Page 4, The Herald, Friday, February 13, 1981

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IERIE -RODIM GI

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EDITORIAL

Television: Godsend or God-awful?

The answer, like ali élse short of simple
mathematics, is somewhere in the middle,
But it's an issue that should be faced every
now and again just to make certain that the
monster medium is kept in perspective. .

Since its introduction to Canada in the early:
19508, television has touched a lot of bases,
some good, some bad, some indifferent; but
mostly it has become‘an octupus that totiches
almost every facet of modern society.

Think of the 196(6-706 phenemonen of the
protest’ demonstration. Dees anyone really

believe that the multitude of these often inane -

(althotigh occasionally warranted) placard
parades would have taken place without the
guaranteed presence of the allseing camera?

The protest (or support, depending on which
side of theissue you're on) really was a means
of gathering people together to hear and see a
point of view. Today, an individual or group
simply hangs some signs, ‘“‘tlps off" the TV
boys and there's a protest:golng on and waits
for the cameras. The majority of these rallies
consist of the minister preaching to. the
converted and those who the tally is intended
to iffluence get their information’on the ‘six

o'clock news.

And that créates the apathy which all agree
abounds in Canada today. Why go out in the
rain when TV will bring it to you ... in
whatever form they choose?

So much for the mundane stuff; How about
the. entertainment, especially professional
sports?”

The. networks bleed the ‘already’ thinly-
veiled contests for weeks on end and reap
enormous advertising rates for things such as
the ‘Super Bowl or the Olympics. This of
course has made millionaires out of people
such. as le Nastase, John McEnroe and
Jimmy Connors, three tantrum-throwing
tenttis titans. The fact that without them and
their childish antics, television tennis would
be @ mere show of two folks batting a fuzzy
bail back and forth for the exercise has ap-
parently been lost on the world. Sponsors pay,

we Buy and suddenly. a tennis tournament is .

life and death. That, folks, is show biz.

Think, foo, about politics: Here in B.C., we
have Politics by Webster.’ The elected
representative asks a legitimate question in
the Zzgislature and the government member
“takes it on notice”’ (which means “don’t call

me, 1'll call you”). Webster asks a question’

and they answer NOW. They more often than
not even tell the truth. Good for Webster. But
how'd you like to be.an opposition MP?"

As a news medium, TV merely scratches
the surface, but a Webster show is worth
wat

As'an entertainment media, TV itehes all
ovef;. with it cow-towing to every group on
earth, Italisins can't be heodlums anymore.
There must beas many lady cops aa men cops
and. they must be equally violent. .Every
newgrast has iis token woman and these well-
asia women know It but don’t seem. to
a

And, yet, we think it’s all for real. -

Whien was the last time you read a good
book3?? Or any book, for that matter.’

-4

is | —PN. .

o

' provinces,

- ducive

ZAC TTT

_An old warrior still battling -

By J.V. Clyne

VANCOUVER (CP) —
The question -frequently is
asked: ‘Whatis the cause
of the feeling of alienation
in Western Canada?"

In the past the West has
felt it has been treated
unfairly by tariff protec-
tion afforded eastern in-
dusiries. Today, however,
the feeling has become
considerably stronger and
has led to the formation of
organizations advocating
separalion..

The great majority of
western Canadians do not
wish to separate but there
is a sirong and growing
resentment, not against the
eastern provinces but
against the leaders of those
and = such
resentment is not con-
to preserving
Canadian unity.

British Columbians do

not feel angry with the

people of Quebec although
they may feel resentment
towards Quebec as the
province that supports
Prime Minister Trudeau's
power, The West’s anger is
agains! him on account of
his policies relating to. the
constitution and energy.
This resentment also is
directed at Premier Davis
and Premier Hatfield for
thesupport they have given
to Mr. Trudeau and not to
the people they represent.

In fact, a good many of
those people probably
share the West's apinion of
the eastern. leaders,

althoogh some eastern

publications have
described Alberta’s at-

titude as one of greed. .

Alberta's energy policies
may well be defended by
remembering that in the
early 1930s that province
was as in a financial state
approaching bankruptcy.
The oil re resource in Alberta

. Which

is not going to last forever: -

and who can blame
Premier Lougheed for
setting aside money in the .
Heritage Fund agalnst a
rainy day? He is likewise —
prepared to loan money ~
from that fund to other,
provinces.

Alberta also was
prepared to finance a gas
line costing many millions.
of dollars to distribute‘gas .
lo Eastern Canada at
favorable prices. It was

+

, Enormous
waste oa

Would :
Involve -
| endless.

litigation

' Bloedel Lid. J.V.- Clyne .

prepared to afford sub-
stantial assistance .to
private companies . in
developing the oil sands
and in further search for

ail.

All these plans have been
terminated by the
disastrous oil policy
enunciated by Ottawa,
‘is causing oil
companies to leave
Canada, thus diminishing
oil supplies when we are
desperately in need. of
them. Already 49 drilling
rigs and a number of
service rigs have crossed
the border since Jan. 1.”
About 175 rigs are not
‘working “because com-
panies are. cancelling
drilling contracts to invest
in gil development in the
‘United States, which is
doing its best. to encourage
further search for oil. -

When the world is in
desperate need of oil it
seems totally irresponsible
to discourage - oil

- Sevetepment t in, Capa, BY. me:

” stantial,

Editor's Note: During his
years as head of MacMillan ‘

earned a reputation as-.a

man of ‘strong views who’ -

spoke. and acted without”:

’ worrying about public :

opinion. .

In 1979 he’ surprised
observers when the federal -
comnilttce he led turned .,
from an examination. of. x
Canadian telévision to-
warn thatuhe country wars

fixing the price at a ievel

well below world prices

Another. reason for

- western alienation is Mr.

Trudeau's firm resolve to

_ thrust a new constitution

down the throats of Ca-
nadians without the con-
sent of the provinces. The
amendments he proposes
to the British North
America Act are sub-
including a
Charter of Rights and
Freedoms, and the
amending formula.

Western Canadians have
objecied to the amending
formula as it gives Ontario’
and Quebec each a veto to'
any constitutional change
for all time, regardless of
any future decrease in
population. Under the
changes recommended by
Justice Minister. Jean
Chretien recently before
the Senate-Commons
committe, any two of the
four Atlantic provinces
likewise could velo any.
proposed amendment.
Thus Newfoundland and.
Prince Edward Island’
would have. -permanent
veto between them
regardless of population, -
whereas a veto could only
be exercised by two of the
four western provinces

having 50 percent of their .
_ joint hel tein al

Sey at

Oe a he 8 4 “hy D.

net tee eke

‘ip danger of ‘missing an

information revolution.
. Now, in -an: article

specially written for The
‘Canadian Pregs, Clyzie, a:
‘former, justice of the:
. British Columbia Supreme *

Court, discusses the con-
Stitutional factors

- aggravating the West's

dissatisfaction -with
, Canada: and proposes a
" way f& end the current
dispute.

‘

from its discriminatory ,

effect. the rigidity’ of the .
amending ‘formula’ will, ae

prove to be most harmful in -
preventing future changes.
in the conatitution:

Mr, Trudeau has ‘for

same years | ‘been deter-" .

mined: to. “force the

Canadian. people to accept .- :

a Charter of Rights en- .

trenched in the constitution
whether they. want to or
not. There are many people
who believe in an. en-

trenched Charter of Rights’: :

without realizing what is
involved,

There is no doubt that the -
proposed charter, which is
very closely worded, would
involve endless litigation.

Inreality itgives the courts

the power to make law
rather than reserving that
function to Parliament and
the provincial legislatures.

‘The enactment of a con-

stitutional bill of rights

‘puts judges, rather than

legislators, in a position of
making political decisions.
Under a truly democratic:
system judges should in-
terpret the law but not
make it,

Lord Denning, who i isthe ,

Master. of the Rolls in
England amd presides over
the English Court of Ap-

ven PPal, is regarded. as one of.

the Sao legal scholars of

. amend

our time. In a recent ad-
dress in the House of Lords

"he said that if judges were
- given power to overthrow
acts of Parliament: they

would become ‘Politicized,

their appointments: would

be based on, political
grounds
reputations would suffer
accordingly. 7

“One has only, to see: in
the great constitutions of

the ‘United . States .of -

America and tn India the

conflicts which arise from

: time to-time- between the.
. judges

‘legislatures,’ ? said Lord

and *

Denning, “I hope we shall

not have such conflicts in

this country.”.
There isno doubt that the

proposed Charter of Rights -

. ‘would

diminish . the-
jurisdiction of. provincial
legislatures and this fact is -
indeed admitted in one of,

the documents circulated’
by Ottawa in explanation of ©
. the proposals. Mr. Trudeau’

is determined to ask ‘lhe
British Parliament - to
the BNA Act
without agreement by the
provinces. He is seeking to
create a new federation

* without the consent of its

constituent parts, which

* would certainly be unique

in history.

The difficulty about a Bill
of Rights entrenched in the
constitution is that it is
highly difficult to change in

+ the light of alteration in

social conditions, In. fe.

Roi eee Ay En

° SR Seyake ty Mpieat whe!

‘andhbheir :

the .

United “States the Second
Amendment to the Con-
stitution, pused in 1791, —

" shortly after the success of

the American Revolution,
states that “a well-regu-
lated = militla = being |
necessary to the security of
a free slate, the right of
people to keep and_ bear.
arms shall not be in-
fringed.” ;

Since then it has not been --.
possible for the individual
slates to enact adequate:
legislation regulating «
ownership and wse-of ~
handguns. Such legistation
might have prevented
many murders, Including |

‘the shooting of Sohn ;
_ Lennon. oe

i . .
_There is a growing :-
feeling in the West that”
there is an enormous’:
amount of time being

- _ Wasted in Ottawe arguing’ -

“over the constitution when
"there are more urgent
problems such as inflation’
and energy. E strongly

‘SUggest that to allow
* Parliament to direct -ils

altention to their solution

“the drafting of a. new

~ to” oa.

RATA ms neralienalion,

constitutita should be left: .
constitutional -
* assembly of federal and
provincial representatives. .
The constitutional as- |
sembly, consisting of about
® persons, would be -
directed to produce a draft
of a new constitution in ©
statutory form which
‘would then be placed be-
fore Parliament and jthe
legislatures. Thus the
public would be fully in-
formed and it would be
difficult for legislaters to
reject a well-reagoned
document prepared by
individuals not looking for
reelection, Such a course
would 80 a long way

omrie SM

a et aan

REST ASSURED. | WILL
AEEP A CLOSE WATCH ON
WHAT IS DEFT REMAINNG
IN THE AGRICULTURAL.

LAND RESERVE!

/ORRUNG, 1 Love You.
. TVE GOT YOU A
VALENTINE’ S PRESENT.

HAVE f

QOHAT IS IT?

OH HONEY you SHouLdNT ) Tho TICKETS TO SEE
THE JAPANESE Hockey
TEAM.Q

A Mi TUN FPR Bie ES CUT i et ee meee ee

_ sgeography it.

oe

=

- LETTERS TO |
_THE EDITOR

Slr:

Another front page ar-
‘tele on the highway curve
at the C.N. tunnel? Several
Tecurring exrors deserve to

_ be corrected,

Most times when
newcomers in the area
make mistakes - in local
is un-
, Serstandable,: and we

“ -dorrect ..

“ft to -itself “to check
locations” out’ more
precisely than the average
Jpewcomer, Hole in the-Wall-

“fs,acase in point, Hole in-.

», Abe ‘ail is, andwas located
at the Exchamsiks River.

It was so christened by a ©

‘Steamboat captain in the
early 1900s. The name,
certainly antedates the
Tailway tunnel -—~ and the

Thonestly don’t know if it is
what would be classed as

" gewaworthy, but pethaps

thete is a chance it could
Bave’ someone else the
heartbreak, which I am
faced with,

- You see, I live on Yeo St.,
which Is on the Bench in
Terrace, and up until last
Monday I was the owner of
an adorable ‘Hittle toy
poodie named Toby.

Last -Sunday. at 10:20
pm., I let Toby out ‘in my

yard and he was viciously -
attacked by two Getman
.Shephards: In the short -
time it took me to get to my -

pet, they had mutilated

"Aim so bait (kidney ripped

off, liver damaged) that

then. ° ‘AY
 Bewspaper, however, owes a

‘ fre present
ballistics and physica*will >:
‘fave’ to- be changed ;to .

mention having died on this
highway, only one is known
te ‘have been killed by
driving off the road into the
river al the C.N. tunnel. ”
Bad as this curve is, it...
seems that your. paper. is
spending an inordinate .
amount of space on it. -.

"With all due respect to.

. Constable Mike Clarabut of

the RCMP, if the guard rail

i there ip no retaining wall
at the CN, tunnel — does

indeed result in vehicles .
Golng further into the river,
laws of...

accommodate. this lithte-
known rule. ~
Please be aware that it is,

_ not my inlention to aitack

your paper; rather, it is an
attempt to have the record,

"Daily Herald. set straight. oe
. Of the five people you - Don Varner
ee ee _
Sir: even the best surgeon ocd
lice] compelled to write. not save. him.

We called the dog cat.

_ cher numerous times,

identified the attackers,
but to ho avail, We're bold
ours is the only
documented case and
therefore they must strike
yet again before anything
can be done about them.

1 know thia letter won't
bring back my sweet little
pet, but perhaps it may.
save someone else's from &
horrible death and

_ therefore, save the owner

the anguish I'm going

through: .
Thabk Fou for letting me

get this out as I'm fust sick

“about tle whole mess and
wonder wi
Claim theif

they will |
tt victiin.
Mrs. Sharon Dike

Tees,