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Terrace Review —— Wednesday, October 16, 199] 5

- Parker stresses importance of
favourable climate for business

by Tod Strachan

In our final interview with So-

cred candidate Dave Parker before

the provincial election, we asked

for his views on three somewhat

related topics: the present structure
of our provincial government,
taxation, and the two referendum
questions we’ll find on the ballot.

Parker breaks the topic of gov-

ponents: cabinet and politicians,
and bureaucrats within individual
ministries. And as far as the cabi-

net is concemed, Parker says he [i
believes it is larger than itneedsto §
be and some down-sizing may be §

in order.

For example, says Parker, all
renewable resources should fall
under one ministry. "With it,” he
says, “would come a more cohe-
sive land use and land manage-
ment approach." Also, Social Ser-
vices should be addressing
women’s issues currently being
addressed by Government Manage-
ment Services. And Government
Management Services should once
again become the responsibility of
the provincial secretary.

Things to leave alone, however,
are education and highways, he

‘says: we should have a Minister of

Education and Minister of
Advanced Education because they
deal with different issues. One
deals with public education, Kin-
dergarten to Grade-12, and the
other deals with post-secondary
and adult education.

If there should be a change here,
it would be to take responsibility
for apprenticeship programs from
the Minister of Labour and give
them to Advanced Education. "It’s
a little splintered right now," says
Parker, "and it needs to be
focused."

But Transporiation and High-
ways, one of our most important
ministries responsible for an arca
larger than California, Oregon and
Washington combined, has served
us well Parker says. And, "I
wouldn’t see any changes there."

Then there’s the ministries them-
selves. According to Parker:

- ernment structure into two com- [REE

If you don't

Dave Parker:
vote you take what you get.

"Some of them are too large —
they’re overstaffed — and [ have
learned in my five years that
people create work for themselves
and rapidly appear to be over-
committed. However, that comes
‘really from the mid- and senior
Management perspective. they have

to really tighten up. There has to _

be a little more of the private
sector management for excellence
injected into government. People

could be a lot more productive

than they are.”

At the same time, Parker doesn’t
paint everyone with the same
brush: "There are sections of min-
istries that are very productive,
very pro-active with the public.
But there are others that are very
defensive and cloistered and it’s
worth your life to be standing by
the door at 4:30 when quitting
time comes."

On taxation, Parker says every-
one agrees taxes are necessary, but
not everyone agrees with the
degree to which we should be
supporting the system through
taxation. And in this, Parker dis-
agrees with the philosophy and
promises of the opposition.

"The NDP talk about providing,
basically, unlimited services
funded primarily by corporations
and those who they term as being

well-served by the system, com-
menting that NWCC is not
“abandoned or forlorn".

Giesbrecht said the NDP would
freeze tuition fees and commit
itself to spending on advanced
education that at least met the
national average.

Hatton said the Liberals would
do whatever is necessary to
improve education. "It’s really
bad," she said, "Students can’t
pass university entrance exams
even after being in college. It’s
pathetic, awful. Kids just
haven’t got enough on the ball
when they get out of school."
Hatton also said she would like
to see a system of periodic
exams given to teachers to
assure professional competence.

Questions from the floor,

drawn out of a box by students’
association members, addressed
native land claims, the Compen-
sation Fairness Act and the use
of tottery funds. Two questions
came up regarding the NDP’s
plans for the provincial treasury,
and one concerned Giesbrecht’s
voting record as mayor of Ter-
race in the early 1980's.

Parker defended the govern-
ment’s record on land claims
and also defended the Compen-
sation Fairness Act, saying it
was necessary to keep spending
under control. Giesbrecht and
Hatton both said the land claim
settlement process needs to be
speeded up dramatically; Hatton
professed no knowledge of the
Compensation Fairness Act, and

— Continued on page 29

wealthy," says Parker. "And that

- will be good for the first 24

months... But people with capital

‘are highly mobile, .

"If the investor is made to feel
welcome, under the understanding

that he’s going to operate respon-

sibly, then we'll gain... Because
our economy, our society is very
stable, established, and the inves-
tor’s comfortable with that.

"But we can lose that advantage —

in very short order, and probably
the best example right now in
Canada is Ontario. The Ontario

Federation of Business estimates

some 500,000 jobs are currently
migrating into the states where
they’re welcome. And it has every-
thing to do with the NDP govern-
ment’s approach.

"I think we need to be quite
judicious with the application of
tax revenues and we’re recognized
— the British Columbia Social
Credit Government has been recog-
nized by other governments in
Canada and certainly by the finan-
cial centres in the world — as
being the most effective in that."

And then there’s the referendum
questions that, if approved, would
give voters the right to vote elected
members out of office or to pro-
pose questions to the government
they would have to take to the
voters by way of referendum. Just
how this system would work sill
isn’t known.

According to premier Rita John-
sion, if the electorate votes in
favour of the referendum system,
“First we would establish an im-
partial .committee to undertake
extensive public consultation and
help develop the framework for
such legislation."

And the whole referendum idea
came from the electorate in the
first place, says Parker. "The
people of the province thought it
would be a good idea so in this
election you have an opportunity to
say, "Yes, we want referendum,’ or
’No, we don’t want referendum’.
So on October 17, every eligible
voter in this province has a chance
to say *Yes’ or ‘No’ and if you
don’t vote you take what you get."

Decision day

This is it. The polls open at § a.m. tomorrow, and shortly...

after they close at 8 p.m. the results will begin trickling in.
By 11 p.m. at the latest, residents of Skeena will know who.”
their MLA for the next term of government will be and

_which party is going to run the province.

By now registered voters should have received cards in
the mail advising them where to go to vote. Anyone noi
registered at this point is out of the game — well-publicized
changes in election law prevent anyone from registering at’.

the polls on election day, a practice which was allowed in

the past. Section 80. registration closed yesterday.

‘In the voting booth voters will cast two ballots: one to
elect a Member of the Legislative Assembly, and another to
vote on two referendum questions. Those who wish to
abstain from the referendum vote are not required to fill out
that ballot.

There are about 17,000 registered voters in the newly-
boundaried Skeena riding. Over 90 percent of them are
concentrated in the immediate area of greater Terrace and
Kitimat, In the 1986 election, Social Credit candidate Dave
Parker, a relative newcomer to the area, defeated incumbent
NDP MLA Frank Howard by 1,158 votes, or 48.61 percent
to 41.79 percent according to records of the Chief Electoral
Office of B.C. In that election 16,992 people voted (suc-
cessfully, that is: 225 ballots were rejected), 75.23 percent

of the 22,558 eligible voters.

asty under W.A.C, Bennett.

votes.

with the majority.

1991.

In 1986, however, the riding included Smithers and
Hazelton; now it doesn’t. Adding up the polls that remain in
the new riding, the results show that Parker and Social
Credit would have still carried the riding, but by a narrower
margin. A scan of the individual polls shows that Social
Credit’s main strength was in greater Terrace: Parker
carried aJl cight polis in Thornhill and all but two of the 20°
polls in Terrace. In Kitimat the NDP carried 20 of 26 polls.

Since it was first formed for the election of 1924, Skeena ©
has a tradition of going with the political trend. First
Horace Wrinch and later E.T. Kenney, after whom a Terrace
school was named, represented the riding for a total of six
terms as part of a series of Liberal majority governments. In
1952 Kenney returned to Victoria, but as part of a Liberal
minority — it was the first term of the Social Credit dyn-

The following year another election was called and the
Skeena MLA, this time CCF party member Frank Howard,
remained on the opposition side of the house. In 1956
Skeena sent its first Social Credit MLA, Hugh Shirreff, to
Victoria on the government side. That was also the most
recent election in which the Liberals polled more than 1, 000

The 1960 election sent Socred Dudley Little to the legisla-
ture for the first of what would be four terms in company
with a majority caucus under W.A.C, Bennett. In 1972
Skeena went with the NDP sweep of the province, electing
Hartley Dent. In 1975 when Dave Barrett and his fellow
New Democrats returned to the opposition benches, Skeena
elected a Socred, Cyril Shelford, to join the majority.

Beginning in 1979, the NDP’s Frank Howard served two
terms for Skeena in opposition. In 1986, Skecena was back

Tomorrow night we'll find out where Skeena stands in

Hatton to hold election day
vigil at neighbourhood poll

Skeena Liberal candidate Juan-
ita Hatton intends to spend elec-
tion day at the Veritas school
polling station. Hatton’s cam-
paign, run on virtually no
money, got boost last week with
the favourable exposure provin-
cial Liberal leader Gordon
Wilson received in a CBC tele-
vision debate with Mike Har-
court and Rita Johnston.

Hatton says she doesn’t know
if the popularity surge for Lib-
erals will carry into Skeena, A
province-wide poll released early
this week showed the Liberals

barely behind the NDP at around
36 percent.

"A lot of people are happy to
see a party besides the two that
have been sniping at each other
all these years," Hatton said. She
added that recognition is also an
advantage for her. "They’re glad
to see someone local, everyone
knows me. I’m Skeena, there’s
no way around that."

Hatton says the environment is
her primary concern, "We should
concentrate on taking care of it
in all places," she said, using as
an example recent speculation

that dams in remote mountain

areas are causing effects as far.

downstream as the Fraser River
delta. "Nature is trying to tell us
something, and if we don’t listen
we're going to reap the whirl-
wind."

She also supports efforts by
native groups to preserve islands
of old growth forest,

The last time a Liberal polled
more than 1,000 votes in Skeena
was the election in 1960. "I hope
ican do better than that," Hatton
temarked,

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