Ao Terrace Review — Wednesday, January 24, 1990

Forms in flux

The election of governing bodies for hospitals, and
in the case of Terrace for combined healtH care in-
stitutions, from within a society membership is a con-
cept that has outlived its usefulness. Times have
changed since the days when local societies were
necessary to establish and operate hospitals, and local
control systems should reflect that change. The board
should be subject to the test of a general election. —

Health care is hardly any less important than educa-
tion or municipal government to the people who live
in the Terrace area, but there is a radical difference in
the method by which the board of the Terrace Health
Care Society is chosen. The society is certainly not a
closed or arcane body; membership is available to
anyone for small annual dues and the general meetings
are open. When the board is elected, however, it is
still from within a group of voters small enough to fit

in one room.

_A board elected by general poll would not necessari-
ly guarantee an improvement in the operations of
Mills Memorial Hospital or the Terraceview Lodge,
which by all accounts are two of the best-run facilities
_ of their kind in the province; it would, however, pro-

vide an effective barrier against the sort of destructive
wrangling over single issues like abortion that we’ve
seen in other less fortunate jurisdictions.

We’re just starting a decade which could hold
dramatic changes for the fundamental structure of
local government. As Terrace Health Care Society
chairman David Lane hints in an interview carried on
the page opposite this one, combining all local elected
bodies into a single governing council would have
distinct advantages, like resource sharing and the
elimination of a confusing array of jurisdictional -
boundaries. There would also be disadvantages, like
cumbersome size and the prospect of dealing with full-
time career politicians on a local level.

Like it or not, amalgamation and local control are

’ two trends that ushered in the nineties. Oldtimers

often reflect on the changes they’ve seen in the land--

scape over the years; at the end of this decade we may
also be reflecting on changes in the political landscape

that are just as profound.

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ed

SURE

SSRN

PAIS

— ~
SS
SS
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* i AEE Lt
5 Es SITE,

VICTORIA — Often I have
been accused of being overly
critical of Premier Bill Vander
Zalm. - ob

I do not deny that at times
his actions and comments bring
out the worst, or best, in me —
depending upon whether you
are a supporter or a critic. God
knows the man has provided
enough material!

But after the premier’s -
speech to the province last
week, I realize that my
criticism and that of my media
colleagues is meaningless. It
doesn’t amount ‘to a hill of
beans, as Bogie would say.

Why? Because Mr. Vander
Zalm has an ability to ignore
or to redefine any message he

receives — whether it be from

the voters in six by-elections,
the genuinely concerned dis-
senters in his party and caucus
ranks, or from the now-des-
pised media.

There is much to be said for
being a positive thinker... but .
this is ridiculous.

A closer look at his
20-minute packaged perform-
ance shows it was virtually a
regurgitation of his ‘‘Every-
thing’s-all-right-Jack”’ response

~ to concerns about his style,

motives and record.

Those concerns have been ex-
pressed repeatedly during
Vander Zalm’s reign as
premier, and even during
earlier incarnations as a Surrey
mayor and Cabinet maverick.
It also could be described as:
@ His own decidedly-edited
version of what mistakes and
successes he has made since
taking office in mid-1986. .

e A freeskating display over

; the thin ice of the assorted

The view from

by John Pifer

5
, We

' scandals since then, especially

reyarding the Expo land sales,
his efforts there on behalf of. -
millionaire pal Peter Toigo,

and the Knight Street Pub af-

fair, again involving Toigo.
e A confusing promise for

province-wide votes to be held —

on ‘“‘important’’ issues involv-
ing public money. (Any bets
that one of the referenda might

' ask voters if they approve of

government funding of abor-
tions, we ask7).

- @ Aconditional apology in the

abortion controversy — not ad-
mitting that he had offended
anyone during his tirades
against it, or those who dis-
agreed with ‘his point of view,
but that some people ‘‘may _
feel’? they were offended... an
important difference.
e A decision not to deal with
the crisis of leadership which

had caused defections from his :

own: caucus, as. well as six by-
election thrashings. -

And so on.

Mr. Vander Zalm told the |
four MLAs (and, indirectly,
Grace McCarthy) who. resigned
from the Social Credit caucus
in October, to put up or shut
up.

All indications are that they
will not simply shut up. In
fact, plans are already set for
incorporation of a new B.C.
political party, with decisions
ona leader and membership _
scheduled to be hammered out
at a Vancouver meeting on Fri-
day next. The key factor will
be to see whether any current

* Cabinet or caucus members

decide to participate rather

than live a lie.within this

government. :
Many observers feel that this

he .

bie - 5:

is the beginning of the end of
the Vander Zalm government,
and that with sustained bicker-

‘ing and division, ‘the fragile

coalition that is Social Credit
will implode, leaving the way
clear for Opposition leader
Mike Harcourt and the New
Democratic Party to take over.

They may well be right. And
the province may be more —
ready than it ever has been
before to accept that calmly
and comfortably.

And that may be the only
message Bill Vander Zalm will
‘pay attention to... much too
late, of course. —

One area in which I admit to
a begrudging admiration for.
Mr. Vander Zalm, believe it or
not, is his considerable im-

' provement in handling himself

before the news media, and in
handling the media itself,

: He has come to play us like
a violin, and never was this
more evident than on Thurs-
day, the day after the great
non-event speech,

At an early-morning Van-
couver press conference, rude,
aggressive questions (O.K. Yes,
I’ll admit it. I was one such
questioner!) which 18 months
ago would have stimulated him
into shooting from the lip —
thus getting into more political

deep do-dd — merely produced ~

a scowl, a brief response and a

sad shake of the head. .
Then, for the next seven

hours, I watched and listened

: aS Vander Zalm went through a
tortuous series of radio, televi-

sion and print interviews that
would have exhausted two -

continued on page A7

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