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. Established May 1, 1985 The Terrace Review is published each Wednesday by Close-Up Business Services Ltd. Publisher: Mark Twyford _ Editor; Michael Kelly Staff Reporters: Tod Strachan, Betty Barton | Advertising Manager: Marj] Twyford Typesetting: Carrla Olson Production Manager: Jim Hall Production: Charles Costello, Gurbax Gill, Linda Mercer, Ranjit Nizar Office: Carrie Olson. . Accounting: Marj] Twyford, Harminder K. Dosanjh , Second-class mail registration No. 6896. All materia! appearing in the Terrace Raviaw Is _ protected under Ganadian copyright Registra- tlon No, 362775 and cannot legally be repro- duced for any reason without parmisslon of the publisher. : ; . Erom and cmissions. Advertising is accepted on ithe condition that in tha avent of " typegraphical error, that portion of the advertis- ing space occupied by the erroneous item will not be charged for, but the balance of the adver- tiserment will be paid for al the applicabte rate. Advertisers must assume reaponslblilty for er- rore in any classified ad-which is supplied to the Terrace Review in handwritten form. tn compliance with the B.C. Human Rights Act, No advertisement will be published which discriminates against a person due to age, race, re gion, color, 36x, nationality, ancestry or place of origin. . . 4535 Greig Avenue, Terrace, B.C. V8G 1IM7 Phone: 635-7640 Fax: 695-7269 One year subscriptions: In Canada $24.00 Out of Canada $50.00 Seniora in Terrace and Diatriat §12.00 Senlors out of Terrace and Diatric! $16.00 - ) ’ ed SURE SSRN PAIS — ~ SS SS SS * 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 a LAN Hac Hed ae atv Wien ~ ape tty Sh f mo to oe 2