights my fuse — strangers who
address me as ‘Dear’','*Darl-
ing,’ or some ather mean-
ingless endearment.

By the time they've dusted
themselves off, they’ve usually

- mislaid their hankering to treat
me like a three-year-old,

’ I believe in equal pay for
work of equal value. I expect
workers to be paid according to
what the job is worth to the
employer, not how. meager a
wage he can survive on because
his/her spouse supports.
him/her. Few of us can donate
a year's work for a dollar as:
Jimmy Pattison did for Expo
86.

‘But I was. disturbed when I
read this sentence in a profile of
the new NDP leader, published
in the March issue of
Chatelaine:

“In the spring of 1979
Audrey McLaughlin sold her
Toronto house and most of her
possessions, cramming what
was left into a wine-coloured
pickup truck, and set out: to eXe.
plore Canada’ s west and

north.”

A wine-coloured. pickup

truck. How chic, -
Trust °-a metropolitan
women’s magazine to identify a

set of . wheels. in: a- fatuous . 7

Fashion, Any: magazine not:|

financial situation after selling
her house.

Heavy duty” springs might -
‘had :

have - meant... sh

Through

Bifocals
by Claudette Sandeckl

tended exclusively for women-
folk —- urban womenfolk—
would have emphasized the
horsepower rating or gross vehi-
cle weight,

Perhaps the writer, Roy Mac-
Skimming, took sloppy notes
during the interview, Or maybe
McLauglin has a fading
memory about things non-
political, In any case, we would
have learned more about
McLaughlin had MacSkimming
highlighted other features of her
pickup.

Did McLaughlin buy a wine-
coloured truck to colour co-
ordinate with her predominent-,
ly red wardrobe? Was the wine’
truck the only one.on the lot
that fit her specifications of
size, price, and mechanical con-
dition? Perhaps she was so im-
patient to leave Toronto she set-
tled for anything handy that
would accommodate her load,
colour be damned,

If we'd been told the truck
‘was a domestic Ford or an im-
ported Toyota, we'd have some
idea of her nationalism and
whether she backs her political
views with her’ pocketbook, THe
model. year, 1963 vs. 1978,
would have clued us in to her

mee

Be
= Td

midable load to move, (Is she a
packrat, or is she clinging to
, family heirlooms?)

White-walled tires or a
custom-trimmed cab would say
she could afford to splurge on
pricey paraphernalia,

A_ reconditioned engine
would denote an older. truck
with a steady work history. An
engine with extra horsepower
would tell us she prepared for
difficult terrain and bad road
conditions.

All new tires would say she
cares for the safety of herself,
her passengers, and her fellow
motorists, and that she abhors
curbside repairs, -

Stick shift or automatic might
hint of her confidence and com-
petence behind the wheel.

“‘Wine-coloured”’ signifies
nothing. That ruffles my nap.

. @p-uaqunaaT

OH No! GLARE ice!
TUS WILL REALLY
SLOW US PON |

” OK, LETS TRY ute AGAN.. vee
~"T CHANGED THE SARKPLUES

AROUND...

“VICTORIA — When British

Columbia is threatening to sue

the federal government for
wanting to reduce the national
budget deficit, you know that
things can’t get much. screwier.

At issue is the Canada
Assistance Program (CAP),
one of the programs cut back
‘in federal finance minister: re
Michael Wilson’s ‘recent: :
budget.

Wilson limited the growth of |

CAP funding, used by the
federal and provincial govern-
ments to jointly finance a
number of social programs, to
five per cent-this year. Our at-
torney general, however, says
the program was entered into
in 1967 and can be altered only
by mutual consent.

Bud Smith says the issue
also raises constitutional ques-
tions, British Columbia, he
says, should have a legitimate
expectation that contracts
within the federal framework
cannot be unilaterally breach-
ed.

Smith's efforts earned him

‘nothing but ridicule from his

NDP critic, Moe Sihota, who
called him a ‘“‘litigation
cowboy,’’ engaged in legal
“gun-slinging.” Sihota also
warned that suing Ottawa
would expose a lot of
hypocrisy on the Socred
government’s part over federal
funding of some programs.

Sihota couldn’t be more on
target. Ever since the Socreds
brought down the first balanc-
ed budget about a year ago,
they have been prodding the
Tories in Ottawa to get their
financial house in order, In
one speech, Premier Vander
Zalm advised Ottawa to cut its
budget by 25 per cent, -

Now that Ottawa has
followed our premier's advice .
and cut some fat from the
federal budget, albeit too little
to be meaningful, British Col-
umbia cries foul and threatens
to sue, which is not only silly
but offers little hope of suc-
cess, The courts have ruled on
a number of occasions that the
federal government is free to
make its own financial deci-
sion,

'

ay ay measure

pos

From the

Capital
by Hubert Beyer

wae fags, Pre)

Sihota also points to certain
‘ironies regarding Smith’s
threat to sue Ottawa over. the
cuts in the Canada Assistance
program, B.C., he says, has, :
for instance, never made full
use of the 50-50 funding for
things such as school lunch
programs and needle-exchange
programs, even though federal
funding had been available.

There are other reasons why
the Socreds should consider a
moratorium on Ottawa-
bashing, If they don’t, their:
federal counterparts might get
even upset with British Colum-
bia and decide to really stick it
to us.

I'd like to remind the |
premier that despite cuts in the

' Canada Assistance program

and the scrapping of the Polar
8 icebreaker, British Columbia
hasn’t been totally abandoned
by Ottawa. Last I heard, the
Vancouver Island natural gas
pipeline was still in the works,

How much more needling do
you think it would take to con-
vince Ottawa that putting the
pipeline project on hold and
saving $500 million might be a
good idea? I have a hunch it
wouldn’t take too much.

Let’s face it, British Colum-
bia hasn’t done a whole lot
lately to make the federal
government happy, Our.
government hasn't confined
itself to calling the Mulroney
government fiscal bunglers, it
latches onto every conceivable
issue to get Oltawa mad at us, .

British Columbia just had to
be one of the provinces tearing
at the national fabric by renep-
ing on its Meech Lake commit-
ment, and even the subsequent
B.C. proposal to save the ac-
cord doesn’t change that. Just
how, do you think, the. prime

minister feels abut premiers

mille MARTEN PRacrices
Wig stick ‘HANDLING HLL

OKAY GUYS SKOOK'S IN Gone: -
FUBSY AND RUFUS ARE.
DEFENSE AND...

who. threaten tc to prevent him .
from saving the country, hey?
Also, ever since he took of-

fice, our premier has been,

: whining about the price B.C, |

has to pay for being in con-. <.
federation. Why, we send
much more to Ottawa than we
get back, the premier is fond |
of observing. Funny he should.
mention, I have made the same
observation regarding my tax —
contributions to provincial cof-
fers.

And now, for an encore,
we're going to sue Ottawa for
having cut back on its spen- .
ding. That’s really going to go
over, True, we won the last ..
court case, Ottawa, we're told,
is ready to concede defeat in».
the battle over the Esquimalt .
and Nanaimo Railway.

That's great, but it can
hardly be compared to the law
suit Smith is proposing.
Closure of the little Vancouver
Island railway would have
broken a 120-year-old constitu-

_ tional commitment, The

railway was part of the deal °
that paved the way for B.C.’5-.
entry into confederation.

Cutting back on federal-- ,.:
provincial programs, on the; ;
other hand, is but an Ace
to reduce the federal deficit; ;
something we all should sup-
port,

_Anyone who lived through -
Bill Bennett's restraint pro- |
gram knows that to save
money, & government must -
ruthlessly cnt its expenditures.
If Ottawa introduced anything.
like B.C. restraint program, of
six years ago, we'd lose more:
than just an icebreaker-and «
some Canada Assistance Pro-:
gram funding. Unfortunately,
Ottawa doesn’t have.the in- : :
testinal fortitude for such a
measures,