A4 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, May 15, 2002 TERRACE 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: standard@kermade.net Treaty troubles TODAY’S THE deadline day for Elections B.C. to receive the mailed-in treaty principles referen- dum ballots mailed out to more than two million people. And as Elections B.C. officials ready their final count of the eight questions, it’s an open question as to what good has been accomplished by this $8 million exercise in postal democracy. Only in B.C, can the request for a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ turn into a debate over how to register a pro- test vote or whether a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ mean ‘possibly’ or ‘maybe’ or ‘not necessarily’. In a lot of ways the eight questions ranging from private property rights to self-government to taxation were the negotiating standards adopted a decade ago when the federal and provincial gov- ermments and native groups first began the at- tempt to settle land claims. Private property was never to be tossed out for negotiation. There was always the intent for trea- ties to provide for equal application of resource management and environmental protection. That continuing thorn, tax exemptions for native people on reserve land, was on the table from the Start, If the B.C. Liberals wish the referendum to af- firm these principles, that’s fine. The tricky part is how to take these principles and fashion them into a vehicle to overcome the costly failure of the last decade, Attorney-General Geoff Plant, the govern- ment’s front man for the referendum, confused Matters in attempting to explain the intent of Question One which states “Private property should ‘not be expropriated for treaty scitle-” ments.” In an open letter to British Columbians, Mr. Plant had this to say about expropriation of pri- vate land. “In rare circumstances, the expropria- tion of a parcel of private property may be the dif- ference between reaching agreement or not, and ‘the public interest in achieving certainty, finality and equality may require a limited exception to the principle against expropriation.” Put that another way and it says that a “yes” vote to Question One doesn’t necessarily mean private property won’t be on the table. It could mean “yes” or “possibly” depending upon the circumstances. That’s hardly a clear instruction to be given to provincial negotiators and is certainly not an ex- ample of the kind of clarity the provincial govern- ment said it wants to accomplish via the referen- dum. And it leaves a wide open door for native groups who, as is the case with anybody in any kind of negotiation, will naturally want to gain any advantage they can. More importantly, it begs the question of why we were asked for our opinion in the first place if it is subject to an override. 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Published on Wednesday of each week al 3210 Clinton Steet, Tetrace, British Columbia, V8G 5R2, : Slorias, photographs, Illustrations, designs and typastyles in the Terrace Standard are the property of the copyright holders, including Cariboo Press (1969) Lid., its illustration rapro services and advartising agencies, Repreduction in whole or in part, without written parmissicn, is spadiically prohibited. Authorized as second-class mail pending the Post Cifica Depariment, for payment of postage In cash. Special thanks to all our contributors and correspondents for thelr time and talents THE US. SLAPPING > AN OBSCENE 22% TARIFF ON OUR SOF TWoOD REALLY MAKES ME WONDER WHAT THE “F" IN NAFTA STANDS FOR... Wie, - = gS ACH A FOUR LETTER WORD @ is Reek |02- i This government is unbalanced VICTORIA — This week’s award for the Most Convoluted Reasoning (MCR) goes to Paul MacRae, whose pitched arguments in support of Pre- mier Gordon Campbell’s poli- tical agenda reached a new and astonishingly absurd fer- your in a recent edition of the Victoria Times Colonist. With breathtaking disregard for history, logic and philose- phy, not to mention good taste, MacRae likened Narth Korea’s Kim Il-Sung, China’s Mao Tse-Tung and the Soviet Union’s Josef Stalin to Plato’s idealistic view of philosopher kings in his The Republic, He then threw our Pierre Trudeau in with the murderous lot and accused everyone who op- poses British Columbia’s Lib- eral policies of being just like them. If there was a germ of thought, some logical point of origin for his remarkable jour- ney from Plato to opponents of, Camphbell’s government, I failed to grasp it, Leys Just: because Mao wrote a series supposedly philosophi- cal insights, most of which have always struck me as ba- nalities, in his Red Book, he was no philosopher, leave alone one of Plato’s philoso- pher kings. Ditto for Trudeau, a charis- matic leader who at age 50 ‘managed to whip teenage girls into a frenzy. Alas, sex appeal and charisma do not a philoso- ‘FROM THE CAPITAL. HUBERT BEYER pher make. McRae got really muddled up when he compared a bunch of protesters who briefly occr- pied Victoria Liberal MLA Jeff Bray’s office last month and got pepper-sprayed for their efforts, to Plato. These misguided fools, he argued, see themselves as would-be philosopher kings who are convinced they could govern better andimore be- nignly than Campbell. Don’t get me wrong. I have no time for people who use violence to advance political goals or even those who feel rightly kicked in the gut by a government that operates mostly from a business per- spective. Business tycoons don't have much of a track record in the philosopher king depart- ment either, It was at the Industrie Klub in my hometown Dusseldorf where Hitler in 1932 made an impassioned plea for financial support of his National Social- ist Party to a house packed with Germany’s most powerful industrial barons, who all too willingly obliged him and got him elected the following year. Legally, I might add. Nor do today’s business giants who utilize the cheapest labour available, often child labour, to satisfy our craving for material goods. And who has traditionally profited from building up na- tions, armed might? Not your huddled masses. They are called upon to serve as fodder for the canons. The pratesters wha occu- pied Bray’s office and threw out the occupants didn’t em- bark on their violent demon- stration because they fancied themselves philosopher kings, but because they were frustra- ted by a government that has vuclearly-overstepped -the: bounds of the mandate voters. gave. it. Not all the voters who gave the Liberals 77 of the 79 seats wanted nursing homes and court houses closed. Not all of them wanted 10,000 public servants fired, Not all wanted help denied to families with autistic children. I suspect they alse didn’t want a government that when in opposition preached fiscal prudence to announce at the release of ils first budget that a few years hence the annual de- ficit would be in the $6 billion range. Can you spell $1.5 bil- lion? That was the surplus of the NDP’s last budget, a sur- plus signed off on by the pro- vince’s auditor general. What they did want was a government that didn’t build fast ferries on a whim, a gov- emmment that created red tape faster than anyone could untan- gle, a government that didn’t sacrifice common sense to the god of political correctness. Tf the Liberals had run on a platform even faintly resem- bling its actions, I dare say the outcome would have been dif- ferent, not different enough to re-elect the NDP, but certainly more balanced, The art of governing is to listen to the vast majority in the centre, while not antago- nizing the fringe on the right or the left. Oh, 1 forgot, most Ca- nadians can’t tell left from right in politics. .Repeat after viimey-Liberals right,« NDP: deft, No party. in the middle, not in Of all premiers I have cov- ered, W.A.C. Bennett came closest to mastering the art of governing. The man currently at the heim doesn’t have a clue how to go about it. Sorry, Plato. No philosopher king in sight. Beyer can be reached at: E-mail: hubert@coolcom.com,; Tel (250) 381-6900; Web http:/fwww.hubertbeyer.com School closures a threat fo all BASED ON events of the past two months, parents and tea- chers have come to mistrust the Coast Mountain School District trustees; their commit- ment to our students is sus- pect, their open mindedness is questioned, and their integrity in the public consultation pro- cess is in doubt. For starters, despite the widespread disruptions closing five district schools will cause, the board hearing of May 2 held in the R.E.M. Lee was not broadcast over Chan- nel 10 community TV. Upon questioning, district represen- tatives were incredulous any- one would expect the meeting to be broadcast. This omission is more re- matkable given Channel 10 coverage of the first, similar meeting March 24, before trustees honoured the 60 day public consultation period. Monarch cable sought to carry the March 24 meeting. The board’s failure to invite Monarch cable to broadcast such important public hear- ings, of widespread interest, fuels skepticism aboul the TW HoWwARE you? a TOURISTS. GREAT. Ht Ho vARE You, THROUGH BIFOCALS: CLAUDETTE SANDECKI board’s openness. If engaging Monarch cable were to cost the board money, trustees might have an excuse. But so far as 1 can determine Channel 10 broadcasts cost the school district nothing. Knowing how the board waits for everyone else to do its job, one parent asked, “Will the beard advertise any decisions, rather than leave it up ta the media to report board decisions in an article?” The flimsy basis for the board’s closures astounds. WELL Gotta GO! When I picked up the board’s information package, I expec- ted to read specific expenses for heating, bussing, salaries, and other operating costs for each school. I was not alone, One parent said, “The board should have had an internal study done to give the public information in- cluding a rationale.” What we got was one figure. So what ra- tionale did the board base their March 26 closures on? Thin air? Copper Mountain staff sub- mitted a written proposal to the board Friday, April 26. Yet in a meeting May 2, it was evident to teachers the trustees had not read the proposal. Concluded one teacher, “We feel all of this public consulta- tion is going for nothing.” [ felt a chill when one trustee told us, “I’ll close schools, and I'll close them fast.” Isn’t this to be a board decision? Or is he, as many suspect, calling he shots while other trustees ask, “How high?”, or sit safe on the side- lines, spared by a perceived NICE PEOPLE] WE Cot conflict of interest. Amalgamation saved no money, Given all the costs that go with closing schools shifting furniture, books and equipment; bussing; renovations to make * things fit. And insuring boarded up schools, school closures may not save a nickel either. But they will upset families, - consternate home owners, and erode our communities. Education minister Christy Clark changes school board rules more often than her son’s - diapers. The fact she changes her mind every hour suggests public pressure could persuade her to fund the teacher salary increases Campbell legislated, sending school board budgets deep in debt. If businesses want to keep their customer base, they ought to defend schools, keep fami-' . lies in town and encourage more to move here. Otherwise 57 B.C. schools will close and 5-year-olds will ride busses 75 © minutes morning and night. But not for long. Their families will move to be nearer decent schools, taking their buying power with them. THEY LEFT oS ; THEIR FLIES J. of oo