Wate
WY

law fraternity, over the first steps towards introduc-
ing a public defender's office to replace or to augment
current legal aid now handled by private lawyers. It
will bear watching.

To no one’s surprise, least of all the Americans,
there was a condemnation of the U.S. countervail
duty on the export from Canada (70 percent from
B.C.) of softwood lumber...

From this corner, it appears likely that absolute-
ly nothing will be resolved on this issue until after
the re-election of George Bush, anyway. .

The same goes for the assault on Ottawa for
cutting back hundreds of millions on its CAP fund-
ing. Moaning about it does not mean anything much
will be done about it.

Mix into all of that some congratulatory com-
ments with the government patting itself on the back
for being "open and honest” (say, didn’t that Vander
Zalm fellow coin a similar phrase?), and for cleaning
up the Socred money mess, and for bringing in WOF,
the Workers’ Opportunities Fund, and it was preity
typical. | |

What develops from this fresh start (say, didn’t
the Socreds use that phrase, too?) will be more
clearly known next week, when Finance Minister
Glen Clark hands down his first Budget.

This legislative session will be one well worth
watching, dear readers.

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1 woemen | peso. 160%, Gog |

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BY THE VOTE

From “Let’s Talk Taxes", March 6, 1992, @ publi-.
cation of the Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation. The

author is Kevin Avram, an accountant.

Years ago, back in the days of the knights and
dragons, I suppose there existed a doctrine called the
divine right of kings. Historians record that the
theory was a relatively short-lived one, because
rather than subscribing to such a foolish notion, the
peasants executed the king. — a

The doctrine, which was promoted by such people
as Sir Robert Filmore, advocated that to question the
decisions or the authority of the king, was the same
as questioning the decisions and authority of God.

The theory died its first death in 1649, when.
King Charles I was executed. What was left of the
notion was polished off about 40 years later when the
British Bill of Rights was established. The doctrine
had risen to prominence primarily because the

- British Parliament and the larger communities were

beginning to assert themselves and to question the
decisions of royalty.

As people in Canada today look back on such a.
notion, I think most of us are struck by how arrogant
it seems. The very idea seems oppressive. Who would

Terrace Review — March 20, 1992 23